Culver's

Pork tenderloin, cheese curds—the menu leaves no question as to Culver’s birthplace.

The relatively young burger chain started in the heart of cheddar country, home to such delicacies as the mild, squeaky, newly solidified bits of acidified milk. Deep fried, they still yield little but some of the unique texture and gentle flavor that distinguish Wisconsin cheese curds.

In adopting the “cook to order” model, Culver’s also pays homage to roadside diners scattered throughout the Midwest…without the deep seated stains and yellowed Formica. Their version of the pork tenderloin sandwich features lean but supple meat with a faint natural sweetness, lodged in an insignificant crust. It’s surprisingly moist and rich for a quick service schnitzel, yet it lacks the buttery, artery-clogging heft of versions served at truck stops across the tenderloin triangle (that is to say Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin).

Maybe that’s a good thing, at least in the long run.

But Culver’s raison d’etre is what they call a “butterburger”—simply a classic hamburger loaded onto a buttered and grilled bun. According to company literature, it’s the way grandma Culver used to prepare them back in old Sauk City.

Nothing unusual, really; grease-splattered cooks have been browning up bread on the flattop alongside sputtering burgers for many decades. Credit Culver’s (as well as a few other popular chains), however, for reinserting phrases like “cooked to order” and “never frozen” into the fast food vernacular.

These are not wispy McDonald’s-style burgers. The patties are straightforward and meaty, with a fragile veneer from the grill that hardly interferes with their natural savor. Be careful, though. Ground beef in its freshest, most austere form surrenders to stronger flavors like smoked bacon with little more than a whimper. So Culver’s bacon deluxe becomes a struggle to distinguish red meat as more than a mere texture.

Oh, the chain is known for one more item: frozen custard, doled out into cones, cups and as part of good old fashioned diner milkshakes.

Now, I’m a big fan of shakes, so I attempted to order one in as clear and orderly manner as possible: “A shake, coffee if you have it—or vanilla if you don’t.”

What arrived at the table was an iced mocha drink.

Hard to imagine cheddar-heads at the original Culver’s settling down to a plate of curds and Starbucks.