ICONIC SLIDER
SATISFIES THESE
TOP CRAVERS
White Castle celebrates a century of sliders and fries
It’s been 100 years since Billy Ingram sold his first small, square hamburger for five cents at the first White Castle in Wichita, Kansas. That now-iconic burger has given rise to more than 350 locations spread across 14 states and a host of super-fans for whom a meal at White Castle is a frequent craving. In fact, the crave is so strong that the brand offers its popular sliders in grocery store freezer sections nationwide, and has been doing so for the past 34 years. Because of the cadre of enthusiasm over the steam-grilled, 100% USDA beef patty sandwiched between the brand’s signature white bun, each year the family-owned business inducts a new class into their Cravers Hall of Fame. From a family who regularly connects over sliders to a brain tumor survivor whose slider craving helped her regain her strength, for these three “cravers,” White Castle has been a touchpoint of hope, joy and cherished memories, particularly during the pandemic. Here are their stories.
EPISODE 1
EPISODE 2
EPISODE 3
FROM OVERCOMING TO SPREADING JOY
For Phoenix-resident Kayla Gray, White Castle has been a beacon of hope during some of the most difficult times of her life.
“Some of my earliest memories involve trips to White Castle,” says Kayla Gray, who grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sharing a daily slider with her dad is one of her fondest childhood traditions. In high school, she got news that no teen wants: doctors discovered a brain tumor that required emergency surgery. Following the operation, Gray couldn't keep food down. Worried that she wouldn’t heal without nutrients, her medical team offered to pick up her favorite meal: White Castle Number One, no pickle, with fries and a Coke. “It was the first meal I was able to keep down and the start of my journey back to health,” she says. “Shortly after, I was discharged from the hospital and have been thriving ever since.”
Gray’s experience inspired her to enter the medical field, and in 2018 her job as an anatomy lab director for organ donation moved her to Phoenix, Arizona. Before she signed off on relocating, she made sure there was a White Castle location within driving distance. “It partially inspired my move here,” she says of the first Scottsdale location that opened in 2019. As she’s seen the devastating impact of the pandemic, she’s made it her mission to share the joy a slider can bring. White Castle delivered sliders to her hospital as part of a program to support frontline medical staff and each time it’s Gray’s turn to bring snacks for work events, she chooses White Castle sliders. “It’s been nice to expose my colleagues to the greatest burger in the world, in my opinion,” she says.
HAPPINESS AND POSITIVITY FOR THREE GENERATIONS
Sliders run in the family for the Sorensen-Smoles, so much so that 13-year-old Sean, his mother and his papa were all inducted in the iconic restaurant's annual Cravers Hall of Fame.
White Castle has been woven into the fabric of Barbi Smole’s family since before she was born. “My dad grew up on the south side of Chicago and didn’t come from much. He still remembers looking for coupons so they could get a sack full of sliders. They were five cents a piece at the time,” Smole says. She and her husband even surprised guests by serving 400 sliders as a midnight snack at their wedding.
After she started her own family, “pretty much as soon as my son Sean was old enough to eat solid food, dad would say, ‘Let’s have a boys’ day out’ with a meal at White Castle,” she recalls. It’s become a beloved tradition for 13-year-old Sean and her dad, who the grandkids call Papa. “They have this great relationship and an important part of it is bonding over White Castle sliders,” she says.
Though Smole’s family now lives in Clarksville, Maryland, Sean indulges his daily craving with an after school snack of a White Castle slider from the local grocery store’s freezer section. “He has a routine. It’s two sliders [in the microwave] right after school,” Smole says. Still, Sean most looks forward to regular visits to see Papa again in Ohio. During COVID-19, the twice-annual “boys’ day out” was put on hold. After 10 months, the Smoles did a COVID-conscious cross-country drive and Sean was overjoyed to re-start their White Castle tradition in person. Their love of the brand runs so deep that Papa suggested they apply for the Cravers Hall of Fame. “When we found out we made it, my dad was ecstatic and Sean was going crazy,” Smole says. “It's been a great, positive thing at a time when there’s so much negativity in the world. It’s made everybody so happy.”
SHARING IS CARING WITH THE WHITE CASTLE GANG
Daniel Mann and his three best friends have formed an exclusive bond over their favorite sliders. And for Mann, enjoying a Crave Case with his crew reminds him of home.
What started as a convenient way to feed a large family crew has become a life-long craving for college student Daniel Mann. Some of his earliest White Castle memories are of his grandmother ordering enough sliders for him, his twin brother and twin younger sisters. “That’s really what started my love of White Castle,” he says. “It reminds me of family.”
Mann grew up in New Jersey, and as he inched toward high school graduation, he and a trio of best friends knew they wanted to orchestrate a fun post-prom event. They began meeting every weekend to plan, always accompanied by White Castle sliders. In fact, they nicknamed themselves “The Castle Gang” for the hundreds of sliders they consumed that year. Unfortunately, COVID-19 hit the year after graduation, so in-person hang-outs were less frequent. “If we couldn’t meet up in person, my friends and I would talk on the phone or play video games. We’d get White Castle and just talk,” says the student who now lives in Rhode Island for college. He’s looking forward to coming home for the holidays, where sliders will be a part of his gatherings with friends. “When there’s so many guys hanging out, you need to get a Crave Case because it’s 30 burgers,” Mann says, though his individual order tends to include sliders with cheese, medium fries and a vanilla milkshake. White Castle is always his last stop before driving back to school, so he can take a Crave Case to share. “You don't get a slider that tastes like that anywhere else,” he says.