White Castle — Restaurant in New York

I am a regular customer that work late shifts as a crisis prevention psychologist in New York. So, I work odd shifts as the WC employees. I often don't have time to prepare food for my break, so I head to my Local WC often. I’m vegan, so the Dairy free cheese and impossible burger is my favorite food item in all of fast food. I found a BOGO coupon on the WC website which almost never happens. There’s never a coupon for vegans—so I was EXCITED. However, the in store manager created caveats to deny me access to the coupon for “overusing”. The first time I tried (2 days ago), the manager created a new policy that I needed to order the sliders on the app. The coupon said I can only use it “In Castle”. After reasoning w/her she gave me the deal. My coworkers came over to celebrate my birthday—I BRAGGED about my local WC. However, the manager notice I was in line and assumed I was trying to use the coupon again and left me waiting in line for an hour. Time flew chatting with my friends though—her staff kept asking why we weren’t being served, but she rolled her eyes and walked away from them. Finally, after some time, she yelled at her employee for asking again and told her she is NOT taking any coupons. I said that I will order regardless, but the coupon is valid. She said this time that it was not and I need it printed and I already used it. The coupon allows 1 use per visit and it does not say to printed but said to just present it. My last visited to the castle 2 day prior (I go every other day). Despite the denial of the coupon, I still ordered the amount of sliders I was getting. I did not really care for the coupon. I love WC Impossible Sliders. She shamed me in-front of everyone in line and all the staff on my birthday for a assumption about a coupon that was still valid. My friends was dissatisfied w/the treatment and unfriendly service. The manager intentionally did not put pickles nor onions on the sliders I ordered. Sad to say, but I will need to find a different place to eat every night because of the unwelcoming manager. I work hard and found my interactions up until this point to be pleasurable for years. I blame the intolerance and lack of coupon education that created hostility in my experience. Please educate the staff and improve. Reach me if there is any commitments to change. Until then, my friends and I all agreed to eat at other locations, disappointingly....

Food was okay, except for the mistake in my order. I made the order in the app, mainly because I feel it's easier to make special requests if they're reading it. Considering when i arrived at the pickup window & cashier asked to see the app (which NEVER HAPPENS at Long Island locations! ), this would have been a double check to verify correct order. I specifically asked for NO PICKLES in my sliders. ALL FOUR HAD PICKLES! Luckily, it did not affect my allergy even though I removed them & they already touched my food. However, it's a simple enough request & people make requests for a specific reason; sometimes health related. Cashier was not that friendly; neither at the speaker nor at the window when she asked to see the app. I'm not sure how many people would try to steal a $12 app order, but I guess given the location, I was not surprised of her personality & request to see the app. I'm not sure if I would return to this particular location. I stopped in only as a matter of desperation to give my son & myself a quick bite for the trip back to Long Island. Drink was good, fries & chicken rings...

What more needs to be said about the urban delicacy that is White Castle? If you think it's great, you're right. If you think it's terrible, you're also correct. It's a shame that there are fewer of them around but, then again, since my teen years I can only stomach it once every 5 years or so. It's great that this location has mostly done away with the bullet proof glass that encased most WC in the 80s and 90s. I did say "mostly". The staff at this location is friendly and courteous, even though they seem overworked. Be nice to them, as you should be nice to everyone in the service industry.

The burger and cheeseburger sliders taste exactly as they did 30+ years ago. With that being said, stay away from the "1921" burger. There's probably a reason they stopped making that version of their sliders. It ain't good. The onion rings are great. As are the shakes.

If you've never had White Castle, do yourself a favor and have a meal. If it's good enough for the Beastie Boys, it's probably good...