Fine Dining - Culver's History feat. Kellie Baldwin [Part One]

Episode Date: March 20, 2024

Hear how this iconic Midwestern treasure came to be! Michael is joined by friend-from-college Kellie Baldwin to try Culver's, the Wisconsin burger chain that popularized the "Butterburger" and frozen custard March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month! Find out more at the National MS Society website, and if you want to go the extra mile, donate here to Kellie's Walk for MS team! "Fine" Dining is now on video! Head on over to our YouTube to watch this episode! The First Impressions of the restaurant involves way too many pictures of babies and young children Learn how Culver's origins come from Midwestern Supper Clubs Kellie is drunk with power as she labels Michael a Fussy Little Boy A Yelper whose diet allows fries but not burgers, and then proceeds to review the water tab on the soda machine makes his presence felt in this week's Yelp from Strangers The full review comes next week!   Music by: James McEnelly (@Ramshackle_Music) Theme Song by: Kyle Schieffer (@JazzyJellyfish) Segment Transitions Voiced by: Sandy Rose "Fine" Dining is on Patreon! Get an extra episode every month (February concluded with a special episode recapping all restaurants on the Tchotchke of Mediocrity between 4.00 and 6.00, taking a trip down memory lane with each one), extended Yelp from Strangers segments every other week, merch discounts, download access to our music including the 7 singles from our Olive Garden musical, and more! Patreon Producers: Sean Spademan, Joyce Van, & Sue Ornelas   Get the 5 Survival Tips for Casual Dining at www.finediningpodcast.com!   Send in your Culver's stories at [e-mail].   Follow the show on TikTok and Instagram @finediningpodcast   Let me know where I should go next by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, PodcastAddict, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I read every one!   Next week on "Fine" Dining: Culver's Review [Part Two]! Kellie and I start Septemburger in March, the chain restaurant equivalent of Christmas in July, as we try three different burgers, as well as some frozen custard. Ever work at Culver's? Send your stories to [e-mail].

From this point forward, the word cheese will be bleeped because Michael finds it offensive. Hello and welcome to the Fine Dining Podcast, the search for the most mediocre restaurant in America. What's that mean? No. Oh, I did. But it can be. I got nervous all of a sudden.

Yell America. America! Nailed it. I'm your host, Michael Ornelas. This is the show where I'm looking for the perfect five point double zero dining experience out of ten. Why am I doing this? Why am I equipped to do this? Honestly, I just wanted an excuse to eat at chain restaurants constantly and kind of make a joke out of it. It's a win-win.

Is it? I'm gonna die young. With me is my dear dear friend friend from college, Kelly Baldwin. Thanks for coming on the show. Yeah, of course. Thanks for being here. Yay. And you are here, it is currently MS, Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month.

It is March, the month of March. You yourself have MS. I do, I was diagnosed just over five years ago, and yeah, it's a whole new world. It's just like Disney, huh? It's just like Disney. They sang to me about it, and I didn't believe it, and yet here I am.

Well, you went with me to Culver's. Culver's. Culver's. It's a weird thing. You can make it, yeah, you can make it weird. Youvers. Culvers. Culvers. Cul, it's a weird. LV. Yeah, you can make it weird. It's a weird thing. You can make it difficult.

I am trying. Culvers. It is a Midwest based burger joint and they are also going to be an entrant into this year's Septemberger. Septemberger! Septemberger!

Sirens and fire alarms go off everywhere. And fire alarms. I don't know, there's, I don't know. Something goes wrong on one of the griddles. It's a given. Yeah. This is where we went and it was an interesting meal, I would say.

There aren't many fast food places where you're gonna get Atlantic cod. Yeah. I burped it up just in this moment. It wanted to speak for itself, thank you. I was gonna say, let's retake that because I don't wanna leave a burp in. No, let's not, let's save it.

You just paved the road over it. I can't go back and fix it. It's there, it's there. Yeah, yeah. And this was a place that I've heard a lot about, but I hadn't been to before. You have in the Midwest. So I went to visit,

my best friend from high school lives in Wisconsin. And so I ate it there. It was originated, my understanding, it originated in Wisconsin, so that's like the place to eat covers, but I think that's the only time I've ever had it before in Wisconsin, so that's like the place to eat cofers, but I think that's the only time I've ever had it before. Yeah, so just number two for you, number one for me,

and we will get into it next week when we review the restaurant, but that's not what this week's about. This week, we'll tell you what it's about after the theme song, because we've been talking too long. Our table, I don't know, is it ready? Is it not?

We'll find out, but we will play a song about it. ["Table of the Night"] Your table is ready. Follow me. Have you tried our chicken breast? Serving pancakes and ribs, I recommend the spaghetti. We're here to satisfy, not to impress. Your table is ready.

Complementary butter and bread These walls have growth signs Knit-knack cowboy hat, good luck cat Altograph guitar, some crap from your city Behold the tchotchke of mediocrity Fine dining It's just fine dining Fine dining

Two letters on the sign are shining Neon flickering, irregular timing Identify the perfect fine Identify the perfect fine Two letters on the sign are shining. Neon flickering, irregular timing. Identify the perfect fine. She's proud of 10. Fine dining. Fine dining. First impressions.

We walked in. There's a little entryway, and they have some posters with advertisements about some of the treats. They also have... Hold on, I need to address that. It's like a four-way window. Yeah.

Top left box, try our Butter Burger. Bottom right box, try our Pretzel Bites. Top right box, try our Chips Curds. What about the bottom left box? Oh, I'm so glad you asked. Try our Chzel bites. Top right box, try our ch-s-s-s curds. What about the bottom left box? Oh, I'm so glad you asked. Try our ch-s-s-s curds. But Michael. You've already,

you've already mentioned that. You know, we just don't have four things that we care enough about. So here's three. Here's three and a reminder. And a reminder of one of them. Anyways, digression. Oh, that stopped me. Don't worry, that one stopped me in my tracks. Here's three and a reminder and a reminder of one of them anyways Digression that oh that stopped me. Don't worry. That would stop me my tracks the other thing that stopped me. There was a collection of

Portraits of young toddlers Several yeah, no some some bordering on baby some ordering on Kid elementary school age. But like all of them looked like they would fit the bill of specifically toddler. Toddler. And we're not talking one. No, no, no. These are like nice framed photos like you would find in a home. They paid money for these portraits.

And like one of them just like a bouncing baby boy and a bunch of blue bonnets. That's very typical for Texas. Very typical for Texas. I just wanted to make an alliterative sentence. And then just the rest, less artful, but equally baby, equally toddler. And there were like no labels about this is so and so. No context.

There's no context at all. You just walk in and are confronted with these portraits. Babies confront you at this Culver's. You walk in and they're like, hey. Hey, you. Give me your stuff. We saw that you're here. We're here, too.

And I want to give an award to these toddlers. Just the experience of overwhelming your entrance way with unknown children, contextless children, it's way too much. What are we accomplishing with this? What? That's the message. Whoever decorated this place, that's the very first message that they want you to receive when you come in. Be like, hey. Babies.

If you don't like these babies. Let me also note, there were zero babies in that restaurant when we were there. It was not a baby forward environment. No, it was not. Yeah. But the entrance way, 100% baby. It created an expectation

that this, I'm blanking on the name of, what's that place you drop kids and they like play around This, I'm blanking on the name of, what's that place you drop kids and they like play around? And it's not LL Bean, but it's like, but it has like letters and then a name. Mount Playhouse? Oh, Discovery Zone, DZ, where kids wanna be? Can we? Can we, Tangent?

Yeah. How many birthdays did you have at a DZ? Uh, I think just one. I think I had like three or four. DZ was my jam. Uh, and I expected one when I walked through this culver, there were no little like webbed cables that you can fall through into oblivion. There were no ball pits.

There were no way too steep slides. But overall, this decision was way too much. Way too much. Yeah. And then we get up to the front counter and you listen to the show. You have heard me complain about the anxiety I feel, the pressure when I'm in a line and there's just an overhead menu board to order.

This is why I like table service. And I'm kind of doing immersion therapy now that I have reached the 50s in terms of which episodes I'm in. And I've un-popped the lid for fast food, for fast casual, for fast casual, for whatever weird type of chain eatery our brain can conjure.

I'm there, but it is very much immersion therapy. So I'm in a panic. I'm not- Yeah, because there were a few people that came in after us, and so we're standing there looking at the menu, which is, like, spans the whole width, the whole length of the counter.

It's, yeah. And like, categories upon categories. Several categories. Sandwiches that aren't burgers, sandwiches that are burgers, sandwiches that are chicken. Like half the menu is sweet treats. And then, yeah, a bunch of concretes, malts, shakes, custards, root beer floats. Gouris. And then sides.

Yeah, so like we come in and fish for some reason. And salads? These aren't my picks at a culvert. No, so like we come in and fish for some reason. And salads? These aren't my picks at a culvert. No, I skipped right over that section. Yeah. But yeah, people are coming in behind us so we're having to kind of like let them know to go ahead of us.

Trying to plug the faucet, be like, slow down people out there, yeah. And we're just letting them all go ahead. And I wasn't going to be victimized by the pressure to order. You stayed strong. I didn't cry. You did not by the pressure to order. You stayed strong. I didn't cry. You did not cry.

Not this time. Not this time. Yeah, but that's my issue. That's my issue. And then we ordered and that's the thing for next week. So for this week, do you wanna learn a little thing or two about Culver's? Do you wanna know the history?

I wanna know several things about Culver's, Michael. I've actually got it organized into- Do you have some details? I have some details about this eatery. In this week's Eat Dates. Oh my. Eat Dates. Eatery details.

Eatery Details. Founded by George and Ruth Culver in Wisconsin in 1984. That's not that long ago. Culver's is not that old of a franchise. That's just a few years older than me. Just a few years older than me? Just a few years older than me? Did it say what city in Wisconsin? Oh no, I've spoiled.

That's it, the show's over. Thank you so much, goodbye. I got called on my shit. I was just curious, like, if it was a, like a town that I was near. I've been to Wisconsin a couple of times, so I was just curious. Now we've gotta know.

I'm here for you listeners and watchers. You're very welcome. You vamp while I look this up. I think I've been to Wisconsin three times and so many of the cities I've been to have like Native American names since it's like a part of the land where, surprise, it wasn't white people all the time. There was one of them in Kenosha. Sox City, Wisconsin is where Culver's first opened its doors. Okay, okay. The concept was to create a standard fast food place with farm fresh ingredients

and a small town spin on the food inspired by Wisconsin... Wisconsin. Wisconsin... Wisconsin. The concept was to create a standard fast food place with farm fresh ingredients and a small town spin on the food inspired by Wisconsin. Oh, I did it again. How constant of you. The concept was to create a standard fast food place with the farm fresh ingredients and a small town spin on the food inspired by Wisconsin It's on you've locked it in now Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin

The concept was to create a standard fast food place with farm fresh ingredients and a small town spin on the food inspired by Wisconsin supper clubs Whoo, that was a victory. Supper Club. Supper Clubs. Is that a thing anymore? Oh, let me let me tell you a sub bullet point about. Oh, OK. Supper clubs were originally like restaurants slash night clubs

that featured a cocktail hour and maybe a live performance after dinner. They were most popular around the 1940s, but over time, the term morphed to describe small town, homey restaurants, local favorite type of places. I'm kind of torn on whether or not that kind of establishment should come back. On one hand, like, that sounds fun. On the other hand, it sounds like

you're locked in for a few hours. There's not a lot of flexibility on a summer job. No. It's a night out. It's a night out. This is, you know, mom take the kids. And we're going out for the night. Wife and I are gonna go, yeah, yeah, yeah.

We're gonna go live it up at the supper club. We're gonna go to the supper club. George's parents owned a supper club, so he grew up around them and strived to replicate their food and personal customer service. That was what he thought would make his place stand out from the standard fast food options. I will say service-wise, very friendly, very friendly.

And it's really hard at a in 2023, cause like we're so far removed from its founding that like, no, no one at this Culver's that we went to has the like brand ideals in mind. They're just, they're employees. But I would say they were very personal and I did get a little bit, you know, like a Chick-fil-A, the My Pleasure. It was closer to that than just,

Agreed. Here, take your food. Here's the food, now go sit down. Yeah. Get on my face. Eat it out of a trough, piggy. That's how I get my food at most of these places. Ruth was known by her friends as the Queen of Hospitality.

Ooh. Which is kind of a cursed nickname. Like, it would compel you to be considerate to your friends all the time, which just creates too many expectations. It means if you're ever rude, people are like, from the queen of hospit- I know, they really take offense to it. You don't get to feel your emotions,

or act on them at least. No. Well, did any woman in the 1940s? Does any woman now? Great question. Just staring down the barrel of the hard cam. By the way, everyone, we're on YouTube now. So if you want to watch the show, youtube.com.

www. In your address bar, dot, like, which is a period, YouTube, you as in you one letter one word calm But they didn't find success right away There was a lot of local competition and the restaurant didn't make a profit for the first three years Its first year it went negative with a loss of about forty thousand dollars. Oh, no You got to spend money to make money. That's true. You gotta lose money to make money

Is that maybe that's got to be common in restaurants, right that you? I don't know. You gotta spend money to make money. That's true. Or you gotta lose money to make money. Is that maybe, that's gotta be common in restaurants, right, that you lose money for a while? They usually say like the first 18 to 24 months is the toughest pump to get over. Yeah, but. George said, if I'd been a better businessman, I would have sold then.

Oh no, when he was losing money? Like in hindsight, he wishes he had gotten out. This doesn't sound like a guy who's happy with what it became. No, and he doesn't sound like he's very tenacious. No. Like he wanted to get out. He wanted to end the misery.

Right away, yeah. Just like that. Really, George? Dude's got a lot of quit in him. Oh, that's too bad. One problem was that the frozen custard caught on slowly. George said that first timers avoided it because they expected something like grandma's pudding. First of all, pudding is delicious.

I love pudding. Why are we... The Jell-O snack packs were like chocolate and then vanilla and then chocolate. If more people, if more restaurants served pudding, I would order pudding for dessert. I also really like butterscotch pudding. I'm just like an AARP citizen at this already at this age. Yeah. The Culver's fixed the problem by giving away free custard to guests. Once people tried it, they came running back for more. This is like drug dealers.

I was just going to say, that's what drug dealers do. Yeah. It's like the first batch is free. First one's on me. Yeah. Yeah. And then you come back and you're like, oh, that was good. Then you're hooked and now we've got bigger problems.

I need custard. I need the custard. All the custard is made from Wisconsin dairy products, and each location gets to choose its own flavor of the day from a list of nearly 200 options. It's good that they have a list of options to pick from, because I would be really scared if they just got to make up a flavor. Just, they have like this bombastic Mozart

of a general manager who's just like, this and that, and it's just like this and that. And it's just like, I don't think that. It could be really scary. I don't think that mixes. Mm-mm, it don't. It's just a cup of fixins. Oh, that sounds great, doesn't it?

No. Oh. Wait, does it? It does. It does. We have different viewpoints. What are we, two people with differing opinions? But yeah, thank God George didn't sell because nowadays Culver's is the largest Frosten.

You said Frosten and my mind immediately went to Thurston Howell from Silicon Island. I don't know why. I don't know why I can't speak today. You want to throw teas in everywhere. What's with the tea? Thank God George didn't sell because nowadays Culver's is the largest frozen custard chain in the US of America. What makes frozen custard custard and different

than just like ice cream? I did it again, didn't I? Oh no. I don't know. These are things I'm just saying out loud and I can Google for myself later because I'm just curious. Like a cat. Ice cream is typically lower in fat and calories than frozen custard. This is because it is made with larger amounts of milk and lower amounts of cream. That's why we liked the concrete, the custard so much.

That's the difference. Okay. Besides the custard, their signature item is their butterburgers. Originally, they were portioned out on the grill using an ice cream scoop. That's cute. It's a weird flex, but mentions on their website. So conjures up an image of like a half gallon of ice cream. Yeah, and they're just scooping raw meat with an ice cream scoop.

No, I don't like that. Butterburgers are a long-time Wisconsin favorite dating back to 1936. But all the butterburger means in this case is that the buns are lightly buttered. They also come with a single pickle on top of the bun. We experienced no such pickle. I'm kind of upset now because I really like pickles. Yeah, that wasn't a thing, right? That wasn't a thing at all. No. Yeah. Uh-uh. Since they're a Wisconsin chain, of course Culver's has sh**s curds too. It even designated October 15th has sh**s curds too. It even designated October 15th National Sh**s Curd Day.

I don't know if you're- All these national days? Also is there not a procedure? You don't get to just say- You're just saying it? Yeah. I'm gonna start- Fine, I'm gonna start making days. Yeah. They sell over 18 million curds per year. They sell over 18 million curds per year. Well, a lot of people... Make mistakes. Like, s***, I'm so sorry. Culver's hands out table tents and brings the food to customers. The founder claimed that they were proud

to be the slowest fast food restaurant in the world because they make everything to order. They make their own root beer. Ah wish I had done that. I hate root beer. I thought we were just literally finishing each other's sentence and then you went in a direction. Here's the thing I was traumatized, sidebar, was traumatized by root beer as a child. How? My friend's mom took us to Arby's when we were kids one day. Arby, literally the abbreviation for root beer. I know.

Do you know why it's called Arby's? No. Arby for roast beef. Okay. So. I mean, that makes sense. Yeah, yeah. It didn't blow my mind, but it makes sense. Anyway, she's.

So you were taken to Arby's. So we went to Arby's to eat one day and she got us, you know, like the meal, we split a meal because we're little kids and we don't have full size adult bellies yet. So we split a meal and got fries and what I thought was a Coke. So I went to take a big old gulp of this dark soda.

And it was a different thing. It was not Coke. And it made you hate root beer? It made me hate root beer. Honestly, I have like hated water because I have gone to take a drink of a Sprite and it was water. And I was like, I've also in reverse hated Sprite because I want to take what I thought was water.

I like those things Yeah, but not when your mind is something about an unexpected flavor or an unannounced or an imposter flavor The same thing happened with salt and vinegar chips. So I can't do salt and vinegar chips I thought they were regular potato chips took a big old handful as a dumb child is young dumb child Same thing happened to me with those and like sour cream and onion chips and yeah. There's a lot of trauma around food. There is. Let's get into it.

Let's unpack. We'll get back to the Eat Deeds for Culver's. Yeah, that show's done. We're on a different show now. Culver's, oh, I didn't even finish that Eat Deed. They make their own root beer with a recipe perfected by George's son, Craig. Oh, Craig.

So Craig made the recipe. Great job. Culver's mascot is a giant scoop of frozen custard named Scoopy. Scoopy? I thought that they were ****ards. Is that what the yellow things are that we saw? It's got to be. But now I want to go back and get a big plush Scoopy.

Scoopy? Yeah. I hate that and love that equally at the same time. Right? I can't, I haven't laid in. It's a little upsetting. Yeah. But I want it.

Yeah, yes. Yeah. Their first attempt at franchising was troubled. The Culvers weren't experienced with handling contracts, and the second location ended up being very different from the first. The experience put the couple off of the idea for a few years, but in 1990,

they tried again and got it right. There's the tenacity I was looking for earlier, George. If at first you don't succeed, wait a few years and try again. Yeah, I like that. As a result, Culver's operates under especially strict franchise rules. All prospective owners have to spend a week working at a Culver's, performing every single role on a graded system.

If they pass, they're invited to a four month training cap camp. Camped camped. To throw in the T quick in the tea. Quick. In the small town of Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin. Prairie Du Sac. Du Sac. S-A-C. Prairie Two Sacs. That was my nickname in college.

Oh, there he goes. Prairie Two Sacs over here. This on top of all the usual franchisee expectations, like picking a site, hiring employees, et cetera, et cetera. So a four month training camp is intense. What do you, like is there an obstacle course? Is it like the biggest loser? Yeah, what are they doing? You gotta lose 40 pounds.

What are they doing every single day at this camp? What if we just wanna attend the camp, but we're not prospective franchisers? We can get those disguised glasses and the fake big nose and the mustache, the Groucho Marx glasses, and we'll go in disguise. We'll be like, oh, we're looking to franchise. Oh yeah, we're here for serious stuff.

Go undercover and attend a four month Culver's training camp. Sounds like vacation to me. Uproot a third of a year. Yeah. Feasible. I got nothing else happening. I got nothing to do. But all the hard work has paid off. By 2014 there were 500 Culver's in the US, all brick and mortar locations rather than rented spaces in strip malls or food courts. That's a good amount. 500? That's pretty healthy. They're doing okay. Okay. Yeah. All right. And franchisees have a shockingly low rate of failure. Only 1.7% of loans granted to franchisees failed, while the average rate of failure for restaurants is 17%. So if you're looking for something to do, franchise the culvers.

You're looking for something to do. Branch rise of Culver's. You can't fail. You can't fail, almost. Yeah. Asterisk. The system works to create successful restaurants, but that hasn't always translated to employee satisfaction.

Back in 2012, Culver's was ranked as one of the worst restaurants to work in, along with some of the other places we've covered on the show already. Oh, no. Like TGI Fridays. Yeah. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Is that just like any fast food place, though? Surely there's not. That's not atypical for. Fast food restaurants. Yeah, but I mean, they're all included in this list.

So for it to be amongst the bottom of those kind of speaks something. And then since then, numbers have improved somewhat and the chain scores closer to middle of the road. So since 2012, they've had 11 years, 12 years to repair that infraction. Originally a Midwestern chain, Culver's has tried to expand slowly and target its existing customer base. So one reason they've built locations in Florida, for instance, is to follow the quote unquote snowbirds, which are Midwesterners who travel to warmer states in the winter.

At some point, the whole country is just going to be Florida, right? Like everything is, oh, and we've expanded. We're in Florida now. I'm so sorry to be dystopian about everything, but. I was like, this is the worst hypothetical scenario I've ever heard. Every time. Everything is Florida.

Yeah. Oh, we've expanded in Florida or something, something in Florida. Oh my God. Is everything Florida now? Just the Floridafication of America. I hate it. Yeah. Red hot chili peppers got it wrong. It's not Californication. Floridafication. Floridafication. And it's sad.

Yeah. According to Restaurant Business Online, millennials ranked Culver's fourth in a list of their It's flortification. Flortification, and it's sad. Yeah. According to Restaurant Business Online, millennials ranked Culver's fourth in a list of their favorite quick service restaurants behind Chick-fil-A, Cold Stone, and Tropical Smoothie Cafe. I've never heard of Tropical Smoothie Cafe.

There's one not far from my house, but I don't think I've ever been there. Yeah, and I love me a Cold Stone. I'm a big Cold Stone fan. I don't know if I've ever been to a Cold Stone. I'm a big Cold Stone fan. Okay, are they, do they just have ice cream or is it also like food?

Pretty much just ice cream. Okay. But it's like smashing in your toppings and they like make it on a slab in front of you. Like Amy's. Yeah, or like Marble Slab. Okay. Yeah. I like ice cream with a bunch of stuff in it. Me on a slab in front of you. Like Amy's. Yeah, or like Marble Slab. Okay. I like ice cream with a bunch of stuff in it.

Me too. So the idea of like- I like a few mixed textures. I don't want just smooth. I like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup chunk inside of a bite of ice cream is hard to beat. Yeah. It's why I like Ben and Jerry so much, because there's way too much stuff in there. That's exactly how I want my ice cream.

I just tend to like the flavor creations better at a Cold Stone. I live really close to a Ben and Jerry's in Cold Stone that are like across from each other. And I'm always, I'm in that Cold Stone. Okay, okay. It also beat out In-N-Out and White Castle in terms of sales.

I've never been to a White Castle. Don't. Okay. You're missing. Nothing special. You're to a White Castle. Don't. Okay. You're missing... Nothing special. You're missing a bad time. Okay. Yeah.

If you like White Castle... Michael's private phone number is... I don't understand you. I don't understand you. That's all I'm saying. If you like White Castle, I don't get it. Maybe it's a local thing where- You know what? I'm gonna announce White Castle

as the number eight seed for Septemberger. He's walked it in now. Someone's gotta be last place. Oh, wow. So I'm gonna find me a White Castle and either drive or fly there however far I need to go to get to a White Castle. And prove.

And prove how trash they are. Michael, them's fighting words. The chain is now primarily owned by Craig Culver. Oh Craig, we heard about you. Oh Mr. Root Beer. Oh baby Root Beer. Ruth passed away in 2008. Three years later George died at the age of 88. That's impressive. 88's a good, that's a good long run. It's a good run, yeah. Good for him. In 2017, Craig sold a minority share of the company to Rork Capital Group, a private equity firm.

So the business is not completely family owned anymore. So they're still largely owned by. Culver, the Culvers. By the Culvers, but okay. The least healthy item on their menu is the Curder Burger. Curder Burger, the Curder Burger, which is their deluxe butter burger plus a skirt about the size of a burger patty on top. It comes in at nine hundred and twenty calories on its own, plus one gram of trans fat, which is about half the calories come from the

c***s curd alone. I wonder how many of those they sell a year. There's a lot of people looking to punish themselves. There are in this country. The Curder Burger is actually a divisive menu item with some rabid fans and major haters. It was originally announced as an April Fools joke, but so many people called to ask about it that the chain made it for real. Yeah.

The joke's on us. It's so, it's on our physicians. Yeah. The people who have to take care of us. Yeah. It sold out at many locations on launch day back in 2021 and again the following year. That's like recent history. Yeah.

So this is a thing that maybe still exists? Like this year would, April's around the corner, so. Maybe it's going to happen. I think we got to keep our eyes open. It would be like the fourth annual Kurder Burger. Yeah, Kurder Burger. Yeah. In 2023, Culver's switched from Pepsi products to Coke, which apparently outraged some customers.

It was a whole news cycle. It was a whole news cycle. Switch from Pepsi to Coke. Usually the other way I would think would enrage more people. Some people get really mad when Coke's never- But Midwesterners love their Pepsi. Oh, is that right? Yeah.

Okay. I mean, at least, I mean, I was born in Chicago. My relatives big on Pepsi. They'll drink Coke too. But Pepsi's a go to. Pepsi is kind of like the dominant one in that area. OK, so it's just different. So I will make the assumption that that spreads to Wisconsin.

That makes sense. That makes sense. And as of 2023, there are 800 restaurants across 26 states with plans for a lot more. So they're still expanding. They're still going up. 800. I thought 500 was good. And now they're at 800.

Have you heard of 500? Wait till you find out about 800. Yeah, see? Yeah, so Culver's on the rise. They are. Good for them. Which, you know, in the post-COVID world, the chain restaurants that did survive.

Yeah, are thriving. Are, they're turning it around, I think. Good, yeah. So that will do it for this week's Eat Dates. I think I did that right. All right, so we've covered the history. Mm-hmm. But I want to hear what other people have to say.

I don't know why, but I've started doing that as a bit. Well, I like that. Where I can't muster out sounds or I'm so excited that I'm formulating. As we've proven this episode, I'm having a hard time talking. But before we go to our review next week, I want to hear what other people are saying. I do too. Before we go to our review next week, I want to hear what other people are saying. Every two. I want to head over to get a little bit of Yelp from Strangers. We need a little Yelp, a little Yelp, a little Yelp from Strangers.

A one star, two star, three star, four yeah so get a little yelp a little yelp a little yelp from strangers a little yelp a little yelp give us those complaints while you literally whine and die yelp this song gets stuck in my head regularly just so you know yelp from stranger catchy af as the children would say i like i've designed it to be... Okay, well you did. Well, I mean, I request them to be.

I'm not the composer or performer on this. A lot of people think I'm the singer in these. I'm not. I didn't think that. James McIneely, at Ramshackle Music on Instagram. Hey James, you're doing great. He's great.

He does a lot of my music. He does a lot of my tunes. No, it pops in my mind all the time. As does Fussy Little Boy. I haven't played that one in a while, but if you would like to accuse me of being one, we can drop it in here now. What were you fussy about today? I don't know.

My inability to read. You're wanting to put T's in everything? Yeah. It's pretty fussy, Michael. It's fussy. It's a little bit fussy. What are you calling me? Thank you,ussy little boy

Yes, it happened and I did it It happened and I did it! Power! It just like instantly goes to my head. Speaking of fussy people, this is Yelp from Strangers. Our segment where we go to Yelp and read out our favorite one, two, three, four, and five star Yelp reviews about the very Culver's at which we dined. Can I start us out with the good one? Yeah, I want you to. Three Star Review

This is a three star review. This is from Andrew B. Over two years ago, the dude has written 252 Yelp reviews. He's elite for 2023. He's got 23 friends, 23 photos. I wonder if all the photos are photos of his Yelp friends. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Ah-bap-bap-bap-bap-bap. Most of the menu doesn't fit in with my diet,

but they have fries, which do fit in with my diet. What diet? What diet is this? We could stop right there and unpack. Let's never address the rest of it. That would be enough. It's like, there's more. I can't eat the stuff here.

Except the fries. But the fries. Because that's in my diet. My doctor said that's okay. The service was fast and the fries were hot. Confirmation that fries is what he got. The water tasted better than some other fountain waters. The tab for water had drawings of water drops, which confused me, as I'm used to the water tab saying water.

But the water was good, and a person needs water on hot Texas days. Like, so the visual representation of water was confusing to him. Look, if it has a pull tab, it's either water or tonic water, or soda water, whatever. Yeah, yeah. Hot fast fries bettered my day.

I like better as a verb, I like that. He spent more real estate in that review talking about the water. The water and his diet that accommodates fries? I have, I wanna say never, but maybe I have, I don't know, gone to a restaurant and had feelings about water, their water that was so strong, that you yelled. That I wanted to take to the internet

and let others know these thoughts. Hey, strangers. Listen to this. Do you like water? Check out this jazz. Yeah, water. Yeah. And also just the diet thing is wild to me.

I'm concerned for this person's health. I've never gone up to a cashier and gone, I'll just have the fries. Just the fries. I'm trying to watch my figure. Fries and water. That's his diet. And he's dipping it in soggy fries.

I hate that. Four star review. This is Sean M. from 10 months ago. Great. Their ice cream slash custard is like crack, period. Good start. Okay, so we're jumping right in, okay. We got drugs on the munch.

Drugs. Well, and we know that they give you a taste. They start you off as a little. There's a theme here. I'm now realizing. Culvers, not above board. They're not, no, okay. I am obsessed with it.

With the cream and custard or with crack. And he doesn't specify, we don't know. I always get a hot fudge sundae and split it with my husband. I decay what they put into it to make it taste so good, but don't stop. 12 out of 10, deaf recommend. 12 out of 10. Four stars.

Yeah, but it only got four stars. So obviously. 12 out of 10, above perfection. The math's not there. No. The math's not there. It is, it's just wrong. Do you expect a crackhead to be nailing their number work? Solid point.

That's true. I don't. All right, Sean M. Thanks, Sean M. Thanks, Sean M. You can go download our full Yelp from Strangers segment at our Patreon. The link for that is in the description of this episode,

or you can go to patreon.com slash fine dining podcast. And we're now offering a one week free trial. So what do you have to lose? Go check it out. People have wild opinions and we get to read oh so many of them. Thanks. That does it for the history of the place.

That does it for our Yelp review. We've talked about our first impressions, but we are now ready to dive in to our review, our thoughts. Splish splash. Our opinion, in Greece, in our opinions of what Culver's had to offer. So join us next week.

Thank you so much for watching this episode of the Fine Dining Podcast, the search for the most mediocre restaurant in America. Kelly, thank you for coming on. Where do you want, do you want people to find you on social media or do you want to stay a nonny moose? I'm not, I'm not, I'm, I always joke that my spirit animal is a grandmother and I'm just not very like social media forward.

So find Kelly and knit her a sweater. Out in the wild. Find me out in the wild. Yeah. Knit me a sweater. People are going to and you're gonna be like Find me out in the wild. Yeah. Knit me a sweater. People are going to, and you're gonna be like, uh. I'm gonna be stopped.

I didn't mean it. When I'm out and about, yeah. Is there anything you wanna tell people? Are there any organizations or anything about MS that you want people to go check out to learn more? I run a support group here in Austin for people living with MS. It's through the National MS Society.

So it's on their website, like their resources page. You can search for resources in your area. Yeah. You can get a little zip code. Are there like donations or any fundraising or anything like that? There's, let's see. How about this? Even if you don't know it off the top of your head, if there is, I can just put a link on screen.

Okay. I know the MS walk happens at the beginning of April, and there's usually people in my group that start a team. Okay. That hasn't been formated yet, but it might. Because this is being recorded in December. Right. Even though it's gonna come out like a few weeks

from that thing, you're not as behind as it sounds. Okay, okay. Yeah, yeah, awesome. Well, I will see you next week. Yes. I'll see you next week. Yes. I'll see you next week. And yeah, we're just gonna be sitting here waiting on our table in the meantime.

No, I'm gonna be living in your home for the next week, just waiting for, okay. Perfect. We're actually gonna wait a week before we record. We're not gonna knock it out. That's what I thought. Immediately after. That's how I thought it would go. Yeah, yeah. Okay.

All right, well thanks for watching. We'll see you next week. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Have a fine day. Waiting on our table, waiting on our table. The step is done and we had some fun now. We're waiting on our table, waiting on our table.

Join us next time we're stuck in line. Waiting on our table, waiting on our table Join us next time, we're stuck in line Waiting on our table, waiting on our table We're so hungry, tummy's grumbling Waiting on our table, waiting on our table We gotta continue our search for mediocrity Yeah Waiting on our table, waiting on our table We'll be waiting and dissipating it

Waiting on our table, waiting on our table We're swimming in this week or digging in We're waiting on our table, waiting on our table We've got an appetite for just sit tight Cause we're waiting on our table, waiting on our table Search will continue when we see you next week He, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he,