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San Francisco Temporarily Closed Its Only In-N-Out
SF closed its only In-N-Out on Oct. 14 for not checking vaccine cards at the door — Fisherman's Wharf lost its busiest burger line overnight.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health shut down the city’s only In-N-Out on Oct. 14 after the chain refused to enforce vaccine-card checks at the door. The Fisherman’s Wharf location had posted the required signs, but In-N-Out said it would not police customers’ vaccination status.
“We refuse to become the vaccination police for any government,” In-N-Out Chief Legal & Business Officer Arnie Wensinger said in a statement reported by KRON4. The company argued it shouldn’t have to turn people away for choosing not to show proof of vaccination.
Putting that enforcement job on fast-food staff was always a stretch. Checking cards at the door slows a line that already wraps around the block most days, and it isn’t what counter workers signed up for. Plenty of taco places in the Mission weren’t checking either, and most restaurants didn’t have the staff to do it consistently.
I carry my card everywhere and still only get checked about a quarter of the time. Someone reported this In-N-Out specifically, and that was enough to close the only one in the city for a while. Locals and tourists who treated it as a guaranteed stop at the Wharf are out of luck until the health department and the chain settle the standoff.