Here's How Much White Castle's Hamburger Has Changed Since 1921

Fast food as we know it was born in 1921, with the opening of the first White Castle. Customers got the exact same product, every time, at a rapid pace — huge innovations in the 1920s culinary scene — for just five cents a burger. Over 100 years later, the price of a signature White Castle slider still hovers below one dollar. Prices vary by location, but one slider in the chain's current home state of Ohio currently goes for 98 cents.

The fast food industry has changed immensely since White Castle pioneered the concept, but its burgers have stayed relatively similar: a ball of ground beef and onions pressed thin on a hot griddle and served on a steamed hamburger bun. This simple but delicious construction has helped White Castle keep the cost down for generations. White Castle sliders remained five cents a piece until the 1930s, and didn't surpass ten cents each until 1950.

White Castle may have increased its prices over the previous century, but the menu also covers a lot more than it did in 1921. The standard White Castle menu now covers three different variations of sloppy joes, a chicken and waffles slider, a fish sandwich, all-day breakfast, and more in an attempt to stay current with fast food competitors.

Aware of both pricing bloat and its own reputation for affordability, White Castle does occasionally have slider deals that can bring the price-per-burger down even further. A recent promotion offered ten-packs of cheese sliders for $7.99, which broke down to less than 80 cents per cheeseburger.

While it's likely that the price of a White Castle hamburger will eventually exceed $1 at all locations, the company is still trying to keep costs down. During the pandemic, White Castle began rolling out a kitchen robot named Flippy to do many of the basic fry cook tasks, including flipping burgers. The robotic chef, which saves the company money by cutting human jobs, is expected to eventually be used in about one-third of White Castle locations.