Did You Know White Castle Is A Valentine’s Day Hot Spot?

White Castle… what? For those who did not grow up in the USA, yup, it’s a thing. You have to call weeks ahead, the reservations fill up fast, and if you were planning on celebrating your Valentine’s Day at a White Castle, you’d better hurry up and make that call.

According to White Castle, at least 35,000 Americans celebrate with their loved ones over square burger patties each year, with a few weddings taking place on Valentine’s Day as well. A couple of years ago, Adam Chandler of the Atlantic spent his at the Boro Park location, and wrote about it:

“Those who say that romance is dead haven’t spent Valentine’s Day eating several mini-cheeseburgers beneath the fluorescent lights of the Borough Park White Castle. Nor have they met a couple of 46 years who want nothing more than to spend each February 14 sharing chicken rings in a pre-fab plastic booth. No, romance isn’t dead. It isn’t even past.”

This is the 26th year the fast-food chain will be offering table service, and you do have to call ahead:

“Castles are SUPER romantic, you guys. Treat your Craventine (or CraventineS—bring the whole crew!) to a dinner fit for Craver royalty this Valentine’s Day. Just make sure to reserve your table now—it’d be, like, super embarrassing to get shut out just because you didn’t call ahead*.
*No, really—you SERIOUSLY need to call and book a table. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

White Castle is one of the oldest burger chains in America, started in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas.

“The restaurant’s emphasis on cleanliness—facilities were white and customers could watch their burger meat being ground through a window—helped quell fears that all ground beef was as unsanitary as the stuff depicted in Upton Sinclair’s best-selling The Jungle, which was released in 1906. Its success paved the way for “the great American burger obsession” remarked The New York Times when they included the grand-daddy of American burgers in their list of 17 most influential burgers of all time.

There are only six White Castle’s left in Brooklyn, after the South Slope, Atlantic Avenue,  and Clinton Hill locations have been gentrified out. At this rate in a few years there may be none left, so will you be giving it a chance?