Culver’s – Fon du Lac, WI

Wisconsin-Palooza Day 4 was the last day of our trip. And honestly, really the bucket list of the weekend, since we were going to a Packers game at Lambeau. And it was Monday Night Football. I’ve only ever been to one other MNF game, and it was Redskins/Cowboys, but I had to work the game. So that doesn’t count.

I’m not sure how it happened, but Kerrie and I were ready before Dereck and Reg almost every single time we were going somewhere. It’s supposed to be the opposite. And it was worse in the mornings, when we were starving. On Sunday night we had briefly talked about doing breakfast in Madison before leaving Monday morning, but of course the guys didn’t tell us they were ready until 5 minutes before they were ready to get the car. And we were meeting friends halfway between Madison and Green Bay to pick up tailgating supplies for the game.

I was about to gnaw my arm off by the time we hit Fon du Lac. Where is Fon du Lac you ask? I have absolutely no clue, other than somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I think we were about halfway between Madison and Green Bay. Dereck looked up places to eat, and no surprise, our options were extremely limited. But then I saw Culver’s. I had also seen the restaurant on Saturday on our drive to Madison, and “home of the butter burger” is what caught my eye. Normally fast food isn’t blog worthy, but since I had never heard of it, I made an exception.

I was shocked to learn that there are locations in about half the states in the country, including one not far from Joni’s house in Flower Mound. It’s clearly based in Wisconsin, as there are 131 locations throughout the state plus 2 more opening soon. Illinois isn’t too far behind, with 91 locations.

It’s hard to explain the decor, other than you feel like you took a step back in time. There’s carpet on the floor; I cannot remember the last time I saw that. It kind of reminds me of a grandmother’s house, but not in a bad way. It’s a quick-service restaurant, so of course you order at the counter. But you get a number, they cook your food fresh, and then they bring it out to you. I like that a lot.

At the start of the trip we were all so excited for cheese curds. But by now, we had all had enough. I think the cashier was a little disappointed. But if she knew how much we had consumed over the past 3 days, I think she would understand.

So, what is a butter burger you ask? Basically, they slather the bun with butter before toasting it. I’m not sure if that’s actually a really unique thing, but I’ll roll with it. I couldn’t decide what to get, even with a pretty limited menu. I finally went with the bacon cheddar deluxe, since the cashier said that’s their most popular item. I had a hard time deciding between fries and onion rings. Kerrie got onion rings, so I went with fries

The onion rings were good, but I’m glad I got the fries because they were awesome. Scorching hot, fresh, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  No, I didn’t really need a double burger. But it was really good. The meat was very fresh, and the buttered bun was delicious. I savored every single bite.

Culver’s does fresh frozen custard that’s made throughout the day. I needed caffeine more than a shake so I passed. But Dereck got one so I did taste a bite and it was really good.

When we went up to the self-serve area to get ketchup Reg and I saw bibs!

So of course we had to put them on to eat and then get a group picture. Dereck wasn’t cooperating with wearing the bib, so I just tied it on for him so he had no choice. Wasn’t letting him be a fun-hater.

Will I go back?  Unlikely, but not at all because of a negative experience. On the contrary, this is one of the best fast-food restaurants I’ve been to. The thing is, I try to severely limit how much fast food I eat. And even though there’s a location in Flower Mound, the only chance I have of getting Joni to eat there is if we send Tony on a post-beverage run. So maybe I’ll go back on my next Wisconsin-palooza.