Believed by many to be invented in Wisconsin, they remain popular in some northern parts of the midwestern United States, and are the principal item of Wisconsin-based fast food restaurant Culver's.

[4] The butter burger was popularized by the restaurants Solly's Grille and Krolls' beginning in 1936.

[1] Hamburger historian George Motz has posited that Solly's is (as of 2018[update]) one of what he called the last "real" butter burgers left, in that they use butter as a condiment and add up to three tablespoons of it on top of each hamburger.

[5] Culver's, which was founded in 1984, butters the top bun, as opposed to the patty itself.

[4] In 2015, Jack in the Box introduced the "Classic Buttery Jack", a butter burger with garlic herb butter melted onto the patty.