White Castle® Welcomed Record Crowd At Grand Opening Of First Arizona Location

Cravers traveled long distances, with some camping out for days, to be among the first to dine at world's largest White Castle

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White Castle

Oct 24, 2019, 05:00 ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- White Castle, America's first fast-food hamburger chain, is open for business in Arizona. The 98-year-old family run business and home of the famed Original Slider^® opened a Castle yesterday near Scottsdale, the first one in the state and the largest free-standing one in the world. It's located at 9310 East Via de Ventura in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community's Talking Stick Entertainment District near Scottsdale.

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White Castle, America’s first fast-food hamburger chain, is open for business in Arizona. The 98-year-old family run business and home of the famed Original Slider® opened a Castle yesterday near Scottsdale, the first one in the state and the largest free-standing one in the world. It’s located at 9310 East Via de Ventura in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community’s Talking Stick Entertainment District near Scottsdale.

At sunrise on Oct. 23, White Castle team members and leadership as well as third and fourth generation family members rolled out the blue carpet for hundreds of excited Cravers, White Castle's term of endearment for its most dedicated customers. The grand opening festivities featured brief remarks and a ribbon-cutting by lifelong Cravers Jamie West and Drew Schmitt, who parked their RV in a nearby lot 96 hours earlier for a chance to be the first in the new Castle. Other attendees included Cravers Hall of Famer Walter Buttkus, who brought his custom-built 2017 Indian Scout motorcycle, dubbed the Crave Cruiser, from Orange County, Calif.

"We're really excited to open our first Arizona location," said Lisa Ingram, a fourth generation family member and president and CEO of White Castle. "We have so many loyal fans in the Scottsdale area who have been craving a Castle here. We look forward to serving them and to creating new friends and fans of our one-of-a kind, steam-grilled taste."

The new 4,589-square-foot restaurant, which can accommodate more than 200 guests, has televisions, free WiFi, a Coca-Cola^®Freestyle machine and a kitchen that's entirely visible from the dining room. It also pays homage to rock musician Alice Cooper, a long-time White Castle fan and a member of its "Cravers Hall of Fame," with a large photo of Cooper in a corner of the restaurant. The Scottsdale-area resident attended the groundbreaking of the Castle in April and was the first to dine with his family in his namesake booth at a pre-opening event Sunday evening.

White Castle has more than 370 restaurants in 13 states. The Scottsdale location is the first company-owned site west of the Mississippi. Like most of the chain's other restaurants, the Scottsdale Castle will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, satisfying the crave of White Castle fans morning, noon and night.

In preparation for the Scottsdale grand opening, White Castle brought its Crave Mobile to nearby Fountain Hills in early October, generating excitement about the new restaurant and giving visitors an opportunity to sample the iconic Original Slider as well as the relatively new plant-based Impossible™ Slider.

Founded in 1921, White Castle is the country's first fast-food hamburger chain. In 2014, Time Magazine deemed White Castle's Original Slider as the most influential burger of all time. In 2019, the food and entertainment website Thrillist named the White Castle Impossible Slider the "Best Meat-less Burger in Fast Food."

About White Castle^®Based in Columbus, Ohio, White Castle, America's first fast-food hamburger chain, has been making Bold Moves™ as a family-owned business for more than 98 years. The company was founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921, serving The Original Slider^® made from 100 percent USDA inspected beef. White Castle's commitment to maintaining the highest quality products extends to the company owning and operating its own meat processing plants and bakeries as well as three frozen-food processing plants. The retail division markets White Castle's famous fare in grocery, club stores, convenience stores, vending operations and concessions across the United States and in a growing number of international locations, including military base exchanges around the world. For more information on White Castle, visit whitecastle.com.

SOURCE White Castle