The Untold Truth Of Culver's - Mashed

• Restaurants
• Fast Food

Culver's Facts You'll Wish You Knew Sooner By Jake Vigliotti  and Carlie Hoke Updated: March 12, 2026 11:04 am EST James Andrews1/Shutterstock

The West Coast (and Texas) folks have a little something that the rest of the country doesn't with In-N-Out Burger. The people of the Midwest just secretly smile, coyly knowing that they have a little gem of a restaurant themselves. Culver's made its bones serving up fresh burgers, awesome custards, and the kind of friendly smile you may think you can only find at a Chick-fil-A. But the Midwest's secret awesome burger joint isn't just a Midwest thing anymore — Culver's is expanding throughout the country (but not in California. Take that, In-N-Out!).

If you think the In-N-Out comparison is a bit bold, it's not. People love Culver's with as much gusto as the beloved California chain. If there's a Culver's near you, you're in on the game; if there's not, you're going to wish there was one. What's going on with Culver's and how did it go from one store in Wisconsin to one of the fastest growing and most adored quick serve joints? Take a gander at what's going on with Culver's.

Culver's ButterBurger doesn't mean what you think

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The catchy name "ButterBurger" draws in imagery of a savory burger with a pat of butter rolling off of it like some snazzy steak at a high-end joint. Yeah, that's not what it is at all. The ButterBurger name comes from a dollop of butter on the crown of the bun, to give it toasty, buttery flavor. Going along with its family feel, it sources its butter from Alcam Creamery, a family-run Wisconsin based dairy distributor.

If that name fooled you, you're not the only one, but that's mainly because the name is a misnomer. There is a butter burger — and it's a Wisconsin thing. The best guess is that around 1936, Kroll's Hamburgers opened in Green Bay, serving a pat of butter on each burger. So, despite the fact that butter burgers are a thing, and Culver's is from Wisconsin, where butter burgers are, the ButterBurger from Culver's isn't really a "butter burger." 

It started with A&W

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You can't say that George and Ruth Culver weren't risk takers, as they jumped feet first into a fast food chain in the 1960s — and it wasn't McDonald's. In 1961, the husband and wife purchased an A&W restaurant in Sauk City, Wisconsin. It should be noted that there were about 2,000 A&W's in the '60s, so it's not like they were purchasing some obscure chain store. They stuck with it for a while but the Culvers got out of the drive-in biz in 1968 and purchased a restaurant at Devil's Lake.

George and Ruth's son Craig graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1973, and after a few jobs, including working at McDonald's for four years, Craig convinced George and Ruth to take a shot at the quick serve game again. As fate would have it, they ended up purchasing the very spot where their A&W stood all those years before. In 1984, Culver's opened its first location.

Culver's almost failed in its first year

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Opening a restaurant isn't easy, no matter how much experience you have. You may have heard a stat that 90% of all restaurants fail in the first year; that's not exactly the case. Somewhere around 59% fail within the first three years of existence, and a bit less than 20% fail in year one. Why do new restaurants fail? The reasons can be varied and unique, but one thing is universal — competition. Culver's barely survived 1984 for one very specific reason, and that was Hardee's. 

Despite the familiarity to the location, the very first Culver's opened right down the street from a Hardee's. In the first year Culver's sold a respectable $300,000 worth of product, which produced a negative $40,000. That's not good. Co-founder Craig Culver said, "If I'd been a better businessman, I would have sold." He's not wrong — but fortunately, he and the rest of the Culvers stuck with their mom-and-pop (literally!) joint, and after breaking even in year two, 1986 saw a profit of $100,000. From there, there was no stopping Culver's.

Its success rate is incredible

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Since that dicey start, Culver's has leveled the ship and become one of the most successful franchises to own. In 2009, the national franchise failure rate ran around 17%. Culver's was doing much better, with its franchises having a failure rate of only 1.7%. How does the chain pull that off when other places you've heard of, such as Quiznos, ran at almost a 40% failure rate in a comparable time period? Well, it's a bit choosy like Chick-fil-A, and unlike some chains that grew too fast and ended up gradually disappearing, like Boston Market, Culver's is taking the tortoise route to win the race. 

One of the ways that Culver's guaranteed its franchises did it the Culver's way was to teach franchisees how Culver's does it. For many years, Craig Culver personally trained all the new franchisees, and he also scouted locations that would be suitable for 10,000 cars to pass by daily. Craig doesn't train all the stores like he used to, but a store owner told me that he still stops by and inspects the stores, and he'll even go as far as inviting customers back into the kitchen so they can see how the food is prepared; that's legit, and he's done that at numerous stores. With a commitment like that, it's no wonder Culver's does so well!

The franchising fees aren't bad

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If you think Culver's sounds pretty darn good and are thinking of diving in and taking a shot at a franchise, you'll be surprised to learn that it's really not that expensive to jump in — relatively speaking.

Culver's demands an initial fee of $65,000 for 15 years, and then $40,000 for an additional 10 years after that, plus 4% of gross sales going back to corporate — much smaller than the cut taken by the likes of Chick-fil-A. There is one small catch. Culver's requires you to have $500,000 available in liquid assets, or $750,000 if you want to own the building and equipment.

That all sounds well and good, but let's cut to the chase; what will you make a year if you owned a Culver's? Results vary from location to location, but considering the growth Culver's has experienced in recent years, it's safe to say that you could potentially make a nice, tidy profit. Given that very high success rate, it's still a sound investment for a quick serve restaurant, which is why Culver's is growing so rapidly.

Culver's is really growing

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Has a Culver's popped up in your neck of the woods recently? That's not by accident. Culver's stretches from Minnesota to Florida, and plenty of states in between. As of now, you won't find Culver's in the likes of New York or California, but the chain has big expansion plans for the U.S. This isn't a total surprise. Culver's previously finished second in a national poll as America's favorite burger, only behind In-N-Out Burger. That's not just because it's some plucky underdog — people really dig Culver's.

You can make the case that In-N-Out and Culver's are cut from the same cloth. Both started as mom-and-pop burger joints and have a loyal fan base. Each grew in its respective state and then expanded slowly but carefully into neighboring states. Each chain is also regionalized, although Culver's has a slightly wider footprint than In-N-Out. As Culver's continues to expand, its popularity will just continue to rise.

The root beer is its own

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Root beer. Some people love it, and other people wouldn't know good taste if it hit them upside the head in the form of a frosted mug. You can make the case that root beer is a regional flavor — or at least more popular in certain regions. Root beer in particular is quite the hit in Wisconsin, so it makes sense that a business founded in the Cheese-head State by a former A&W owner would have root beer. But Culver's root beer isn't just any run-of-the-mill suds, it has its own formula. 

The root beer is from Rochester Root Beer, but it's Culver's own proprietary recipe. It doesn't really publicize that fact, but a few insiders have noted it to me, and if you look hard enough on the internet you'll find it mentioned in passing. It has a nice sarsaparilla flavor, and comes off a tad bit sweet and very drinkable. But in case you don't trust my root beer expertise, there's a respectable root beer blog that paints a sanguine picture that sums it up, saying, "As far as fountain root beers go, this may be the best I have had." So, it's pretty good.

What is a custard?

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Culver's pushes its custards; it mentions them prominently in most literature and it features a flavor of the day — a unique mix of its custard, the name of which is usually a wonderful pun or wordplay that's as delicious as its icy treat. But what exactly are we eating there? I mean, it's ice cream, right? Well, not exactly. Ice cream is milk and cream (and it's cold, because duh), and frozen custard is milk, cream, and egg yolks. 

In order to be ice cream, you need to be at least 10% milk fat by weight — so a custard doesn't qualify — hence the different name. But don't fret, you're used to not eating ice cream when you think you are; Dairy Queen is in the same boat and not technically serving ice cream. Custard is a big thing in the Midwest, so Culver's is just sticking with what it knows best. You can think of it as ice cream if you really want to, but there is a taste difference — you'd probably notice it on that first bite, but it's close enough.

Culver's is charitable

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Did you ever notice the correlation between popular fast food joints and charitable activities? Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out are both big into giving, so it's natural that Culver's, a restaurant that's in the same mold as those two popular chains, is also in the giving game. Culver's individual stores have stepped it up in natural disasters, such as a store in Texas rebuilding a barn after Hurricane Harvey and an Illinois store providing Thanksgiving dinners for those in need. Culver's once even donated 100% of its daily sales to provide a proper burial for a longtime employee.

The corporate arm does its fair share as well, including providing scholarships for Culver's collegiate candidates. What started as a single $500 scholarship to a Culver's team member is now over $8 million (and counting). If your local Culver's seems to be stocked with eager high schoolers, that could be part of the reason.

The chain isn't completely family owned anymore

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Culver's began as a family business, with Ann and George Culver starting up the chain with their son Craig. Ann passed away in 2008, and George in 2011 at the age of 88. Craig and his wife aren't spring chickens anymore, but even prior to his parents' passing, the Culvers were thinking of doing something to lighten the load a bit. 

It took a bit to get there, but in 2017, Culver's sold a minority share to Roark Capital, an Atlanta-based equity firm. Roark Capital probably doesn't ring a bell unless you collect investment firm trading cards, but you probably know a few of its other investment holdings. Roark is big in the quick-serve game, with holdings in the principal company that owns Arby's and Buffalo Wild Wings, and CKE Restaurants, which owns Carl's Jr./Hardee's.

How Culver's does it

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So what's the trick to making a ButterBurger? A kindly manager told me the secret: The cooks start with fresh beef — not frozen — and use a mix of three meats: sirloin, chuck, and plate. Culver's also incorporates the puck method — which is a tried and true method that Steak-n-Shake, Five Guys, Shake Shack, and other famous burger recipes use.

The cooking utensils are unique. Culver's uses a YUGE spatula — a solid piece, no holes in that sucker. The cooks drop the puck on a flat top grill and then press it nice and flat to seal in the flavor — but they don't use brute force; they have a stainless steel cylinder that they use to put weight on the super large spatula to get the burger evenly flat. That's the true secret and how each burger comes out exactly the same. Culver's isn't a cheese in the middle place, like Five Guys' burger recipe, but rather rests it on top. As you know, the top bun gets a lop of butter on it and the toppings rest on the bottom bun. That's how the magic happens.

So how does a ButterBurger taste?

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Are you familiar with the ButterBurger? If so you know the drill. If you're not, let's break it down. Taste is subjective, but as the Chicago Tribune's list of the top chain burgers attests, Culver's makes a fantastic burger. Think Shake Shack with more flavor. Five Guys with better toppings. All the toppings are always very fresh, and the condiment-to-bun ratio is about perfect. There's one thing that might throw you on your first Culver's burger order — there's a pickle on the top of the bun. Why? Well, because it can (I guess). The cheese doesn't come off wicked melty (unless you get a melt, because duh), and the subtle buttery toasty flavor of the bun just hits all the right spots.

Not a burger person? That's fine, the chicken is surprisingly delicious, and the Beef Pot Roast Sandwich, which in perspective isn't too unhealthy (keep in mind it's pot roast), is really unique and quite tasty. Culver's goes the crinkle cut fry route, and they're really, really good, according to customers. And there's the aforementioned custards and the plethora of flavors.

Culver's is going to continue to grow. In 2025, it beat the likes of McDonald's, Wendy's, Five Guys, and Popeyes in the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (via Fox News). The comparisons are real, Culver's is here to stay — and here to play with the big boys.

Culver's backs up its claim of dedication to quality and care

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The Culver's brand was founded on a promise of quality and customer service. The chain's mission statement is based on caring, stating on its website: "We genuinely care, so every guest who chooses Culver's leaves happy." It has backed up this dedication to quality in a number of ways over the decades, most prominently through its Thank You Farmers Project.

Through this project, the brand provides resources and services to local farming communities that, in turn, provide high-quality ingredients for Culver's food items. By putting money where their customers' mouths are and donating money to the education of future farmers, Culver's hopes to also support climate-resilient farming.

In just over a decade, this initiative has contributed over $8 million to agriculture education. The project also supports the National FFA Foundation and has donated over $2 million through its Concretes for a Cause offering to help local food banks fight hunger.

Culver's is all about cheese curds

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Being a chain primarily in Wisconsin, it makes sense that Culver's would go hard on cheese. One of the most interesting items on the Culver's menu is the cheese curds, which you won't find on very many fast food lineups. In fact, Culver's is the only major chain that features cheese curds on their permanent menu, and it has done so for decades.

If you've never heard of them, cheese curds are akin to bite-sized mozzarella sticks, except the cheese used is cheddar. The bits of cheddar used in cheese curds are unaged, so they offer a more rubbery texture and a milder taste. These bits of cheddar are then breaded and deep-fried.

At Culver's, the cheese curds are made from local Wisconsin cheese and can be directly sourced from a specific farm: La Grander Hillside Dairy in Stanley. Culver's seasons the crispy breading for ultimate flavor. Customers can then pair their cheese curds with an impressive number of dipping sauces. For extra cheesiness, a cheese sauce is available.

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