Popular Midwestern burger brand coming to Warner Robins. Maybe Perry, too, down the road
A Midwestern-based, fast-casual restaurant chain known for its ButterBurgers and frozen custard is coming to Warner Robins.
Culver's is expected to be built on 1.49 acres at 780 Ga. 96 near the Kroger shopping center.
The restaurant is targeted to open in March 2025, said co-owner and operator Evan Huffman, who hails from Cordele where he's worked in the agricultural business selling fertilizers, seeds and chemicals.
Evans also served as a field artillery officer in the U.S. Marines from 2012 to 2020. His father, Gary Huffman, a former partner at Five Star Automotive of Albany, is the the other owner.
"Both he and I had fallen in love with the brand a long time ago ... and we always wanted to do something together," Evan Huffman said.
"Culver's is really just a great brand," he said. "They're really good on quality and just bring a really great product and are really big on hospitality."
This is the first restaurant for Huffman, who will be hands-on.
He and his father chose Warner Robins because "the opportunity was there." They also liked that Warner Robins is a military town.
They've purchased franchise rights for Culver's south of Macon and plan expansion as a long-term goal as opportunities develop, including possibly a second location in Warner Robins and another in Perry, Huffman said.
Right now, they're working to get their first Culver's built and up and running.
"We were super excited to help this new (store) locate to Warner Robins and excited to see our small business community continue to thrive," said Kate Hogan, community and economic developer for the city of Warner Robins.
The city helped with access challenges that were resolved with access to the planned restaurant to be via the Kroger shopping center parking lot, Hogan said. The new build will be next to Peachtree Immediate Care at 782 Ga. 96, she said.
Culver's bills its ButterBurgers as cooked-to-order from fresh, never frozen beef seared on the grill and served on a lightly buttered, toasted bun.
"A properly seared ButterBurger is savory brown with light crispy edges and topped with the freshest ingredients, like real Wisconsin cheese, crisp lettuce and ripe tomatoes. A pickle slice tops each ButterBurger bun, Culver's intuitive burger inspection stamp of quality," according to Culver's promotional material.
The restaurant's frozen custard offerings are described as "irresistible handcrafted desserts made in small batches throughout the day at each restaurant, including our flavor of the day."
The menu also includes grilled, fried and spicy chicken sandwiches and tenders, a grilled reuben melt and other sandwich options, fried North Atlantic codfish and shrimp, and soups and salads. Kids meals include a ButterBurger, chicken tenders, grilled cheese or a corn dog with applesauce or crinkle cut fries and a scoop of frozen custard.
Wisconsin cheese curds are on the menu, too.
The restaurants generally employ 30 to 75 people year round, including seasonal positions, according to the company's promotional material. The restaurants seat between 98 to 118 people.
The hiring process for the Warner Robins location is expected to start in the next two to three weeks for a manager and crew members.
The first Culver's opened in 1984 in Sauk City, Wisconsin. A Culver's franchise company was formed in 1987. Today, 40 years since the first Culver's opened, there are over 970 family-owned and operated Culver's in 26 states.
In all, 22 locations are in Georgia, including the first to open in Middle Georgia in Macon at 3710 Northside Drive in September 2021. The Warner Robins store is the second Culver's for Middle Georgia. A Culver's is also coming to Rockmart, according to the company's website.
Hours for the Warner Robins location are expected to be 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
