MERIDIAN — Jenna Geiger came to wait in the cold to get a burger for her daughter who just gave birth. Lori Lindsey came to get her 94-year-old father the food he’s been eating for over a decade.

In-N-Out Burger made its highly anticipated Idaho debut Tuesday morning — people even camped out overnight to get a first chance at the food. The drive-thru wait time peaked around six hours at one point, and by midafternoon was three to four hours while the standing line wait time was around two hours, an In-N-Out official said.

“Standing in line was the right choice,” Geiger said, as steam curled up from above In-N-Out’s familiar logo of red lettering and a right-pointing yellow arrow. “My daughter grew up on In-N-Out and she just had a little boy, number three, so I thought what better gift, mom came to help her and to get her a burger.”

The wait was worth it, Geiger added.

Flashing signs on Eagle Road and Fairview Avenue directed people to the right streets, and ultimately to Idaho’s first In-N-Out, on 3520 E Fairview in The Village. The people standing in line stretched down Fairview, some talking on the phone, some younger customers sitting, until staff opened up more space in the parking lot for the queue to form.

The drive-thru snaked past the In-N-Out Burger company store trailer emblazoned with palm trees. Employees on foot took people’s orders from their cars.

In-N-Out, the city of Meridian, the Ada County Highway District and the Idaho Transportation Department all reviewed the traffic and line management plans for the new restaurant. The burger chain has expanded to a handful of states since its popularity exploded from its beginnings in California.

But the lines weren’t for everyone.

Roque Hernandez’s boss asked him to check out the scene, offering to buy him a burger if he stood in line.

“I don’t think I’ll stay here that long. It’s a pretty big line,” Hernandez said. “It’s pretty exciting having one here. ... I just wish it was maybe a different location with not as much traffic already.”

Hernandez said he anticipated a big response. And perhaps it’s not surprising from a restaurant that both Smithsonian Magazine and the New York Times labeled as having a cult following. Even the Spokesman-Review in 2019 called In-N-Out Burger a “California cult classic.”

And the excitement isn’t just contained to the Treasure Valley. KREM, a TV station in Spokane, Washington, posted Tuesday on X that the Inland Northwest was now only six hours away from the burger chain. Just like with anything, there’s still debate: some people posted on social media that these burgers are too expensive for the hype.

But even Idaho’s Secretary of State got in on the news, tweeting an In-N-Out pun about voting.

“You know what else is IN-N-OUT? voting,” Phil McGrane posted, with a link to Idaho’s voter registration website.

In-N-Out Burger Vice President of Operations George Charlesworth said it was the chain’s 400th store and Idaho made it the company’s eighth state.

“We’ve talked to a lot of people from California today, and it does seem like there’s a good contingent of people that visited us before in California,” Charlesworth said. “We’re just happy that they’re coming to visit us again.”

He said the biggest requirement for a new store isn’t an area’s population but rather whether an area is within a certain range of the In-N-Out meat distribution facility.

However, the Treasure Valley has gained many new stores as the population has grown — like Krispy Kreme. But there are still some on the wish list, according to BoiseDev, like Ikea, Dunkin’ Donuts and Shake Shack.

On Tuesday, Idahoans crossed In-N-Out off that list.