# White Castle

> White Castle is a fourth-generation, family-owned restaurant and consumer-food company best known for the Original Slider. Founded in Wichita in 1921 and now headquartered in Columbus, it operates more than 350 restaurants, manufactures key inputs such as meat and buns, and sells frozen sliders nationwide. Its unusual mix of company control, vertical integration, grocery distribution and ritual-heavy brand marketing gives a regional restaurant footprint national reach.

- **Founded:** 1921
- **Headquarters:** Columbus, United States
- **Founders:** E. W. "Billy" Ingram (Co-founder), Walter Anderson (Co-founder and cook)
- **Team size:** Approximately 10,000 team members; Great Place to Work listed 7,809 U.S.-based employees in April 2026.
- **Products:** The Original Slider, Restaurant menu, Frozen sliders and snacks, Crave Case, Digital ordering and delivery
- **Notable:** Widely recognized as America's first fast-food hamburger chain, founded in 1921., Became the first fast-food hamburger chain to sell more than one billion burgers in 1961., Launched frozen sliders in grocery stores in 1987, creating a national retail channel beyond its restaurant footprint.

## Products & services

- **The Original Slider** — A small steam-griddled square beef patty with onions and pickle on a bun; White Castle's signature restaurant product.
- **Restaurant menu** — Company-operated quick-service restaurants offering beef, chicken, fish, breakfast and plant-based sliders, plus sides, drinks and desserts.
- **Frozen sliders and snacks** — Retail products including Original, cheese, chicken and jalapeño sliders plus Chicken Rings and Castle Bites, sold through grocery and other retail channels.
- **Crave Case** — A boxed format holding 30 sliders, designed for groups, parties and catering occasions.
- **Digital ordering and delivery** — Ordering through White Castle's website and app, pickup, delivery partners and the Craver Nation Rewards loyalty program.
- **Crave & Go kiosks** — White Castle-branded automated hot-food kiosks planned for commercial and institutional locations through an exclusive ART partnership.

## Achievements

- Widely recognized as America's first fast-food hamburger chain, founded in 1921.
- Became the first fast-food hamburger chain to sell more than one billion burgers in 1961.
- Launched frozen sliders in grocery stores in 1987, creating a national retail channel beyond its restaurant footprint.
- The Original Slider ranked first on Time's 2014 list of the most influential burgers.
- Became the first fast-food burger chain to offer the Impossible Burger in 2018.
- Fast Company named White Castle among its ten most innovative dining companies in 2021.
- Earned Great Place to Work certification for six consecutive years through 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — White Castle made a veggie slider a permanent systemwide menu item.
- **2026-05** — The company opened a restaurant in Kissimmee, Florida, and began construction on a Daytona Beach location.
- **2026-04** — White Castle announced an exclusive Automated Retail Technologies alliance beginning with 1,000 Crave & Go hot-food kiosk locations.
- **2026-01** — Jamie Richardson was promoted to chief marketing officer, while the company emphasized value offers and all-day breakfast.
- **2025-09** — Season 2 of Craver Nation Rewards launched after active membership grew 25% and loyalty transactions doubled in the program's first year.
- **2025-07** — A permanent Crispy Chicken Slider joined the menu.
- **2025-01** — Anthony Joseph became the first non-family president in company history; Lisa Ingram remained CEO and board chair.

## Links

- Website: https://www.whitecastle.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/white-castle
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/WhiteCastle
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/whitecastle
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whitecastle/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhiteCastle
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@whitecastle

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/white-castle
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-14