Ranking Every Culver’s Burger

If you haven’t heard of Culver’s, it may be because you live in a coastal state like California, Oregon, New York, or Louisiana. The famously Midwestern chain began in a small town near the middle of Wisconsin and has expanded to a humble 26 states in the 41 years since. Though the burger restaurant is now franchised in some Southern states (overwhelmingly so in Florida), it’s stayed mostly local to its roots in the middle of America, becoming a sort of icon of Midwestern food. Like the In’N’Out of the Midwest, Culver’s is the spot to try when passing through the prairie states — a quick way to get a taste of the cheese curds and butterburgers the Dairyland is known for.

If you grew up in or have lived in Wisconsin, on the other hand, you’ve likely tried most of Culver’s extensive menu. Sure, better cheese curds might be found at your local bar or brewery, but nothing beats a quick trip through the drive through for melty fried cheese, custard ice cream, and a buttery cheeseburger. Culver’s boasts a menu of seven burger options, all slightly different versions of another. Whether you’re new to the chain or a longtime pro, I’ve tasted and ranked each of the delicious ButterBurgers to make the most of your next visit. From worst to best, here is every Culver’s burger, ranked.

The Culver’s hamburger menu isn’t long, which means almost any burger you choose is bound to be pretty good. The lone exception, I found, is the mushroom and Swiss burger, which sank to the bottom of the ranking without a second thought. The flavor is surprisingly bland, the mushrooms limp, and the cheese waxy and a little bitter. It’s not all bad, of course, and when eaten directly after ordering is still a warm, buttery burger with an earthy twist.

Mushrooms are hard to execute in fast food. Prepped ahead or sautéed in large quantities, they can easily become cold, gummy, soggy, and bland, and adding them to a burger can often overpower the texture of the patty. It’s likely why many fast food chains stay away from the sautéed fungi on their burgers, some instead frying the mushrooms to avoid the texture pitfall. My verdict: Leave mushrooms to the sit-down restaurants and stick with Culver’s classics.

The Wisconsin Swiss Melt is technically the more traditional offering of the two patty melts on the Culver’s burger menu. The original patty melt said to have been invented in the 1940’s was made with rye bread, a burger patty, melted cheese, and caramelized onions. The Wisconsin Swiss Melt seems to riff off of that original formula, swapping in Wisconsin-made Swiss cheese and griddled red onions. It’s a good sandwich that lets the real Wisconsin Swiss shine, but had to take the second-to-last ranking compared to the ButterBurgers on the list.

I’m a big melt fan — It’s a great way to switch up the standard burger, especially if you tend to prefer less bread and more meat. This melt is good, especially if you like a classic rye and griddled onions, but it’s more soggy than is typical, likely the result of the brand’s buttery burger formula. The flavors ran together and became a little too earthy and nutty for my taste, making this a lower choice on my list.

Quite a few of the burgers on the Culver’s menu are similar to each other: The ButterBurger, the ButterBurger Cheese, the Deluxe, and the Bacon Deluxe. The difference comes mostly down to toppings, and the Bacon Deluxe offers the most of the bunch with two crispy bacon strips. It comes at a cost, though, at nearly $2 more to the standard double Deluxe. This begs the question: Is the bacon worth the splurge?

If you’re someone who absolutely has to have bacon on your burger, maybe the extra money is worth spending for a particularly meaty burger. You could opt for a single patty version for a few dollars less, an option that may also provide a more balanced ratio of meat-to-cheese than the massive double burger. As it is, the Bacon Deluxe fell a little short compared to the porkless versions. The bacon was limp and without any notable smoky flavor. This is another burger I’d save for a sit-down restaurant, where the bacon fee might earn me a few thick cuts of something applewood-smoked instead.

The top few burgers in the ranking are basically interchangeable, mostly characterized by their different toppings. I ordered each of the standard ButterBurgers, one with classic lettuce and tomato and the other with cheese and what Culver’s calls “The Works” — Pickles, mustard, ketchup, and raw onions. The ButterBurger Cheese comes with an added layer of American cheese made locally in Wisconsin, which is known for being the state that produces the most cheese in the United States.

There’s something classic and impressive about the stripped-down, nearly plain burger, and ordering this version of the buttery main would certainly give you a good impression of the Culver’s flavor and quality. Side by side, though? The Works holds its own — an impressive build of tangy flavor that surprised me enough to rank it just a little bit higher — and the Deluxe is the perfect composition of a classic burger in a surprisingly affordable format. For a straightforward bun-and-burger build, though, the ButterBurger is a good choice. For only a few dollars a piece, deserves a spot in the menu’s top five.

As I mentioned with the Wisconsin Melt, I’m a big fan of patty melts, and I was looking forward to testing each of Culver’s options. While the rye fell a little flat for me, the sourdough rose quickly to my top three, impressing me after only a single bite. The sourdough is much less earthy and the cheddar much less nutty than the rye and Swiss, making the resulting melt a richer, milder flavor with a more classic cheeseburger taste. If you enjoy a classic diner melt, I’d recommend this one — it’s an impressive balance of cheesy, oniony flavors.

It’s hard to rank a patty melt any closer to the top of a burger list than third place, tempting as it may be with such a good, buttery burger patty and bread. The truth is, patty melts aren’t everybody’s favorite, and especially not between the greasy paper wrapping of a to-go version. The sourdough is admittedly butter-soaked and soggy, a problem the burgers with buns on the list simply don’t face. So while it may rank highly against some burger options, it just can’t beat the burger classics.

I’m not usually a ketchup-and-mustard kind of burger person: I actually thought I might be ruining the experiment by adding the recommended toppings to the burgers. Not that I’m against condiments by any means — maybe it’s just the Chicago-native in me talking, but ketchup has been mostly reserved for dipping my fries into and hardly ever goes onto my handhelds. I’ll admit I was curious, though, and pleasantly surprised with the results.

The “Works” toppings really do make sense on the ButterBurger. It’s likely the contrast of highly acidic flavor against the rich and buttery burger and bun — the raw onions are particularly delicious here. The difference between the ButterBurger and the ButterBurger with The Works may be only a few saucy condiments and an onion, but my choice goes to that saucy version, which tastes just like a ballpark on a sunny summer day.

While the ButterBurger with The Works may be the restaurant’s claim to fame, the Culver’s Deluxe is the burger to order on your first visit. The Deluxe is packed with pickles, onion, lettuce, tomato, and mayo, classic toppings that are fresh, crisp, and perfectly portioned to let the burger patty shine. The flavor is more refreshing than the condiment-heavy version with The Works, the crunchy fresh lettuce and juicy tomato a good balance for the buttery bun. The burger is exactly what it’s meant to be in this form: a classic with a buttery flavor and high-quality beef.

Though every burger on the menu includes the same beef burger patty, the Deluxe best emphasizes the classic burger flavor without distracting away from it with toppings. The Culver’s burger is a buttery, classic diner-style smash burger that benefits from simple, authentic toppings — and a side of custard, of course.

To taste-test the burgers, I followed the one-bite rule: I took one bite of each burger, and any one burger that made me want a second bite moved up a level in ranking. Because all of the burgers on the Culver’s menu are similar, I more closely examined the build of toppings and their effect on the patty and bun. Besides general quality, I ranked based on whether or not the choice of toppings took away from or lended to the flavor of the burger patty and the butteryness of the bun. Finally, I considered the value, ranking higher the burgers that offer more for the dollar, these top choices also being the ones I would recommend to a friend.