Culver’s — Restaurant in Fox Lake

I stopped at this Culver’s location intending only to purchase a gift card for a friend. While I’ve visited this location several times before, it had always been via the drive-thru. This was my first time going inside.

Like other reviewers have noted, the drive-thru tends to be slow, with frequent requests to pull ahead and wait for your order. That said, unlike others I’ve never had any missing items from my drive-thru visits. However, this review is about my experience inside the restaurant.

When I walked in, the lobby was empty — no other customers were in line. There were two employees behind the counter, and a manager engaged in a lengthy conversation with them about an employee who hadn't shown up for their shift. While I was acknowledged by one of the team members — a mature, friendly female employee — the manager continued talking, clearly aware of my presence but choosing to prioritize this discussion over assisting a customer.

What made the situation uncomfortable wasn’t just the wait, but the fact that the conversation felt like workplace gossip — not something that should be happening so openly in front of guests.

There were no visible gift cards in the store, so I lingered, debating whether to stay. Honestly, had I been ordering food, I probably would have left. But I really wanted that gift card for my friend.

While I waited, I browsed the hand-packed pints and decided to grab a couple. It was clear from the body language of the helpful employee that she wanted to assist me but felt stuck between respecting her manager and serving a waiting customer. The manager, meanwhile, continued the conversation without any urgency.

Eventually, the employee broke away and helped me. When I asked about the gift card, she had to go back to the manager — who, oddly, was keeping the cards in her own zippered pocket. I am still wondering why the gift cards, which hold no monetary value until activated, are kept unavailable to employees. This only causes further delays to checkout times. In any event, she handed one over to the employee, who then completed the transaction with me.

To her credit, the employee went above and beyond. She let me know that while two pints cost $10.18, I could get a 4-pint “party pack” for just $12.29 — basically adding two more for just about $1 each. That suggestion alone saved me money and made the visit feel worthwhile.

Overall, I’d rate my experience as disappointing due to poor management and lack of professionalism — especially with how casually customer service was brushed aside. However, I’m giving this review more than one star solely because of the excellent service I received from the one employee. She was friendly, attentive, and clearly wanted to do right by the customer. Her efforts shouldn’t be overshadowed by the...

I love Culver's, unfortunately this specific one isn't up to par with the other ones. It's been open long enough that silly mistakes shouldn't happen. I've had not one but two bad experiences here. My first was after a long day at work, I wasn't feeling well so I thought a chocolate shake would help so I figured going to Culver's to eat and getting a shake would make me feel better. I ordered my food and got a shake. While my husband and I waited for 20 minutes our food finally came to our table and I told the girl that dropped it off about my shake. I waited to eat my fries. But no shake came. I continued to eat til I was done yet no shake. I ate my meal without a drink and ended up going to the counter and asked for my money back. The boy working the counter kept pushing that they just make it. But I had already waited an hour for it, so I was not interested. It was upsetting that I came in specifically for the shake and I never ended up getting one especially when I was sick and worked a long day.

The next bad experience was today when I went threw the drive thru. I ordered a burger with cheese and bacon and so did my husband. I ordered mine plaine with just the bun ,burger, cheese and bacon. My husband ordered the same thing but with ketchup, pickles, and mustard. We got home and both burgers we're completely plain. I just hope that we weren't charged for the toppings....

I know these aren't crazy bad things. But definitely day ruiners. And this is a chain restaurant which means there's not really an excuse....

Ordered a concrete mixer, it was soft and whipped like it wasn't done right. We came up to the counter to tell them and the manager just was walking on the door he said he would take care of it somewhat polite but not real happy. Not a big deal he said they would bring another one out to our table something about the chocolate syrup makes it that way. That's a bunch of crap. I'm Middle East woman came out tore a table put the cup down on table and walked away. No sorry for the wait sorry about that nothing just an attitude that she walked way quickly. I went back up to the counter to tell him I didn't want it I want my money back. I told him that there was an attitude problem here and he said he would address it with her but was not very apologetic basically had a little bit of an attitude about it. There's plenty of other restaurants to go to. The funny thing is as I was walking away from the counter, some lady came up with two of her meals and that wasn't done correctly either. I guess I'm not the only one that wasn't happy with the service or the food today. Update 5 mins later, owner came over to Tommy that she was busy with someone on the headset and that's why she didn't say it thank you and just walked away. LOL how could you not find...