Medford, Ore. — In-N-Out’s Vice President released a statement Wednesday on their intent to open a restaurant in Medford.
The Vice President of Planning and Development, Carl Van Fleet, said they’re enthusiastic about the opportunities in Medford, but the project is still in the very early stages and there’s no telling when the restaurant could open.
“Once we begin construction on a new restaurant it usually takes us four to five months to open for business, but we still have a great deal of work to do before we can even project a construction start date,” Van Fleet said.
The statement also said at this point nothing is finalized.
The talk of the popular burger chain coming to Medford has mouths watering all over the Rogue Valley, but local burger joints said they’re not sweating the competition.
In-N-Out submitted a pre-application to the Medford Planning Department on Monday. It’s one of the first steps toward opening a new restaurant in the city. Their location of interest is the Shell gas station at the Rogue Valley Mall on Highway 62, less than a mile from Jaspers Cafe.
The owner of Jaspers, John Lenz, said with their adventurous menu that includes kangaroo patties and jalapeno poppers as a topping the two restaurants can’t be compared.
“They’re using fast food concept in regards to rolling the food out,” Lenz said.
Less than a mile southeast in the other direction Denis Poletto manages Wayback Burgers on East McAndrews.
Poletto admits more patties means more competition, but said he’s not worried.
“We like you to relax have a beer watch TV,” Poletto said.
And with business thriving, Poletto doesn’t see that changing even with the fast food icon considering a move into Medford just blocks away.
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