What You Should Absolutely Never Order At White Castle

Okay, aside from the fact that the name Fish Nibblers sounds like something you put in an aquarium for your goldfish to munch on, these fried balls of fast food fish sticks come with a whopping 1,300 milligrams of sodium if you order a medium size. According to the FDA, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends each person consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day. Excessive sodium intake on a regular basis doesn't just mean your rings won't fit — over time it can lead to high blood pressure. However, not everything at White Castle is a sodium bomb: A small side of french fries will only set you back 50 milligrams of sodium.

White Castle uses Alaska Pollock, which is a less expensive alternative to cod or haddock, for its Fish Nibblers and Fish Slider. While Alaska Pollock isn't the worst fish you could eat (it's wild caught, low in calories, full of omega-3 fatty acids, and is low in cholesterol due to such a low saturated fat content), the way White Castle prepares it sort of jacks all the health benefits. The Fish Nibblers are breaded and deep fried, then served with a side of packaged tartar sauce whose fifth main ingredient is high fructose corn syrup. The White Castle nutrition breakdown lists over 30 ingredients in the Fish Nibblers, including shrimp powder and vegetable oil shortening. Shrimp powder? 'Nuff said.

The Impossible Slider got a lot of press when it first debuted. Not to be confused with White Castle's Veggie Slider, the vegan Impossible Slider was created in collaboration with California based plant-based food enthusiasts, Impossible Foods. Their meat substitute mimics the taste of real beef, and gives the appearance of real meat that browns and "bleeds." 

The key ingredient is soy leghemoglobin (SLH). The FDA denied Impossible Foods' application for FDA approval in 2015 citing not enough data to prove that SLH was GRAS (FDA speak for 'generally recognized as safe'). Impossible Foods admittedly never conducted any official human studies on the safety of the ingredient (it studied rats instead). SLH is questionable because it's considered a GMO. The SLH gene is taken from the soybean and placed in strains of yeast by way of genetic engineering technology. The product is genetically modified yeast. The SLH is then isolated from the yeast and added to the "meat."

Early researchers of GMO food safety pointed out that human immune systems are not familiar with newly modified proteins so therefore they can potentially be immunogenic and ultimately allergenic. In July of 2018, the company finally got FDA approval but there are still concerns around the safety of the Impossible brand, which is why vegetarians at White Castle might want to stick with the Veggie Slider.

The clam strips are only available on certain White Castle menus (depends on the region) but where they are available, they aren't really getting a warm reception. Most employees of White Castle praise the place and its food in online forums. But that didn't stop one alleged White Castle worker from saying they'd definitely nix clam strips from the menu in a Reddit thread. They didn't give a reason, but we're guessing we don't want to know.

The people have spoken when it comes to the clam strips. Popular YouTube food critic JKMCraveTV definitely warns White Castle visitors to avoid the clams. His main critiques include that the clam strips "look like chicken feet," are "all breading and a little hint of clam," and are "rubbery" with "no significant clam taste." Yikes! 

YouTube food enthusiast Fun Food Funnies had a similar disdain for the clam strips, describing them as, "wormy and squishy," tasting like "old grease in a fryer," and "chewing on old rubber bands." An unhappy customer on Yelp also cited a rubber taste and simply dubbed them "no bueno." The moral of the story is, if you're going to go to White Castle, stick with what it does best (hint: it's not clam strips).

Both versions of the Shrimp Nibbler are limited edition, special promotion menu items. Much like the exclusive and beloved McDonald's McRib and its multiple comebacks, White Castle likes to keep customers on their toes with the potential #FOMO of not trying these specialty foods when they're available. But a reviewer from the New York Daily News seemed unimpressed with the Shrimp Nibblers, saying they definitely need tartar sauce. And a very dissatisfied White Castle customer in Shakopee, Minnesota took to Trip Advisor to say the Shrimp Nibblers were "nothing special" with "really no flavor at all."

Self-produced broadcaster from the YouTube channel The Report of the Week was very disappointed in the Sriracha Shrimp Nibblers (especially compared to Popeyes Butterfly Shrimp), claiming the shrimp comes with an excessive amount of "buttery saltiness" especially once you factor in the very salty breading, saying it's "way too much salt, to the point of discomfort." Fooduse.com reviewer Food Dip tried the Sriracha Shrimp Nibblers and told his YouTube subscribers there "isn't much of a Sriracha flavor" and that he didn't even "get much of a shrimp flavor," saying they're "very salty" and actually "taste like chicken." He ultimately gave them a three out of five rating, which isn't bad considering everything he had to say about them.

Do you have an intense hatred for onions or anything remotely onion related? No matter how good you've heard they are, White Castle's beef sliders might not be for you. Sure you can tell them to "hold the onions," but that will never remove their deeply rooted onion essence. White Castle steams its beef patties over a pile of onions. They spread onions (or rehydrated onions) over the grill, then put the patties on top. The distinct five holes in the meat patties are a signature of White Castle. The holes help the cooking process, which is to steam rather than grill like you would a traditional hamburger patty.

The buns soak up the onion steam too, hence the reason why they're so nice and pillowy—and also hella greasy. The onion-laced preparation process isn't a deal breaker for everyone (obviously, most people love it, or White Castle wouldn't be so popular) but it could be a major deterrent for the world's onions haters. And to end on a rather gross note, there is an entire Yahoo answers page dedicated to the question of why White Castle burgers tend to cause diarrhea for so many people, and someone responded there with the theory that the excessive amount of grease and folic acid in the onions may be to blame. People also suggest that the immediate urge to use the bathroom might be why they're called "sliders." McDonald's, anyone?