I have to tell others about my local Culver’s, my parents (married for over 60 years) would eat inside there for their weekly date night often and the staff knew them well and would greet them by name.
My Mother passed away last January after catching the flu from resulting complications. My Dad went back a few weeks later by himself for the first time ever, and the front counter staff knew something was wrong. He told me that the whole staff came out from behind the counter and hugged him.
I don’t eat there often as they are on the other side of town but I will always have good things to say about the restaurant and the employees’ compassion they showed my father.
Yeah. Culvers is a "working owner" franchise. Every owner has to put in at least 40 hrs a week to maintain their flag. So you get a lot of hands on managment and community driven locations.
That’s pretty interesting. Thanks for the knowledge.
Edit - I just did a bit more research on this. There was a story released 10 days ago about a young lady who started at Culver’s in her teens and now owns part of that same restaurant. Very cool story. Again, thank you haha!
That type of franchise is more like a general manager with profit sharing. Chick fil A is the same and its not uncommon for long time employees to move up and get their own store one day.
Our local owner is one of the best guys I've ever met. He way overstaffs with high school kids and legit puts his time into mentoring them. On any given night he has a dozen kids working, and they all work hard and place runs smoothly. Its common knowledge you really want your kid working at that Culvers.
He also isnt above any job. I've watched him run food, take out garbage, hell one day the landscapers didnt show up and he was out there cutting grass.
They are one of the only chains that I’ve pulled up to with a literal bus full of 50-60 teenagers and they were excited for us to be there!
Manager even came out towards the end with free small cups of custard for whoever wanted it.
Oh, bus drivers and coaches ate free 😉 ANYTHING you want, no stipulations like some of the other places.
I literally had kids on a trip where their production ran late so we were trying to eat somewhere at 8pm. Taco Bell locked the doors and said their dining area was closed. Another place said they closed in an hour (website said 11).
So when we go to a place where the staff is actually excited to see us and nice?!!! It amazes me. Culver’s all the way!
They have really good cheese curds too 🤤 Making me hungry.
Theirs and jersey mikes root beer is the best! The only pop that tastes the same after I got covid. I can’t handle other pops other than Dr Pepper anymore. They all taste gross.
Idk dude I might have the same stuff going on. I had a mental health episode a few months ago. Panic attacks daily for a few weeks. Been slowly getting back into things.
Anyways, I sat in front of the fridge at the dollar store yesterday, deciding between A&W root beer and A&W cream soda…
As soon as I took the first sip I realized I chose wrong. The cream soda is still sitting like 5/6 full on the kitchen counter…
Worked at a Culver's way back in high school/college. They're ran as well as you'd hope. The Culver family was really involved with opening every restaurant back in the day. They still keep a close eye on everything.
Kids meal all the way, scoop of custard and scoopie tokens (which as Charlie Berens points out are inflation protected) and the meal is actually a proper meal size and not your entire daily calories (only slight exaggeration)
YES YES YESSSS sadly moving back up north took Culver’s away from me but I will never forget how much better they are than any other chain. Thankfully the breweries where I moved to all make good smash burgers
I used to live in ohio and there was culver’s but I’ve never seen any east of there. I have been to one in florida though (west of cleveland, so rule still applies!)
Cullivers has hard expanded into Ohio in the last 2 years, they're put up/are currently putting up like 5 stores within 20-30 minutes of my house(I live in the middle of a few bigger cities.)
They've been expanding like crazy, so hold tight and they might just come to you. I first discovered them in Illinois, but I've since seen them across the Midwest (of course), the Southeast, and in Arizona
OOO DAMN I hope so. Like I said there’s some good burgers to be had here, for a good price, so I’m not too stressed. Back where I was before tho Culver’s was tiers above the rest
About 20 years ago I was in Wisconsin on a business trip for about a week. Once I learned about Culver’s I had it for lunch everyday. I still dream about those burgers.
In my experience Culver's meal is like half the price of Shake Shack and 5 Guys. Plus you get their excellent house brand root beer.
I actually think Shack Shack and Five Guys are a notch better but you pay double for that minor improvement and no root beer. Culver's is just a great balance of quality and price.
He's a YouTuber. Do yourself a favor and check him out. He's this awesome old dude that fell into fast food reviews and he's super thorough and wholesome.
As someone who loves Culver’s, it depends on the location, some locations make shit burgers but a good location has the best burger at its price point.
Culvers is great but for some reason it makes me feel sleepy as heck when I have it. I maybe wouldn't put it above 5G but the price point is way cheaper for how close I'd put them.
Culver’s is 100% the best. EVERYTHING on their menu is amazing on any given day. Butter burgers, fried chicken, grilled chicken, chicken strips, the shrimp AND hand battered at the restaurant fish! I hear great things about the pork sandwich also, I have yet to try it.
Oh and can’t forget the cheese curds and getting a cheese sauce to dip the fries.
Every Culvers I've ate at has overcooked burgers that taste like a grill that doesn't get cleaned often enough. I've had better burgers from a gas station.
Culver’s is actually growing. Most these other companies are stagnant or shrinking. In my town we lost 2 Burger King’s, the Wendy’s has gotten terrible, they ruin the burgers by over saturation of condiments, McDonald’s is too expensive for what you get, 5 guys is overpriced af for bland ass burgers, white caste has always sucked, but they were the late night stoner drunk food. Shake shack? Idk why they are on the list even. They’re not in many towns. There in big cities and more affluent areas, but still few and far between.
That's one of the biggest disappointment in burger joints for me.
It looked so promising, and the burger looks better than most fast food burgers, but the burger patty isn't that good in terms of meat and so salty. Just slightly better than McDonald's/Wendy's/Burger King. But overall the burger didn't taste that good or came together that well.. They're even trying to push their fried fish menu now. Are they trying to see if they can make something better or going in a new direction?
Culver’s has always had fried fish. I grew up in Wisconsin in the 90s and Friday fish fry was an institution so Culver’s always carried fried fish. It’s honestly pretty damn good.
Fish Frys are still an institution in WI (and of course the UP, some of northern IL, etc etc). I travel across the state for work and love grabbing fish and a beer at noon on Fridays. I fucking love Wisconsin lol
Whattaburger has been enshittified from what I remember. I thought it was incredible like 10 years ago when I visited Texas, then went a couple of years ago and was disappointed. Just as much as the hype around Culver’s disappointed me (though, the frozen custard is, in fact, the bomb diggity).
Too bad I didnt know this was a thing until now. Nearest one is about 15 hrs away and I drove past it during my road trip. Will probably never do that again though. I have in and out so i cant complain.
I'm curious of what the prices are where you live. There's a Culvers and McDonalds on the same street where I live, but the cost of a Culvers sandwich alone is what I can get for a medium McDonald's meal. 90℅ of the time though either way, I'll drive the 20 minutes and eat at the local fast food place that's cheaper than both and has better quality than any chain I've had across the states.
Culvers is better than any other fast food burger and it isn't even close. Also, I wouldn't really place five guys in the "fast food" category anymore. They are more like counter serve sit down.
I make it a must to go to culvers at least 2 or 3 times when I go and visit my family in the Midwest. Sucks theres none closer to me but also a good thing cause id be even fatter than I am
I took plain vanilla and put a scoop of Jif peanut butter on it last night; super basic, but it really hit the spot. Sometimes, basic is more than enough when it just hits right!
They really do crush it. I'm in Wisconsin so its pretty popular. I like to get a butterburger every ~3 month. Space it out. When I do get it, its actually heaven.
Cheese curds are pretty awful for being so "Wisconsin." Every bowling alley and dive bar has better. Shakes are great tho.
I used to work at culvers so I’d get it almost everyday and it never got old, if I did that now that I eat healthy though I would probably be vomiting everyday😭
As someone who just moved to the Midwest, Culver’s burgers are not that good, they’re local and I appreciate that, but sonic has better. I may be kicked out of Wisconsin for this but it’s true.
Culver's is fantastic, but for the price nothing beats a double double from In-N-Out. Culver's wins on the sides because In-N-Out fries are hot ass, but while Culver's burger is good the In-N-Out burger is just that much better.
Yeah, Culver’s is actually the bomb. I’ve a gluten sensitivity, but they have prepackaged gluten free buns which are the closest to a normal bun I’ve ever had! Helps the burgers taste great too!
Culver’s is the only way. Better products and their staff seem happier. The only time we eat fast food is on a road trip and we go out of way for Culver’s.
I've only been once and maybe it was a bad day for them, but the burger I waited 20 minutes for from the drive through was hella dry and tasted like old Wendy's
I'm from the west coast and visited some friends in Minnesota. Had never had Culvers before then, but I'm DEEPLY jealous and sad that they don't have any stores further west. Their burgers, fries, and ice cream were stellar for how affordable it was.
I disagree about their fries; the fries are the weakest offering, IMHO. The onion rings are decent. I slam cheese curds like it's going to make me a pro-athlete!
A lot of good bars in my area have gone to smash burgers in the past few years. Culver’s has been doing them for their entire existence. I put Culvers burger up against any of them, and is often half the price. Really, really good.
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u/CBJFAN2009-2024 10d ago
I'm hooked on Culver's. Pretty tasty.