White Castle is still heading to Daytona Beach – but there’s been a change of plans

White Castle’s Florida expansion is moving again, and Daytona Beach is next on the list.

The burger chain has started construction on a new Daytona Beach restaurant, giving the chain’s growing Florida presence another location to watch. The new Castle is planned for 1944 LPGA Boulevard, a busy corridor that makes sense for locals, tourists, race fans and road-trippers.

The big update is not just where it is going. It is when customers should expect it.

The opening is now forecast for late fall

Earlier reporting pointed to a late-summer 2026 opening for Daytona Beach. But White Castle’s more recent construction announcement says the grand opening is forecast for late fall 2026.

That is a meaningful shift for anyone hoping to grab sliders there by the end of summer.

The company says the new restaurant will be built in its modern “neighborhood” prototype style, with plans for indoor seating, outdoor seating and a double drive-thru with two lanes.

Why Daytona Beach makes sense

Daytona Beach is not just a local market. It is a traffic-heavy, event-heavy city with beach tourism, racing weekends and plenty of visitors moving through.

That gives White Castle a chance to reach both Florida residents and travelers who may already know the brand from other states.

The restaurant is also expected to create more than 70 jobs, adding a local employment angle to a story that already has plenty of built-in curiosity.

Florida’s White Castle map keeps growing

White Castle made a major splash when it returned to Florida with its Orlando flagship — the largest White Castle in the world — in 2021. Since then, the chain has added locations in Clermont and Kissimmee, and Daytona Beach will become its fourth freestanding Florida location.

That growth could help answer a bigger question: Is White Castle building a real Florida comeback, not just a novelty stop for transplants and tourists?

For now, the practical answer is this: construction has started, the location is set, and the timeline now points to late fall 2026.

Links on this page may be affiliate links, for which the site earns a small commission, but the price for you is the same