10 Things Culver's Employees Wish You'd Stop Doing

Since it was founded back in the 1980s in Sauk City, Wisconsin, Culver's has grown into a nationwide favorite. With more than 1,000 locations, you can find the fast food chain's restaurants everywhere from Illinois to Florida to Missouri and beyond. If you don't have a Culver's near you yet, that might be about to change, because the chain has big expansion plans. But, whether you're a seasoned Culver's fan or you're eager to check it out soon, there are a few things to keep in mind before you pull up for a ButterBurger.

If you want the best experience, it helps to keep your servers onside. So, we scanned Reddit threads to find out the things that Culver's employees wish customers would stop doing. Spoiler alert, but if you're the type of person who calls a Concrete Mixer a cement mixer, or confuses them with Blizzards, this list might feel like a personal attack. We promise it's not (but also, if you want to keep Culver's employees happy, it might be best to kick this habit).

Fast food is a messy business. If you sit down to eat at Culver's with friends or family, you're probably going to fill the table with burger wrappers, disposable cups, sauce pots, frozen custard containers — you know how it is. But when you've finished indulging in your fast food feast, it's good manners to clean up after yourself. Employees don't expect you to start wiping down surfaces, of course, but many are understandably irritated by tables that are left completely covered in trash. 

Employees say they often have to deal with ketchup smeared over tables, food all over the floor, and trash on the seats. "I scream internally every time," said one employee in the r/Culvers subreddit. Another added: "It's gotta be people who never worked fast food in [their] life thinking it's just our job to clean after them."

If you do leave your table in a mess, beware that some Culver's employees aren't afraid to call you back to clean it up. "High schoolers try that all the time by me. I just call out loud and make them come back to clean it," said one Reddit user. "You have to embarrass them so they stop."

Every fast food chain has its own unique way of doing things, and the menu names reflect that. For example, at Culver's, a ButterBurger is called a ButterBurger because the bun is literally toasted in butter. And a Concrete Mixer is called a Concrete Mixer because it's made with cement. Wait, what? Before you start shouting at us: That was a joke. It's frozen custard, duh.

But you know what employees don't like? When customers call a Concrete Mixer a cement mixer. In fact, one worker said they "lose brain cells" every time it happens in the r/Culvers subreddit. Other employees say that customers often call Concrete Mixers Blizzards (that's a Dairy Queen term) or Blasts (hello, Sonic), or McFlurries (that's McDonald's, of course).

Getting names wrong isn't just a little annoying for employees, though, it can also lead to errors. "Please stop calling it a "Concrete Shake" and then getting mad at us for asking if you want a Concrete OR a shake as they are 2 different things," said another Redditor in r/Culvers.

Imagine this: You've spent 12 hours on your feet, serving ButterBurgers and telling people to call it a Concrete Mixer and not a cement mixer, cleaning up tables full of sticky ice cream, smeared ketchup, and piles of trash, and you're ready to go home, stick on Netflix, and put your feet up. It's five minutes until closing. You can practically taste the popcorn you're about to gorge on. But then someone decides to order enough food to feed a football team, and the dream slips further away.

Okay, so we're being a little dramatic, but the truth is employees really don't like it when big orders come in just before closing time. And we can't say we blame them. "Dear customers, please stop ordering enough food to feed 3 entire schools 5 minutes before we close, we just want to go home after a 12 hour shift," said one employee in r/Culvers. "Sincerely, every kitchen worker." They're not exaggerating, either. In another post in the subreddit, one worker posted an order that came in 15 minutes before closing time for 45 burgers, 30 portions of fries, and 30 drinks. Others claim that they often have to stay an hour past closing to deal with late orders.

If you've just arrived at Culver's, the chances are you are eager to get going on one of its famous burgers, or maybe a banquet of sides and some Wisconsin cheese curds. Your stomach might be rumbling, your mouth might be salivating, and your hanger levels might be rising, but please, say employees, try to be patient. 

Many Culver's workers say one of their biggest customer pet peeves is impatience. It's particularly frustrating when people are told to wait a few moments, and they don't listen and keep trying to order. Employees say it can also be frustrating when customers complain to them about having to wait in line to order their food. "When you see a huge line, and decide to stay in it, that's on you, not me," said one Redditor in r/Culvers. "We in the store have no control on how much the guest in front of you orders or how long they take to order. That is on your fellow Culver's addict."

Spoiler alert, but most Culver's employees (and, to be honest, most people in general) don't like being yelled at – even if it's not intentionally aggressive. Many workers say that one of their pet peeves is when customers shout at them at the drive-thru unnecessarily. "My personal [favorite is] whenever I say "I'm so sorry could you repeat that?" [on] drive and then they SCREAM AT ME. For no reason," said one employee in r/Culvers. "Like I just didn't hear that ONE ITEM BRO no need to scream at me."

And this should go without saying, but rudeness isn't acceptable either. If you raise your voice or treat employees unkindly, you might end up with no Culver's food at all. "I straight up say "I am not taking your order" and walk away, go back and alert a manager and have them deal with it," said another Redditor in r/Culvers.

Rudeness isn't always loud or aggressive; it can also be quiet and dismissive. For example, employees find it upsetting when they greet customers, only for their polite "hello" to be completely ignored. "I want to strangle every guest that ignores drive-thru greeting and just rattles off their order immediately," said one employee in r/Culvers, in a comment that has nearly 20 upvotes. "I do my best to listen to you, I'd at least like the basic respect you try to listen to me too."

Employees also need a moment to ask your name before you start ordering. It might be frustrating, but it helps to ensure everyone gets the correct food and reduces errors. Plus, it's a company requirement, not an employee choice. "I have customers that just ignore the intro and start ordering straight away," said another Redditor. "It's annoying because corporate wants names."

The drive-thru at Culver's can get seriously busy, and if you arrive at peak time, you're probably going to have to wait a little while for your order. But there is an important reason for that: All of the burgers at Culver's are made fresh to order. This is vital for quality, and it's one of the key reasons why it's loved by everyone from everyday customers to celebrity chefs (ahem, Andrew Zimmern).

There are things customers can do to help everything run smoothly, though, including pulling forward into an empty space at the drive-thru. Like, all the way forward. "[It's especially frustrating] when you ask them to pull up all the way and they only go forward one space," said one employee in r/Culvers.

Moving forward doesn't just help unclog the drive-thru and help move things along, but it also helps employees out on their time scores. Yep, drive-thru employees are being recorded. "At least at my Culver's, we had our drive thru times recorded and got in trouble for "taking too long for orders" simply because someone didn't pull forward and we kept having to send people out to tell them to move," said another employee on Reddit.

In July 2026, Culver's upset a few customers when it decided to make a major soda swap, removing Mello Yello in favor of Cherry Coke. A moment of silence for all of those affected. But do you know who was totally unbothered? The root beer loyalists, of course. This soda has a pretty big fan base, and many people love the diet root beer, especially. "A diet root beer at a [Culver's] drive thru, chef's kiss," said one Redditor in the r/rootbeer subreddit.

But, and we're sorry to all of the diet root beer devotees who might be reading this, some Culver's employees probably wish the diet root beer also got the chop. According to workers, this signature soda is particularly hard to pour, because it foams up a lot. Though many employees have figured out different methods to make it less foamy (like tipping the cup and swirling the foam), some say it still comes out as a mass of bubbles, and they wish customers wouldn't order it. "[Even when I tilt the cup] the diet root beer is 99% foam and very annoying," said another employee in r/Culvers.

Culver's has a pretty big menu. Not only are there different ButterBurgers, sides, and Concrete Mixers, but there are also a range of chicken options, sandwiches, seafood choices, and Value Baskets. So, with that in mind, it helps if you narrow down your order a little bit to employees. "[One pet peeve is] when a guest comes in and only says "Can I get a butterburger?," said one worker in r/Culvers.

In fact, you should give your Culver's server as much information as you can. Want to eat inside? Say it. Need sauce? Say it when you're making your order at the drive-thru speaker (instead of waiting until you get your food). Don't want a drink with your meal? Specifying it straight away will stop your server from having to start from the beginning, and delaying you and everyone waiting in line behind you.

TLDR: Being clear and concise will help everything run smoothly. "[My biggest pet peeve is] people just not being the clearest they can be when it comes to ordering," said one employee in r/Culvers. "I was just put in Front of House, and I swear to God, I've made mistakes on orders because of the way people are wording them."

As we established, the drive-thru at Culver's can get a bit clogged. The issue can be those made-to-order burgers taking a while, but often, the situation is not helped by drivers not pulling forward into empty spaces. And another customer habit that can cause delays? Taking a long time to read the menu. According to some workers, this regularly happens when the drive-thru is already busy in the evening.

It can have a knock-on effect, too, as the waiting customers in the line then proceed to blame the server. That said, plenty of fellow customers understand and are irritated by people taking too long to examine the menu. "Culver's is already not a very fast experience, but people who don't have their order anywhere near ready make it worse," said one customer in r/Culvers.

Need help deciding on what to have? We can actually step in here. According to our taste-testers, the best burger is the Deluxe, the best chicken item is the Jalapeño Jack Chicken Sandwich, and the best side is the Wisconsin cheese curds. You're welcome.