East Lake Street White Castle restaurant closes after 60+ years

Story and photos by MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN

The White Castle outlet at 36th Ave. and East Lake St. served its last slider at 6am on Sun., Dec, 10. The store has anchored the northeast corner there for more than six decades.

According to district supervisor Marjorie Derolf, “Many of our team members and customers knew each other by name, but this was a corporate decision.” Though the property has been sold, Derolf declined to comment on who the new owners are.

White Castle has long been known for its signature small, square hamburgers called sliders. The restaurant chain was founded in Wichita, Kansas in the 1920’s. At the time, a slider cost only five cents. In 2014, Time Magazine named the slider, “the most influential hamburger of all time.”

White Castle developed its prefabricated architecture of white porcelain over steel exteriors, stainless steel interiors, and employees in bright, white uniforms to convey a sense of cleanliness. The chain of restaurants was America’s first foray into fast food.

Photo left: Garrett Humphrey and Anna Loweth visited the familiar White Castle one last time.

According to their website, there are currently about over 420 White Castle outlets across the country. By comparison, there are more than 14,000 McDonalds restaurants in the US and thousands more around the world. The next closest White Castle outlet is at 100 W. Lake St.

Garrett Humphrey stopped in for one last meal on Saturday night with his wife, Anna Loweth. “ To tell you the truth,” Humphrey said, “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for White Castle. My Dad managed another outlet in South Minneapolis when he was a young man. My Mom turned up one day and applied for a job; he hired her, and they ended up getting married. I grew up on this food.”

Customers talked across tables on the last night, speculating on the future of the corner location. The unsubstantiated rumor was that a Canadian donut and coffee franchise called Tim Hortons would soon start construction.