All 14 Of Culver's Sides, Ranked Worst To Best

Known as the fast food chain that serves up classic Midwest-style burgers, Culver's has developed something of a cult-like following since opening up its doors in 1984. Though there's plenty of chatter about what makes the ButterBurgers here so mouthwatering, including discussions about the delicious blend of three cuts of beef from which they're made, as well as ample analysis as to the secrets of its rich and creamy custard, its side dishes sometimes get ignored.

That's why I decided to take on the Herculean feat of sampling each and every Culver's side dish to determine once and for all which one reigns supreme and which you might want to skip. At the time of sampling from the local Culver's in my small town in central Illinois, there were 14 sides from which to choose. I steeled my gut, and brought along a friend to help me with my estimations, and ranked these sides from worst to best. Here are the results.

Culver's prides itself on offering various soup options that are location dependant, and while supplies last. My local branch was offering a hearty Vegetable Beef Soup, which landed at the bottom of this ranking for many reasons. Of all the side dishes we sampled, this was the only one neither of us would order again.

The biggest issue is the texture of the beef. The chunks of meat have an almost plasticky, chewy texture that more closely resemble a processed beef chunk you find in canned dog food than in human-grade soup. Another issue is the flavor and aroma of the broth. It has a distinctive, institutional, almost scorched smell, like something that's been sitting in a warmer for far too long. It's also bland. The one positive thing that can be said about the soup is that it does have abundant fresh vegetables and rice in it, for texture and a stick-to-your-ribs quality, but these can't offset the stars of the show. I say skip this one.

In second-to-last place on this ranking of side dishes at Culver's is its coleslaw. As fast food coleslaws go, this one is actually not bad at all — it just isn't all that memorable, particularly in comparison to the other sides we sampled.

The biggest issue I have with this slaw is that it lacks the quintessential tang you expect from a quality coleslaw. In my opinion, a dynamite coleslaw needs this zing to help balance out the creaminess of the mayo typically used to create the base of the dressing. This led to the slaw being excessively sweet, and a little heavy. That said, this coleslaw is fresh, and has a nice bite to it. The vegetables are crisp, and not overly watery, which can often be a problem with coleslaw if it's allowed to sit for too long in the refrigerator. Though I might not order this slaw in the future, there are likely some diehard coleslaw fans who'd gladly enjoy this with their burger and fries.

My local Culver's was also serving a Broccoli Cheese Soup. I happen to be a broccoli cheese soup lover, so I was eager to sample this version. While it's okay, it's certainly not a winner in my book.

What the soup does right? It has real chunks of fresh broccoli in it, which is welcome, and the vegetables are well-cooked; they're not mushy, but still slightly toothsome, making the texture that much more satiating. That's pretty much where the positives end, though. The creamy base of this soup is excessively watery in taste, and starchy in texture. In fact, the soup is so bland, you can hardly taste the cheese until you bite into the broccoli chunks, as if they soaked up all the seasoning and cheddar.

That said, this soup can be augmented with a side of Culver's Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese Sauce (which, quite frankly, makes virtually every item on the menu better). This would make it edible, tasty even. But, if you have to alter a menu item to make it edible, I'm inclined to stay away from it.

Made from real russet potatoes and drenched in a savory, homestyle gravy, the mashed potatoes at Culver's are next on this ranking of side dishes. In full transparency, we actually think these taters are better than the ones you might get at KFC or Popeyes, but they aren't so great as to bump any of the other sides down the list.

At first glance, these potatoes aren't especially visually appealing. In fact, they more closely resemble glue than something edible. That said, when you take a bite, you're instantly hit with the creamy gravy and silky potatoes, which are both texturally lovely on your tongue. They're also seasoned with a far more delicate hand than the ones served by competitors. The salt content doesn't feel excessive, which lets the earthy flavor of the potatoes shine through. Again, while there's nothing inherently wrong with this side dish, and I'd eat them again if I were in the mood for buttery mashed potatoes, I'm something of a snob, and would opt for homemade any day.

I know you're wondering how on earth steamed broccoli ended up ahead of many of the other side dishes on the Culver's menu. I was intrigued to see it on the menu, since it may be just the right thing for someone wanting a quick, healthy meal without the fried foods. The thing that impressed me the most about this side dish was its freshness.

This isn't some freezer-burnt broccoli. These look, smell, and taste like good broccoli cut fresh from the stalk. What's more, while there isn't much flavor per se, as far as any added seasonings, the vegetables are relatively sweet, and don't have that bitter aftertaste of veggies past their prime. The broccoli is also perfectly steamed, which really blew my mind. The vegetables are just tender, not mushy, hold their shape, and are a verdant hue. All in all, while this may not be the most exciting side dish on the menu, hence the reason it didn't land higher on this ranking, this broccoli is cooked to perfection, and I'd easily order it again if I was trying to be a little more mindful of my choices.

Who is George, and what's so special about his chili? Well, George was founder Craig Culver's dad, and this family recipe has been preserved for generations. It features homestyle beef, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, peppers, onions, celery, and a proprietary blend of spices, all thrown together into a robust con carne-style chili.

While we actually enjoyed the flavor (though I typically like mine with a hint more heat and seasonings), the scoop we got seemed to have disproportionate amounts of beef in it. There were hardly any vegetables or beans, which meant it was a bit heavy. The texture was so thick, a spoon stood straight up in the cup, and there wasn't much by way of broth. That said, based on other sides we enjoyed that used the same chili as an ingredient, I'd hazard a guess that this wasn't a matter of faulty execution so much as haphazard serving. We both agreed that this would be a perfectly satisfying meal on a cold winter day. However, the plain version needed some extra pizzazz, which is why it ranked where it did on this list.

The Garden Side Salad at Culver's comes with your choice of two dressings. We opted for Culver's basic house vinaigrette and the Signature Sauce, which features buttermilk, parmesan, and blue cheese.

Usually, salads at fast food restaurants leave a lot to be desired in the freshness department. Not this one; these veggies are crisp and crunchy, and the serving size is perfectly adequate. The lettuce is topped with shredded carrots, grape tomatoes, shredded cheese, and croutons. While the veggies impressed me, the Signature Sauce in combination with these is a total winner. The slightly tangy, savory sauce really amplified the greens, making this a satisfying salad that would easily satiate me alongside a ButterBurger. That said, let's be honest — most of us are far too enticed by the other sides on Culver's menu to settle for a humble salad. Still, it's nice to know it's there.

The next side dish on this ranking is George's Chili Supreme. This dish picked up where the plain version left off, with sour cream, shredded cheese, and freshly diced onions.

Just the extra dash of freshness from the onions helps give this some more textural interest. The shredded cheese melted fully into the chili gives this a luxurious texture, while the sour cream helps temper some of the fattiness of the meat, balancing out the whole dish. The combination is dynamite. And, where the plain chili fell short in terms of the beef-to-beans ratio, this serving was far more proportionate, with just enough broth to blend all the components together.

To quote my fellow diner: "This would literally change my eating habits. I would totally consider getting this on a cold day." The only reason this doesn't rank higher is because the remaining sides are either unique, or just knock it out of the park in terms of flavor and quality.

While I may get some hate for this decision, Culver's' Crinkle Cut Fries rank No. 6 on this roundup. Full disclosure: I love thin, crispy fries. The fries at Culver's are neither of these, but that doesn't mean they aren't good.

These fries are firm on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and they're made from actual spuds rather than some kind of paste-like, processed potato product. They also aren't overly greasy or salty. A relatively common complaint about the fries at Culver's is they're often under-done, meaning they come out soggy. This was not the case in my experience, which means these fries may have landed higher on this ranking than they otherwise would have. 

For those wanting to enhance their Culver's fry experience, try a simple ordering hack of asking for them to be done "extra crispy," which is an option on the menu. This guarantees you never have to eat floppy fries again.

Since the Crinkle Cut Fries and George's Chili alone didn't fare as well as you may have anticipated, you might be happy to know that the combination (with the addition of some creamy Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese Sauce) is a total winner.

What works about this dish is the perfect balance of ingredients. There's just enough chili to touch every fry without overwhelming or drowning them. The cheese is present, but not overpowering or heavy, and the chunks of real vegetables in the chili gave us the false sense that we were potentially eating something healthful. Since loaded fries often get soggy, though, I'd highly recommend proactively customizing this order by asking for extra-crispy fries. While dynamite, these didn't fare better on this ranking because the remaining side dishes were either too distinctive, or executed in such a way as to make them stand out.

Another menu item that enjoys an almost cult-like following is Culver's' Wisconsin Cheese Curds. Hailing from La Grander Hillside Dairy in Stanley, Wisconsin, in the heart of dairlyland, these bits of unaged yellow and white Wisconsin cheddar cheese are delicately battered and fried to golden perfection. They've been a staple on the Culver's menu since 1997.

They're warm, gooey, and delicious, with just the right cheese-to-batter ratio that enables the exterior to be crunchy, while yielding just enough filling to melt in your mouth. My chief complaint is they're quite salty, a natural by-product of cheese curds. This is easily tempered by dipping them in honey mustard or Culver's Signature Sauce.

I also find them to be a bit of a belly bomb. Lastly, there are so many of them, there's no way you could eat an entire order in one sitting (well, I'm sure someone could, but I couldn't). To me, these are ideal for sharing as an appetizer, not necessarily as a side dish to your burger. Overall, while I love these, they just can't compete with the top three sides.

If you love pickles, run to Culver's for its Fried Pickles while supplies last. This side dish would have landed in first place based on quality and taste, and the only reasons it didn't is because it isn't a permanent menu item, and because I understand that pickles aren't everyone's cup of tea. However, they are one of my favorite food groups, and I would eat an order of these at every meal if I could.

These crunchy dill pickle slices are coated in an almost tempura-like batter that's light, crispy, and not too cumbersome to overwhelm the pickle or make it soggy. What's more, they're fried to golden perfection; the outside remains crisp, while the pickle is tender, yet not mushy. Meanwhile, the flavor is equal parts tangy, salty, and savory. The only thing that makes these bites better is a dunk in either the Brewpub Sauce or Culver's Signature Sauce. Like the cheese curds, these have an abundant portion size, which may or may not be too much for any one human in a single sitting. Otherwise, they're as darn near a perfect side as you can get.

Oh how I love pretzels, let me count the ways. No joke, if there is a pretzel on a menu, at any restaurant, any time of day, for any meal, I order it. Pretzels are a primary food group for me, and the pretzels from Culver's are an extra-special treat worthy of your attention.

The Pretzel Bites at Culver's are served with its signature Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese Sauce. This combo is a match made in heaven, and showcases what's best about these pretzels. They're perfectly buttery, golden-brown, tender on the inside, and crispy on the outside.

My only (minor) complaint is that these can be on the salty side, a fact that prevents them from stealing top honors on this ranking. The fine-grain salt used to coat these after they're cooked melts onto the exterior and gives them an overly salty aftertaste. That said, this can easily be remedied by ordering them without salt, which you can do in-house but not online. Additionally, if you order these without salt, they can be converted into the ultimate sweet treat by dunking them into a side of hot caramel or marshmallow creme (thank us later).

Last but not least: Onion Rings. These crispy dippers are among the orders Culver's customers swear by, and so do I. Again, I'm an onion ring lover, and order these at any restaurant. That said, I'm incredibly picky about the type of rings I enjoy, and many I've sampled fail the taste test.

A perfect onion ring should be made from real onions, that's a given. It should also have the ideal onion-to-batter ratio (enough to coat the entire ring, but not so much as to render the onion unrecognizable). The batter should be crisp on the outside, with the onion on the inside just cooked enough to not be raw, yet tender enough to bite through. This is apparently a tall order, and one many restaurants cannot master.

Not Culver's, though. Culver's delivers a thinly sliced onion ring drenched in an almost tempura-like batter that's equal parts crunchy and chewy. It accomplishes a perfectly delightful mouthfeel and the flavor is toasty, yet not salty. An even greater testament to the batter is that we sampled these side dishes over the course of 30 minutes or so, and these onion rings were just as flavorful, and not soggy, after half an hour as they were when they arrived hot and fresh to our table.

The entire side dish menu at Culver's was sampled by myself and a fellow intrepid taster on a warm summer day in August at a location in central Illinois. The only side dish left off this ranking was Mott's apple sauce since this is prepacked and doesn't require any additional cooking onsite.

Quality and items available vary by location, and these opinions are based on our experience alone. Taste, texture, freshness, and execution were all factored into our overall ranking. We also considered availability, and how these items compared with similar dishes offered by other fast food restaurant chains.