An In-N-Out Burger is on the horizon for Lathrop.
And being located just up the street from the chain’s Northern California distribution center means that it could end up having some of the freshest food in the chain.
The popular fast food eatery that is concentrated primarily on the West Coast pulled its permits from the City of Lathrop last month to construct a 3,800 square-foot restaurant iat of the Lathrop Marketplace Shopping Center – which currently houses the city’s Target store at Interstate 5 and Louise Avenue.
The restaurant will feature 84 seats and will have 48 parking spaces to accommodate customers, and will be outfitted with the chain’s trademark palm trees – which were incorporated into the design of the distribution center when it opened in Crossroads Business Park.
Construction on the restaurant is expected to begin soon, and when completed will make it the first fast food restaurant – and the first drive-thru business – located in Lathrop on the west side of the I-5 corridor. With almost all of the city’s new residential development occurring on the west side of I-5 – both in the Mossdale and Central Lathrop areas, and across the San Joaquin River in River Islands – the restaurant will draw from both the Interstate traffic as well as the thousands of new homes that will eventually be built in the area.
The In-N-Out Distribution Center is the chain’s only in Northern California, serves as a hub between the Baldwin Park headquarters of the Southern California staple and the dozens of restaurants that they have opened in Northern California as part of an expansion outside of its roots. The distribution center has become a major source of jobs in the community.
Formed originally in Southern California in 1948, the chain has since grown into Northern California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Texas, and remains a popular destination for visitors who at one time lived in an area where In-N-Out locations existed.
Once the restaurant is completed, it will be less than a mile as the crow flies from the distribution center that serves all of the chain’s Northern California restaurants.
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
