White Castle: A Young Adult's Rite of Passage

I’m convinced that every town with a population of highschoolers and twentysomethings absolutely needs a White Castle.

Why, you may ask? Because we crave those tasty little morsels during the wee hours of the morning when the partying has died down and we just want a quick late-night snack before bed.

Conveniently located on the corner of Commack Road and Jericho Turnpike, that White Castle is practically a landmark for all who grew up around it. Where else can you go when at 1 a.m. you crave something delicious, greasy, quick and good for you? 

Wait, let's rewind that last part. White Castle certainly isn’t healthy by any means, but it does do a soul good from time to time—though the stomach generally pays dearly for all that “goodness” the next day.

According to the nutritional facts, One measly little cheeseburger slider has a whopping 170 calories and nine grams of fat. And we all know that no one can just have one slider no matter how hard you’re trying to watch your figure. Not to mention their 850 calorie and 57 gram of fat single sack of fries. No wonder they taste so good.

Believe it or not, I have not been inside that grand establishment that is White Castle since 2006. Thank goodness they have a drive thru. Which, by the way, is probably the craziest drive thru I’ve ever been to. (Where else do you drive up on the wrong side of the building to watch your food travel high above you and gently settle down in the tiniest of elevators right at your fingertips?)

Nowadays, the selection at White Castle is not limited to sliders alone. They also now offer: a pulled pork sandwich, which is surprisingly tasty for being from a fast food place; fish nibblers, a.k.a. bite sized fish sticks (no, I have not tasted these so I cannot attest to their greatness) and even breakfast sandwiches on either the classic mini buns or toast. 

If you’ve never experienced “the crave” before here’s what you can expect when the next one comes...

Wafted in on a spring breeze you suddenly smell the faint odor of cooked onions.  Immediately you dream of those wafer thin burgers smothered with a cheese square, two pickles, a dab of ketchup, and those itty bitty onion chunks all nestled between two warm moist equally tiny buns. You picture four—no—10 of those scrumptious burgers neatly lined up in their color-coded sleeves. And then comes the sack… perfectly crinkled fries, big crispy onion rings, or the new kicked-up chicken rings with Zinger sauce.

Its then that you wake up, and know that a trip to White Castle is definitely necessary in the near future.