CUSTARD SO THICK, WE HAD TO MAKE OUR STRAWS BIGGER.

That tagline is on the wrappers of Culver's industrial strength milkshake straws, long before that accessory for sharing milkshakes or sipping watered-down cocktails became a political statement.

Whatever.  Make mine a Double Butterburger value basket, no cheese, the works.

The chain, which on July 18 celebrated its 34th birthday, has become known for its burgers, cheese curds and frozen custard. You could call it the Midwest's answer to regional chains that get national attention like the New York-based Shake Shack and California's In-N-Out Burger. But Culver's tops both of them in annual sales — $1.43 billion last year, compared to Shake Shack's $359 million and In-N-Out's $908 million according to the Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report 2018 by Technomics, a restaurant and food service research company. Culver's ranks 42nd overall beating other regional stalwarts White Castle ($547 million), Steak 'n Shake ($1.09 billion), and Waffle House ($1.33 billion) too.

If you can make it at more than 130 locations in America’s Dairyland, a state where frozen custard and cheese curds aren’t exactly exotic, then maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that the chain has found success in 23 other states.

The Culver's backstory: they're filling the void left by A&W. You can still find them, but you might have to drive on the blue highways, which perhaps you should be doing on road trips.

Opening more than 655 restaurants bearing the family’s name wasn’t initially part of the plan.

“My dream was to move back and open the A&W as Culver’s and live happily ever after in my hometown,” [founder and burger chef in the advertisements Craig Culver] said. “That was my dream, to be part of the community and the schools and the churches.”

He didn't have the roller-skating car-hops you'd sometimes find at A&W, rather, he might have been slightly ahead of his time.

Culver's was fast casual — order at the counter, take a number to your seat, wait for your food to be delivered — decades before it would be the hottest trend in the food industry.

“We were a pioneer in that,” Culver says. “We wanted to make it to order. I like to call us the slowest fast food restaurant in the world and, we’re proud of it.”

That they're exporting Wisconsin, now to 25 states, means Butter Burgers and proper frozen custard can cheer people up almost from sea to shining sea.