White Castle Just Turned 105 and Is Giving Away Something Big This Week

Nearly every chain that tried to copy White Castle is either gone or owned by a hedge fund now.

White Castle is still standing – still run by the same family that started it with $700 in Wichita, Kansas.

And this week, it's celebrating 105 years the only way it knows how.

White Castle Birthday Deal 2026 Gets You a $25 Gift Card for $19.21

Starting March 9, White Castle began selling a $25 gift card for just $19.21.

The chain priced the card to match its founding year, giving loyal fans more than 23 percent off a gift card they can use on anything.

The deal runs through March 15 only.

After that, the basketball deals kick in.

White Castle 105th Anniversary Deals Running Through April 2026

From March 15 through April 5, White Castle is knocking $5 off a 30-Slider Crave Case – the perfect setup for anyone hosting a tournament watch party.

From April 6 through June 14, customers can use an online code for $3 off a 20-Slider Crave Clutch and $1 off any combo meal.

Then, April 13 through 17, White Castle is offering 15 percent off all orders for Tax Day – because someone decided the week the government takes your money should come with at least one bright spot.

Craver Nation Rewards members using the free White Castle app get even more: a free sack of fries with any Crave Clutch mobile order, buy-one-get-one Crispy Chicken Sliders for in-store orders, and a BOGO combo deal tied to St. Patrick's Day, March 14 through 17.

How America's First Fast Food Chain Has Survived 105 Years

When Walt Anderson smashed a meatball into a flat patty on a Wichita griddle in 1921, there was no fast food industry.

He and his partner Billy Ingram built one from scratch – with $700, a castle-shaped building, and five-cent sliders that Americans were initially too skeptical to eat.

Ground beef had a bad reputation after Upton Sinclair's The Jungle exposed meatpacking industry conditions, so Anderson ground the meat in front of customers and had fresh beef delivered twice a day.

It worked.

Time magazine named the original slider the most influential burger of all time in 2014.

White Castle sold its billionth burger in 1961 – before McDonald's, which didn't open until 1937, was running that number on its signs.

Every major chain Americans know today – the ones now owned by private equity firms and run by committees obsessing over diversity scores – built their model on what White Castle figured out in Kansas a century ago.

White Castle never sold to any of them.

Lisa Ingram, the great-granddaughter of founder Billy Ingram, runs the company today.

It still owns its own meat plants and bakeries, still headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

While every other original American institution has been bought, renamed, hollowed out, or lectured into irrelevance, this one kept its head down and kept making the same slider it always made.

That's not nothing.

That's actually everything – and this week, you can show your appreciation for $19.21.

Sources:

• "White Castle Turns 105 and Tips Off Spring with Fresh Deals," Business Wire, March 3, 2026.
• "White Castle Turns 105 with Slate of Promotions," The Daily Times, March 3, 2026.
• "White Castle Is Celebrating 105 Years With A Bunch Of Incredible Deals," AOL/Delish, March 8, 2026.
• "Meet the American Who Made Us Flip for Fast Food: White Castle Founder Billy Ingram," Fox News, October 21, 2022.
• "Family-Owned White Castle – the Founder of Fast Food – Turns 100," PR Newswire, March 9, 2021.