In-N-Out plans Broomfield restaurant in new location

BROOMFIELD — In-N-Out is taking a second bite of the Broomfield apple as the California-based hamburger chain plans a West 120th Avenue restaurant just a couple blocks east of where it previously hoped to set up shop.

The current proposal, submitted to Broomfield planners this month, calls for the construction of a 3,890-square-foot building with a 1,400-square-foot outdoor patio at 4181 W. 120th Ave. along a stretch of road that’s already home to a Chick-fil-A, Noodles & Co., Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, IHOP and Ted’s Montana Grill. 

Last year, In-N-Out submitted then withdrew plans for a restaurant at 5005 W. 120th Ave. in the  Broomfield Plaza shopping center.

Broomfield planners received about a dozen emails from residents with concerns about the location’s ability to accommodate all of the new traffic that In-N-Out would likely create.

“This concept proposal is no longer moving forward,” planning documents show. “The applicant ultimately withdrew their application prior to hosting a neighborhood meeting and submitting a formal development application.”

An In-N-Out executive told BizWest last year that while the company was “excited” about its prospects in Broomfield, plans for the 5005 W. 120th Ave. location were very preliminary. 

In-N-Out first planted its flag in Colorado in Aurora and Colorado Springs in 2020 and has since expanded along the Front Range.  Founded in Baldwin Park, California, in 1948, In-N-Out opened a Loveland location in 2023, with  Brighton and Longmont locations opening last year. A Timnath location in the Ladera development is also in the works.

In-N-Out’s popularity, combined with its novelty as a relatively new player in the Colorado fast-food scene, has drawn throngs of burger lovers to its existing Centennial State locations, in some cases creating access and traffic headaches in the shopping centers where the restaurants operate.

In a letter to Broomfield planners, In-N-Out wrote of the newly proposed location, “Excellent vehicle circulation is provided onsite with no ‘dead-end’ parking aisles. Access to the site will be achieved from an access point at the southeast corner of the site near the existing right-in/right-out access from W. 120th Ave., and from the intersection of 121st Ave. and Bradburn Blvd with an extension through the site.”

Beyond the location and design of the building and drive-thu lanes, In-N-Out says its operational best practices will help keep traffic flowing. 

“This restaurant will be equipped with three burger grills. Two grills will operate at all times, and activation of the third grill will be done in response to high dine-in or, more typically, high drive-through demand as activating the third grill significantly increases the speed at which drivethrough orders are delivered to customer vehicles,” the letter said. 

“In addition, standard store operating procedure dictates that as soon as the drive-through queue reaches the 10th car (where the menu board/order speaker is located) In-N-Out Associates are deployed outside to take orders using hand-held ordering tablets. The use of these tablets puts orders into the kitchen faster than ordering at the menu board, and, when combined with increased production from the third grill, the result is extremely fast and efficient food production with the shortest possible food wait times, and therefore the shortest possible drive-through vehicle queues.”

City documents show that In-N-Out would have to submit a traffic study and undergo a special-use review of its drive-thru plans before being approved by Broomfield officials to break ground.

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