White Castle

[essvee]

I had a great poster from White Castle that proclaimed "The holes are extra!" Meaning that the patty was no lighter for the holes therein. Always made me laugh.

Also had one that asked "Hamburgers for breakfast? Why not!" It had an incredibly lurid photo of a giant White Castle. Man do I miss that poster.

[essvee]

I'm also remembering that the White Castle in West Orange NJ boasted a "Surf and Turf." A hamburger patty topped with a fried fish patty from the fish sandwiches. True culinary genius.

[elyse]

Also had one that asked "Hamburgers for breakfast?  Why not!"  It had an incredibly lurid photo of a giant White Castle.  Man do I miss that poster.

Er... how can that be lurid?

[essvee]

I meant to say a giant White Castle hamburger.

[branch]

Hey now, the chicken sandwich at White Castle is pretty good as well. Although, to be honest, I've had chicken nuggets that were larger than the patties that go into these things.

A lot of food historians actually credit White Castle with the rise of fast-food hamburgers in the US, as before the spread of this chain most people thought this category of food to be nasty and unsanitary. Apparently the giant porcelain build and design of the White Castle buildings was meant to counteract this, as well as the interior design that keeps the kitchen (well at least the part of the kitchen that makes the burgers) visible from the checkout line.

Alas, I haven't been to a WC in a long time, and the microwave product... ugh. Don't get me started.

[snowangel]

The White Castles here also make breakfast sandwiches. A real biscuit (or English muffin) with bacon or sausage, cheese, and eggs. They actually crack real eggs on the griddle -- none of those odd pre-formed eggs "things" that other fast food joints serve. They are as good as one would make at home.

[Busboy]

DC had its own variation on White Castle called Little Tavern (Buy 'em By the Bag!) for many years, but the chain closed down for good in the 1990's. Every now and again you stumble across one of their distinctive green-roofed buildings still standing, coverted to other uses.

I worked the grill at the overnight shift for a few weekends before the odd hours got to me. The onion/burger/steaming combination makes them somehow addictive.

Rather than "sliders," the preferred nickname was "deathballs," at least after the bars let out.

[SobaAddict70]

I've NEVER been in a Chateau Blanche. Sassy's Sliders on the other hand, is an excellent replacement, and if you happen to visit NYC sometime, I highly recommend them.

More varieties than you can shake a stick at, and they even deliver!

Soba

[fresh_a]

I'm really interested in the iconography, and sort of old-style fast-food mystique that WC projects. I'll try to order some of their burgers, and hit one soon when back in the US

[tommy]

i've always considered WC a NY area thing. and i've always found it strange that there's only one in manhattan. and i'd be willing to bet that a lot of people who live in NYC don't even know where it is.

[Fat Guy]

No there are three in Manhattan. There's the one near my house, up in Spanish Harlem. There's the one directly across the street from the ESB. And there's the one over on Eighth near the tunnel.

I think of it as a Midwest/Heartland thing, though.

[tommy]

No there are three in Manhattan. There's the one near my house, up in Spanish Harlem. There's the one directly across the street from the ESB. And there's the one over on Eighth near the tunnel.

no shit! i had no idea.

edit: that's still very few compared to NJ and the other boroughs of NY.

I think of it as a Midwest/Heartland thing, though

yeah, i figured my impression was wrong. i suppose i've always been nj/ny-centric in some regards. NJ does have quite a few it seems.

Edited July 21, 2003 by tommy (log)

[elfin]

We call them "Rectum Rockets".

To properly order the burgers you say "Six Castles" rather than "Six hamburgers". The onion rings are the best-real rings in a beautiful crisp batter. But they maybe phasing them out and replacing them with 'onion chips' which suck. In the South White Castle's twin is Crystals.

[tommy]

Also known as the "Slyder" because of how they have this amazing ability to move through your digestive system at amazing speed.

hehe. i think it's actually because of the way they slide *into* your stomach and down your throat, rather than out.

[hjshorter]

Rather than "sliders," the preferred nickname was "deathballs," at least after the bars let out.

We always referred to Little Tavern burgers as "Gut Grenades." Only edible at 3AM after a long night of doing whatever it was that we were doing...

[jhlurie]

I think of it as a Midwest/Heartland thing, though.

White Castle started in Kansas: http://www.kshs.org/cool3/fastfood.htm

It's now apparently based in Columbus, Ohio, which I didn't know until I read this: http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/s...31/daily30.html

Oddly enough the chain--which was a big success in Kansas City for years--went out of business there a few years back. It actually wasn't necessarily due to the presense of much better burgers, people I know local to KC tell me that apparently the regional manager was an idiot and they were virtually the only Castle locations in the country regularly losing money. A somewhat White-washed version of the story is here: http://www.joplinglobe.com/archives/2001/0...ess/story4.html

[hotle]

in our nomenclature....'gut bombs'. i've found them to be excellent for hangovers (seem to speed the cleansing process, not to mention one of the only places open that late!), and when i've eaten too much popcorn or other 'binding' material. and, i do like grease and onion, which are the two predominant flavors in those three bites!

not sure i'd classify this as a 'must have', though, or even 'acceptable', from a take-out burger perspective. our local wc is close to a steak&shake.....no competition, in my book.

[tommy]

i find that there's too much cheese on the double cheeseburger. in fact, i like just the plain old hamburger the best. just the right balance.

the frozen WCs, which were released in 98 according to their website (i could have swore it was before that!), don't come with ketchup. so if anyone is planning on buying them to get that WC flavor, make sure you put ketchup on them. it probably took me about 6 boxes (three drunken nights) to figure that one out.

[jhlurie]

Rather than "sliders," the preferred nickname was "deathballs," at least after the bars let out.

We always referred to Little Tavern burgers as "Gut Grenades." Only edible at 3AM after a long night of doing whatever it was that we were doing...

I lived for four and a half years in DC in those years and never once actually ATE a Tavern burger. The places scared me. I used to sit in the car. White Castle at least somehow had the illusion of being clean.

I guess my standards have slipped. I mean White Mana in Hackensack NJ is not exactly sparkling clean.

[DaveFaris]

White Castles were the meal my wife and I ate on our wedding night. After our big wedding party, on the way to the honeymoon suite, we picked up a little suitcase of sliders. I was a little non-plussed, but my wife adores them, so that's what we had.

And all in all, I'd guess I'd say that pretty much sums up our marriage in a nutshell.

[Jason Perlow]

White Castles were the meal my wife and I ate on our wedding night. After our big wedding party, on the way to the honeymoon suite, we picked up a little suitcase of sliders. I was a little non-plussed, but my wife adores them, so that's what we had.

And all in all, I'd guess I'd say that pretty much sums up our marriage in a nutshell.

Funny, we had burgers on our wedding night as well.

[Jason Perlow]

i find that there's too much cheese on the double cheeseburger.  in fact, i like just the plain old hamburger the best.  just the right balance.

I'm partial to double white castles with no cheese. And extra pickle.

Another option for the frozen WC's is to get the frozen ones MADE at White Castle locations. Those are prepared with everything, I beleive. And you get more variety. You cant get doubles in the supermarket. I used to buy frozen boxes of them all the time at WC's.

[Andrew Fenton]

the frozen WCs, which were released in 98 according to their website (i could have swore it was before that!)

word. It had to be before that. The only time I've ever been to WC was in 1990, when I was visiting Minneapolis. When we got back, my mom picked up some of the frozen burgers 'cause she liked them so much and there were no WC restaurants in Seattle.

[Jason Perlow]

the frozen WCs, which were released in 98 according to their website (i could have swore it was before that!)

word. It had to be before that. The only time I've ever been to WC was in 1990, when I was visiting Minneapolis. When we got back, my mom picked up some of the frozen burgers 'cause she liked them so much and there were no WC restaurants in Seattle.

The frozen WC's at WC have been around for a long time... those come by the dozen. The 6 per pack WC's you find at supermarkets may very well have been introduced in '98.

[tommy]

The frozen WC's at WC have been around for a long time... those come by the dozen. The 6 per pack WC's you find at supermarkets may very well have been introduced in '98.

sorry. imadouche. i misread. frozen WCs were introduced in 87, according to their website.

carry on. pretend i'm not here.