9 Common Customer Complaints About Culver's

Culver's: Land of the ButterBurger, of food made to order, and of the promise of a slightly elevated fast food experience. The Wisconsin-based chain with a family-centered origin story has made a name for itself due to its warm hospitality and its quality burgers made from three cuts of beef. Because of these quality markers, you'd expect customers to feel more positive about it than other, perhaps more anonymous chains. By and large, they do: Culver's receives its fair share of customer complaints, but for the most part, people who eat there are satisfied with the experience. That's not to say it gets everything right in customers' eyes, though. 

Like all fast food chains, Culver's has a few weak spots it has yet to rectify, and certain things stand out repeatedly as disappointments. Some menu items that Culver's really should have gotten a handle on by now, like its fries, are often cited as the worst part of the meal, and wait times for food can be a lot longer than people would like. Oh, and the price you have to pay for tomatoes? That's not winning any fans. Let's check out the things that annoy customers the most about the Midwestern chain.

Culver's is vocal about its "made-to-order" model. "We don't start cooking your food until after you order it," Culver's says on its website. "That means that your food is always fresh." That also means, however, that its food takes longer than at other fast food places, and in some cases, the amount of time people have to wait feels outrageous. Customers have repeatedly called out Culver's for its extended wait times, and they've said they've even ended up standing around for their food to be prepared when they've ordered online ahead of time. As a result, all that freshness suddenly doesn't feel so appealing, especially when people's stomachs are empty.

What adds insult to injury here is that customers have questioned why their food is given to them lukewarm after having waited for so long for it to be ready. If it's cooked to order, surely it should be hot and fresh, right? That's not the case a lot of the time, and whether you're getting it from the drive-thru or in-store, you run the risk of losing up to an hour before being presented with a bag of food that isn't even hot anymore.

We need to talk about your fries, Culver's. This side, which should be so easy to get right, is perceived as one of the worst things you can order from the Culver's menu by customers, with some saying the chain makes the worst fries of any major franchise out there. It's generally accepted that its fries just aren't up to scratch and are undercooked, limp, and served without any noticeable seasoning.

That said, there's an easy way you can improve your fries, according to its customers: If you ask for them to be cooked extra crispy, they transform, turning into a must-have side that beats out the rest. This begs the question, though: Why should you have to do this in the first place? Why can't this chain get its standard fries right? It's a simple Culver's ordering hack, sure, but improving its fries overall would make both its life and the lives of customers so much better. People wouldn't have to end up disappointed or have to adjust their orders, and employees wouldn't have to deal with so many complaints. For now, though, there's no sign of the restaurant changing things. We recommend getting Culver's onion rings instead.

When you order a burger, what do you expect? At the bare minimum, you probably assume it'll arrive with two buns and a piece of meat in the middle, right? Well, if you're getting yours from Culver's, that may not be a certain thing. A surprising number of Culver's customers have reported receiving their burgers without the meat inside. If it were an isolated incident, we might understand that it was just an honest mistake, but the wealth of people who have ended up with burger buns and toppings, but no actual burger is kinda wild.

Other folks, meanwhile, have opened their burger box from Culver's to find the top bun missing. Their patties and cheese are just left open to the elements, with no bread adorning them. What gives? We can only assume both of these issues are a result of assembly line issues and some quirk of the process at Culver's that sees them being missed sometimes. When this happens again and again, though, it might be worth the restaurant considering how it can switch things up to ensure people get, y'know, the thing they ordered.

Culver's has always felt a slight cut above other fast food chains, and that's why people like it. For the most part, people accept paying just a touch more for their food if it means they'll be getting something freshly cooked, exuding quality, and with a certain degree of customization at your fingertips (ask for "The Works" when ordering a burger to see what we mean). 

In recent times, though, the price-to-quality scale has shifted slightly for some customers. People have now begun to question how much the food costs and why it's getting more expensive, particularly when it also feels like some of its items are no longer as good as they used to be. For some, the consistency doesn't match up to its higher price points, and in a time when everything's getting more expensive and people have to make tough choices about spending, they've started to look elsewhere.

This isn't just a problem for all Culver's customers, regulars and occasional diners alike. One person on Reddit, who seems to have gone to the restaurant after a period away from it, reported paying almost $30 for two people and concluded by saying, "I won't go back to Culver's anytime soon." When your prices are driving people away, you know you're in trouble.

The whole thing about fast food is it should feel satisfying. While we, as a society, have slightly moved past the vibe of super-sized burgers and portions that feel more like a challenge than a realistic meal, it's generally accepted that you should get your money's worth when it comes to this food style. At Culver's, though, that may not be the case, according to some of its customers. There's been a flood of recent complaints from diners about the size of its portions, and some accusations of shrinkflation, leading some to question whether you truly get what you pay for.

This seems to be affecting a few key menu items. Its custard is one of them, with customers flocking to social media to show off images of meager cups of frozen dessert that aren't filled up nearly as much as they should be. Its fish sandwiches are another, with people complaining that the fillets they get are way smaller than they used to be, and are sometimes completely dwarfed by the bun. Oh, and its chicken tenders also leave much to be desired — these things could probably pass for nuggets.

The fact that Culver's does fish sandwiches is something we should all celebrate. For years, fast food chains have neglected this part of their menu and have felt as though they only offer up fish options because they've been forced to, with a fish sandwich tucked away at the very end. By contrast, Culver's seafood section is fairly robust, and it periodically serves its Northwoods Walleye Sandwich alongside its North Atlantic Cod Sandwich. It's just a shame both of them can be hit or miss. 

While some people love these sandwiches, others have criticized them for their lack of flavor and near-total lack of seasoning, which drags the whole experience down. This is an issue that affects both the cod and the walleye sandwiches. The latter has also specifically been called out for occasionally having an overly fishy flavor, while the batter can be saturated in oil, clouding anything else in the dish. It seems a shame for a chain to offer such great options and then fall short on the flavor front, and while these issues may be isolated to certain locations, it perhaps speaks to a problem with quality control.

Culver's does customer service better than some other fast food chains, and people generally report having a good experience with the workers at its restaurants. There's one thing they do that some people take issue with, though. It's policy for Culver's employees to ask for your name when taking your order, but this is a source of annoyance for (perhaps) a surprising number of customers, who complain it's an intrusive and needless part of the process that doesn't need to be there in the first place. Some people have reported feeling judged when they give their name, while others just don't understand why they have to hand over the information.

On the flip side, Culver's employees find customer annoyance around giving over their names fairly frustrating. The person who's taking your order didn't design the system, after all, and they need your name to make sure you get your food. It feels like a situation where no one can win, and until Culver's HQ decides to revamp its whole ordering process, you might have to just pick a good fake name to work with.

Does it ever feel like businesses are trying to make money out of every decision you make? No? Well, you might want to put yourself in the shoes of Culver's customers for a day. Its diners increasingly feel like they're being squeezed for every penny, with small changes to their order or add-ons that should be free now costing them a surprising amount of money.

Perhaps the most egregious addition that Culver's charges for its tomatoes on its burgers and sandwiches, which will set you back 30 cents. This wouldn't be so bad if the tomato slices you received for this money were generous, but customers have complained that you're essentially paying for a meager suggestion of tomato, providing barely any taste. Culver's also charges for extra sauces that go beyond its two-per-meal limit, while employees have complained that they're instructed to offer these and worry people will think they're free.

Strangest of all, though, are the reports that customers have been charged to remove items from their food. One person on Reddit reported paying 30 cents to order a burger with no bun, saying, "So I pay for the bun as part of my meal because it's automatically included in the price, and then I pay extra to have it removed. All because of an allergy I have no control over." This was refuted by other customers and employees, though, who said it wasn't part of the process. It could be the case that not all Culver's operate in the same way.

Culver's was born in Wisconsin, and as a restaurant launched in the Cheese State, you'd expect its dairy offerings to be pretty good, right? Well, apparently, that's not the case when it comes to its mac and cheese. Customers have taken a seriously dim view of its mac and cheese, with some questioning the construction of the dish, the sogginess of the noodles, and the overall lack of wow factor. "Tasted like it was microwaved with some cheese melted on top," said one person on Reddit of the dish. "Bland and greasy. No cheese sauce at all." Yikes.

Mac and cheese is one of the easiest things to make at home, so why can't Culver's get it right? A big problem is the kitchens. Culver's doesn't have ovens, which would allow it to develop a browned, bubbly topping and warm the noodles and cheese sauce properly and consistently. As such, it has to rely on reheating, and anyone who's ever nuked mac and cheese in the microwave will know it doesn't quite compare to the oven-baked real deal. Until its kitchen situation changes (and we don't know if that'll happen any time soon), you might wanna skip ordering this one.