White Castle is a Food On Demand Outstanding Operator.
White Castle—known for its famous sliders—continues to innovate in several areas, including the off-premises side of its business.
To handle the growing demand for delivery, the over 300-location brand prioritizes reducing stress for team members during peak times. It has added extra monitors in kitchens to keep delivery orders separate from in-store orders.
“That way, the operators in the restaurant can see the orders dedicated for delivery while also keeping track of ‘on-demand’ customers—those in the drive-thru or dining room, that still need the same level of experience,” said Steve Foreman, White Castle’s director of operations.
White Castle works with Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub to fulfil delivery orders. The goal? Get drivers in and out quickly and keep them happy. Some operators even offer drinks to drivers who are waiting around.
The brand has also created dedicated pickup stations and have rolled out heated storage lockers that keep food warm for pickup. To make sure everything stays fresh and secure, all delivery orders are sealed in tamper-evident packaging. White Castle is testing adhesive prints to keep receipts attached to the bags to avoid pickup confusion.
Marketing is big, especially around events like 4/20, Super Bowl Sunday, and March Madness. Foreman says it is building strong relationships with its third-party delivery partners, tailoring promotions around events that fit the brand while staying on budget.
The POS system is fully integrated with Checkmate to streamline omnichannel orders.
“That was a huge step for us, especially for our operators. They didn’t have to worry about additional tablets,” said Foreman.
Robotics and AI
Times have definitely changed since White Castle first opened in 1921, and the brand is embracing the future.
It has teamed with Miso Robotics to deploy “Flippy,” an automated fryer currently live in 16 locations.
“It takes some of that load off the team, allowing members to step away from the fryer and focus on other tasks,” said Foreman.
White Castle also boasts drive-thrus, some of which have double lanes. Among other innovations is “Julia,” an AI-powered smart order taker, live in 60 lanes across 38 locations.
“Flippy” is an automatic fryer deployed at White Castle locations.
“It’s a really good tool to interact with the customer, making sure we’re communicating specials, promos or limited-time offers,” said Foreman.
Using data to improve the experience
Collecting feedback from every location helps refine strategies. The brand uses surveys and customer comments from the 1-800-CRAVE hotline to gather insights.
White Castle has also made refinements to its app, which features gamification, where customers can earn points and rewards.
Since every location is corporate-owned, it has the ability to test new ideas and strategies across locations. It can test, tweak, and repeat based on what the data shows.
“If we’ve got an idea we want to test, we can carefully choose which locations to try it in, set up a control group, and measure the results. That gives us the data to apply it to the whole system,” said Foreman.
At its core, White Castle, a family-owned business, strives to “feed the soul of craver generations everywhere.”
Jamie Richardson, vice president of marketing at White Castle, notes, “And when we say that, we don’t just mean feeding the souls of the people who work in this building. It’s about everyone we come in contact with.”
Reflecting on his time with the company, he adds, “I’ve been here for 27 years, and I can tell you that the decisions we make are rooted in this core belief: it’s about how we treat everyone.”
The Outstanding Operators Program highlights 20 innovative brands taking creative paths to success with all things off-premises. Each winner receives a $1,000 charitable donation to its organization of choice and will be recognized on-stage at the 2025 Food On Demand Conference. Register today!
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