A Hamburger Today- aht.seriouseats.com

We used to eat the sliders from Krystals in college. They are pretty good food at 2 am after 8 beers ... not so sure I'd like them sober.

I think its interesting that you consider it more special. In my neighborhood that was basically where the poor people ate who either couldn't afford the nicer fast food places or those who maybe just couldn't taste the difference after a substantial appetizer of cheap beer.

I thought it would get a better review. I like the cheeseburgers and the chicken breast (not ring) sandwiches.

They also have a clam strip dish which I've only seen ordered once.

It's too early in the morning to be looking at those. White Castle Burgers were truly the worst culinary experience I had in the US, in Louisville no less

@gastronomeg: It's out of my system. Not that it felt particularly bad when it was IN my system..probably cos I didn't eat too many of those burgers.

@redfish: I haven't had Krystal's!...someday, perhaps.

Re: Nick: For those who wanna delve into the deep archives of AHT, here's the post where Adam introduces his slider love.

@sally599: Whenever I talk to my friends about White Castle the response is something like "OMG I WANNA GO THAR." Maybe we're bored of the other fast food places.

@RobertoRx: I probably would've liked the chicken sandwich too. Why did I draw the line at 3.5 sandwiches? ;) I think I'd have to have grown up eating the cheeseburgers to love em though.

@Grace Kang: re the "stomach unpleasantness" -- when I was in high school, my impression was the reason WC burgers were called "sliders" was exactly because of the...stomach unpleasantness. Slid right through, so to speak.

I'm assuming I was wrong, given how popular that name has become.

I first tried White Castle sliders when I was 23 and have loved them from first bite. In my hyper-industrialized food fetishizing mind, they're second only to Jack in the Box's 44.5 cent gringo tacos. Even White Castle lovers, though, are wise to point out that you gotta draw the line at some point. If I have more than four sliders in one sitting it's bad news for physiology.

you misssed the best item on their menu by not trying the chicken sandwichs. Whole muscle - I usually get 5-6 with cheese and bacon added - yumyumy

when i lived in williamsburg, my friends owned the now defunct pourhouse out on graham aveue and metropolitan, and there was a white castle right across the street. personally, i always thought the chicken rings were pretty good--somehow they seemed to be made of real chicken, even though they were formed into rings. i was also fan of the clam strips, and could always put down a burger or three. but this was usually pretty late at night and after about six maker's manhattans, so who knows how i would feel about them now.

The best way to eat a WC Cheeseburger is with their spicy mustard, and a row of fries on it. And only after 1am.

I've only ever tasted the frozen W.C. and didn't like them very much. Never allowed to eat them as a kid ~ my mom was sure that they were made from horse meat or kangaroo meat or something equally gross. LOL

Fish sandwich? Pork sliders? I think you missed the point. At White Castle one should only order the burgers, fries and a Coke...preferably when drunk and/or hungover. I think only having one burger and one cheeseburger didn't give you the main experience.

My first experience with WC was at a drive-through. The driver assured me the burgers were extra-fantastic and ordered a huge bag of them. The smell of all those stinky burgers in the car immediately turned off my appetite.

Years later I was with someone else and grudgingly accompanied them to WC. The chicken sandwich I ate wasn't horrible but it certainly wasn't good.

My family is hails mostly from LA. My dad was in the Army and stationed at Fort Hamilton around '71. We went to a WC once and only once, because we couldn't find anything that looked remotely familiar to us. It's definitely an acquired taste.

White Castle was a regular stop for my family when we lived in Indianapolis in the 1970's. Once we moved north of Fort Wayne, White Castle was only available on the occassional trip back to Indy. It was always a treat we looked forward to.
Fast forward to 1998 when I moved to New York City. There was a White Castle in Jackson Heights not too far away from our apartment. I thought I would be in Heaven. I made my order and was disgusted to find that there was catsup on every burger. In the midwest a White Castle burger consists of a beef patty cooked on a griddle with minced onions placed on a steamed bun with one or two pickle slices. After a couple of visits to various Castles in the New York/ New Jersey metro area I found out that catsup is automatically put on every burger. It ruins the whole thing! All you basically taste is the catsup.
So if you live in New York do yourself a favor & ask for your White Castles to be without catsup.

Never ate at one, as we don't have any locations in my area. All I've ever had is the frozen store bought kind and they didn't do much for me at all.

i never ate one either .... they were referred to as "rectum rockets" in my neighborhood .... i guess the term "sliders" is a nicer way of putting it.

i understand the appeal and the sentiment..... just not a fast food burger eater.... but i do enjoy a greasy bag of pork rinds from time to time.

...oh yeah, sometimes they have the special Surf & Turf slider. fish and burger patty 3 bun. The promotional photo looks awesome and tall, but mine came out squished because they squeezed into one of those small boxes. You can pass on it IMO. Again, Jalapeno cheeseburger #1!

I made a special trip last summer to the U.S. just to go to White Castle. I was really looking forward to it, after seeing them on TV for so long. All I could handle was one bite, and even that was tough to get down. It very much tasted like ass, and I was so disappointed. Now, this was a little drive-thru only place in Port Huron, Michigan, so maybe I need to visit a place with seats and everything, and maybe the quality is a little better than those made in a phone booth.

Many years ago, I was standing around with a group of co-workers just before our restaurant opened. Suddenly, everyone scattered and I smelled the most atrocious scent, one that will haunt me for eternity. The world's worst fart.

Aware of my very sensitive gag reflex, a co-worker who'd eaten vast quantities of WC the night before (and had leftovers for breakfast) hatched a plan to torture me. When she gave the signal, our co-workers fled and she unleashed the mother of all farts.

I ran to a trash can in the kitchen and began dry-heaving. Eventually, I headed back to the dining room. However, as soon as I thought of the putrid odor again, I beat a path to the bathroom, passing my boss along the way. Concerned that I was vomiting into my hands, she followed me into the toilets to check on me. In response to her query, I said "M. farted and it made me puke!" She laughed so hard, tears were streaming down her face.

Ladies and gentleman, the legendary WC fart of Nicholson's Tavern and Pub in Cincinnati, OH.

Some random WC thoughts:

Moving from Queens to eastern LI, I was suprised at the differences in the WC restaurants... no bulletproof glass.

For a work function, pot luck picnic, I brought a crave case. Imagine the spread on the table, fondue, quiche, finger sandwiches, caviar, and a stack of WC slyders. This was fellow colleagues and administration from work and about 85% of them have never had a WC burger before.

I had a friend of the family visiting from the West Coast and never had WC before. We convinced her that the bulletproof glass was soundproff, the "secret" burger to order was the "Kiki" burger, and you only need to order one slyder. I still laugh to this day at the expressions of the workers reacting to some lady yelling at them that she wants 1 "kiki" burger.

Good times.

When in high school in the mid-70's a the night would often end with a trip to the Castle. The unfortunate one who decided to stay home would get his car "Casletlized".....we would break into the car and hide White Castles throughout..the seats, under the seats, dashboard, glove compartment..even on the antenna..you get the picture. The one burger under the sun visor got em everytime. Great fun and memories.

I was a Teenage Slyder Slinger: http://www.slashfood.com/2007/05/31/i-was-a-teenage-white-castle-worker/

White Castle burgers are pretty unique.They punch holes in them to create the "steaming" process. Very different from a regular burger that is normally seared on a grill, WC Sliders have that uniform gray color and texture, which most people seem to either love or hate.

Personally, I love and miss them since there's no White Castle in my area. Get the fries drowned in cheese whiz, amazing. Shakes are good too. All of course tasting the best around 4 in the morning.

Also I've never had a fine dining / trendy "slider" (and I've had a bunch.. usually too much/ wrong kind of bread, overcooked meat, falls apart, etc..) that came even close to being as good as a 75 cent White Castle burger.

Robyn, you must get the fried clam strips next time!!! I love them; crunchy, chewy, and salty. I used to get them all the time in HS with my friend who insisted on getting onion rings so we got our veggies.

Rats with hats!

@KevinB: It's a saying...I know you weren't asking seriously, but I'm not sure how else to answer that.