Faithful fans of White Castle® in Orlando will soon have a new way to Crave. On October 26, 2022, America’s first fast-food hamburger chain is scheduled to open its inaugural Crave & Go location.
The first of its kind in the White Castle system, Crave & Go is located in 1,800 square feet of in-line space directly behind the Orlando Flagship Castle at Unicorp’s $1 billion The Village at O-Town West mixed-use development in Southwest Orlando. Customers can order online at whitecastle.com or through the official White Castle app, then pick up by parking and entering the new store. They can also order through one of White Castle’s three delivery partners (DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub) to bring the Crave to their door.
White Castle’s faithful fans – known as “Cravers” – can continue to order at the Orlando Flagship Castle’s counter or in its convenient drive-thru lanes, then dine in or carry out. To satisfy the crave of White Castle fans morning, noon and night, the Orlando Flagship Castle recently shifted to 24-hours-per-day operations– a customer benefit for which White Castle is famous.
“Orlando has spoken, and with over five million Sliders sold in our first year, we knew we wanted to expand and add capacity to better serve this community of Cravers,” said Jamie Richardson, vice president at White Castle. “Our new Crave & Go answers the call merely yards away from the largest free-standing White Castle in the world.”
Crave & Go is also going even more high tech to better serve Cravers. The new pickup location will feature a “Flippy 2” robot, the first for a White Castle in Florida. Manufactured by Miso Robotics, Inc. of Pasadena, California, Flippy 2 automates the process of preparing foods in the fryer. A big robotic arm like those in auto plants – directed by cameras and artificial intelligence – takes White Castle items like French fries, chicken rings and cheese sticks out of a freezer, places them in the fryer, then deposits the ready-to-serve products into a tray.
The May 3, 2021, grand opening of the Orlando Castle marked the beloved brand’s return to Florida since operating four restaurants in Miami in the 1960s. The Orlando restaurant has since become the top performer among White Castle’s more than 350 restaurants. Since its first anniversary, the Orlando Flagship Castle has raised thousands of dollars for Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, the Orlando area promotional partner for its “Round Up” program, which will continue through 2024.
The Orlando Flagship White Castle employs 120 team members and managers, accommodates 200 guests and features televisions, free WIFI, a Coca-Cola® Freestyle machine and a kitchen that is entirely visible from the dining room.
Starting on Crave & Go’s opening day, October 26, Cravers can save $5 off a Crave Case of any 30 Sliders with promo code “CRAVE&GO” when ordering on the White Castle app. Valid from opening thru 11/30/22.
Clint Gamache is the owner of ThrillGeek. He started ThrillGeek to share his love of theme/amusement parks and pop culture with the world. You can find him at Halloween Horror Nights. Also, be sure to follow him on Twitter @iamcg83