White Castles in Los Angeles?

Are there any White Castles in the Los Angeles area because I AM DYING FOR SOME! PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!

Find out here:
http://www.whitecastle.com/_pages/Locate.asp
Apparently the answer is no, but I thought you might like to sniff around the website anyway.
Feeling your pain (albeit with WC's everywhere I turn,)
Bill

Luckily I visit family in NJ every year, but those fronzen ones they sell at the grocery store just don't do it for me.

There's a recipe out there somewhere that supposedly produces something extremely close. It calls for baby food as an ingredient. I've never tried it because, like I said, I can be at any one of a dozen within ten minutes of leaving work, but I have cafeteria today at my kid's school, and it's tough enough getting the kids to try the hash I'm slinging with onion breath (and even worse, onion butt.)

does any1 know if there r any whitecastles in or near pittsburgh Pennsylvania? please tell me i need to know

There was a temporary White Castle on the Sunset Strip last summer. You can read about it here:

http://www.countingdown.com/movies/3359624/news?item_id=3504681

Unfortunately, I never got around to getting over there to try it. I read that most of the west coasters who tried it were rather underwhelmed by the WC experience.

I haven't noticed lately, but Sam's Club was selling boxes of frozen sliders.

After hearing about White Castles for years, my California family tried White Castle for the first time (and only since we don't have access to them other than the frozen version at Costco) while visting Chicago Heights last summer. Not sure what all the hype is about. Of course, I'm sure there are things we rave about that folks in other places can't understand either. Avocados and guacamole and coworkers from NY, NJ, & PA, come to mind. I guess it's one of those "you had to grow up with it" things?

Native Chicagoan here. The frozen White Castle burgers are nothing like the ones cooked at the restaurants!!! I live in California and hate that they won't open any White Castle stores out here. Bummer.

Like many things, they aren't that good the first time. I think it's because they are so different from a regular hamburger. I remember not being that impressed the first time I had one when we moved to the Chicago area, then after a couple of times it's an acquired taste that becomes an adiction. Wishing I had a sack now

Nothing better then a two day old White Castle belch !

eww

quote:

Originally posted by almost40

Native Chicagoan here. The frozen White Castle burgers are nothing like the ones cooked at the restaurants!!! I live in California and hate that they won't open any White Castle stores out here. Bummer.

Native Southern Californian here, and I too wish some would open up around here. I got hooked on them years ago when I was in the service. Maybe their marketing people don't see this as a viable market. I dunnow.

I read an article somewhere that they were a real good place to work. Evidently they don't franchise and it's a closely held company. They only expand as the operations generate revenue for growth which is why they are so slow to spread.

At least you have In-N-Out out west. Not that I don't like White Castle. I drive 50 miles almost once a week just to get to the nearest one. I would drive twice that for a Double Double from In-N-Out, but that wouldn't even get me a quarter of the way to the nearest one.

quote:

Originally posted by Salustra

After hearing about White Castles for years, my California family tried White Castle for the first time (and only since we don't have access to them other than the frozen version at Costco) while visting Chicago Heights last summer. Not sure what all the hype is about. Of course, I'm sure there are things we rave about that folks in other places can't understand either. Avocados and guacamole and coworkers from NY, NJ, & PA, come to mind. I guess it's one of those "you had to grow up with it" things?

They are especially a popular place to eat after drinking. That might be part of the allure.

Are there any In-N-Out Burgers in Chicago? Of course, not! White Castle was the original midwest, Chicago burger joint, long before McDonald's. As a teen, we'd drive to the WC on 69th & Western looking for street races after we left Skip's Drive-In in Melrose Park. White Castle had a Chicago cult following back then. Most Slyders were consumed hot, right out of the little box in your car after a night of drinking. You wouldn't want to be seen eating inside the place. WC's remained a midwestern family business, with the exception of the NJ & NY stores. The frozen, microwavable WC's can't be compared to the hot product off the grill. A few years ago, they finally opened a WC in Wisconsin. We even have one in Lake County(Gurnee Mills Shopping Center). Will they ever make it to the west coast? I doubt it. Will we ever see an In-N-Our Burger in Chicago? Probably not.

CSD

Greetings again. Your resident former WC employee here again. The lack of White Castles in the west goes back to the early days of the chain, and is the result of a huge court case. When the co-founder of the company hired an architect to design the buildings for WC, he sold a duplicate set of the blueprints to the owner of a similar chain, just starting up in Kansas City (unknown if KS or MO,) called White Towers. White Towers filed a suit against White Castle, charging unlawful use of the building design and copying the White Towers concept. After a long battle, the architect finally admitted that White Castle was the original, and White Towers was the copycat. The final result of the cast was that White Castle would operate east of the Mississippi, and White Towers would not go east of it. In addition, White Towers would have to pay White Castle a specified amount annually for permission to use the building design. Someone posted that it waas apparently a good place to work, and it was, even given the low pay (in 1965, when I worked there, I made the huge sum of 65 cents an hour.) When hired, each operator was given a booklet that told the White Castle story, and we had a house organ, a monthly magazine written by White Castle employees, that gave us a sense of pride in where we worked. Alas, I live in Arizona now, and those frozen sliders just don't cut it, and everytime I go back east, I stop at the big Castle in St. Louis for a fix. Gotta have it, ya know?

May I be the first to say on this thread:

Why isn't this in in the fast food forum? It's making me crazy. I can't stand it. I need to go and find some more threads where this is happening. Oh the horror, the horror.

quote:

Originally posted by Starlord

Greetings again. Your resident former WC employee here again. The lack of White Castles in the west goes back to the early days of the chain, and is the result of a huge court case. When the co-founder of the company hired an architect to design the buildings for WC, he sold a duplicate set of the blueprints to the owner of a similar chain, just starting up in Kansas City (unknown if KS or MO,) called White Towers. White Towers filed a suit against White Castle, charging unlawful use of the building design and copying the White Towers concept. After a long battle, the architect finally admitted that White Castle was the original, and White Towers was the copycat. The final result of the cast was that White Castle would operate east of the Mississippi, and White Towers would not go east of it. In addition, White Towers would have to pay White Castle a specified amount annually for permission to use the building design. Someone posted that it waas apparently a good place to work, and it was, even given the low pay (in 1965, when I worked there, I made the huge sum of 65 cents an hour.) When hired, each operator was given a booklet that told the White Castle story, and we had a house organ, a monthly magazine written by White Castle employees, that gave us a sense of pride in where we worked. Alas, I live in Arizona now, and those frozen sliders just don't cut it, and everytime I go back east, I stop at the big Castle in St. Louis for a fix. Gotta have it, ya know?

Sorry, but at least part of your story is total BS....White Tower was a chain that operated well into the 70's and hung on til the early 80's and they had stores all over the eastern half of the country....Ohio, Michigan, and they even had a number of stores here in the Boston area. There are still White Tower buildings operating as restaurants in parts of Detroit, and one in Cambridge MA. In fact I have never heard of White Tower operating WEST of the Mississippi at all (maybe someone can correct me) but they were definitely huge east of the Mississippi.

Ok, ever since I saw the movie, my friends and I have to made a roadtrip just to try their burgers!

quote:

Originally posted by Starlord

Greetings again. Your resident former WC employee here again. The lack of White Castles in the west goes back to the early days of the chain, and is the result of a huge court case. When the co-founder of the company hired an architect to design the buildings for WC, he sold a duplicate set of the blueprints to the owner of a similar chain, just starting up in Kansas City (unknown if KS or MO,) called White Towers. White Towers filed a suit against White Castle, charging unlawful use of the building design and copying the White Towers concept. After a long battle, the architect finally admitted that White Castle was the original, and White Towers was the copycat. The final result of the cast was that White Castle would operate east of the Mississippi, and White Towers would not go east of it. In addition, White Towers would have to pay White Castle a specified amount annually for permission to use the building design. Someone posted that it waas apparently a good place to work, and it was, even given the low pay (in 1965, when I worked there, I made the huge sum of 65 cents an hour.) When hired, each operator was given a booklet that told the White Castle story, and we had a house organ, a monthly magazine written by White Castle employees, that gave us a sense of pride in where we worked. Alas, I live in Arizona now, and those frozen sliders just don't cut it, and everytime I go back east, I stop at the big Castle in St. Louis for a fix. Gotta have it, ya know?

So, what you're saying is that the White Tower I used to eat in at least once a week for years at the corner of College and Crown streets in New Haven, Connecticut didn't exist. I guess that must mean that my classmate Paul Walker's father didn't run that White Tower. Or are you trying to say that New Haven, Connecticut is west of the Mississippi?

I moved from Indiana to California in 1959.
And witnessing the utter explosion, (in the sixties and seventies), of zillions of huge NEW hamburger franchises, all based on some tiny variation of the standard hamburger, I always wondered why there were no WCs out here, seeing as they are so unique, (with the small size--individual square box -slathered in onions, and steamed bun [slider] factor and all)...
and all I ever heard was: "They made some deal with some other hamburger company wherein THEY would only be east cf the Mississippi and THIS OTHER COMPANY would stay west of the Mississippi. "
Never heard the name of this other company.
So, today, for the first time, it occurred to me to google the answer,
which brought me here.
--So when i saw the previous post explaining about the White TOWERS court case
i thought i had the answer
but these later posts seem to suggest that that might not be the correct version of the story
since White TOWERS aren't just west, aqpparently
(personally, i have never HEARD of White TOWER)
 
so i STILL don't GET it:
seems like they'd be SO successful out west, there must be SOME legal arrangement or reason stopping them from coming out here.
They'd sell TRILLIONS!

Maybe a state like California needs to trade some In-N-Out Burgers for some White Castles.
I grew up on Long Island in NY and I can't think of anything better to eat after a late nite of clubbing. I can still smell those grilled onions after all these years.

chicagostyledog


Are there any In-N-Out Burgers in Chicago? Of course, not! White Castle was the original midwest, Chicago burger joint, long before McDonald's. As a teen, we'd drive to the WC on 69th & Western looking for street races after we left Skip's Drive-In in Melrose Park. White Castle had a Chicago cult following back then. Most Slyders were consumed hot, right out of the little box in your car after a night of drinking. You wouldn't want to be seen eating inside the place. WC's remained a midwestern family business, with the exception of the NJ & NY stores. The frozen, microwavable WC's can't be compared to the hot product off the grill. A few years ago, they finally opened a WC in Wisconsin. We even have one in Lake County(Gurnee Mills Shopping Center). Will they ever make it to the west coast? I doubt it. Will we ever see an In-N-Our Burger in Chicago? Probably not.

CSD

 
Plans are afoot for North Texas (Dallas and Ft. Worth) to be inundated with In-N-Out Burger stores beginning in the summer of 2011. Apparently, they're building a "processing center" in North Texas that will service INO stores within a 500 mile radius of North Texas and, Oklahoma!
Carl's Junior is here, now.
So, one never knows what's in the future.

My favorite WC memory was just that, late, 3am, Indianapolis, across from the Slippery Noodle.  The place was P-A-C-K-E-D !!!
 
 

wheregreggeats.com


My favorite WC memory was just that, late, 3am, Indianapolis, across from the Slippery Noodle.  The place was P-A-C-K-E-D !!!

 
Ah, yes. 3:00AM is the ideal time for a White Castle loadup!

ok
doing some more google research:P
 CASTLE was started in 1920
and TOWERS was started in 1926
by a guy who specifically studied every aspect of CASTLE
to copy them
 
so TOWERS probably WOULD have lost any lawsuit
but i still haven't found out the explanation for why there are no CASTLES in the west
since if any agreement was ever made for TOWERS to stay west
they broke the agreement, apparently
 
still researching...

I ate at a White TOWER only once ... I recall no similarity in their burgers.

No White Castle's in Knoxville but there is one in Nashville.  I stop there every time I am in Nashville.  Their menu is much more extensive than the Krystal.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN