The 9 Hands-Down Best Culver's Ordering Tips You Need To Know By Now

Culver's is a Wisconsin-based chain that was started in Sauk City in 1984 by Craig and Lea Culver, along with Craig's parents, George and Ruth. It has since expanded to more than 900 locations nationwide. It is one popular fast-food restaurant that's still mostly family owned. The restaurant chain has quite a wide variety of options on its menu. From chicken and seafood to salads and unique items, like a Harvest Veggie Burger. While there is something for everyone, Culver's is most well-known for its ButterBurgers, cheese curds, and frozen custard. 

Even with such a large selection, customers have found different ways to customize and elevate some of the restaurant's signature menu items. Beyond using two magic words to get a better burger, eaters have gotten quite inventive, combining various menu items to make their own creations, substituting  unique offerings or ingredients, and finding ways to save money. That is why we decided to compile nine of the best Culver's ordering tips you need to know to enhance your experience the next time you visit.

There are a number of sides that Culver's offers for customers to choose from, including crinkle cut fries and onion rings. Unfortunately, reviewers on Reddit expressed that the chain's fries can sometimes be lackluster due to them being soggy and undercooked. "They're great if they're fresh and crispy but all the Culver's around me seem to just make batches throughout the day and it's pretty rare to get fresh fries," one Redditor explained. Someone who appeared to be an employee expressed disappointment in the comments at the experience, stating that fries are supposed to be made-to-order and not sit for longer than six minutes.

In order to fix the problem and elevate the fries, Redditors consistently recommended ordering them "extra crispy." "Culver's fries need to be requested as extra crispy. That makes them pretty perfect for crinkle cut," one Redditor emphasized. There were also multiple eaters who highlighted that getting the fries extra crispy is especially good for when having chili cheese fries. The onion rings were another side that customers stated were better when ordered well done.

Poutine is a Canadian dish that consists of french fries and cheese curds topped with gravy. It is fairly well known and has become so popular that it's even made its way onto menus at some restaurants and fast food chains. While it is not offered at Culver's, the restaurant does have everything you need to make a cheater poutine. In fact, it's even something the chain has provided instructions on how to make. 

Each recipe we found from customers was different and unique in its own way. That means you can decide which to use based on your own taste and preference. One creation from an apparent employee requires others to get a kids meal of the Buffalo Chicken Tenders with extra crispy fries and a side of chicken gravy to make a tasty poutine. Another Redditor suggested the following: "Small fry extra crispy, pot roast sandwich no bun, two cheese sauces. Then you assemble. Fries, then the meat, then coat it in cheese." 

The most common method we saw to create a Culver's poutine involved ordering cheese curds, french fries, and a side of the beef or chicken gravy, then combining them. That said, it was noted by a couple of commenters that some locations have gotten rid of the beef gravy, so visitors may have to settle for chicken. As a matter of fact, this menu hack has become so popular that it's received media attention.

This next ordering tip allows customers to get the best of both worlds when ordering chicken from Culver's. The chain offers both Original and Buffalo Chicken Tenders in orders of one, two, four, or eight pieces.

Multiple posters on Reddit advised eaters that when ordering more than one piece of the Original Chicken Tenders, they can sub pieces for the Buffalo Chicken variety. However, they did not say whether the substitution has a fee associated with it. There was a commenter who shared that substituting the tenders was exactly how they tried the Buffalo Chicken Tenders for the first time. There was even one Redditor who highlighted the Buffalo Chicken Tenders as being superior due to its breading. 

Customers also shared that they enjoy pairing the Buffalo Chicken Tenders with a variety of sauces and other items. "Might be a bit unhinged, but I've recently discovered the absolute joy of dipping the buffalo chicken tenders in chili," one Redditor shared regarding a more unique coupling. Some more conventional combinations included the tenders with Culver's Signature sauce, Boom Boom sauce, French dressing, ranch, honey mustard, and cheese sauce.

The pretzel bites from Culver's are a dish that is typically savory and can be purchased in a medium, large, or family sized order. They come sprinkled with salt and served with its hot Wisconsin cheddar cheese sauce. However, customers and employees have come up with different ways to transform the bites into a sweet treat.

One way to turn the side into a dessert that an employee recommended was asking for the pretzel bites without salt, then sprinkling sugar and cinnamon over them and shaking them in the box they are provided in. A Redditor highlighted the cinnamon sugar pretzel bites as one of their favorite hacks at Culver's. "Orrr put a few pumps of marshmallow and a few pumps of salted caramel in the box and shake it," another Redditor shared. 

People also advised using hot caramel, hot fudge, or salted caramel as a dipping sauce for the pretzel bites instead of the cheese sauce. "So with the pretzel bites, you can make this good dip which includes marshmallow creme, cinnamon, and sugar, you mix them all together and bam you have a DELICIOUS DIP," a customer on Reddit said regarding how they like to enjoy the bites as a sweet treat. You might be wondering, where do I get these different sweet sauces to make the desserts? They are toppings that the chain has for its custards and sundaes.

Culver's also offers mashed potatoes and gravy as a side, which it lists as mashed Russet potatoes that are mixed with milk and seasoning until light and fluffy, then topped with a savory, home-style gravy. They can be ordered in a medium or large size. This is another item that the chain provides a hack for on its website to enhance it, telling customers to order mashed potatoes without gravy then drizzle its cheese sauce over the top to make cheesy potatoes.

However, customers and employees took it a step further in order to make the potatoes truly loaded. "Mash with no gravy, then ask for shredded cheese, sour cream, and a small portion cup of chopped bacon. Throw in a butter packet too to help with creaminess. Loaded mashed potato," an apparent employee on Reddit shared regarding their preferred method, which seemed to be common. Another way to make the loaded mashed potatoes was to use cheese sauce, diced onions, and hot sauce, which one person noted was optional. There was even a recipe that combined the two and used mashed potatoes, cheese sauce, sour cream, chopped bacon, and diced onions. It seems like it all depends on how you like your potato.

Even when you don't feel like cooking and want to treat yourself to some easy lunch or dinner out, that doesn't always mean you're looking to spend a lot, especially in today's economy. One way customers recommended saving money at Culver's was to order one of the chain's kid's meals. It offers six different options, including a single ButterBurger, a single ButterBurger Cheese, a grilled cheese, a corn dog, and a two piece Original or Buffalo Chicken Tenders. 

Eaters on Reddit highlighted ordering a kid's meal as one of their favorite menu hacks as they come with a main, side, drink, and free scoop of vanilla, chocolate, or flavor of the day custard. They also noted that the single ButterBurgers are the same size you would get when ordering the burger as a regular value basket. "Honestly a kids cheeseburger meal gets you everything you need," a Redditor emphasized. 

In fact, a majority of commenters seemed to order the kid's ButterBurger meal and customize it with their choice of toppings. Additionally, a few people admitted that they will upgrade to a medium fry or other side, but said that it should still be cheaper than ordering a regular meal. Either way it seemed that people felt the kid's meal came with more than enough food for them, and who doesn't love a free dessert?

Besides its ButterBurgers, Culver's is also known for its cheese curds. In 2021, Culver's made an April Fool's joke where it playfully advertised the CurderBurger, which it listed as a big Wisconsin cheese curd on a buttered, toasted bun. However, the eatery ended up launching a version of the burger for National Cheese Curd Day that October due to customers and even a Change.org petition calling for it to be made a reality. It came topped with the usual fixings as well as a patty-sized cheese curd. The burger has since been brought back during the same month in 2023 and 2024, but has never been made a permanent menu item, which has left some customers disappointed.

In order to satisfy their craving for the burger when it's not available and quell their disappointment, some eaters have come up with a way to enjoy a makeshift version of the CurderBurger. "Putting cheese curds on my burger when I'm craving the CurderBurger but it's not October," a Redditor said regarding how they do it, highlighting it as their favorite menu hack. This seemed to be a common, and even preferred, method. One person explained that with the actual menu item they felt the giant cheese curd is overly greasy and the cheese falls out after a couple bites. Another added that for them the patty-sized curd makes the burger too dry so they just make it themselves with a side of cheese curds and fried onions.

Another item that is fairly popular at the Wisconsin-based restaurant is its signature root beer, which Craig Culver actually created himself using local ingredients and would serve to customers straight from the barrel. The chain offers the signature soda as a float with a scoop of its vanilla frozen custard, a sweet treat that has previously been highlighted as one of Culver's best menu items. The eatery also has a Fanta Orange Float and Coca-Cola Float.

In fact, a reviewer on Reddit raved about the Fanta Orange Float and commenters shared that they didn't even know they could get different float flavors. "Have you heard of Orange Creamsicles? These taste just like your float," another Redditor said regarding the taste. "Any pop flavor with vanilla ice cream is tasty." 

We did find some other combinations for floats that eaters recommended. They included Powerade or Sprite with the Georgia Peach custard, Sprite with blueberry custard or lemon ice, a Dr. Pepper Float, a Mountain Dew Float, and a Diet Coca-Cola Float. One person noted that the Mountain Dew Float tastes like a key lime pie.

Culver's serves most of its ButterBurgers, as well as some of its other sandwiches, on a toasted and lightly buttered Kaiser bun, while its chicken sandwiches come on a brioche bun. It does have one burger on its menu that it already offers on sourdough bread, which is its Sourdough Melt, that is described as a classic patty melt topped with Wisconsin aged cheddar cheese and grilled onions.

However, customers have shared that they enjoy switching out the buns on any of the sandwiches for sourdough bread and that it is a must-try swap. "For burgers — replace the bun with sourdough bread — I've tried this and it was a great improvement," a Redditor shared. There were some items that reviewers highlighted specifically as being better with sourdough bread. These included the Mushroom & Swiss ButterBurger, Crispy Chicken Sandwich, and Grilled Chicken Sandwich. There was also a commenter who advised that it might be cheaper to add mushrooms to the sourdough melt instead of switching out the bun on the mushroom and Swiss burger. Additionally, there were some posters who mentioned that they will make their own Buffalo Chicken Tender sandwich by either using the sourdough bread or adding the tenders to the grilled cheese and customizing it to their liking with toppings and condiments.

In order to compile a list of the best ordering tips at Culver's that customers need to know, we started with doing a deep dive on Reddit looking for different enhancements and menu hacks that customers recommended. We then made note of them to ensure that they were feasible with what the restaurant chain offers on its menu. Additionally, we made certain that the ordering tips were ones that were popular with customers, but wanted some of them to be unique enough that most people might not have heard of or seen them before.

We also made sure to check to see if the chain itself had any tips or hacks that it shared with customers and gathered those, too. Overall, we wanted to guarantee that the tips we were providing were not only something you could actually do, but were ones that wouldn't be disappointing for most who tried them.