"When thinking about burgers, I would say it's more important to have tried New York's iconic burgers like Shake Shack's or Bar Six's (and, ideally, the iconic burgers of L.A., too) than to have tasted a White Castle slider." —Sarah DiGregorio, Village Voice food writer
To celebrate its 88th anniversary, White Castle is giving away 1 free slider per customer. It looks like there's no minimum purchase, either. But really, are you going to eat just one? Whitey's is like the Lay's of burgerdom. Offer good through 7/12/2009.
Infuriating. Just got an email this morning from White Castle, promoting some sort of tie-in with the movie The Hangover. "Science doctors have but one known cure for a hangover: White Castle," the ad says. Whatevs. The movie is set in Vegas, and the nearest Castle is IN MISSOURI. And don't even try to push those frozen boxed burgers, Whitey. That dog don't hunt.
White Castle, what is this? I thought it was you and me against the world.
You invented the slider, basically defining it as a steam-griddled pickle-and-onion-slathered gutbomb when your founders opened in 1921.
I've gone to bat as a linguistic prescriptivist for your tiny hamburgers, seeking to eliminate the use of the term slider for anything not prepared in the manner of your iconic burgers.
And now you—YOU—apply the term to a tiny pulled pork sandwich?
When I have TO REMIND WHITE CASTLE WHAT A REAL SLIDER IS, I feel the foundations of my world crumbling.
Say "I do," with sliders by having a wedding at White Castle. Kurby and Krystal McDonald of London, Kentucky, recently tied the knot at the White Castle they both worked and met in.
Raphael just pointed me to this link and said that maybe it was time to drop the Truth Hammer. I don't know. Witness:
Even at $0.64 for a burger I feel like I got ripped off. Calling the meat rubbery is an insult to perfectly good rubber. I actually don’t mind the onions, but that burger really needed a pickle. The Jalapeño cheeseburger didn’t have any spice that I could detect either.
The pickle complaint is a valid one. But calling White Castle the "worst fast food ever" in the title of his post is so patently wrong that the author has already discredited himself before we even get to the meat of his argument.
White Castle is awesome. To use the Truth Hammer in this case would be like using a bazooka to swat a fly.
Last week I delved into the haute-cuisine of boxed stuffings with Williams Sonoma’s La Brea boxed stuffing mixes. Today, I nose-dived into the lowest of the low cuisine: cheeseburger dressing. Even though it was made at home, and with love, and from scratch—I have to say, with utmost gravity, I can’t believe people eat this.
It all started with White Castle’s much discussed hamburger stuffing for turkey. The original recipe contains the following ingredients: ten White Castle hamburgers, celery, dried thyme, dried sage, black pepper, and chicken stock. We, at the office, were mesmerized. Could I not recreate a gourmet version of this fast-food slow-cook at home?
Photographs by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid
Now's the time to catch up on your knowledge of regional American fast food chains specializing in miniature burgers. Scott Beale of Laughing Squid gives a brief overview (accompanied by nice photos) of White Castle and Krystal, two chains that specialize in tiny square burgers/sliders with White Castle mostly dominating the Midwest and some of the Northeast of the U.S. and Krystal, the South.
Related
Oi, Yank! What's a Slider?
Tiny Hamburger Week
Happy Valentine's Day, AHT Style
Yo, burger cheapskates: Starting at 2 p.m. today—cheap White Castle burgers. As in 27¢ each.
The Castle is tooting its 87th anniversary by offering the mini burgers cheap. But only for 87 minutes. That would be 2 p.m. to 3:27 p.m.
Date: Today (May 27, 2008)
Time: 2 to 3:27 p.m.
Where: Selected Whiteys in all White Castle markets
Limit: 10 (as if you'd want to do more than that)
Find a Castle near you: whitecastle.com/_pages/Locate.asp [Tip o' the hat to Food in Mouth]
Yo, burger cheapskates: If you can make sense of this jumble of numbers, you can scarf some cheap White Castle burgers on May 27. For National Hamburger Month (May) this year, the Castle is tooting its 87th anniversary by offering sliders for 27¢. But only for 87 minutes.
Date: May 27
Time: 2 p.m.
Where: Selected Whiteys in all White Castle markets
Limit: 10 (as if you'd want to do more than that)
Find a Castle near you: whitecastle.com/_pages/Locate.asp [Tip o' the hat to Eater]
Remember the deep-fried sliders that made a bit of a splash when they went on sale at the Independent League's Gateway Grizzlies baseball games? Thought of trying that at home? Kitchen madman DJ Grocery reports on one of his friends who did, complete with gory detail.
Nacho Cheese Fountain [Grocery Eats]
General Tso's Philly Cheesesteak [SE]
For Valentine's Day, Mike and I decided a small restaurant in the neighborhood would make for the best evening.
So we ended up at White Castle, of course!
Friend of AHT Joe DiStefano reminisces about his high school job at White Castle over on Slashfoods:
But it wasn't all burnt grills and onion dust. One of the perks was eating sliders during our breaks. To mix things up, I'd invent off-menu items: double cheeseburgers with the middle bun removed, double fish, fish and chicken, triples and so on. After years of topping my burgers with onion rings such improvisation was the next logical step.
The Gateway Grizzlies, the Frontier League baseball team based in Sauget, Illinois, are at it again.
Last year the stadium served "The Grizzly Burger," a bacon cheeseburger served on a toasted Krispy Kreme doughnut.
This year, they're raising the bar with deep-fried White Castle sliders. Called "Baseball’s Best Sliders," they'll come two for $4. A side of cheese sauce is $1 extra.
Says Darren Rovell, the man who broke the Grizzly Burger story last year, "It’s pretty awesome when it has been sitting in the studio for an hour. I can only imagine how great it is hot out of the fryer sitting at the ballpark. I couldn’t eat too much being that I’m down a gallbladder, but it basically tastes like an onion ring burger."
On deck: Baseball road trip!
Further Reading
I'm not sure where to place this post, so read more about Megaburgers on AHT or about Tiny Hamburgers!
Also, my friend Marc writes about trying the Grizzly Burger last summer. [AHT Archives]
Deep-Fried Sliders [cnbc.com; via Friend of AHT Balgavy]
New York magazine just dumped its "Best of New York 2007" issue, and in it the weekly's food critics name their favorite high-, mid-, and low-end burgers in the Big Apple.
Here are their picks, in descending order from high to low. Oh, and Gael Greene just managed to shoot up even more in our estimation with her low-end fave.
Adam Platt
Waverly Inn: 16 Bank Street, New York NY 10014.
BLT Burger: 470 Sixth Avenue, New York NY 10011. Here's A Hamburger Today's take on BLT Burger.
Shake Shack: Southwest corner of Madison Square Park. Here's all AHT's posts on the Shake Shack.
Rob Patronite
Blue Smoke: 16 East 27th Street, New York NY 10016. Psst: Wanna know a super cool secret about Blue Smoke's burger?
Stoned Crow: 85 Washington Place, New York NY 10011.
Shake Shack: Southwest corner of Madison Square Park. Here's all AHT's posts on the Shake Shack.
Robin Raisfeld
Nicole's: 10 East 60th Street, New York NY 10022.
Prune: 54 East 1st Street, New York NY 10003. OMG: Prune's lamburger is insane.
P. J. Clarke's: 915 Third Avenue, New York NY 10022.
Gael Greene
Brooklyn Diner: 212 West 57th Street, New York NY 10019.
Fairway Café: 2127 Broadway, New York NY 10023.
White Castle: Various locations citywide. We love you, Gael Greene—almost as much as we love White Castle.
Best Burgers - Best of New York Food 2007 [New York magazine]
From PRNewswire:
The winner of the 2006 White Castle Crave Time Cook Off has been crowned. Missy O'Malia of Columbus, Ohio, won the 15th annual White Castle recipe contest with her creative concoction, Enchiladas de White Castle Burgers y Queso.Enchiladas de White Castle Burgers y Queso beat out nearly 350 entries received from across the country for this year's competition. The recipes were judged on the best use of ten White Castle hamburgers, originality, and taste. Missy will receive a Crave Case of 30 hamburgers every week for the next year for her creative use of the product.
After the jump, Ms. O'Malia's recipe...
Columbus Native Wins with Enchiladas de White Castle Burgers y Queso [PRNewswire]
Early last month, we blogged about a family whose trip to the nearest White Castle (400 miles away) was sponsored by Globat.com as part of a promotional stunt. Conditions of the sponsorship were that the family of three had to eat 100 Slyders before leaving the restaurant. Video is now up here.
Globat.com could make you eat hundreds of hamburgers [DefyingGravity.com]
Did you forget to make reservations for Valentine's Day this year? Does your wife/girlfriend have an obsession with hamburgers? Are you looking for a way to end your relationship without actually saying "it's over"? I think I may have the answer for you.
For the 16th year, White Castle will turn hundreds of restaurants into love dens. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on a night you'll likely forget in a week, go to White Castle and be seated by a well-dressed hostess at a table, complete with candlelight and tablecloth. At this point, you can feel free to stuff your faces. Even better, you could stuff each others.
The tradition began at White Castle establishments in Minneapolis and St. Louis 16 years ago. Since then, it has spread to other areas in the Midwest and East Coast. I was hoping to get a detailed history of the event, but couldn't find much information. After this weekend, I'll place a call to the White Castle offices and see what I can turn up.
If you're looking to bring your sweetheart to a White Castle come February 14th, you'll need to phone in a reservation. Also, if you end up going on V-Day, please email me. We'd especially love some photos.
Here are the reservation numbers I could round up. Here are all the numbers for White Castle markets. Make sure to call before 4pm on February 10th:
Chicago (708) 458-4450
Cincinnati (513) 559-0575
Columbus (614) 294-3753
Detroit (248) 477-1450
Indianapolis (317) 269-4590
Louisville (502) 361-2317
Minneapolis/St. Paul (651) 646-1811
Nashville (615) 834-5798
New Jersey (732) 381-4343
New York (718) 899-8404
Northeast Ohio (216) 741-9780
St. Louis (314) 535-7430
Make Your Reservations Now for Valentine's Day Dinner at White Castle [Official Press Release]
Big thanks to Gothamist for dropping this in our laps.
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