By Clint Wolf
For StatelineBusiness

BELOIT - Culver's in Beloit is celebrating 10 years of dishing out Butter Burgers and frozen custard.

Partners Bill Lock and Jim Agate opened the restaurant at 2676 Cranston Road, Beloit, in the hope of introducing the Stateline Area to a new kind of restaurant with fast, quality service.

Today the restaurant employs about 65 people, about three times what it employed with it first started out, said restaurant manager Ross Thomas.

Several of the employees to started with the new restaurant are still working there today. On Monday, they wore carnations to signify their 10 years of service with the restaurant.

Asked why they have stayed this long, Thomas said good people stay with good people.

"Bill and Jim are just excellent people to work for and Culver's is a place where hospitality is key," Thomas said.

Over the past decade, the menu has changed slightly, but the favorite items remain the Butter Burgers and the frozen custard. There have been some additions of more lighter and healthier cuisine, such as the specialty salads, Thomas said. Green beans also have been added as an alternative to cole slaw. And Lemon Ice offers a cool dessert alternative to frozen custard.

Lock and Agate have opened Culver's restaurants in Huntley and Carpentersville in Illinois.

The local restaurant has been honored with several awards, including the Culver's Pride Award in 2007 and the Commitment to Excellence Award in 2006, each noting high scores in hospitality.

Thomas said the people who work at Culver's in Beloit deserve a great deal of the credit for these awards and the success of the restaurant.

"There are none in Culver's and none in fast food as good as these guys," he said of the Beloit Culver's crew.