Is the Culver’s CurderBurger … Good?

On a grim, drizzly day in mid-October, I drove to the nearest Culver’s for a special early tasting of the CurderBurger. 

The story of this behemoth burger begins on April Fool’s Day of this year, when Culver’s posted a joke tweet, announcing the creation of a new giant cheese curd burger. This led to a Change.org petition requesting that the fake burger be made real – a petition that garnered over 600 signatures. Quinn Adkins, the director of menu development at Culver’s got to work, and six months later, dream became reality. Culver’s announced that it would be releasing the CurderBurger in limited supply on one day only – Friday, Oct. 15.

RELATED: 7 LOCAL CHEES CURD BURGERS YOU CAN GET YEAR-ROUND

The final creation isn’t just the gargantuan cheese curd between two buns that the initial joke promised. It’s a Culver’s Deluxe burger, with the usual slice of cheese removed and replaced by a patty-size curd.

How would this experiment play out, I wondered, as I cruised toward Culver’s. Would it be an unexpected delight? Or culinary catastrophe? 

“Hello, my name is Archer Parquette, and I’m here to taste the CurderBurger,” I declared upon entry to the Culver’s.

“What?” the kid behind the counter said.

Turns out I was at the wrong Culver’s.

Classic mistake.

Fifteen minutes later, after I arrived at the correct location, I sat down with the owner and was presented with a freshly made CurderBurger. I glanced under the toasted bun at the massive curd mounted atop the patty. The stack, at first glance, appeared too large for a mere man such as myself to fit in my face. But this concern proved to be unfounded.  

At first bite, there was a noticeable crunch from the fried breading around the curd. The cheese within was both hot and melted, and, to my satisfaction, paired remarkably well with the Deluxe burger. A significant amount of that melted cheese was lost out of the burst side of the curd, causing a bit of a dairy puddle in the carton below, but that’s a risk one has to be willing to take when attempting to conquer a meal such as this. 

PRO BURGER-EATING TIP: A wise man once told me to eat burgers upside down. The top bun is thicker and absorbs sauce better than the lower. If you flip the burger, you can avoid the sticky mess of a soggy, crumbling low bun. This wisdom has served me well over the years, and hence I pass it on to you.

I tried another bite, and then another. I was trepidatious as I moved closer to the center of the burger, wondering if the cheese would remain hot throughout, and it did. The cheese is good, but it’s not exceptionally different from a normal Culver’s cheeseburger. What really sets the CurderBurger apart is the fried breading around the cheese. It adds a new crunch and flavor that gives the burger a unique flavor and makes it worth the trip (and the $5.79).

And indeed the CurderBurger is good. In fact, it’s pretty great. It combines two Culver’s essentials – burgers and curds – and the flavors are a perfect match. If it were to be made a permanent menu option, it might just become my go-to Culver’s order.