10 Of The Biggest Complaints Customers Have With Culver's

Culver's is one of the Midwest's greatest fast food success stories. After starting in 1984, the business quickly took root in the region and branched out in franchises just six years later. Today, the fast-growing chain has around 1,000 locations, most of which are located in the Midwest. The brand is known for its hospitality, frozen custard, and surprisingly large menu, which includes fried seafood, cheese curds, and even beef pot roast sandwiches.

But if it's such a respected business, why would we have a list of complaints about the restaurant? Well, simply put, no company is perfect. Anytime there are franchises, no matter how involved the parent company is, there will be hiccups and problems from location to location. And Culver's guests have encountered plenty of problems that have them sharing on online platforms, either to let others know about their experiences or to ask if anyone else has run into the same issues.

So, if you want to know more about what issues you might encounter when dining there (and hopefully how to avoid them) this list will let you know what customers frequently complain about regarding Culver's. 

Shrinkflation may be a word you're familiar with. Numerous food companies have reduced the amount of food you get while keeping the price the same. The concept of paying more for less isn't a popular one, especially as inflation continues. Unfortunately, Culver's isn't immune to the trend, as unhappy diners have noted.

Several menu items are reported to be smaller than they once were, particularly the fried cod. One Facebook user posted that in her fried cod order, "... the two pieces in both meals [were] only about half the size I have come to expect from them." Multiple people answered the poster, saying they had also noticed smaller pieces of fish. One commenter said, "I had a fish sandwich last week and my fish was smaller than normal. I had a third of the bun left and I wondered the same thing."

Guests have also reported receiving smaller scoops of custard and under-filled sundae cups. While suggestions have ranged from asking for the cups to be weighed to speaking with a manager, others say to just buy a Party Pack to get more Culver's custard for cheap.

One of the advantages Culver's has over its fast food competitors is that its food is made fresh to order. However, that's also the reason why wait times can range from the usual 5 minutes all the way up to more than 30. Many customers understand that having hot, fresh food can be worth the wait, but others are frustrated by long waits when they still receive a cold meal and melted custard, or worse, don't get what they ordered.

One Yelp reviewer said, "Ordered curbside and they never brought it out. Waited 10 minutes past scheduled pickup before finally going in to see what was going on. My order was sitting on the shelf, concrete mixers melted and tipped over in the bag." A Facebook user had a similar experience and said, "Don't use the curdside ordering when going to Culver's... Waited over 20 minutes and still had to go inside. Just use the drive thru and save your time." Unfortunately, multiple customers have also had excessive wait times using the drive thru as well. 

Culver's has heard diners' complaints and is introducing an artificial intelligence (AI) ordering system to each of its 1,000 locations in an effort to reduce drive-thru waits. Only time will tell if it works out for hungry customers. 

While Culver's is often praised for its hospitality, customers don't exactly feel welcome when they find upcharges on their receipts for everything from condiments to tomatoes. They like it even less when they don't know those items will cost more, since they were once complimentary. If you want to add a tomato to your burger or sandwich, you'll be charged anywhere from $0.20 to $0.50 for it, depending on the location.

Perhaps the biggest upcharging issue was raised by a poster on LinkedIn. He reported, "Three visits in a row, at three different [Culver's], I have ordered the same 'Butter Burger' as I have for the last 15 years. But have received and been charged for a Double Butter Burger. During the third visit the cashier clarified the Point-of-Sale software now defaults to a Double Butter Burger, the customer must customize the burger to a single patty. As a loyal customer, this feels like it borders on a deceitful redefinition of terms." Others in the comments said they'd had the same experience, noting that practices such as Culver's sneaky upcharging break diners' trust. 

Fast-food prices have skyrocketed over the past decade. Dubbed "fast-flation," fast-food chains have increased their prices at almost twice the rate of general inflation, according to a price comparison by Finance Buzz. That's bad news for budget-minded people, many of whom have stopped dining out except on very rare occasions. Culver's customers have noted the change in the chain's prices over the years, and they can't believe just how expensive some of the items are now.

One Culver's employee took to Reddit to express their surprise at the rapidly changing prices. "I know the cost of food has gone up in general but I noticed the prices at our restaurant have gone up at least three or four times in the past couple months. The first time it was roughly a $2-$3 increase across the board when our old owner retired and a new one came in then since then it's gone up maybe 20¢-80¢ across the board each time." 

Commenters responded, with most agreeing that the prices were shocking. Still, many of them recognized that prices were increasing everywhere, even if they shouldn't be rising so fast or so much. 

Every fast-food restaurant will occasionally have issues with incorrect orders or inconsistent quality. Culver's customers in particular have a lot to say about how much the food varies from location to location and how much the quality has changed as a whole. 

Guests have questioned whether the brand has changed the beef it uses because of noticeable differences in taste and size. One Reddit user stated, "Something has changed. I've eaten here for years and recently they taste different at every location I go to. Is it the beef or a seasoning? It's not good." Others echoed the sentiment, with one reply saying, "I eat there as a treat sometimes. I went yesterday, and the burger was different. There was more bread, less meat, and the meat didn't taste the same. It simply wasn't the same experience." 

Customers have also had trouble with the Pork Loin Sandwiches being great one day and dry and overcooked the next. One guest was especially disappointed with their Strawberry Fields Salad, saying it had almost no fruit and was far too expensive for the strawberries to be so soggy. At least the mashed potatoes are still made from real russets, making them a more reliable part of the menu.

Over the past few years, Culver's has introduced several new versions of its familiar items. The mac and cheese, chicken sandwich, salads, and more have all gotten a makeover, but fans of the chain haven't been impressed with the new recipes. 

The mac and cheese is generally disliked by guests, who say the noodles and cheese both have poor texture. A Facebook user declared, "The Mac and Cheese is just not it. It relies heavily on their Cheddar Cheese sauce which is basic in itself. They did add some shredded cheese also but as You can see, the cheese was very skimped and the noodles were naked in parts." One person replied to the poster, saying the cheese tasted like melted plastic. That's definitely not a mark of quality. 

A Reddit user posted about changes to the salads, saying, "anyone who loved [Culver's] salad do not buy, [it's] now the worst salad I have ever eaten. Head lettuce for 9.79 plus tax. taste like garbage and is garbage ... they should be ashamed of themselves." A Culver's employee commented on the post, stating there had been backlash from guests at their location over the new lettuce mix. 

We mentioned earlier that every fast-food location will get an order wrong from time to time. Things get hectic and the wrong bag can be handed to the wrong person very easily. But customers at Culver's have had recurring problems with missing items or incomplete orders at multiple locations, and they've also had varying degrees of success getting the issues fixed. 

A Reddit user said, "I wanted a plain hamburger with ketchup only to eat later in the day. I received a cheese burger with onion, lettuce, tomato, and pickles. I tried to get a refund or comp, or something. However, the manager reminded me of a store policy not written on the receipt. It's a shame to lose a customer over a $3 sandwich." A Facebook user had a similar experience at another location, stating, "Went to Culver's to get my order remade [because] they put mustard & ketchup on two of my [Culver's] culver deluxe sandwiches and the guy literally said 'no.'"

If you think fries are a little like pizza in that it's hard for them to be bad, customers at Culver's would like to have a word with you. Multiple reviews report soggy, sometimes cold, and undercooked fries, making the traditional burger-and-fries experience fall a bit short. Fans have tried to prevent a soggy fry order by requesting them to be extra crispy, but not everyone is aware of this hack. 

A reviewer on Tripadvisor was very disappointed with their experience, saying that not only were their fries cold and soggy, but they also were the wrong size. A Facebook user was also upset with the quality of their order's freshness, pointing out, "Culver's fries are not supposed to look like this. Brown and shriveled, taste bad. There are standards that are not being met in Michigan City. Love Culver's in general, but not these fries. Do better."

One Reddit commenter lamented how quickly they have to eat the fries to keep them tasty, saying, "The issue with [Culver's] fries is the short time frame to eat them. You can't dig in right away because they are always hotter than a fusion reactor. And if you wait [too] long they are chewy cold seagull food."

You can expect greasy fried food at a fast-food restaurant. But that doesn't mean a burger or chicken tender needs to leave large patches of oil behind. Plenty of Culver's guests have experienced the latter, with one Facebook user even asking, "Anyone else ever feel sick after eating at [Culver's]?" Several people responded that they had, and it was due to how much oil was in and on the food. Other customers have talked about the raw grease smell coming from the burgers. Considering one guest posted about their burgers literally dripping with oil, that smell isn't surprising. 

Another Facebook user had problems with the fish, saying, "So we tried Culver's for the first time today because someone said they had great cod ... It was sooooo greasy. We ate what we could but now we both are suffering the consequences with a horrible upset stomach." A commenter joked on the thread that the fish was excellent after you'd used a mountain of napkins to pat away the grease and pulled off all the breading. 

Every restaurant will make changes to its menu periodically to keep up with changing tastes and introduce new items. Unfortunately, that sometimes means getting rid of beloved foods. Culver's has discontinued many items throughout its four decades in business, and fans still remember many of them fondly. Things like the Sweet Potato Fries, Bone-In Fried Chicken, Pot Roast Dinner, and the Orange Creamsicle Custard are still talked about on social media posts and message boards. In fact, several past Flavors of the Day are missed, with the Creamy Lemon Crumble Custard causing a major stir when it was retired. 

The Pretzel Haus Pub Burger was another fan favorite that was only available for a limited time. But as part of the company's Pub Burger series that's been running this year, another limited edition new burger is set to hit menus in the fall of 2026, so hopefully this one will compare to the Pretzel Haus. 

And that's not all the menu changes Culver's has made in 2026, either. There are two new Flavors of the Day and pumpkin-inspired sweet treats that might become the new "must-have" Culver's items.