After a long wait, the highly anticipated Culvers opened in Lyons on Monday, April 20, 2009. Culvers is a fast food restaurant, specializing in Butterburgers and Frozen Custard. Although technically fast food, Culvers is considered by many to be a step above McDonald’s, Wendy’s, or Burger King.

Although not heavily publicized, word spread quickly among high school students, and many planned on attending this “historic” opening.

Being a fan of the franchise myself, I decided to attend the opening and see if the new restaurant could live up to the fine standard set by other Culvers restaurants. After hearing and seeing so many kids talk about going, I was expecting hundreds of RB students to be in attendance throughout the night. In addition, I came into the experience thinking my wait for my food was going to be quite lengthy.

Senior Culvers fanatic Nate Burau said, “Having a Culvers near us has been a lifelong dream of mine, and I feel honored to be able to attend on opening night.”

After watching both the sophomore and varsity volleyball games, many players and fans crammed into cars to hurry over to Culvers. Upon viewing the restaurant in the distance, I could already see that the restaurant was going to be quite crowded. We waited a while to get a parking spot, and then proceeded to enter the building.

As soon as I was inside, my eyes scanned the building for familiar RB students. Within moments, I had spotted at least twenty five RB students already eating, and even more in lines that were wrapped around the corners of the building. The line moved relatively quickly, and I had my order in quite speedily.

Finding a seat was another story.

It was almost forty minutes before I found a permanent seat, and another twenty to thirty before my food arrived. The hour plus wait for my food was expected, and was only a factor of it being opening night. On the plus side, it was highly entertaining seeing everyone begging for the next tray of food to be theirs. Over the course of the night, many more RB student’s came into eat. It was quite the happening place.

Now onto what is actually important about a restaurant: the food. I ordered a double cheddar Butterburger with fries and a drink. The food definitely lived up to the high standard of food that I had previously experienced. I love the taste of Culvers’ burgers, and am a big fan of their fries and frozen custard as well. If you have never eaten at Culvers and tend to like the occasional fast food burger and fries, I highly recommend you check out Culvers.

My overall experience was great at the new Culvers. The wait times and crowds were expected, and will not be present at all times. The waits have already died down to normal levels. This restaurant will thrive at the high school level and it has earned my vote as the “new place” to get fast food.

--Submitted by Bradley Wilson, Staff Reporter