A small but growing crowd of customers welcomed In-N-Out Burger to Austin on Dec. 12.

The opening marked the fast food chain's first Austin location and second restaurant in the metropolitan area. In-N-Out Burger began accepting orders before the scheduled 10:30 a.m. opening to a slower rush than experienced Dec. 3 when the California-based company's Round Rock location opened.

Closer to lunch time, however, the crowd had grown substantially. Extra employees and off-duty patrol officers were on the scene directing customers.

Carl Van Fleet, In-N-Out Burger vice president of planning and development, said the company is looking into additional locations within Austin, but no formal announcements could be made. There are plans in 2014 to open a third Austin-area restaurant in Cedar Park, he said.

Otherwise, he advised that In-N-Out Burger typically grows at a slow pace. The company's rapid expansion in the Dallas-Fort Worth area—18 locations in the past 2 1/2 years—was an exception done to accommodate the new In-N-Out Burger distribution center in Dallas, Van Fleet said.