Country musician and philanthropist Dolly Parton has always seemed happy to talk fast food (or fast casual) during interviews, and the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain is even credited with helping Parton win a Grammy. More recently, during an interview about her goddaughter and distant relative Miley Cyrus, Parton reminisced about eating her favorite burgers with her fellow singer-songwriter. According to an interview Parton did with Today, she’s a fan of Burger King burgers, as well as one of the worst-kept secrets on In-N-Out Burger’s secret menu: “Those two are my favorite, the Animal-Style In-N-Out burger and the Whopper from Burger King.”
You’ve likely heard of the Whopper, the trademark cheeseburger of Burger King, which is a fairly standard cheeseburger with the works (lettuce, tomato, onions, mayo, pickles). The Whopper is up there with the Big Mac in terms of burger names that any person on the street could recognize. Meanwhile, the Animal-Style burger is more famous depending on what region you live in: it’s one of the secret menu burgers you can order an In-N-Out. It’s a more unique burger with lots of extra secret sauce, extra pickles, grilled onions, and a mustard-cooked patty. Animal-Style fries are another secret menu item the employees will actually make, but Parton didn’t go into her french fry preferences.
Where can you find Dolly Parton’s favorite burgers?
In-N-Out is often synonymous with California because the bulk of its stores can be found in the state. California has roughly 280 In-N-Outs out of its approximately 400 total locations, and most are clustered near its origin in Los Angeles County. However, the fast food chain has gradually been moving closer to Parton’s corner of the country. In-N-Out is planning to expand into Tennessee and set up operations in Nashville, possibly in 2026. If Nashville gets its own In-N-Out, it would only be a few hours’ drive from the Dollywood amusement park in the city of Pigeon Forge. As of this time of writing, the easternmost In-N-Out restaurants can be found in Houston, Texas.
On the other hand, you have Burger King. To say that Burger King is easier to find than In-N-Out would be quite the understatement: the fast food giant claims to have over 19,000 stores across the world, and over 6,500 of those can be found in the United States. Among those thousands of stores is a Burger King in Pigeon Forge, just a few miles down the road from Dollywood. It’s much more doable to try one of Dolly Parton’s favorite burgers than the other if you’re ever visiting her theme park.
