Article
Largest 'castle' in White Castle kingdom opens in Arizona
From the rolling out of the trademark "blue carpet" to fans waiting on site for four days, the opening of the world's largest White Castle -- and first in Arizona -- was THE event in Scottsdale this week.
October 24, 2019
"We waited 33 years."
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| Photos: White Castle |
The words on that one sign, held by a White Castle fan outside a new Scottsdale, Arizona store, sum up the love people have for the little square burgers as the brand behind them opened its first store in the state and the largest freestanding White Castle in the world Wednesday, a news release said.
The sprawling 4,589-square-foot "castle," sits on East Via de Ventura in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community's Talking Stick Entertainment District near Scottsdale. And was this community ever ready for the white-tiled burger QSR to swing open its doors, as evidenced by a sunrise crowd of hundreds of fans, White Castle team members and leadership as well as third and fourth generation family members.
The brand rolled out the "blue carpet" and cut the store opening ribbon as the crowd of people rushed in after some had traveled hundreds of miles and others waited four days on site in an RV for the new mega-store to open.
"We're really excited to open our first Arizona location," White Castle President and CEO Lisa Ingram, said in the release. "We have so many loyal fans in the Scottsdale area who have been craving a Castle here. We look forward to serving them and to creating new friends and fans of our one-of-a kind, steam-grilled taste."
The store has seating for more than 200 guests, along with TVs, free Wi-Fi and a kitchen "theater" that's entirely visible from the dining room. It also pays homage to lifelong White Castle fan and rockstar, Alice Cooper, whose photo stretches down one wall of the store. In fact, Cooper lives in the Scottsdale-area and was the first to dine with his family in his namesake booth at a pre-opening event Sunday evening.
The brand now has more than 370 restaurants in 13 states, but the cavernous Scottsdale location is the first company-owned site west of the Mississippi.
