Ina Garten’s Favorite Fast Food Chain Was Also Julia Childs’

Ina Garten of Food Network’s “Barefoot Contessa” fame has been around to share her simplistic yet highly raved-about dishes (and tips on how to set up a stress-free dinner party) with the world since the early 2000s. Julia Child’s introduction of French cuisine into popular American culture came with her television show “The French Chef” that ran for 10 seasons from 1963 to 1973. Child passed away in 2004, but her legacy continues to live on to this day.

More than just being admired and talented chefs with cookbooks galore, Child and Garten shared the same taste in fast food joints. On separate occasions, they have each expressed their enjoyment of the West Coast burger restaurant In-N-Out. Garten is also well aware of Child’s previous love for the spot, which makes this commonality all the more special. 

Talking with Today in 2017, Garten said that she barely ate fast food except for In-N-Out, “When we’re in California doing book tours, we always have to go to In-N-Out burger. It’s so good and I know it was Julia Child’s favorite too, so it’s okay.” Child specifically described her love of In-N-Out back in 2002 with CNN’s Larry King. She said, “It’s awfully good.” Child went on to call it one of the best fast food options along with McDonald’s and Burger King.

Child enjoyed simple food, and a lot of her career was based on making food and recipes easier and more accessible for the average cook. In fact, she refused to use the word gourmet when discussing food and recipes. She disapproved of elitism in the food industry and stated that you didn’t need to make fancy or complicated dishes, because that’s not what made food good. Some of Child’s favorite foods were hamburgers and baked potatoes with butter.

Although, in comparison to Child’s fast food praises, it seems that Garten hadn’t always been the most fast-food forward. However, that sentiment seems to have changed in recent years. Garten has been vocal about being a huge fan of Shake Shack’s Chick’n Shack, the chain’s rendition of a fried chicken sandwich that includes chicken, lettuce, pickles, and a buttermilk herb mayo (featured on our ranking of 11 Shake Shack sandwiches). Garten even created her own recipe based on Shake Shack’s.