Is Culver's the Best Carnivore Fast Food?
In a Nutshell
Culver's stands out as a top carnivore fast food choice because it uses fresh, never-frozen 100% beef patties cooked on a flat-top grill with no seed oils, and bacon prepared the same way. The main challenge is ordering: employees often resist selling plain patties a la carte, so the best workaround is ordering a single Butterburger without the bun, then adding extra patties separately. At $2.50 per patty, six patties cost $15, making it expensive but still one of the cleanest fast food carnivore options available.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Is Culver's the best carnivore keto fast food option? Is it healthy? How is the price? If you're on the road and need to follow a keto or carnivore diet, are there any better fast food options?
Craig Culver opened the first Culver's in Sauk City, Wisconsin in 1984. The speaker visited that original location when they were 4 years old. From the beginning, Craig Culver's rule was that the meat in Butter Burger would be fresh, never frozen, which differs from many fast food chains that use frozen meat.
"Frozen meat loses moisture. Losing moisture also reduces the flavor."
Every Culver's Butter Burger is grilled, pressed, and seasoned with salt and pepper after ordering. McDonald's classic patties are flash frozen and cooked straight from the freezer, creating a difference in taste.
Culver's burgers are similar to Smash Burgers with a good amount of meat. They are wide in shape but thinned by pressing, which may mentally feel like getting less meat. The speaker prefers the taste of the Smash Burger style, noting the crunchy edges created by the Maillard reaction, which creates caramelization similar to brownie edges.
When following a strict carnivore or keto diet, eating out almost always involves encountering seed oils or hidden ingredients. The speaker advises cooking food at home to control everything and know where food comes from.
The speaker mentions traveling around the world to film a documentary called 'Healing Humanity' which took 3.5 years to create. The film can be pre-ordered for $10 at healinghumanity.movie/watch.
Culver's does not use any seed oil. The speaker personally asked the manager about this and investigated deeply, including secretly filmed footage of employees showing how they make burgers. Employees are not allowed to videotape when working at Culver's.
Culver's bacon is not deep fried and not cooked in seed oil. The bacon is cooked on a flat top grill. Most fast food and restaurants, even expensive ones, often cook their bacon in unhealthy seed oils that cause inflammation and can remain in the body for years.
The speaker observed at Five Guys employees taking bacon and putting it in a deep fryer in sesame oil before serving to customers.
When getting bacon on a burger at Culver's, customers receive: fresh, never frozen burger; Maillard reaction with crispy edges of the Smash Burger; 100% beef with no fillers; no additives; cooked on a hot tawa without any oil or seed oil added.
The speaker follows the Lion Diet and is very strict about not eating any seed oil. The Culver's burger patties are 100% ground beef with no additives and are clean for this diet.
The speaker's wife Jane loves Culver's smash burgers and uses them to continue her carnivore diet, eating burger patties with bacon while skipping the bun, ketchup, and side dishes. However, ordering at Culver's is described as a nightmare for carnivore dieters.
When requesting "just a burger patty," employees become confused and often try to sell a double butter burger. When requesting two burger patties, they may give a butter burger double, remove the bun, and provide a 30 cent discount, but this costs more than ordering patties separately.
Requesting burger patties a la carte has approximately 50/50 success rate. Employees may say they don't offer a la carte, appear confused, or need to call a manager. The speaker's wife was asked at the drive-thru if the patties were for her dog.
At the speaker's local Culver's, the a la carte menu costs $2.50 per patty. Ordering a double butter burger and removing the bun is more expensive than the a la carte option.
Some Culver's managers state the only way to receive a la carte patties is if ordering a burger or meal with a bun first. For example, ordering a triple Butterburger and wanting a fourth patty would then allow a la carte ordering.
Six a la carte patties cost $15, which the speaker considers ridiculous for six small Smash Burger patties. However, when following a normal American diet with a Butterburger triple plus fries and drink basket, the cost is $13-14 for three patties plus junk food, seed oil, and carbs.
If a la carte is rejected, the cheapest method is ordering a Butterburger Single without the bun (30 cent discount), then ordering five additional a la carte patties. This works because the bun was ordered first. Employees may ask if all patties should be in one container.
Without burger patties and bacon, keto diet options include salads and pot roast, which has some spices and a little sugar but is relatively low-carb without additional sides. The pot roast is not suitable for carnivore diet.
The best carnivore approach at Culver's is ordering burger patties and bacon. The speaker asks viewers to comment with their favorite fast food options.
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