What White Castle Tempe means to the chain's biggest fans: 'I knew it was a safe place'

White Castle opened its second Arizona location in Tempe on Tuesday, Nov. 28. Tempe Mayor Corey Woods made an appearance. Though the biggest celebrities of the morning, at least to White Castle's most die-hard fans, were Jamie West and Drew Schmitt, the couple who were married earlier this year at the White Castle located near Scottsdale in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

"We got inducted into the Craver Hall of Fame in 2020," West said, describing the fanfare at being first in line for the first Arizona opening. "I was onstage giving a speech in front of all the managers, when I turned around and he was on one knee proposing."

The wedding involved lots of medieval attire and free cheesecake on a stick for all the guests. The couple said the chain was helpful every step of the way and even hired their own videographer to make a short movie to remember their special day.

They arrived decked in Renaissance-esque getups, complete with chainmail armor and crowns in White Castle colors.

White Castle is more than a burger joint for Jamie West

For West, White Castle has been a symbol of hope and safety since her youth. She grew up in Arizona's foster care system before leaving as a teenager and moving from state to state without a home to call her own.

She was about 14 years old when she found her first White Castle.

"The woman went, 'Sugar, you go in that back bathroom and go get yourself cleaned up.' After bawling for about 10 minutes in the bathroom, I came out and there were these stacks of sliders. She'd cleaned the whole grill off for me. She's like, 'We were just gonna throw it all away anyway, so you eat all of it.' I was able to feed a lot of the other homeless kids for quite a while with those," West said. "Every time I found a White Castle after that, I knew it was a safe place to use the bathroom and get some water. And if I had spare pocket change, I could afford to eat."

Since then, she moved back to Arizona where she met the man who would one day propose at the opening day of White Castle near Scottsdale.

When West heard about White Castle coming to Tempe, she was ecstatic.

The couple put together new outfits for the Tuesday morning grand opening, which included White Castle's motto "I crave, therefore I am" written in Latin on the back of Schmitt's armor.

"When I was first on the streets, I lived under the Mill Avenue bridge with a bunch of other homeless teenagers," she said. "Having (White Castle) come to Tempe and come full circle, it's really emotional for me."

How to visit White Castle in Tempe

White Castle is open in Tempe from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. The restaurant's hours are expected to be extended once the staff is fully settled into the new location.

Details: 8735 S. Jewel St., Tempe. 623-273-2546, whitecastle.com.

A royal welcome: White Castle superfans camped out 12 hours to be first inside the new Tempe restaurant

Reach the reporter at endia.fontanez@gannett.com. Follow @EndiaFontanez on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: White Castle Tempe is open. And it's 'emotional' for these newlyweds