Farragut Culver’s franchise owner opens new restaurant
“We’re excited to open and begin welcoming guests through our doors with the warm hospitality Culver’s is known for,” franchise owner Ron Dresen said. “When Powell and North Knoxville residents are looking for handcrafted meals cooked to order and tasty frozen treats, we’ll be ready to serve them.
“I’ve been trying to get into Powell since I opened in [Cedar Bluff] Knoxville, and I opened in Knoxville in 2017,” he said. “It’s been a chore. We’re excited though.”
At the ribbon cutting on March 23, the Dresens welcomed the franchise’s founder, Craig Culver, CEO/COO/vice president of operations. Known for its ButterBurgers and frozen yogurt, Culver’s originated in Sauk City, Wisconsin, serving fast-casual food cooked to order.
“Culver’s Fresh Frozen Custard is handcrafted in small batches in-restaurant throughout the day and gets
its legendary creamy decadence from high-quality, fresh Wisconsin dairy,” a press release stated. “Guests can customize their frozen treats with more than 30 mix-ins and toppings.”
Other guest favorites include chicken sandwiches and fresh garden salads. Side options include crinkle cut fries and Wisconsin cheese curds. Kids’ meals are also available.
The Powell location will serve guests from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, apart from some holidays.
For more information, visit www.culvers.com, www.culvers.com/facebook, www.x.com/culvers or www.instagram.com/culvers.
Culver’s donated a percentage of all sales that day to Pedal for Alzheimer’s, a local organization supporting those who are impacted by Alzheimer’s, according to a press release.
And, to highlight the Dresens’ support of education, the restaurant gave away free books to all children in attendance, the release added.
With five Culver’s restaurants, “it’s a challenge,” he admitted. “We’ve probably got almost 550 employees now between the five.”
Dresen, who moved to Farragut in 2003, has been a part of the Farragut community for more than 23 years. Before that, he and his wife, Anita, grew up in Wisconsin, about 45 minutes away from the first Culver’s.
“I’m not a normal restaurant guy,” Dresen said. “I didn’t grow up in the restaurant industry … I’m an engineer by degree. I ran heavy manufacturing companies for 25 years.”
But having grown up near the original Culver’s in Wisconsin, he and Anita got married after the first one opened in 1984.
“I think Culver’s has grown now to over 1,061 from a
restaurant standpoint,” he said. “It’s grown steadily over the years.
“Every time we went back to Wisconsin to see family,
we kept seeing them on the road,” Dresen said. “So, finally one day we decided we should look into it, and a year later, we got our first one built and opened up.”
Dresen moved to Tennessee after he got his Master’s degree in Business Administration.
He opened its first Culver’s, which was at Kingston Pike, in 2017.
“Last year, the sales for the Kingston Pike location were No. 9 in the country for Culver’s,” he said.
“All my kids graduated from Farragut,” he added. “We’ve always supported the schools. The Knoxville restaurant “did 45 share nights last year where we had a percentage of shares given back to some organization.”
