Photo: White CastleOriginal Slider
Three bites, a pickle, and an unmistakable smell of steamed onions. The tiny square patty is not grilled but steamed on a bed of onions, so the onion flavour goes into the meat and the soft bun on top turns almost pudding-like. Judged as a normal burger it makes no sense. Judged at two in the morning, four of them at a time, it makes perfect sense.
The story
The slider sold for five cents when White Castle opened in 1921, and the company built its early growth on the slogan “Buy ’em by the sack”. The five small holes punched through every patty came decades later, credited to an employee named Earl Howell in the 1950s: they let steam pass through, so the burger cooks without being flipped.
What’s inside
Make it at home
My copycat first, then everything I built on top of it.- My copycat
Almost White Castle Hamburgers
The Original Slider on YouTube
Everyone who has cooked, copied or taste-tested it on camera.
Similar burgers at other chains
Built around the same things as the Original Slider.- Wimpy · beef and cooked onions
SignatureWimpy - Habit Burger & Grill · beef and cooked onions
SignatureCharburger - Emmy Squared · beef and cooked onions
SignatureEmmy Burger - The Counter · beef and cooked onions
Juicy Lucy
More from White Castle
About White Castle
White Castle is where fast food begins. Walter Anderson and Billy Ingram opened the first one in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921, selling small square burgers for a nickel from a building made to look like a castle, a deliberate signal that the kitchen was clean at a time when Americans did not trust ground beef. It was the first hamburger chain in the country, and the Ingram family still owns it.
Around 300 restaurants, mostly in the Midwest and around New York. Still family-owned.
Not affiliated with White Castle. Trademarks belong to their owners. The photo is credited under it and is used to illustrate this menu item; it comes down on request.