We Tried Culver’s New Fried Pickles and Pub Burger

Pickles are popular. Like wildly so. There’s just about pickle flavored everything and the pickle girlies will sell it out so quick. Honestly, for good reason―pickles are pretty good. So it was no surprise to us when Culver’s dropped some fried pickle items. Now, we got our hands on the new menu items and here are our thoughts. 

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Fried Pickles

First, you can get their new fried pickles as just a side, either in place of your fries or as a side all on its own. The fried pickles are good. Their breading is really on point. It’s basically just their cheese curd breading but on pickle chips. There’s not too much and it was delightfully crunchy. Now, I will say, I would have liked a more vinegary, dill flavored pickle. It wasn’t a sweet pickle, but it was a very mildly flavored pickle. When I eat a fried pickle, I want the richness from the fry countered by the tang of the pickle. I didn’t quite get that here. Would I still get these again? Absolutely. Good and cheap fried pickles ready to order? I’m so there until they’re gone. But some people are more picky about their pickles, so be warned―if you want that vinegar, you’d best go elsewhere. 

Fried Pickles Pub Burger

I had high hopes for this. I really did. But their Colby jack pub burger was way better. Now, as a reminder, this burger is fresh beef (customizable as a single, double, or triple), cheddar cheese, Brewpub Sauce, and crunchy fried pickles, all served on a pretzel bun. Sounds like a slam dunk, right?

Well, not quite. Remember what I said about the fried pickles? Those issues became very glaring in the burger. Because they are so mild, they disappear under the beef and sauce. Because they’re butterburgers, you also lose some of the crunch from them. You kind of just end up with a slightly crunchy, vaguely pickle-like taste. 

Now the sauce was a good. It made the sandwich a little sloppy, but honestly? A sloppy burger is usually a good burger. But because it delivered such a punch of flavor, those pickles really needed the dill and vinegar to ever stand a chance at standing out in the burger. 

Final Verdict

The fried pickles were really good. I will definitely be getting them again if I go to Culver’s before they go away. But, I’ve certainly had better. So I’m probably not going out of my way to get them, ya know? As for the burger? Well, I think I’ll stick to my usual bacon double before going for this pub burger. This burger could’ve definitely benefited from just a little more fine tuning to really make it shine. For now, I’ll just dream of that Colby jack pub burger coming back.