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ButterBurger Cheese

  • Signature

The Original with melted cheese, and where most first-timers should start. The cheese melts over the seared patty and into the buttered bun, which is about as Wisconsin as a burger gets. Pair it with cheese curds if you want the full dairy-state experience and a nap afterwards.

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The story

The butter burger is a Wisconsin idea. At the Seymour fair in 1885 Charlie Nagreen served hamburgers fried in butter, and from 1936 the restaurants Solly’s Grille and Kroll’s made butter the point of the burger; in 2018 the hamburger historian George Motz noted that Solly’s still puts up to three tablespoons on top of each one. Culver’s, founded in 1984, took a milder route and butters the toasted top bun instead of the meat. Bigger chains have borrowed the idea since: Steak ’n Shake with its Wisconsin Buttery Steakburger in 2009 and Jack in the Box with the Classic Buttery Jack in 2015.

What’s inside

Make it at home

There is no copycat of the ButterBurger Cheese yet. Until there is, these recipes on the site come closest to it, judged by what goes into the bun.

Similar burgers at other chains

Built around the same things as the ButterBurger Cheese.

More from Culver's

About Culver's

  • United States
  • Since 1984
  • $$

The Culver family opened their first restaurant in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in July 1984, in a building that had been an A&W. They built it around two things Wisconsin takes very seriously: dairy and hospitality. The frozen custard is made fresh throughout the day, the cheese curds are the real squeaky kind, and staff still bring the food to your table.

About 1,000 restaurants in 27 states, most of them in the Midwest.

The full Culver's burger menu and story →

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