What Is The ‘Castle of Tomorrow’? White Castle Reveals New Prototype
America’s first fast-food hamburger chain is changing how it serves sliders. White Castle showed off its latest store prototype last month just outside downtown Columbus, Ohio. Called the “Castle of Tomorrow,” the restaurant at 1025 Alum Creek Drive mixes high-tech automation with a focus on making guests feel welcome.
The 104-year-old company isn't just updating its look; it is rethinking how a burger joint works. Jamie Richardson, vice president of marketing and public relations, said the new prototype was designed for both “efficiency and effectiveness.”
“Efficiency in the sense of [employees] being able to move more fluidly, certainly faster,” he said. “And then effectiveness, because at the end of the day, if we do it right, we should ... be able to control our cost a bit better. We should be able to do things that also deliver really great-tasting, hot-off-the-grill product. And that effectiveness part is where we believe repeat business comes from.”
New technology drives this effectiveness. The kitchen features "Flippy," a robotic fry station assistant. White Castle first teamed up with Miso Robotics in 2020, but this version is better. The new Flippy is smaller, easier to install, and twice as fast as before.
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The drive-thru got an upgrade with an AI-powered ordering system with the voice of “Julia,” named for a famous White Castle employee from the 1930s. Richardson explained that the AI tool helps with order accuracy and can suggest extra items to customers.
“Our team members are busy. They do a fantastic job, [but] it's hard to remember a suggestive sell every time,” Richardson said. “When you're looking for the next order, you're trying to make sure all the right things are in the sack. This has simplified that and gives us more consistency, so we've seen positive impact on check overall.”
The design also focuses on human connection. Borrowing a page from Chick-fil-A’s playbook, the drive-thru features a hospitality door instead of a standard window. This allows employees to walk right up to the car, which is helpful for handing over large orders.
“We're fortunate in that people crave the Castle so much that sometimes when they come, they're not ordering a combo No. 1, they’re ordering two Crave Crates, which is 200 sliders,” he said.
Inside, the dining room space feels open with higher ceilings and bright colors. To help speed things up, White Castle installed a new mobile pickup window inside the entrance. And when the sun sets, the main sign transforms to read “Night Castle,” a nod to the chain's late-night business.
Developed with Ohio-based WD Partners, this location sets the tone for the brand's future.
“One of the things we've learned over 104 years is you always should be working on what's next in the next prototype, because you can refine what you have, but sometimes it's better to take an even fresher look with an outside perspective,” Richardson said.
