9 Restaurant Chains Wisconsinites Will Defend to Anyone From Out of State
Say a friend from out of state is visiting you in Wisconsin.
They want to know where to eat, and start poking fun at your suggestions.
Here are the restaurant chains many Wisconsinites will defend to anyone from out of state.
1. Culver’s
If you trace Culver’s back far enough, you reach 1961 and an A&W drive-in that Craig Culver’s parents owned.
The first Culver’s opened on July 18, 1984, in Sauk City.
An early franchise didn’t work out and ended after a year, and the next one opened in 1990, in Baraboo.
Culver’s reached its 1,000th restaurant in December 2024, in New Haven, Indiana, and QSR Magazine put the chain in 26 states, so your out-of-state friend may have one near home.
The chain is based in Prairie du Sac, and BizTimes Milwaukee reported in April 2024 that it expected to reach 151 Wisconsin restaurants that year.
2. Rocky Rococo
Rocky Rococo opened its first shop on Gilman Street in Madison in 1974, a few doors from State Street.
Madison hadn’t had pizza by the slice before then, according to a 1987 Madison Magazine story.
Rocky Rococo says its dough is mixed fresh each day and never frozen, then rises four times before being pressed into the pan by hand.
The result, The Takeout wrote in 2022, is a chewy crust with a burned-black edge on its corners.
The Takeout wrote in 2022 that lunch comes as single slices, as well as whole pies.
Rocky Rococo’s website lists more than 30 stores, with one in Minnesota and the rest in Wisconsin.
3. George Webb
George Webb Restaurants says its first hamburger parlor opened in 1948 in Milwaukee, at Ogden and Van Buren streets.
The company says a city ordinance barred 24-hour operation, so Webb announced his restaurants were open 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds a day.
Urban Milwaukee noted in 2025 that the ordinance is no longer in effect.
If you stop in at a George Webb, the company says you’ll find two clocks hanging side by side in honor of that declaration.
Urban Milwaukee reported in February 2025 that the chain had 22 locations across Wisconsin and was known for signature breakfast items, burgers and chili.
4. Glass Nickel Pizza Co.
Glass Nickel Pizza Co. says its first store opened in 1997 on Atwood Avenue in Madison.
The company’s website lists 10 locations, from Green Bay and Appleton to Waukesha, so you don’t have to be in Madison to find one.
Each location is independently owned and operated, and Glass Nickel says its current owners are all former employees.
If you’re wondering about the dough, the company says it makes sauce and dough every morning and chops vegetables in-house daily.
Psst! How Wisconsin is your dinner order? Run through this checklist and see where you stand.
5. Tom’s Drive In
Tom’s Drive In says it started as one Grishaber family restaurant in Appleton in 1960, and that the founding family still owns and operates it.
It also says you can visit 10 locations across the state, where the burgers are flame-broiled and made with 100% Angus beef.
If you’re picking an order, the company’s pitch is burgers, fries and shakes.
6. Toppers Pizza
Franchise Times lists Toppers at 71 units in the United States.
The company’s shop locator lists stores in Eau Claire, La Crosse, Green Bay, Kenosha and other cities, so you may have one nearby.
If you’ve ordered Toppers’ cheesy bread sticks, you’ve had Topperstix, which Restaurant Business reported the chain launched in 1993.
Where the Toppers Pizza Chain Began
Scott Gittrich opened the first Toppers in Champaign, Illinois, in 1991.
The chain reached Wisconsin in 1993 with a Whitewater shop, and it’s headquartered in Whitewater today.
Milwaukee Record reported in 2020 that Toppers no longer had any Illinois locations.
7. Cousins Subs
Cousins Subs started in Milwaukee in 1972, when cousins William Specht and James Sheppard launched the chain.
Today it’s based in Menomonee Falls.
Its slogan is “Better Bread. Better Subs.”
BizTimes Milwaukee put the chain at nearly 100 locations in 2021, including Chicagoland and northwest Indiana, so you may have seen one outside Wisconsin.
If you’re counting, Franchise Times lists 93 units in its 2025 Top 400 ranking.
8. Ian’s Pizza
Madison-based Ian’s Pizza says its Mac n’ Cheese pizza dates to 2001.
It’s built from whole-milk mozzarella, house-made crème fraîche, elbow macaroni and local cheddar.
If you’re new to macaroni on pizza, Ian’s calls the Mac a favorite slice.
Ian’s says you can get the Mac at any location.
The company lists nine locations, with four in Milwaukee, three in Madison, one in Verona and one in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Psst! How much do you know about Wisconsin’s food and restaurants? Take our quiz and see how many you can get right.
Quiz
Wisconsin Food Trivia
Answer these questions on Wisconsin food and restaurant trivia. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
In 2019, about what share of the 275,000 cases of Korbel brandy sold worldwide went to Wisconsin?
9. Erbert & Gerbert's
Erbert & Gerbert's opened its first shop in Eau Claire in 1988, according to the company.
QSR Magazine called Erbert & Gerbert's a 60-unit chain in nine states in 2026, so you may find one well beyond Eau Claire.
If you've wondered about the name, the company says it comes from bedtime stories the founder's father told, The Adventures of Erbert & Gerbert Herbert.
The company cites sandwich nicknames such as Narmer, Boney Billy and Girf, and says the original menu took its names from the characters in those stories.
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