Rumor of White Castle coming to Moore?

[xa3021]

I've heard from several Moore residents that a White Castle is planning to move in next door to Del Taco. Anyone k ow if its true or false? I can't find anything on it, but you guys have way more resources than me, lol!

[bille]

We used to have one.

[Zuplar]

I feel like I heard this rumor as well, but I want to say it was like a year ago. I don't really care either way.

[Tavia]

Pei Wei and Pie Five Pizza are going in on the east side of Del Taco......haven't heard about White Castle

[OKCRT]

Pei Wei and Pie Five Pizza are going in on the east side of Del Taco......haven't heard about White Castle

And for the record,no White Castle has ever been in OK> There was a copy cat White Castle in Moore at one time though but it wan't near the same as the real thing. I would love a sack of white castles right now. And no,not the frozen stuff from the local grocer. YUM YUM! You either love em or hate em. They were one of my 1st loves.

[Roger S]

We used to have one.

We've already had this discussion.... the WC imitation was called Bunches and was located where Las Fajitas/Carlitos was.... Which was also a Neptune, for a short time, after Bunches closed.

As much as I would love to have a WC and every time I see a new building going up on 19th I will jokingly say "I sure hope that's going to be a White Castle."....... Knowing their expansion and distribution policies.... I really doubt this is any thing more than a rumor.

[bille]

We've already had this discussion.... the WC imitation was called Bunches and was located where Las Fajitas/Carlitos was.... Which was also a Neptune, for a short time, after Bunches closed.

As much as I would love to have a WC and every time I see a new building going up on 19th I will jokingly say "I sure hope that's going to be a White Castle."....... Knowing their expansion and distribution policies.... I really doubt this is any thing more than a rumor.

My bad. I was little enough to remember going there and the food but not the name. I didn't think it was a white castle but the person I was having a conversation with, an elder whom I assumed remembered better than I swore it was.

[SoonerDave]

I'm not going to start an argument over it, but I will attest to the erstwhile presence of an *actual* White Castle in Moore years ago. I ate there. The one I visited was not a knockoff or one-off. And when it closed, I remembered later how bad the grocery store knockoffs sold under thr same name were so bad by n comparison.

Like BBQ said, this discussion has been had before, and I will stand by my very specific memory of the place.

[Martin]

though it was before my time, i could swear that there was once a white castle in the metro area. i'll see what i can find out. -M

[SoonerDave]

though it was before my time, i could swear that there was once a white castle in the metro area. i'll see what i can find out. -M

An additional reason I will attest to my memory of a White Castle is that I would have had *no reason whatsoever* to even visit the place if my mom hadn't pointed it out to me. I was born in Buffalo, New York, and my folks had spent quite a bit of time in the NY area where White Castles were/are pervasive. When she saw the sign for the one in Moore, she pointed it out to me - "Hey, a White Castle!!" and we tried it not long after it opened.

Now, its entirely possible that the WC was part of some peculiar franchising arrangement or inappropriate use of the company name that was later forced to change or close, or heck maybe was just outright trying to steal the name. Don't know. Maybe it did or didn't, itself, have a formal affiliation with what people are today terming the "real" White Castle; I remember the burgers they sold not being very impressive, but whatever it's origin, whatever it's history, something at some time in Moore sold little baby burgers under the name of "White Castle."

[Roger S]

I've communicated with both White Castle and The City of Moore, the first time this conversation popped up, ,and there is no record of a White Castle ever being in Moore or Oklahoma for that matter....aside from SoonerDave's memory..... sorry SoonerDave but I have to side with the people that would have kept some records on this.

I did eat at Bunches, as a teen, during the short time it was there.

[Roger S]

...., but whatever it's origin, whatever it's history, something at some time in Moore sold little baby burgers under the name of "White Castle."

I agree on this... When I get really desperate, and I mean really desperate, I get them from the frozen food aisle of GFF or Crest.

[SoonerDave]

I've communicated with both White Castle and The City of Moore, the first time this conversation popped up, ,and there is no record of a White Castle ever being in Moore or Oklahoma for that matter....aside from SoonerDave's memory..... sorry SoonerDave but I have to side with the people that would have kept some records on this.

I did eat at Bunches, as a teen, during the short time it was there.

I hear ya, BBQ, and understand. I'd probably say the same thing were our situations reversed. I just know what I personally experienced without any question or hesitation at all, external validation notwithstanding. I'll just have to be content with that.

In all honesty, as I noted in the other post, what I suspect creates this disconnect is that someone, at some point, opened up that burger stand under that *name*, and sold WC-like burgers, but did so without authorization from the "real" company, and was forced to change names very quickly. I remember we did not go back there after our first visit, and I further remember it closed rather quickly - so if it changed names to Bunches or something else (for the sake of argument) I would never have paid attention to it. If it were an "unofficial" or unauthorized use of the WC name, certainly the "real" WC would have no record of it, and 35+ years ago, Moore might not have had perfect records on it, either, especially if whomever ran the place did it under a "dba" or corporate name, something like that. So it wouldn't/doesn't surprise me at all there's not a "trace" of it from either place.

As I said, I'll just have to be content with what I experienced. I know that'll never convince anyone else, but I knows what I knows

[Martin]

i couldn't find any record in the oklahoman from 1960 to 1985 but i'm asking around to see if anybody else remembers. -M

[OKCRT]

i couldn't find any record in the oklahoman from 1960 to 1985 but i'm asking around to see if anybody else remembers. -M

It was a copy cat. And at 1st I think they even tried to use the White Castle name but it was NOT a White Castle and they were NOT allowed to call it a White Castle. I too thought it was a White Castle at 1st but it was not. If you check the White Castle web site it shows 0 White Castles in Ok. at this time. So lets hope that the news of a White castle coming is true but I have been waiting for years and so far none.

[Martin]

yeah... unless it was before 1960, it's not looking to me like white castle ever had a presence here. it seems entirely plausible that there was a store that tried to emulate white castle and that this store was confused for the real thing. -M

[Roger S]

yeah... unless it was before 1960, it's not looking to me like white castle ever had a presence here. it seems entirely plausible that there was a store that tried to emulate white castle and that this store was confused for the real thing. -M

Would have been late 80's if the name change theory is true because Bunches opened when I was a teen cruising 12th Street around 85-86.

[BlackmoreRulz]

I have to agree with Sooner Dave on this. I distinctly remember it being a White Castle, whether it was a true corporate franchise or not I couldn't tell you, but I know that my memory on this has not failed me. We lived in those apartments on the other side of 12th st at the time, this was in 1983 or 1984, right before we made the move to the DFW area in 1985.

[Jersey Boss]

From WIKI:

"Current White Castle markets include Chicago; Cincinnati; Columbus, Ohio; Dayton; Detroit; Indianapolis; Las Vegas; Louisville; Minneapolis-St.Paul; Nashville; New York City/New Jersey; and St.Louis. Louisville and Columbus also house bulk manufacturing (grocery store sales, meat and bun production) divisions. Company HQ and the Porcelain Steel Buildings (PSB) division are in central Columbus, Ohio. White Castle exited the Cleveland and Akron markets in Ohio effective December 25, 2014.

The first White Castle in the far western United States opened at the Casino Royale Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 27, 2015. This was the first expansion for White Castle into a different state in 56 years. On the first day of business, demand for food was so great that the restaurant had to temporary close for two hours to restock. White Castle Vice President Jamie Richardson said that the store sold 4,000 sliders per hour in its first 12 hours. He wasn't aware of any similar closing because of demand in White Castle's 94-year history."

Maybe, just maybe, someday.

[OKArcher]

We've already had this discussion.... the WC imitation was called Bunches and was located where Las Fajitas/Carlitos was.... Which was also a Neptune, for a short time, after Bunches closed.

As much as I would love to have a WC and every time I see a new building going up on 19th I will jokingly say "I sure hope that's going to be a White Castle."....... Knowing their expansion and distribution policies.... I really doubt this is any thing more than a rumor.

I know this is an old thread.. But, I'm a new member and just stumbled across it. To add some clarity to this subject. There was never an actual White Castle franchise in Moore. It was Bunches. I worked for Frank Thurber, who just recently passed away (RIP Frank). Frank was the owner of Bunches. I started work there before the actual opening of the restaurant. Bunches did not last long. Once it closed, it was remodeled and re-opened as a Chuck House. Frank Thurber was the original owner of Chuck House on 10th and Meridian in OKC as well as others. Chuck House, too, did not last long. After it closed, the building was sold (or leased) to Carlos Jiminez who opened Las Fajitas. Las Fajiitas lasted for quite a run before becoming Carlito's, etc.. I was a teenager earning my keep working at Bunches, then Chuck House and eventually Las Fajitas. I joked that I was always the player to be named later as the "trades" were occurring.