In-N-Out Burger just opened at The Village at Meridian. The drive-thru wait? Up to 8 hours

The estimated wait time for a meal by drive-thru at In-N-Out Burger’s new Meridian location was, by noon Tuesday, up to 8 hours.

Fans of the Irvine, California-based chain camped out overnight in their cars while dozens stood patiently outside in the 30-something degree weather Monday night to beat the crowds at the fast-food restaurant’s long-awaited opening at The Village at Meridian.

Construction on a store near Boise Towne Square mall is set to begin early next year, a company spokesperson said. A Nampa location is also in the works.

By the time the restaurant at 3520 E. Fairview Ave. opened at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, earlier than planned, hundreds of people were already waiting to roll through the drive-thru for burgers, fries and shakes in a procession of cars that snaked through The Village’s big parking lot. The line began in a dirt lot near Urban Outfitters, where a sign warned potential customers it could be a wait of 7-8 hours.

A line to get in the lobby curved out the door and along the sidewalk, stretching down Fairview Avenue, though it appeared to move quicker.

Marvin and Jackie Mejia, both 34, of Meridian, arrived at 8:44 a.m. in a white SUV with their two nephews. Over two and a half hours later, they were just a dozen or so cars away from the front of the line. Both self-employed, the Mejias said they moved to Idaho a year ago from the Los Angeles area.

“We’ve been waiting for this day since April,” Jackie Mejia said. They ordered a Double-Double (a cheeseburger with two patties and two slices of cheese), a 4x4 (a cheeseburger with four patties and four slices of cheese), five regular cheeseburgers and a grilled cheese.

Asked when they planned to come back, Marvin joked, “probably tomorrow.” He said the traffic and long lines wouldn’t deter them; after all, they’re from one of the most populated cities in the country.

The Meridian restaurant is In-N-Out’s first in Idaho, and its 400th nationwide. It’ll employ about 80 workers with a starting wage of $17.50 an hour. For the opening, the company brought in about 130 employees from its “all-star team,” scattered at locations around the U.S., to train the locally hired Meridian crew of nearly 100 employees, according to Denny Warnick, chief operating officer at In-N-Out, who shivered in the early morning cold near the front of the store. Warnick flew in from California for the opening.

“So far everything’s going really smoothly,” he told the Idaho Statesman. “We wanted to be prepared in the case that we’re blessed with long lines. We have a lot of associates just dedicated to helping traffic flow through the parking lot.”

The store is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. and until 1:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.