Texans like to brag that everything is bigger there, but Florida may be gaining serious ground. Exhibit A: the world’s largest free-standing White Castle opened in Orlando on Monday, May 3, but the line started forming the night before. Orlando Weekly reports that White Castle set up tents and cordons “to contain the line that promised an hours-long wait,” but the chaos still spilled onto surrounding roads for at least a mile. And all that traffic added up to a sales day that annihilated all of the single-day sales records in the chain’s storied century-long history.
The overflow occurred despite the location’s immense size; located at The Village at O-Town West development, the nearly 4,600-square-foot location can seat 72 guests inside and 56 people outside. Today reports that it’s also the chain’s first Florida location since the ’60s, when four restaurants operated in Miami, which is nice. A slider-ridden homecoming of sorts.
“Our grand opening exceeded our wildest expectations and beat the previous record by over 15%,” White Castle VP Jamie Richardson told the Orlando Sentinel. And while the chain didn’t share exact sales numbers, Orlando Weekly reports that the opening beat the company’s last major opening: a White Castle in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2019. That location became the most successful White Castle in the entire company in its first year, so we’ll see how this one stacks (er, slides) up. If you’re curious about the sheer magnificence of the new Orlando location, you can take a virtual tour.