Sponsored By

White Castle is digging into its late-night stoner rootsWhite Castle is digging into its late-night stoner roots

With a new drink pairing for its sliders, the brand is embracing its inebriated fan base

Holly Petre, Assistant Digital Editor

August 27, 2020

1 Min Read
White Castle Night Castle Midnight Merlot
The Midnight Merlot is one of three drink pairings White Castle has provided at-home recipes for to simulate late-night, inebriated cravings for the brand.White Castle

White Castle is unofficially known as the restaurant chain for people who have already had themselves a fun night — think “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.”

In fact, as recently as 2016, data from Foursquare and Swarm indicated that White Castle gets around 20% of its business from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., more than any other chain in the segment, including another stoner-favorite, Taco Bell.

But the pandemic has put a damper on imbibers being out and about and seeking a late-night meal. Bars in many states have been shut down, or curfews are in place as early as 10 p.m. So White Castle had to think of a way to get that late-night business back on track.

Enter the new “Cocktails and Craves,” a campaign featuring cocktail pairings to go with three of the most popular menu items — the Original Slider, Cheese Slider and the Jalapeno Cheese Slider.

Cocktail recipes — to be made at home — that pair with the Original Slider, for example, include the Orange Afterglow, a beer and orange ginger ale drink. With the Cheese Slider, White Castle recommends a Castillo Rosa Margarita made with pink lemonade. And for the Jalapeno Cheese Slider: A Midnight Merlot Punch that mixes merlot with raspberry Sprite, garnished with fruit and fresh mint.

As Harold and Kumar famously said, "No matter what, we are not ending this night without White Castle in our stomachs."

Contact Holly at [email protected]

Find her on Twitter: @hollypetre

Read more about:

White Castle

About the Author

Holly Petre

Assistant Digital Editor

Holly Petre is a digital editor for Nation’s Restaurant News as well as the host of NRN’s podcast, Extra Serving, and producer for Informa Restaurant and Food Group’s other three podcasts, One On One by Food Management, Off the Shelf with SN and In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn. Holly holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Sculpture, fibers and Material Studies and Ceramics from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A native New Yorker, Holly enjoys her place on staff as the resident pop-culture expert and millennial with a sassy attitude and great sense of style.

Holly Petre’s work on Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality often covers marketing and trends, either aimed-at or examined-through the millennial mindset. Holly is responsible for introducing TikTok and Twitch to NRN and RH readers as well as explaining terms like “Karen” to staff and readers alike. She also spends her time on staff trying not to make every headline a pun.

Holly Petre hasn’t spoken at any events or on panels, but she is readily available with a killer shoe wardrobe and several witty quips.

 

Subscribe Nation's Restaurant News Newsletters
Get the latest breaking news in the industry, analysis, research, recipes, consumer trends, the latest products and more.