Hot on the heels of Mark Wahlberg's burger joint Wahlburgers unveiling its new Auckland location, American fast food chain In-N-Out has popped up in the capital for one day only.
The pop-up, which is open from just 9am to 3pm today (Wednesday, March 1) at St John's Bar & Eatery at 5 Cable St, has quickly proved popular among Wellingtonians, with hundreds queuing up to get their hands on a classic American burger.
Inside the pop-up, six members from the In-N-Out team had flown in from sunny California to prepare the burgers for hordes of hungry Kiwis.
Footage shows a queue of locals snaking around the neighbouring Whairepo Lagoon.
"The rumours are true! See y'all tomorrow!" a post on the eatery's Instagram Story read on Tuesday. "First come first serve. Limited quantities available."
Even National MP Chris Bishop was spotted lining up for a feed shortly after 10am, telling Newshub he'd been waiting in the queue for over an hour.
"I love In-N-Out burgers. Keen to have one this morning, it's a beautiful day, it's been a nice wait," he said.
Bishop is no newbie to In-N-Out. He said he first visited the fast-food giant on his honeymoon in Los Angeles three years ago - and the burger was "one of the best" he ever had.
"How can I miss out on that?" he added.
Other locals expressed concern that the popularity of international chains, with the arrival of Wahlburgers in Auckland and Taco Bell outlets popping up around the country, could spell the death of classic Kiwiana fare.
"Hopefully when they do come here they will integrate some kind of Kiwi ingenuity into their burgers, but Taco Bell doesn't really have anything like that," one told Newshub as he waited in the queue.
"It's good in some ways. It opens up businesses and jobs... I don't think it's a bad thing."
In-N-Out's limited-edition fare includes double-double burgers, animal-style burgers and protein-style burgers.
In-N-Out previously opened pop-up stores in Auckland in 2013, 2017 and early 2020 prior to the pandemic.
