I ate my first meal at Culver’s during a road trip from Detroit to Chicago. I think I was in Michigan City, Indiana. It could also have been La Porte, or Valparaiso, or Highland. There is not a lot between Detroit and Chicago, but there are many, many Culver’s.
Culver’s is a regional fast food chain based in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, whose flagship product, unbeknownst to me on my first visit, is the ButterBurger®. My attention that day was captured by the fried pork tenderloin sandwich, a Indiana specialty and personal favorite that I was equally thrilled and terrified to see on a fast food value menu. I played it safe with a perfectly adequate fried chicken sandwich.
Months later, after I had settled into a new home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I began to learn of the ButterBurger’s renown. People who take sandwiches far less seriously than I sang its praises. I wondering if this burger was something not to be missed, but mostly I wondered, “What the hell is a butter burger?”
More about Culver’s: Founded a mere 34 years ago, it boasts more than 650 U.S. locations in the as of July 2018, mostly in the country’s flat and cold upper middle. Beyond ButterBurgers and fried tenderloin, the menu offers cheese curds, chili cheese fries, beef pot roast sandwiches, and other regional delicacies you may be surprised to find outside state fairgrounds. Without making a big deal about it, Culver’s is distinctly Midwestern.
As for the ButterBurger, I’ve now eaten about five of them, and I have no better idea why it came to be so named. Here’s how I’d like to imagine this all went down.
SCENE: SMOKY BOARD ROOM. MANHATTAN. 1962.
DRAPER: So, tell me how you make your burgers.
MR. CULVER: Well, we grill the burger. We grill the bun. We put butter on the bun. We —
DRAPER: STOP! That’s it. It’s buttered. It’s… the ButterBurger.
MR. CULVER: But… Everyone’s burgers are buttered.
DRAPER: No. Everyone’s burgers make you fat. Culver’s burgers… are BUTTERED.
MR. CULVER: Don, a “ButterBurger” sounds even fatter than a normal burger.
DRAPER Exhales slowly
END SCENE
In any case, if you arrive at Culver’s yearning for a beef patty topped with a medium-thick slice of softened Kerrygold, you’ll be disappointed. It’s a standard burger. There is a pickle on top, which is a nice touch. The bun is serviceable. The patty itself is ample and delicious. Annoyingly, the toppings are set beneath the patty and directly atop the bottom bun, which led to structural issues on the Double ButterBurger.
But ultimately this is a minor nit. By drive-thru standards, the ButterBurger is a fantastic sandwich with less butter than its name suggests but more than enough heft to see you through the long haul up to the lake, or out to Aunt Carol’s place for the reunion, or to wherever else your travels through the heartland may take you.
Comments
Very well said.
We visited the Midwest from the UK and all the locals raved about Culver’s so we tried it. What the hell??? Why are their burgers so thin? Like 5mm? We came to the US expecting big US size portions but that was smaller than a kids burger in the UK. You certainly can’t blame Culver’s for the US obesity epidemic, it must be down to a sedentary lifestyle.