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Culver Franchising System, LLC, doing business as Culver's, is an American fast-casual
restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many pa ...
. The company was founded in 1984 by George, Ruth, Craig, and Lea Culver. The first location opened in Sauk City, Wisconsin, on July 18, 1984, under the name "Culver's Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers." The privately held company is headquartered in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The chain operates primarily in the
Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
, and has a total of 1,000 restaurants in 26 states


History

Sauk City restaurateurs and husband and wife team George and Ruth Culver started their fast food careers as the owners of an A&W on Phillips Boulevard ( U.S. Highway 12) in 1961. In 1968, they purchased a resort-styled restaurant at Devil's Lake called The Farm Kitchen. Their son, Craig Culver, worked for a local
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
right out of college in 1973. On July 18, 1984, George, Ruth, their son Craig, and his wife Lea opened the first Culver's Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers in Sauk City, Wisconsin. Craig was
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of Culver's from its inception until mid-2015.


Wisconsin

In 1988, the Culver family started franchising the restaurant. The family agreed, granting the franchisee a loose licensing agreement, charging no fees or royalties. Because the franchisee had invested very little of his own money, it was a simple matter for him to walk away a year later when he decided he no longer wanted to be in the restaurant business. As a result of this experience, the Culver family established a set of standard franchising procedures that form the basis for those currently used by Culver Franchising System, Inc. Three years later, they tried again in Baraboo, and business quickly doubled. Soon after, the increased recognition that the second store earned this small-town chain prompted expansion into the Middleton, Madison and Milwaukee areas.


Midwest

In 1993, Culver's was still a small, local chain, with only 14 restaurants across southern Wisconsin. Culver's first restaurants outside Wisconsin opened in
Buffalo, Minnesota Buffalo is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Wright County, Minnesota, Wright County. It is in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, about 42 miles northwest of Minneapolis on Buffalo Lake (Wright County, Mi ...
, in September 1995, Roscoe, Illinois, in December 1995, and
Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...
, in November 1997. In February 1998, the company opened the first Culver's outside the Midwest in Texas.


Beyond the Midwest

The current franchising strategy is one of strategic expansion. The chain expanded into
Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...
, and
Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...
, in 2005, followed by an opening in
Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 72,294 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, third-most populous city in the stat ...
, in July 2006. Culver's shifted its attention to developing markets beyond the Midwest. The Metro-98 prototype, developed in 2006 and first constructed in
Fort Dodge, Iowa Fort Dodge is a city in and the county seat of Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000 United States Census, 2000. F ...
, was much more compact than the traditional 120-seat format commonly built through much of Culver's expansion. While the Metro-98 has less seating to offer guests, it also reduced the amount of land needed for construction by around 20%. In 2008, Culver's expanded to the
Phoenix metropolitan area The Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, metro Phoenix, or The Valley, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the Southwestern United States, with its largest principal city being the c ...
. In 2011, Culver's expanded into Utah, when Kristin and Tom Davis of Wisconsin relocated to Utah and opened a 100-seat Culver's franchise in Midvale. The couple signed a development agreement for four locations in the southern half of Salt Lake County. At the end of 2011, 445 Culver's restaurants were open in 19 states. Culver's also opened in South Carolina in 2012; Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee in 2014; and North Carolina in 2015. On June 28, 2018, Culver's had announced that a location would be opening in Alabama. In January 2022, Culver's expanded into the state of Arkansas.


Venture into casual dining

Culver's Blue Spoon Cafe opened its first store in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, in 2000 as a soup-sandwich-salad restaurant as Blue Spoon Creamery Cafe. The name Blue Spoon comes from the color of the spoons used at the Culver's fast food restaurants. A second store in Middleton, Wisconsin, was open for two years but closed in August 2010. The Prairie du Sac location closed in May 2020 during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


More recent developments

In 2013, according to a survey by Franchise Business Review, "Culver Franchising System was rated No. 1 in franchisee satisfaction among restaurant franchises." On June 15, 2015, Phil Keiser became the second CEO of the franchise, until his death in October 2016. On January 1, 2017, Joe Koss became the third CEO of Culver's, until his retirement at the end of 2020. In October 2017, Culver's sold a minority share to Roark Capital Group, a private equity firm based in Atlanta. The Culver family retains majority ownership. On March 29, 2021, Enrique "Rick" Silva became the fourth CEO of Culver's. In 2024, Culver's celebrated its 40th anniversary and Governor
Tony Evers Anthony Steven Evers ( ; born November 5, 1951) is an American politician and educator serving since 2019 as the 46th governor of Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 2009 to 2019 as Wisconsin's 26th superintendent of p ...
officially declared July 18 "Culvers Day" in Wisconsin. On April 28, 2025, due to the retirement of Rick Silva in February 2025, Julie Fussner was appointed as the fifth CEO of Culver's. She is the first female CEO of Culver's. She was previously the
chief marketing officer A chief marketing officer (CMO), also called a chief brand officer (CBO), is a C-suite corporate executive responsible for managing marketing activities in an organization. The CMO leads brand management, marketing communications (including adver ...
, and had been with the company since 2017.


Menu

Culver's menu comprises butter burgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, fish, salads, soup, onion rings, french fries, cheese curds, and corn dogs. For dessert, the restaurant offers its frozen custard, served in either a dish, cone, or blended into a
concrete mixer A concrete mixer (also cement mixer) is a device that homogeneously combines cement, Construction aggregate, aggregate (e.g. sand or gravel), and water to form concrete. A typical concrete mixer uses a revolving drum to mix the components. For ...
, malt, or shake. On October 15, 2021, in celebration of National Cheese Curd Day, Culver's sold a limited-time product: the CurderBurger, consisting of a large cheese curd on top of a burger patty. On April 1, Culver's released an April Fools' joke showing a large fried cheese curd in a burger bun, naming it the CurderBurger. Soon after the post was made, a change.org petition was created to make the burger a reality, gathering over 600 signatures. Each location only got a limited number of cheese curd patties, and all
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...
, restaurants sold out before noon.


Sponsorships

Culver's sponsors sports teams, including the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC),
Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...
,
Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...
, Madison Mallards,
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
,
American Family Insurance Championship The American Family Insurance Championship is a professional golf tournament in Wisconsin on the PGA Tour Champions, played at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wisconsin, Madison. The inaugural edition in June 2016 featured an 81-player fie ...
, Culver's Cup Hockey Tournament, Jeff Trickey QB Camps, Isthmus Bowl and Wisconsin Junior Boys & Girls Golf Championships. Culver's also sponsors the WIAC baseball championship. In 2025, Culver's sponsored the movie Green and Gold.


Official mascots

The official Culver's
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
is an anthropomorphic custard cone named Scoopie, featured in various
advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of interest to consumers. It is typically us ...
, community events, and
fundraisers Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
. Three new characters have been added: Curdis the Curd and Goldie the Curd in 2018 and Sundae the Turtle in 2022.


See also

* List of frozen custard companies * List of hamburger restaurants


References


External links

* {{Fast-food chains of the United States Companies based in Wisconsin Restaurants in Wisconsin Economy of the Midwestern United States Family-owned companies of the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1984 Fast casual restaurants Hamburger restaurants Ice cream parlors in the United States Fast-food franchises Frozen custard Privately held companies based in Wisconsin 1984 establishments in Wisconsin Culver's Wisconsin culture