You can’t convince me that there is a substitute for butter. While I usually swap out olive oil for avocado, nothing comes close to the creamy, salty goodness of real butter. Unfortunately, many restaurants opt to use margarine over butter, as it is the less expensive of the two. However, there are still some chains, including sit down and fast food, that swear by using real butter in everything.
Red Lobster
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Would lobster even taste good drenched in margarine? Red Lobster doesn’t want to make their customers find out. The seafood-centric chain uses real, melted butter to serve with all seafood. “Nothing but butter! It’s a #Lobsterfest thing,” the chain wrote in an old Facebook post. In additional to OG butter, they rely on clarified and drawn butter, perfect for dipping lobster and crab. There is also a garlic butter that has amassed a serious cult following.
Outback Steakhouse
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Outback Steakhouse also swears by butter to cook its steaks, according to chef Efrem Cutler. “Butter adds richness and … helps with browning and keeping the steak juicy,” chef and recipe expert Dennis Littley tells Tasting Table. “As it melts, it mixes with the steak’s natural juices, creating a sauce that adds a deep, nutty flavor.”
Cracker Barrel
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Cracker Barrel uses real butter for several menu items. “Our Old Timer’s Breakfast comes with two farm-fresh eggs and grits. Your choice of our delicious Fried Apples or Hashbrown Casserole, plus Turkey Sausage, Thick-Sliced Bacon, or Smoked Sausage. Then we top it off with all the fixins’ including warm Buttermilk Biscuits with real butter, Sawmill Gravy, and the best Dickinson’s preserves and jam we could find,” the restaurant says.
Ruth’s Chris
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You can count on Ruth’s Chris to splurge on real butter. “Their little trick is they put clarified butter on the steak as it is leaving the kitchen,” one former employee shared on Quora. “The plate is scorching hot because they keep them in the oven and the room temperature butter hits the plate and sizzles for effect.”
Culver’s
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While lots of fast food chains cut corners to cut costs, Culver’s splurges on real butter. After all, how can use fake butter if your trademark dish is a ButterBurger. “The butter we use on our buns also comes from right here in Wisconsin, crafted by our friends at Alcam Creamery, a small, family-owned creamery less than an hour outside our home in Sauk City,” the Midwestern chain maintains.
