Culver’s — Restaurant in Austin

Sunday 12-01-2024, 4:45pm Culver’s 3424 W William Cannon Dr. Austin, TX 78745

My family has lived in this neighborhood for 25 years, and we have been frequenting this Culver’s for more than 20 years. Today I took a friend visiting south Austin to try their Turtle Sundaes, which are a long time favorite.

Upon first taste, my friend complained about all of the salt and nutty crumbs added to hers, so I tried mine and gagged from the amount of salt. My friend scooped the salt and nuts off of her ice cream and asked if we should return them. I dismissed and tried to power through 2 more bites, before agreeing to return and have them remade.

I went inside and a young female putting on an apron next to the drive thru counter approached and asked if something was wrong. When I told her the sundaes were way too salty and asked if they can be remade without all of the salt or without the nuts (if the salt cannot be avoided). A second female associate with a “sassy mouth” came from the main counter and scoffed as I repeated my request, telling me and the first associate that the sundaes were almost halfway eaten and nothing could be done about the saltiness, as the nuts are dispensed from that container over there (served from the bottom of a plastic dispenser).

I insisted again to the 1st associate that I just need them remade without the salt or without the nuts if the salt cannot be avoided, as someone has clearly dumped a bag of nuts into the dispenser, including all of the salt and crumbles at the bottom of the bag. We’re not talking rocket science here, I paid my money and I returned the sub-standard deserts for new ones … basic customer service 101.

The first associate went to remake the sundaes as the sassy mouth associate told a young male associate, who was coming from the back, that the sundaes were halfway eaten and continued repeating it in disbelief to other staff members in the prep area. As the male approached me, I asked to speak to a manager, as I did not appreciate how I was being treated by sassy mouth. The young man stated he is the “manager” and as I began to explain the story to him, sassy mouth again interjected that the sundaes were halfway eaten. I asked the “manager” to stop her rhetoric and just give me my sundaes so I can leave, as now the level of harassment has gone well beyond the time and value of the $13 spent. I said that I would be speaking to someone at the district or corporate level about the service in this restaurant as the “manager” said “Yeah, whatever, go right ahead.”, and the first associate handed me the re-made sundaes (again made with the same salt and bottom of the bag particles as before). 🤦🏻‍♂️

I am not mentioning names as these individuals may all be minors, and I have not once mentioned race in this review. However, as I was walking to the door, the sassy mouth associate was clearly heard behind me, over the chatter and murmurs of the patrons at the front counter, blurting out to the “manager” … “Yeah, that’s Yo people right there.”

I refused to drop to this young lady’s level of indignity, nor did I give these disrespectful children another minute or my time, and continued out of the establishment.

I treat others with respect and give them grace, but have never been treated with this level of disrespect. Forget customer service at this point, interactions like this can be addressed as a teachable moment if the right people choose to roll up their white collar sleeves and engage their employees. I will continue to exercise my right to refrain from any establishment operated by disrespectful people like this, and will unfortunately be taking a break from this Culver’s location.

Really, how hard would it have been to apply basic customer service and simply say “Our apologies, let us remake your order.” ??

I will give Culver’s corporate an opportunity to address this situation, with something beyond the canned response that other negative reviews have been receiving, before posting on other search...

I've never been to this Austin location, but I grew up by the original Culver's restaurant location. A majority of my experiences with Culver's happened there, and I have fond memories of enjoying fresh, quality fast food served by friendly employees. I once met Craig Culver, who treated my family to sodas. Nice guy. I'm pretty sure he wouldn’t like to hear the bad manager experiences some people have shared. It’s sad, really. That’s not the Culver’s I know.

Anyway, I'll try to be objective as I give my opinions about the various food offerings I've tried at Culver’s in general. I've had ample opportunities to try most everything on the menu. Some things I love, while others I feel could be better. Don't get me wrong—everything is high quality; I'm purely sharing my preferences.

Burgers The burgers are great; you can’t go wrong with any of them. These flavorful smash-style burgers made with fresh hamburger are seared to lock in juices. In my opinion, you need to order a double with cheese and the works for the perfect balance of flavors. The addition of bacon and mayo knocks it out of the park. Fries are crinkle-cut, and are crispy outside and soft inside. I’m not sure if they are my favorite, but they are very good.

Custard A friend of mine back home once pitched a custard slogan to Craig. It went something like, “You cuss, we cuss, we all cuss for custard.” It didn’t take. I'm not sure why. But if you like frozen custard, Culver's might make you cuss—in a good way, though. And there's always a special flavor of the day that will cost you the same as chocolate or vanilla.

Salads They seem pricey for something made from lettuce, but they are good if you like salads.

Soup The soup is usually very good. My favorite would be George’s chili. Keep in mind, though, Culver's started up north so it contains beans. I know beans in chili in Texas is kind of wrong, but if it's wrong maybe I don’t want to be right. Get it with sour cream and onions.

Chicken The fried chicken is good, but honestly I’d get it somewhere else. It's flavored ok, but not crispy enough. The tenders are better. If you prefer bread crumb coatings, this place is maybe for you. Culver’s is a bread crumb kind of place. I prefer batter myself.

Fish Pretty good. Flaky moist cod, it can sometimes be soggy on the bottom. On the pricey side in my opinion.

Cheese Curds What is a cheese curd you say? It's basically new fresh baby cheese chunks that haven’t been pressed into a cheese mold. In Wisconsin, you can find cheese factories around that sell super fresh warm curds just hours old. Culver's coats and fries them like many other Wisconsin restaurants. My honest opinion after trying various curds at various restaurants is that Culver's curds are good at best and ok at worst. I have had much better curds. The problem with Culver's curds is the curds are too small, are coated in bread crumbs, and get cool before they reach your mouth. A good fried cheese curd should be large enough to hold heat in so the cheese stays melted. I prefer batter, and suspect batter seals heat in for longer as well. All too often at Culver's, you get solid and maybe lukewarm curds.

Kids The kid’s menu is great. If you don't need a lot of food and you are watching your pennies, get a kid's meal for yourself. You can get a burger or some tenders as well as a custard coupon and Scoopie points. Scoopie is a custard cone mascot. Points can be saved and spent on things like backpacks with Scoopie on them.

Others Most other foods at Culver's IMHO are so-so and feel like unnecessary fillers on the menu. I occasionally have had a hankering for a tuna melt or a shrimp basket, but I usually end up wishing I ordered a delicious burger instead. Nothing I would say is bad, at worst I would call some of these others mediocre. Most seem overpriced. You may try them...

Today I went to Culvers at William Cannon and Brodie. I like the mushroom and swiss I order it regularly. I went thru the drive thru and after getting my order I left. I drove a mile or so away dug out my burger while driving. After a couple of bites I realized it was not mushroom and swiss. I returned to the restaurant went inside handed bag to counterperson told them it was wrong. Soon a guy named AJ came to me and demanded I pay for another burger cause I had eaten part of the one I returned. I got a bit upset but relented and paid for another burger. He gives me a bag with the new mushroom burger but w/o fries tho I had given them my old order including the fries. He tells me there was no fries in the bag though I know there was. He gets mean and aggressive grabs another order of fries with his grubby hands all over the fries and crams the order in my hand points to the door and SCREAMS for me to get out. Unbelievable. I almost called APD I thought the guy was gonna kill me. He demanded I pay for another burger and kept the first one I also paid for then gives me fries with his cash register filthy hands all over crams into my hands and SCREAMS to get out. Are you kidding.?I have been a regular at this restaurant for years always good. I have never been threatened by any employee until today. I asked for the manager. AJ is the manager. He's a very dangerous person and customer relations not at all his forte. He was rude unprofessional, dishonest and charged me for 2 burgers due to his mistake then keeps the original burger that I paid for. AJ the bully, throughout the ordeal ,never once apologized for his mistake. Are you kidding? Whatever you do at Culvers do not return any mistake on your orders or you may be not only threatened physically but you will be extorted out of more money for their error. This used to be a great place now a place of terror.. The manager AJ is a rude threatening thug who has no clue about hospitality and the restaurant business. I called corporate about incident they said they would forward my complaint to owner. As of yet No apology no nothing. The owner appears to be ok with such treatment of their customers. I will avoid this restaurant though I enjoy the burgers but this AJ thug wrecked it. I came very close to calling the police as I thought for sure his next action would be a fist in my face. He completely lost it. ALL OVER A MISTAKE MADE ON AN ORDER,. His mistake, amazing. I still see his grubby hands all over the fries as he crams them into my hand. I am contacting the health department to inform them of the manner in which Culvers (AJ), handles food for the public. I am hoping they will schedule...