White Castle CEO on Balancing Tradition and Innovation

When you've been slinging sliders since 1921, staying relevant means solving what White Castle CEO Lisa Ingram calls "our grandmother, granddaughter dilemma." How do you honor customers who've been coming in daily for decades while attracting granddaughters who discover your brand through TikTok?

In a conversation at RestaurantSpaces with executive producer Michael Owens, Ingram pulled back the curtain on how a 104-year-old family business navigates modern challenges while staying true to its roots. The insights reveal a brand that's not just surviving generational change, it's thriving because of it.

Thinking in Generations, Not Quarters

As CEO of a family-owned company, Ingram operates with a luxury most public company executives can only dream of: the ability to think long-term. "We're able to focus long-term more so than other companies," she said. "We're always thinking about five and 10 years out, sometimes even generations out."

This generational thinking shows up everywhere, starting with their vision statement: "to feed the souls of Craver generations everywhere." It's not just marketing speak, it's operational reality. White Castle invests in culture-building initiatives that would make quarterly-focused executives nervous, like their 25-year club celebration, where longtime employees are flown to Columbus and "wined and dined like the kings and queens that they are."

The results speak for themselves: team members stay 20, 30, even 40 years, with 70% of locations earning "Best Places to work" recognition. "Team members will often tell you they join White Castle because they feel like they're part of the family," Ingram said. "And that's not just my family, it's the family that is in the castle."

White Castle's Approach to Technology

Their approach to technology reflects their culture-first mentality. Every new technology gets filtered through one question: "Does it make the experience for our team member or our customers better?"

Enter Flippy, their fry-cooking robot from Miso Robotics, which is currently being tested in approximately 10 locations. "If you've ever worked a fryer, you know it can be a very intense job," Ingram explained. "At White Castle, it's exponentially intense because we're putting chicken rings and cheese sticks and onion chips and fish sandwiches, probably 30 different products go through the fryer."

While Flippy handles the back-of-house intensity, Julia manages AI-powered drive-thru ordering. The latest version sounds increasingly human, complete with regional expressions like "you betcha" and "all righty." But Ingram was clear about the goal: "The person at the window is doing five things. To take that one thing off their plate and allow them to focus on four things, that's really what we're going for."

The balance between automation and hospitality remains crucial. Even as they test robots, White Castle has introduced "hospitality doors", drive-thru doors that allow team members to walk the line and create personal moments with customers.

Sometimes Strategy is Just About Weather

White Castle's return to Florida after more than 60 years wasn't driven by sophisticated market analysis; it was about surviving Midwest winters. "Honestly, it was really the desire to not have every single snowstorm and blizzard take out all of our sales in the first quarter," Ingram admitted with refreshing candor.

The Orlando location represents their largest footprint at 4,567 square feet, complete with turrets, patio seating, and an open kitchen design. The opening drew six-hour lines for weeks, validating the pent-up demand for White Castle in new markets.

But size matters less than adaptability. Future locations will be smaller, incorporating lessons learned, with features such as patios for off-premise dining, technology integration, and the distinctive White Castle turrets that make each location unmistakably its own.

White Castle's Memorable Moments

• Harold and Kumar: A Hollywood Gamble That Paid Off
  It's hard not to discuss the movie that put White Castle on the national stage. When New Line Cinema approached White Castle about featuring their brand in "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," the internal family discussion came down to two questions from Ingram's father: "Do they ever make fun of our team members? Do they make fun of our customers or our products?"
  
  The answers were no and no. "It's actually a loving tribute to our brand and our products," Ingram explained. The decision proved transformative for a regional brand, providing "national brand presence throughout the United States" and cementing White Castle's place in pop culture. The movie exemplified White Castle's willingness to take calculated risks when they align with brand values, recognizing authentic brand love, even when it came wrapped in unexpected packaging.
  
  
  
  

• Valentine's Day: 34,000 Reservations
  Perhaps no promotion better captures White Castle's ability to create memorable moments than their Valentine's Day service. Last year alone, they took 34,000 reservations through OpenTable for one night, transforming their quick-service restaurants into "Chateau Le Blanc" with white tablecloths, flowers, and table service.
  
  
  
  "If you don't make a reservation by the middle of January, you might not be able to get in," Ingram noted. The promotion extends beyond their physical locations through "love kits"—direct-to-consumer packages featuring retail sliders, branded boxes, Valentine's coupons, and desserts on sticks for customers outside White Castle markets.

The Bottom Line

White Castle's century of innovation isn't about chasing every trend; it's about understanding what never changes: the importance of treating people well, creating memorable experiences, and staying true to your brand while adapting to new realities. Whether that's through TikTok videos, AI drive-thrus, or Valentine's Day reservations, the constants remain the same.

As Ingram put it: "We just try every day to make sure that we are growing, learning, and making the world a better place for both our team members and ultimately creating great memorable moments for our customers."

Watch the full session below: 👇