A Korean-American office worker and his Indian-American stoner friend embark on a quest to satisfy their desire for White Castle burgers.
Harold Lee and Kumar Patel are two stoners who end up getting the munchies. What they crave the most after seeing a TV advertisement, is a trip to White Castle. So from here, follows a journey for the burgers they require. On their way they will encounter many obstacles including a raccoon, a racist officer, and a horny Neil Patrick Harris.—Film_Fan
Harold Lee and Kumar Patel are best friends and roommates who share a common love for marijuana. Harold works for an investment bank while Kumar is being pressured by his father to go into medical school. On a Friday night after smoking marijuana, the duo get a case of the munchies and decide to head to White Castle. However, after learning that the nearest White Castle has been closed down, the duo set out on a trip to a White Castle that is not too far out. However, the trip becomes complicated as the duo run into one incident after another.—Sam
Blissfully stoned after spending an entire evening smoking weed, Harold, a mistreated investment banker who crunches numbers all day, and his bosom buddy, Kumar, an unambitious, laid-back slacker, have an epiphany. Now, to survive a severe case of the munchies, the boys are willing to get up off the couch and drive all the way to New Jersey in the middle of the night, in search of the perfect meal: White Castle's scrumptious square sliders. However, what started as a quick ride to the nearest burger joint, will soon turn into an unrelenting series of mishaps, as Kumar and Harold's noble quest for satisfaction leads to unexpected encounters with Good Samaritans with a bad complexion and mysterious hitch-hikers. But, the night is long, and the two friends are tired, and above all, famished. Who can stand between a man and his favourite food?—Nick Riganas
Investment banker cubicle worker Harold Lee (John Cho) (a second-generation Korean-American man working at his first job in investment banking) is pressured by his colleagues (Billy Carver (Ethan Embry)) to do their work while they leave for the weekend. Meanwhile, his roommate Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) (a second generation Indian-American whose family thinks that he will become a doctor like his father and brother) attends a medical school interview with Dr. Willoughby (Fred Willard) (who claims to have had some wild times with Kumar's dad back in college), where he is highly qualified but intentionally botches it to avoid getting accepted (he takes a call from Harold in the middle of the interview and talks about how they planned to smoke weed that night).
Harold is attracted to his neighbor, Maria (Paula Garces), but is unable to admit his feelings. After smoking marijuana and seeing an advertisement for White Castle, the pair decide to get its hamburgers.
Goldstein (David Krumholtz) & Rosenberg (Eddie Kaye Thomas) are Harold and Kumar's neighbors, who are also high, but refuse to come with them. as they are watching a Katie Holmes flick in which she shows her boobs. They jump at a tool booth when Kumar throws in 35 cents into the collector, but it doesn't register (other drivers start honking behind)After traveling to the nearest White Castle in New Brunswick, they find it replaced by "Burger Shack". The drive-thru employee (Anthony Anderson) informs them of another White Castle in Cherry Hill.
Kumar suggests stopping at Princeton University to buy more marijuana. Kumar buys marijuana from one of the students Bradley Thomas (Dov Tiefenbach) (And then hooking up with twins Clarissa (Brooke D'Orsay) & Chrissy (Kate Kelton)) and they are discovered by campus security and forced to flee, losing their marijuana (And getting Bradley caught in the process) (they also miss a kick ass party that Cindy Kim (Siu Ta), student at Princeton University who has a crush on Harold, invited Harold to, as Kumar thought it would be dumb (Kim is the studious type)).
They resume their drive, and when Kumar pulls over to urinate, a raccoon gets in the car and bites Harold. Kumar takes Harold to a hospital to check him for rabies; Harold is cleared, but Kumar's father and older brother Saikat (Shaun Majumder) - who work there as doctors - see them and Kumar's father confronts Kumar over his failed medical interview. Kumar fakes an apology and steals ID badges from them to obtain medical marijuana. However, Kumar is then mistaken for his brother by OR nurse (Ryan Reynolds) and is forced to perform emergency surgery on a gunshot victim. To the amazement of Harold and the nurses, Kumar effortlessly saves the patient's life in the nick of time; afterwards, the patient tells them how to reach White Castle.
Kumar spots Maria at a movie theater and decides to get her attention so Harold can talk to her, but Harold panics and crashes the car. They are rescued by Freakshow (Christopher Meloni), a tow-truck driver covered with oozing boils, who takes them to his house to repair their car. Harold and Kumar are propositioned by Freakshow's surprisingly alluring wife Liane (Malin Åkerman), but after Freakshow suggests a foursome, Harold and Kumar flee in disgust. Kumar picks up a hitchhiker, Neil Patrick Harris, who is high on ecstasy. Harold and Kumar go into a convenience store to get directions (where Kumar tries to protect the Indian owner from Cole (Steve Braun), the leader of a recurring gang of five obnoxious extreme-sports-obsessed delinquents who often harass the pair or others around them) and Harris drives away in their car. The duo is then harassed by a racist police officer Palumbo (Sandy Jobin Bevans) for jaywalking. Harold attempts to punch Kumar for antagonizing the officer, but ends up punching the officer instead, resulting in his arrest. In the locker Harold meets Tarik Jackson (Gary Anthony Williams), a philosophical African American man who has been arrested for being African American.
Kumar makes a 911 call to distract the police and breaks into the station to free Harold. After Harold and Kumar flee, they encounter an escaped cheetah. The cheetah takes the beef jerky from Harold's pocket and becomes his best friend. After smoking marijuana (that Kumar stole from the police station) with it, they decide to ride it to White Castle. Harold hits his head on a branch, destroying his laptop containing all the work that he just completed for his coworkers.Harold and a reluctant Kumar decide to not continue on their trek, but after encountering a group of extreme sports punks who have been harassing the pair, the duo change their mind and steal their truck. A State trooper spots the speeding truck and chases them. They are trapped when they reach the edge of a cliff. Spotting the White Castle below, Harold and Kumar use a hang glider from the truck to reach their destination.
The pair place their orders but are disheartened to find they have no money. Harris suddenly appears, having craved the food when hearing them talk about it and pays for their meal as an apology for stealing their car; he also further pays for "repairs" (love stains in the back seats). Kumar realizes he wants to be a doctor but is afraid of conforming to the stereotype of Indians becoming doctors. Harold then notices his co-workers pull up and gets angry at them because they said they had to work with clients but were actually out partying. He tells them off and threatens to get them fired if it happens again.
After returning to their apartment they encounter Maria, Harold professes his feelings for her, and they kiss. She informs Harold that she is leaving for Amsterdam but will return in ten days. Kumar convinces Harold to go with him to Amsterdam to pursue Maria, reminding him that marijuana is legal in the Netherlands.In post credits, the racial police officers are arrested after being sued by Tarik. The hooligans are also arrested when cops find a big bag of pot in their car (which was left in it by Kumar).
