White Castle: History, Key Facts and Reviews

1921-1933: Wichita and the first hamburger chain

White Castle is generally considered the first fast-food hamburger chain, founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921 by cook Walter Anderson and businessman Billy Ingram (Wikipedia). Anderson had sold hamburgers from a stand since 1916. He flattened the meatball into a thin patty and served it in a bun, and Ingram turned that into a system. The partners started with $700 and charged five cents a burger. As KCUR recounts, the name was a promise: “white” for purity, “castle” for strength and permanence, at a time when many Americans distrusted ground beef. The grills stood in full view, the uniforms were spotless, and from 1931 customers were told to buy the burgers by the sack. Our history of the hamburger places this model at the start of fast food.

1933-1985: the Ingram family, Columbus and the slider

The Ingram family has controlled White Castle since 1933, when Anderson sold his half of the business to Billy Ingram. The head office moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1936. The company built its own suppliers: Paperlynen for paper hats and packaging, and Porcelain Steel Buildings for its prefabricated white restaurants. In 1954 the patties gained five holes so they cook faster on a bed of onions, steamed rather than flipped. Unlike McDonald’s or Burger King, White Castle never franchised in the United States. It still owns and operates every restaurant.

1986-2021: frozen sliders, Asia and new states

White Castle reached beyond its own restaurants in the 1980s. It licensed its first restaurant abroad in Osaka, Japan, in 1986, followed by Malaysia in 1989, and tested frozen sliders in grocery stores in Denver and Indianapolis in 1986 and 1987. That retail business now sells sliders nationwide. In 2014 Time magazine named the slider the most influential burger of all time. New regions followed: Las Vegas on January 27, 2015, Shanghai in 2017 (closed by 2021), Scottsdale, Arizona, on October 23, 2019, and Orlando on May 3, 2021, the chain’s centennial year, in a restaurant billed as the largest White Castle in the world. Lisa Ingram, of the fourth generation, has been CEO since December 2015.

2026: 336 restaurants and a first Texas Castle

White Castle today is a family-owned chain of 336 company-run restaurants, according to its press release of October 20, 2026 (Business Wire). Most of them are in the Midwest and around New York. In June 2026 it broke ground on its first restaurant in Texas, at Grandscape in The Colony, north of Dallas, with an opening expected in late fall 2026 (QSR Web). The slider also inspires chefs: in Boston, the sushi bar Uni created a White Castle cheeseburger roll.

Key dates

• 1921: Walter Anderson and Billy Ingram found White Castle in Wichita, Kansas.
• 1931: the chain starts selling its burgers “by the sack”.
• 1933: Anderson sells his half of the company to Billy Ingram.
• 1936: the head office moves to Columbus, Ohio.
• 1986: first restaurant abroad, in Osaka, and first tests of frozen sliders in grocery stores.
• 2015: first Las Vegas restaurant; Lisa Ingram becomes CEO.
• 2021: White Castle turns 100 and opens in Orlando.
• 2026: 336 restaurants and groundbreaking of the first Texas restaurant.