Culver’s — Restaurant in Bradenton

Always give a place second chance after a few months or when you notice a change in the location because of the sign that reads "Under New (insert whatever here)!" stuck in it's lawn. So, the first time wasn't good, a two bagger was me being generous. Wow, someone must have listened. The Cod Filets in the fish dinner platter are among the best I have eaten in any setting, and I would say the best I have ever had from a drive thru fast food joint. Also, just to point it out, the same fish is on the sandwich, which I can only say is over much too soon. Go for the 3 pieces if you have a good appetite. Next are the fries, long gone are the soggy sad things of the past visit. They seem to be double fried, so very crisp on the outside and velvety on the inside. Begging for some condiments and taking the deep dive like a champ. Saltiness is at a good level for me now as well. So good, I order a seperate order of the fries now most of the time. The "Cheese Turds" are good if you like them, they are not my thing, but the kids really like them and eat them up! Finally, the frozen dessert, a custard treat, is right up there! It can come with all kinds of add-ons, from fruitty to nutty to candy yumminess. A blueberry and cheesecake concrete mixer will blow your taste buds right out of your mouth. It is sublime. All in all, a solid choice for some tasty fish or a double patty melt burger! It's a choice that my Daughter and I love and have had the pleasure of a couple of times now. Mmmmm Mmmmm good! A solid 5 STAR to me. Crazy better in every way...

Pulled up to the drive thru with coupons we got through the mail and asked if we could use more than one. We were told yes by the guy on the intercom. We placed our order for two burger combos and a concrete mixer. When we pulled up to the window, the woman told us our total was about $17. We gave her the coupons and she told us we could only use one. When we told her the guy said we could use multiple, they started arguing with each other about the policy. The woman reluctantly took our coupons, and came back with our new total… $24. Huh? There must be a mistake. She sat there and argued with us for what seemed like 10 minutes until another woman comes up. She punches in some keys and came back with a new total… $19. When we told her the total when we first pulled up was $17, so how does using coupons still increase the price, she told us the original total was wrong then. When we asked to speak with a manager, what seemed like a 17 year old boy came over. He rambled on about policies and how his employees are just hourly workers who don’t really care, etc etc. Horrible. By this point, we ended up just canceling nearly everything and just grabbed a couple burgers and left. It’s safe to say that we will NEVER be returning to this...

This particular Culver's is so-so. We walked in, were the only ones in the lobby (is that what you call it?) area, one person behind the counter with their back turned to us, either flirting or joking with the cooks in the kitchen area. I won't go as far as to say they actively avoided waiting on us, but they actively avoided waiting on us. The only other person working the front/dining area hurried in from delivering a drive thru order to take our order.

When our order was brought to our table, it was missing chicken strip and the dipping sauce. So I walked to the counter with the receipt and told him I was missing the strips. They solved that issue, but when I asked for the sauce again, I was told he would bring it to the table. I guess it was too much work to hand me one from the bin behind him, or to tell me if they were out of what I wanted, would I care to substitute another? I went back to my seat, strips in hand and no sauce. He never did bring it to our table.

This is not the Culver's restaurant we normally frequent, but one across town and on the way to Costco. I won't be going back. I can be ignored just as well and pay less at a place like Taco Bell or Mickey D's. The Culver's in west Bradenton...