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tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption
CHAIN -- Culver's
Frozen Custard & ButterBurgers
When they FINALLY decided we were worthy of one, I realized what was coming from the outline of the roof lines as the framing was being done on the building. I immediately made a phone call to relay the news. You could hear the scream emitting from my phone halfway across the parking lot. If you thought all the great success stories for burgers had been written in the 50's and 60's, you were wrong. Culvers was started in 1984 by George and Ruth Culver and their son Craig with a single restaurant in their former A&W in Sauk City. The Culvers had been involved in other restaurants all their lives, including McDonald's. Craig heads the business today. Ruth died in 2008. Culver's quickly became a Wisconsin institution, and has since grown to over 300 locations around the Midwest. Standing-room only is common at many locations when the lunch and dinner rushes hit. As Culver's slowly expands to new markets, a new-store advertising policy of "word-of-mouth only" (i.e. there IS no advertising) results in packed restaurants. (Regular television advertising happens later). Culver's is for all intents and purposes a burger joint, but more like an upscale hometown burger joint. The dining room is carpeted and has a much warmer feeling than most fast food joints. The menu is extensive (over 40 items NOT including the custard dishes, sundaes, malts and more). You order at the counter, but the food is brought to your table. Expect a five-to-ten minute wait for the food (longer during rush times) because everything is cooked to order. This makes for an entertaining sight at the drive-thru during the lunch rush, where cars line up out of the way in any available space with their little plastic numbers hanging off the window. With meals typically running $6-to-$10 per person depending on if you get dessert or not, you will pay a premium over your typical fast food restaurant. Ordering takes some getting used to. On most sandwiches, if you don't tell them what you want on it, you will get a plain sandwich. You don't have to have fries in your "basket" meal...you can substitute onion rings or cheese curds (fried trans-fat free as of March 2007) for additional fees...or even choose from several items like soups and side salads. You can substitute milkshakes for pop. So there's really no such thing as saying "I'll have a number six". Prepare for something more like "I'll have a Mushroom Swiss basket with lettuce, pickles, onions and mayo, substitute cheese curds for fries, and a small dish flavor of the day." That will annoy some people. That will be a pleasant change for others. The food ranges from top shelf to passable and can vary in quality from location to location. Culver's trademark "ButterBurgers" (the crown is lightly buttered) range from the basic to the obnoxious. Culver's also has a "Philly Ribeye" sandwich, hot dogs, tenderloins, chicken, fish, salads, even a few dinner baskets with mashed potatoes. The burgers and the custard make the place. Everything else rounds out the menu in a way that, if your entire family can't be satisfied, you're just too picky. You can go to Culver's every night of the week and have something completely different. If you have room for dessert, Culver's custard treats are unbelievable. The made-fresh-several-times-a-day-on-site custard is of the 13 percent butterfat variety. Culver's has a variety of sundaes available daily and a daily "flavor of the day" with a monthly calendar slip available so you know when your favorites will be available. Culver's has an extensive line of milkshakes and malts which are available in traditional texture, or as "Concrete Shakes", so thick you may as well be eating ice cream. As if this wasn't enough, Culver's also has the best root beer anywhere. The on-tap "Culvers Root Beer" has a hint of cream in its flavor. It even foams up a root beer float-like head. Culver's has a very small-town feel to it, and that's intended. Franchisees are required to be hands-on operators and are only allowed a couple of locations each. On the other hand, quality can be quite a bit different from location to location. The closest Culver's to my workplace is easily the worst Culver's I've been to, and I've been to at least a dozen different locations. But as long as it remains the exception to the rule, Culver's should just keep on growing. Click here to return to tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption |
