Culver's Walleye Fish Sandwich

Today, we are reviewing the Culver’s Northwoods Walleye Sandwich, a limited-edition fish sandwich available during the Lenten season. Many Roman Catholics and some other Christians refrain from eating meat on Fridays throughout this period, leading numerous restaurants to provide additional meatless options during Lent, particularly a variety of fish sandwiches. While Culver’s offers fish sandwiches and platters year-round featuring North Atlantic Cod, the Walleye Sandwich (along with the platter) is only available annually for a limited time during Lent.

Culver’s was founded in 1984 by George, Ruth, Craig, and Lea Culver in Sauk City, Wisconsin, on July 18, 1984, under the name “Culver’s Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers.” It’s a privately held company, and Craig Culver remains its chairman. It’s headquartered in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The chain operates primarily in the Midwestern United States and currently has about 1,000 restaurants in 26 states.

The Construction

Fried Batter Coated Walleye
Lightly Toasted Buttered Bun
Shredded Lettuce
Tartar Sauce
Length: 6 1/4 inches
Weight: 6.5 ounces
Sandwiches Eaten: 2
Location: Indian Trail, NC
Price: $7.89

There is a wide variety of customized toppings available. Free topping options include shredded cheese, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, pickles, and onions (raw or grilled). Premium options for an extra charge include thick-cut bacon, tomato, mushrooms, jalapeño, coleslaw, and chili.

The Experience

For this assessment, the scoring was similar to what we did with the Arby’s Fish Sandwich Deluxe.

Fish: 4 points
Bun: 2 points
Condiments: 2 point
Intangibles: 2 points

Fish

Walleye is a freshwater fish from the lakes of northwestern Canada. This differs from Culver’s North Atlantic Cod, which is a saltwater fish from the northern Atlantic Ocean waters. Both are milder fishes, but the cod has a little more of an umami quality.

Notably, Culver’s fish offerings are cooked to order. The Walleye is delicious, with a pleasant tenderness and just the right amount of “fishy” flavor to be satisfying. The batter enhances the taste nicely, although it was a bit oily, likely due to being cooked to order. It also has a nostalgic, old-school fish fry quality to it.

The one slight drawback is that the sandwich has multiple pieces of fish on it. The fish on the sandwich is long and thin, which means it cannot fill the entire bun. Therefore, multiple pieces were used and broken as well. The sandwich is quite satiating.

Score: 2.5 out of 4.0 points

Bun

The bun on the Walleye Sandwich is a split top bun. It has a decent crust on the exterior. The inside is lightly toasted with butter. The toasting and the butter do enhance it. It’s not the most exciting bun I’ve had, but it’s enough to bring it to “average” in my book.

The butter on the bun is no surprise, as butter is a staple of many of Culver’s menu offerings.

Score: 1.00 out of 2.0 points

Condiments

The lettuce and tartar sauce are found on the bottom layer of the Walleye Sandwich. The iceberg lettuce is moderately shredded but not in shoe-string style. While there was a slight wilting of the lettuce, it wasn’t terrible, though it didn’t impress me either. The tartar sauce had a hint of pickling flavor, but it leaned more towards a mayonnaise taste than I prefer. Additionally, there was slightly more tartar sauce than I enjoy.

Score: 0.75 out of 2.0 points

Intangibles

The multiple walleye pieces are problematic for this sandwich. No matter how you eat this sandwich, you will have bites where you don’t have fish and just lettuce and tartar sauce with the bun. On top of that, the multiple fish pieces combined with lettuce and tartar sauce made for a messy sandwich.

One intangible I look for is whether or not the sandwich experience is greater than the sum of the parts. In the case, it was not the case. While the fish was good, the bun and condiments did not elevate the experience. In fact, it took the experience down.

Score: 0.50 out of 2.0 points

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Chalk up Culver’s Walleye Fish Sandwich as another case where putting fish on a sandwich doesn’t necessarily translate well. I wonder if adding some customization options would make for a better experience in terms of the flavor profile, although it will probably increase the messiness of this sandwich. Don’t get me wrong, the Walleye is good, and I can easily see myself getting a platter next time. As for the sandwich with the default options, it fell short of expectations.