What do you order at Whataburger?

[Deej 77671]

19 hours ago, SurlyGator said:

Had WB yesterday here in in TN.  Ordered on the app.  Free medium onion rings, #2 combo.  Placed the order a couple of miles from the restaraunt.  App said it would be ready (ASAP option) between 12:48-12:50.  Got there around 12:46. Not busy, no line waiting to order.  What time did they hand me my bag?  12:58.

I really want to support them, but those Chicagoans are really making it hard.

It was like that before Chicago. 

[PilotsError 2342]

That’s standard for every WB. 

[RMac5 1552]

Was it good?

[SurlyGator 956]

9 hours ago, RMac5 said:

Was it good?

Meh, I guess.  Was it worth the wait?  No.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2779]

Bacon Blaze had no blaze at all.

[NoName 17107]

On 10/18/2024 at 7:49 PM, SurlyGator said:

Had WB yesterday here in in TN.  Ordered on the app.  Free medium onion rings, #2 combo.  Placed the order a couple of miles from the restaraunt.  App said it would be ready (ASAP option) between 12:48-12:50.  Got there around 12:46. Not busy, no line waiting to order.  What time did they hand me my bag?  12:58.

I really want to support them, but those Chicagoans are really making it hard.

I've had nothing but bad experiences ordering for in store pickup at any WB. But the curbside version has been awesome. Always pick curbside over in store.

[Deej 77671]

38 minutes ago, NoName said:

I've had nothing but bad experiences ordering for in store pickup at any WB. But the curbside version has been awesome. Always pick curbside over in store.

The WB by my house won't do curbside if its dark out, and locks the doors if its dark out so you can't go inside. They force you to use the drive-thru.

 

[NorthLoop 14421]

my local WB's curbside is a joke with their wait times

 

Also "Nashville hot wings?" ... what marketing genius came up with that? 

[SurlyGator 956]

35 minutes ago, NorthLoop said:

my local WB's curbside is a joke with their wait times

This is precisely why I tried in-store pick-up.  I assumed they were slammed, short staffed, or both, and that was causing the delays.  It appears the issue is they are just insanely slow in food prep for a “fast food” restaurant.  If they would adjust the expected ready time on the app there would be a lot less to complain about.

In-store pickup allows me to get my drink while I wait, make it the way I like it, and if they take too long top the drink off before leaving.  Slightly better than just sitting there getting more and more frustrated in my parking space.

[futureman 22664]

1 hour ago, SurlyGator said:

It appears the issue is they are just insanely slow in food prep for a “fast food” restaurant.

it’s only slow because they’re cooking and preparing everything fresh so your burger is always hot and the fries are always crispy. 

[SurlyGator 956]

1 hour ago, futureman said:

it’s only slow because they’re cooking and preparing everything fresh so your burger is always hot and the fries are always crispy. 

If that were the only issue, one would think they would have a firm enough grasp on their prep times to give a more accurate estimate on the app.

[utee94 16066]

26 minutes ago, SurlyGator said:

If that were the only issue, one would think they would have a firm enough grasp on their prep times to give a more accurate estimate on the app.

I feel like you should probably check your sarcasm meter...

[SurlyGator 956]

4 minutes ago, utee94 said:

I feel like you should probably check your sarcasm meter...

Well, it came from @futureman, so it was assumed.

[futureman 22664]

[Deej 77671]

3 hours ago, futureman said:

it’s only slow because they’re cooking and preparing everything fresh so your burger is always hot and the fries are always crispy. 

[WBT 20884]

Got a egg and cheese biscuit the other day but forgot to specify jalapeno biscuit in the app.  It should be the default.

[TexasBeta 1274]

Just got this today - 

[royiv 9687]

On 10/18/2024 at 7:49 PM, SurlyGator said:

Had WB yesterday here in in TN.  Ordered on the app.  Free medium onion rings, #2 combo.  Placed the order a couple of miles from the restaraunt.  App said it would be ready (ASAP option) between 12:48-12:50.  Got there around 12:46. Not busy, no line waiting to order.  What time did they hand me my bag?  12:58.

I really want to support them, but those Chicagoans are really making it hard.

Whataburger has never been known for speed and efficiency. That’s not a new thing.

[deft 7043]

Just got this today - 

Such bullshit. I went yesterday and the free offer was just medium fries. And then today they roll out the burger. Chicago fucks.

[utee94 16066]

1 hour ago, deft said:

Such bullshit. I went yesterday and the free offer was just medium fries. And then today they roll out the burger. Chicago fucks.

I've got offers for both on my app right now.  One expires 10/27 and one on 10/30.  My 15yo son will hoover those in short order, I have no doubt.

[BigDHornfan 6625]

Had my free blaze tonight.
Give me a regular #2 with japs any day

[ztejas 44114]

7 hours ago, royiv said:

Whataburger has never been known for speed and efficiency. That’s not a new thing.

It was forgivable when the food was good.

[Texzilla58 4778]

So any reviews of the bacon blaze.  I’m not hip to the cream cheese and usually don’t like bacon on burgers.

[Mo Horn 8933]

6 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:

usually don’t like bacon on burgers.

How is this even possible? 

[Underdog 29101]

Also not a fan of bacon on burgers. 

[4th&Five 41904]

I like bacon on its own or on a BLT but not really on anything else. 

[Underdog 29101]

It’s good on potato skins. 

[randomhorn 2111]

[Focht Up 643]

3 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:

So any reviews of the bacon blaze.  I’m not hip to the cream cheese and usually don’t like bacon on burgers.

I feel like the bacon overshadows the beef, or vice versa, so it's a bit of overkill to add bacon

 

[Macanudo 13254]

4 minutes ago, Focht Up said:

I feel like the bacon overshadows the beef, or vice versa, so it's a bit of overkill to add bacon

 

Bacon. Goes. On. Everything.   

 

You all are wrong.  

[Underdog 29101]

On everything you say? 

PM sent. 

[Gucci_Suit 2809]

I also don’t need bacon on a burger. 

Also that whataburger on N Lamar, right by the DPS, i used to have to drunk drive around people that had passed out in the drive thru because it took so long. 

[Helobious 9755]

I seriously never thought I’d see the day when I’d prefer McDonalds over Whataburger, but it’s here now. 

[Surly Bevo 25655]

[gernblansten 3254]

4 hours ago, Focht Up said:

I feel like the bacon overshadows the beef, or vice versa, so it's a bit of overkill to add bacon

 

That’s focht up. 

[baboso 6101]

Whataburger bacon sucks.

[Brisketexan 106618]

Having a conversation with GOLL, and he pointed out something pretty accurate.  The challenge for Whataburger in Austin is that for most locations we can think of, there's a better local option right nearby.  Whataburger on Ben White?  Go to Dan's instead.  Anderson lane?  Hit Top Notch.  Barton Springs? Go to Sandy's.

I'll still eat a Whataburger, and do still love the jalapeno breakfast biscuit deal....but usually will grab a local burger instead.

[Deej 77671]

19 hours ago, Mo Horn said:

How is this even possible? 

To be fair, Whataburger's bacon is kinda shitty. 

[Steamboat1874 4282]

Bacon is not a problem, how it is cooked however is.

[deft 7043]

Whataburger bacon was bad before Chicago fucked up the rest of whataburger. It’s sweet. It’s weird.

[futureman 22664]

On 12/9/2024 at 8:40 AM, Brisketexan said:

Having a conversation with GOLL, and he pointed out something pretty accurate.  The challenge for Whataburger in Austin is that for most locations we can think of, there's a better local option right nearby.  Whataburger on Ben White?  Go to Dan's instead.  Anderson lane?  Hit Top Notch.  Barton Springs? Go to Sandy's.

yeah I’ve found myself at Dan’s many times instead of the N Lamar DPS whataburger.  p terry’s even. 

[Hornius Emeritus 12780]

Anybody have this article, which is behind a paywall?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2024/12/14/whataburger-locations-ownership-change-expansion/

 

[HenryJames 67116]

Spoiler

Jim Fitz was tired of waiting for breakfast. He waited 15 minutes in the drive-through outside a Whataburger in Fort Worth, and another 10 minutes inside after the staff got his order wrong. So, on an April morning last year, the software engineer and part-time professional wrestler looked into his phone and began filming a message to TikTok.

 

“Don’t go to Whataburger anymore,” Fitz told the camera. “Ever since they got bought out, it’s been trash.”

For a long time in Texas, it was heresy to suggest that Whataburger was anything less than the official burger of the Lone Star State. A family-friendly atmosphere and 24/7 service made the company a staple of Friday night football games and a fixture for late-night cravings. Many loyalists would tell you no visit to Texas is complete without a stop at one of the company’s orange-and-white striped A-frames for sizable breakfast taquitos, chicken strips with white gravy and burgers you can customize with whatever toppings and Whataburger-branded condiments you like.

 

But lately, some loyal customers say something is messing with the chain. After a 2019 sale to Chicago-based BDT Capital Partners, which also owns Weber grills and co-owns Krispy Kreme, new ownership expedited expansion out of state. The sale is blamed in popular Reddit threads for everything from a perceived drop in food quality and service to a less specific complaint that Whataburger is “going downhill” as it opens more restaurants in other parts of the country. The conversation has even spilled into college football message boards, where fans of Texas A&M and Baylor have complained about long waits, portion size and cold food.

“Whataburger is no longer Texas’ favorite fast-food joint,” Fitz concluded in his video. “This place sucks.”

@fitz_fights

@whataburger has completely gone to crap. Every single time, wrong orders that take forever. Not a single location, all of them. Absolutely terrible

♬ original sound - Big Fitz

Whataburger is competing not only with older burger-and-fries brands such as McDonald’s and Wendy’s, but with In-N-Out, Five Guys, Shake Shack and, closer to home, P. Terry’s, an upstart chain from Austin that is adding locations close to Whataburger’s San Antonio headquarters.

As the brand continues to grow, it faces the same existential question as any beloved regional business attempting to scale: Can it maintain the Texan values that made people fall in love with it? Or will it become indistinguishable from every other burger joint on the highway?

 

A Double Meat Whataburger with Cheese at the location on the Las Vegas strip. (Mikayla Whitmore/For the Washington Post)

 

Las Vegas customers get a taste of burgers and the signature patty melt on Texas Toast. (Mikayla Whitmore/For the Washington Post)

Growing a cult following

Like a lot of native Texans, I have a long history with Whataburger, and I have mixed feelings about an out-of-state owner sharing the brand with more of the country. My abuela still keeps a light-brown “nickel coffee” mug from Whataburger in the kitchen of her Weslaco, Texas, home. I worked at a Midwest City, Oklahoma, Whataburger during high school, inventing “The Omieburger” for my friends: double meat, double cheese, ketchup, lettuce, grilled onions, extra toasty bun.

✈️

Follow Travel

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My kids eat at Whataburger, and I use the chain’s app to order the occasional patty melt or to try new items like the recently released Bacon Blaze Jalapeño Double. (It’s good, but make sure to order the jalapeños grilled.)

If the food quality dipped, I haven’t noticed; the items I eat taste just as good to me as they always did. Although, I admit to going through long periods where I’d rather venture out and try other burgers instead of always sticking with the home team.

A year after blasting Whataburger on TikTok, Fitz, a 42-year-old based in Haslet, Texas, barely remembers making the video. But he knows what led to it.

“It was just a string of bad experiences,” he said in an interview, including the time an employee drowned his teen daughter’s burger in ketchup after they sent back a wrong order.

 

Fitz said he took a break from Whataburger in an effort to eat healthier, but he’s slowly warming back up to the brand. On occasion, he’ll still indulge in a Double Meat Whataburger.

Whataburger CEO Ed Nelson said he’s seen the nasty comments online, but he has no interest in clapping back. His focus is on food quality and customer service.

The sizable 24-hour menu has its constants: a traditional Whataburger No. 1 has shredded lettuce, three tomato slices, four pickles, diced onions and distinctive mustard for which the company grows its own seeds. A rotating set of “All-Time Favorites” includes a patty melt on Texas Toast.

“Whataburger has a cult following,” said Nelson, who has been with the company for 20 years. “How do we make sure that Whataburger continues to make everyone’s day a little better?”t

 

 

 

 

Whataburger had its best financial year ever in 2023, Nelson said, and has increased its reach by more than 50 restaurants to over 1,070 total locations. A buzzed-about new restaurant on the Las Vegas strip features a bar with 120 beers on tap. For 2023, Restaurant Business named Whataburger 23rd out of its 500 top restaurants, citing its 2022 sales of $3.34 billion. Whataburger will enter its 17th state when new ones open in North Carolina over the next year.

The sale, Nelson insists, hasn’t affected its vision of helping its 51,000 employees create memorable customer experiences and serve tasty food.

But Whataburger as a brand and a company is undoubtedly going through changes. In September, the company announced that Nelson will retire at the end of the year. Whataburger’s chief operating officer Debbie Stroud, who had leadership roles at McDonald’s and Starbucks before joining the company in early 2023, will take over as president and CEO.

Nelson says the company he’ll continue leading until Dec. 31 is not perfect: It has entered markets such as Kansas City and fumbled the ball on its marketing and customer service, requiring Whataburger to retrain managers and “relaunch” in that city with increased emphasis on service and speed. It’s a process, Nelson says, to win customers over one burger at a time.

“I want to earn the right in every community to be their hometown burger, just like I am in Corpus Christi,” Nelson said.

 

Whataburger employees help customers during a lunch rush at the flagship Whataburger in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Nov. 1. (Mark Felix for The Washington Post)

 

Jacob Trevino and his son Jace Trevino with their dog Bella have lunch at the flagship Whataburger in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Nov. 1. (Mark Felix for The Washington Post)

Pilgrimage by the bay

An orange-and-white color scheme and made-to-order ¼-pound patties piled onto roomy, 5-inch buns have become iconic since the first location opened Aug. 8, 1950, in Corpus Christi.

Most Whataburgers, however, don’t look like the spacious flagship in the brand’s birthplace. The two-story restaurant operates amid the sound of seagulls cawing, 155 paces from front door to the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a tourist destination for Whatafans. At the entrance, a bronze statue of founder Harmon Dobson sitting on a bench greets visitors.

During a Friday lunch rush, teenagers suck on milkshakes and giggle as they wolf down fries. A busload of clients from a senior day care has stopped in for lunch after visiting the nearby Selena Museum. Ignacio Ybarra, one of the clients, says he’s dreamed of visiting this location.

“I’ve seen (this Whataburger) on TikTok,” Ybarra said. He orders a No. 4, a Whataburger with cheese and jalapeños with spicy ketchup on the side in small plastic tubs for his fries. He said he buys Whataburger spicy ketchup and mayonnaise to use at home. Over the past decade, Whataburger’s condiments, from its barbecue sauces to the honey butter it uses on chicken biscuits, have made their way to stores nationwide.

 

Terry Guerra, 88, poses for a portrait at the flagship Whataburger in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Mark Felix for The Washington Post)

Terry Guerra, an 88-year-old lunch hostess, served Ybarra his order. With 15 years of experience, she’s so well known to diners that some customers who vacation annually in Corpus Christi send her Christmas cards.

“I love it,” Guerra said. “This is the best.”

Tracy Bess, the operating manager at the flagship, started with the company in 2015. She says she’s stayed because of how its leaders handled challenges including the pandemic, when staffing was difficult and curbside service became crucial.

“It has core values,” Bess says.

The South Texas region has about 80 Whataburger restaurants. The flagship employs 80 people. Bess, who wears a “Goodness 24/7” pin on her uniform, says her job of overseeing managers and team leaders is about consistency.

“What you have in Corpus Christi should be the same quality and experience that you have in South Carolina or Georgia or Vegas,” she said. “It’s the same food. It’s the same brand.”

Bess says she’s heard complaints about how the 2019 sale affected Whataburger, but insists those assumptions, particularly about a drop in food quality, aren’t true.

“There are a lot of rumors out there, but nothing ever changed,” Bess said. “Our food was the same. As far as our product and the way we serve things, we never cut corners.”

 

Chris Perez brings condiments to a table on the second floor of the flagship Whataburger in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Mark Felix for The Washington Post)

Making of a Lone Star legend

That mission dates back to 1950, when Dobson opened the first Whataburger in Corpus Christi. Immediately the restaurant was making hundreds of burgers a day at 30 cents a pop. Dobson quickly opened more Whataburgers and soon franchised; by 1959, he opened a Whataburger in Pensacola, Florida.

Dobson kept tight control until he died in 1967 when a small plane he piloted crashed. From then on, his wife Grace took over leadership and stayed involved until her death in 2005. The Dobson children assumed leadership roles; Tom was CEO starting in 1993 until 2012. In one of two books about the company’s history, the company admits it lost its way in the late 1980s and 1990s with declining sales and inconsistent marketing.

But the brand roared back in the age of social media with a blitz of viral user-generated content and orange-branded merchandise, from Yeti cups and pajamas to Fancy Ketchup T-shirts.

 

The Dobson family has a stake in the company and is still heavily involved. They attend quarterly board meetings and email Nelson regularly. To Nelson’s amusement, the family has an office in the next building over from Whataburger’s San Antonio headquarters, directly in view of his office. “I don’t know if Tom Dobson looks over this way or not,” Nelson said, but he can feel the weight of the family legacy every time he looks out the window.

The misperception that the family completely abandoned the brand to an out-of-state financier could be a source of some of the complaints. That might also affect Whataburger’s reputation as a top Texas brand, said Nadia Chaudhury, who has written about the company over the years as editor of Eater Austin. She said the company’s massive growth seems to have overtaken its desire to “embrace its Texanness.”

A few years ago, Austin-based real estate broker Landan Dory put together an investment profile of Whataburger. Dory, who grew up on Whataburger in Midland, concluded that owners in states like Florida could pull in profits of about $2.5 million a year per store, rivaling popular fast-food chains such as Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane’s.

 

(Illustration by Timo Lenzen for The Washington Post)

“Their per-store revenue is extraordinarily high,” Dory said. “It takes a little bit of time for the out-of-state investors and folks to get comfortable with what has been historically a Texas and Southwestern brand. But they’ve got a lot of money behind them, and they’re going to continue to be strong.”

Where Whataburger stood as a top Texas brand alongside Shiner beer, Southwest Airlines, and H-E-B, Chaudhury says it’s no longer the brand she hears out-of-staters crave as far as food or merchandise.

“When bands or friends or family come from out of state, it’s not Whataburger they want to go to, it’s Buc-ee’s (the gas station chain with a cute beaver mascot).”

That said, Chaudhury points to the strong Las Vegas opening as evidence that Whataburger’s popularity is expanding: “As a Texas brand it’s becoming stronger nationally in a different way.”

 

Terry Guerra, 88, poses for a portrait at the flagship Whataburger in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Mark Felix for The Washington Post)

Bringing Texas to the masses

The beef at the center of a Whataburger, Nelson says, is still processed exactly as it’s been in the past; the company opened a new processing plant in Atlanta to make sure East Coast locations are getting fresh meat shipped faster.

Nelson says his culinary team is meticulous about creating and focus-testing new menu items, such as upgraded coffee options and boneless “Whatawings” that hit stores earlier this year. Creating new burger variations on a 74-year-old menu must scale for more than 1,000 stores.

Nelson said that long lines in new locations like Las Vegas make great headlines, but are awful if you’re the customer in that line. Last year, the company built a Digital Kitchen concept restaurant in Austin it hopes to expand on offering a cashless, kiosk-based restaurant with no inside seating, no lunch hostesses or plastic order-number table tents, just curbside or drive-through pickup service.

It’s likely that no location offers a clearer glimpse of the 74-year-old company’s willingness to adapt than the modern-looking Las Vegas Boulevard location, between the Aria and the Waldorf Astoria.

Not only is the giant W missing from the name at the front of the metal-and-glass box location, but it’s a shared space. Customers can order a No. 1 Whataburger with cheese at the giant counter as well as slices and beer from Parry’s Pizzeria & Taphouse, the company’s partner in the space. The interior is open with a few large communal tables and features gigantic TV screens that can also be viewed upstairs in a lounge area and balcony overlooking the strip.

The space looks impressive, but the Vegas location doesn’t look much like a Whataburger from the outside, even if the smells and tastes are familiar.

Whataburger’s CEO acknowledges that expanding nationwide and tweaking the brand for new markets while keeping longtime customers like Jim Fitz and me happy could be a recipe for growing pains. But he also believes the taste of Texas will prevail, one Whatasized combo at a time.

“The spirit of Texas is large, people admire it across the world,” Nelson said. “And so the passion Texas has around the things we do, including our burger, is important.”

 

Edited Monday at 05:59 PM by HenryJames

[Hornius Emeritus 12780]

14 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Jim Fitz was tired of waiting for breakfast. He waited 15 minutes in the drive-through outside a Whataburger in Fort Worth, and another 10 minutes inside after the staff got his order wrong. So, on an April morning last year, the software engineer and part-time professional wrestler looked into his phone and began filming a message to TikTok.

 

“Don’t go to Whataburger anymore,” Fitz told the camera. “Ever since they got bought out, it’s been trash.”

For a long time in Texas, it was heresy to suggest that Whataburger was anything less than the official burger of the Lone Star State. A family-friendly atmosphere and 24/7 service made the company a staple of Friday night football games and a fixture for late-night cravings. Many loyalists would tell you no visit to Texas is complete without a stop at one of the company’s orange-and-white striped A-frames for sizable breakfast taquitos, chicken strips with white gravy and burgers you can customize with whatever toppings and Whataburger-branded condiments you like.

 

But lately, some loyal customers say something is messing with the chain. After a 2019 sale to Chicago-based BDT Capital Partners, which also owns Weber grills and co-owns Krispy Kreme, new ownership expedited expansion out of state. The sale is blamed in popular Reddit threads for everything from a perceived drop in food quality and service to a less specific complaint that Whataburger is “going downhill” as it opens more restaurants in other parts of the country. The conversation has even spilled into college football message boards, where fans of Texas A&M and Baylor have complained about long waits, portion size and cold food.

“Whataburger is no longer Texas’ favorite fast-food joint,” Fitz concluded in his video. “This place sucks.”

@fitz_fights

@whataburger has completely gone to crap. Every single time, wrong orders that take forever. Not a single location, all of them. Absolutely terrible

♬ original sound - Big Fitz

Whataburger is competing not only with older burger-and-fries brands such as McDonald’s and Wendy’s, but with In-N-Out, Five Guys, Shake Shack and, closer to home, P. Terry’s, an upstart chain from Austin that is adding locations close to Whataburger’s San Antonio headquarters.

As the brand continues to grow, it faces the same existential question as any beloved regional business attempting to scale: Can it maintain the Texan values that made people fall in love with it? Or will it become indistinguishable from every other burger joint on the highway?

 

A Double Meat Whataburger with Cheese at the location on the Las Vegas strip. (Mikayla Whitmore/For the Washington Post)

 

Las Vegas customers get a taste of burgers and the signature patty melt on Texas Toast. (Mikayla Whitmore/For the Washington Post)

Growing a cult following

Like a lot of native Texans, I have a long history with Whataburger, and I have mixed feelings about an out-of-state owner sharing the brand with more of the country. My abuela still keeps a light-brown “nickel coffee” mug from Whataburger in the kitchen of her Weslaco, Texas, home. I worked at a Midwest City, Oklahoma, Whataburger during high school, inventing “The Omieburger” for my friends: double meat, double cheese, ketchup, lettuce, grilled onions, extra toasty bun.

✈️

Follow Travel

Follow

My kids eat at Whataburger, and I use the chain’s app to order the occasional patty melt or to try new items like the recently released Bacon Blaze Jalapeño Double. (It’s good, but make sure to order the jalapeños grilled.)

If the food quality dipped, I haven’t noticed; the items I eat taste just as good to me as they always did. Although, I admit to going through long periods where I’d rather venture out and try other burgers instead of always sticking with the home team.

A year after blasting Whataburger on TikTok, Fitz, a 42-year-old based in Haslet, Texas, barely remembers making the video. But he knows what led to it.

“It was just a string of bad experiences,” he said in an interview, including the time an employee drowned his teen daughter’s burger in ketchup after they sent back a wrong order.

 

Fitz said he took a break from Whataburger in an effort to eat healthier, but he’s slowly warming back up to the brand. On occasion, he’ll still indulge in a Double Meat Whataburger.

Whataburger CEO Ed Nelson said he’s seen the nasty comments online, but he has no interest in clapping back. His focus is on food quality and customer service.

The sizable 24-hour menu has its constants: a traditional Whataburger No. 1 has shredded lettuce, three tomato slices, four pickles, diced onions and distinctive mustard for which the company grows its own seeds. A rotating set of “All-Time Favorites” includes a patty melt on Texas Toast.

“Whataburger has a cult following,” said Nelson, who has been with the company for 20 years. “How do we make sure that Whataburger continues to make everyone’s day a little better?”t

 

 

 

 

Whataburger had its best financial year ever in 2023, Nelson said, and has increased its reach by more than 50 restaurants to over 1,070 total locations. A buzzed-about new restaurant on the Las Vegas strip features a bar with 120 beers on tap. For 2023, Restaurant Business named Whataburger 23rd out of its 500 top restaurants, citing its 2022 sales of $3.34 billion. Whataburger will enter its 17th state when new ones open in North Carolina over the next year.

The sale, Nelson insists, hasn’t affected its vision of helping its 51,000 employees create memorable customer experiences and serve tasty food.

But Whataburger as a brand and a company is undoubtedly going through changes. In September, the company announced that Nelson will retire at the end of the year. Whataburger’s chief operating officer Debbie Stroud, who had leadership roles at McDonald’s and Starbucks before joining the company in early 2023, will take over as president and CEO.

Nelson says the company he’ll continue leading until Dec. 31 is not perfect: It has entered markets such as Kansas City and fumbled the ball on its marketing and customer service, requiring Whataburger to retrain managers and “relaunch” in that city with increased emphasis on service and speed. It’s a process, Nelson says, to win customers over one burger at a time.

“I want to earn the right in every community to be their hometown burger, just like I am in Corpus Christi,” Nelson said.

 

Whataburger employees help customers during a lunch rush at the flagship Whataburger in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Nov. 1. (Mark Felix for The Washington Post)

 

Jacob Trevino and his son Jace Trevino with their dog Bella have lunch at the flagship Whataburger in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Nov. 1. (Mark Felix for The Washington Post)

Pilgrimage by the bay

An orange-and-white color scheme and made-to-order ¼-pound patties piled onto roomy, 5-inch buns have become iconic since the first location opened Aug. 8, 1950, in Corpus Christi.

Most Whataburgers, however, don’t look like the spacious flagship in the brand’s birthplace. The two-story restaurant operates amid the sound of seagulls cawing, 155 paces from front door to the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a tourist destination for Whatafans. At the entrance, a bronze statue of founder Harmon Dobson sitting on a bench greets visitors.

During a Friday lunch rush, teenagers suck on milkshakes and giggle as they wolf down fries. A busload of clients from a senior day care has stopped in for lunch after visiting the nearby Selena Museum. Ignacio Ybarra, one of the clients, says he’s dreamed of visiting this location.

“I’ve seen (this Whataburger) on TikTok,” Ybarra said. He orders a No. 4, a Whataburger with cheese and jalapeños with spicy ketchup on the side in small plastic tubs for his fries. He said he buys Whataburger spicy ketchup and mayonnaise to use at home. Over the past decade, Whataburger’s condiments, from its barbecue sauces to the honey butter it uses on chicken biscuits, have made their way to stores nationwide.

 

Terry Guerra, 88, poses for a portrait at the flagship Whataburger in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Mark Felix for The Washington Post)

Terry Guerra, an 88-year-old lunch hostess, served Ybarra his order. With 15 years of experience, she’s so well known to diners that some customers who vacation annually in Corpus Christi send her Christmas cards.

“I love it,” Guerra said. “This is the best.”

Tracy Bess, the operating manager at the flagship, started with the company in 2015. She says she’s stayed because of how its leaders handled challenges including the pandemic, when staffing was difficult and curbside service became crucial.

“It has core values,” Bess says.

The South Texas region has about 80 Whataburger restaurants. The flagship employs 80 people. Bess, who wears a “Goodness 24/7” pin on her uniform, says her job of overseeing managers and team leaders is about consistency.

“What you have in Corpus Christi should be the same quality and experience that you have in South Carolina or Georgia or Vegas,” she said. “It’s the same food. It’s the same brand.”

Bess says she’s heard complaints about how the 2019 sale affected Whataburger, but insists those assumptions, particularly about a drop in food quality, aren’t true.

“There are a lot of rumors out there, but nothing ever changed,” Bess said. “Our food was the same. As far as our product and the way we serve things, we never cut corners.”

 

Chris Perez brings condiments to a table on the second floor of the flagship Whataburger in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Mark Felix for The Washington Post)

Making of a Lone Star legend

That mission dates back to 1950, when Dobson opened the first Whataburger in Corpus Christi. Immediately the restaurant was making hundreds of burgers a day at 30 cents a pop. Dobson quickly opened more Whataburgers and soon franchised; by 1959, he opened a Whataburger in Pensacola, Florida.

Dobson kept tight control until he died in 1967 when a small plane he piloted crashed. From then on, his wife Grace took over leadership and stayed involved until her death in 2005. The Dobson children assumed leadership roles; Tom was CEO starting in 1993 until 2012. In one of two books about the company’s history, the company admits it lost its way in the late 1980s and 1990s with declining sales and inconsistent marketing.

But the brand roared back in the age of social media with a blitz of viral user-generated content and orange-branded merchandise, from Yeti cups and pajamas to Fancy Ketchup T-shirts.

 

The Dobson family has a stake in the company and is still heavily involved. They attend quarterly board meetings and email Nelson regularly. To Nelson’s amusement, the family has an office in the next building over from Whataburger’s San Antonio headquarters, directly in view of his office. “I don’t know if Tom Dobson looks over this way or not,” Nelson said, but he can feel the weight of the family legacy every time he looks out the window.

The misperception that the family completely abandoned the brand to an out-of-state financier could be a source of some of the complaints. That might also affect Whataburger’s reputation as a top Texas brand, said Nadia Chaudhury, who has written about the company over the years as editor of Eater Austin. She said the company’s massive growth seems to have overtaken its desire to “embrace its Texanness.”

A few years ago, Austin-based real estate broker Landan Dory put together an investment profile of Whataburger. Dory, who grew up on Whataburger in Midland, concluded that owners in states like Florida could pull in profits of about $2.5 million a year per store, rivaling popular fast-food chains such as Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane’s.

 

(Illustration by Timo Lenzen for The Washington Post)

“Their per-store revenue is extraordinarily high,” Dory said. “It takes a little bit of time for the out-of-state investors and folks to get comfortable with what has been historically a Texas and Southwestern brand. But they’ve got a lot of money behind them, and they’re going to continue to be strong.”

Where Whataburger stood as a top Texas brand alongside Shiner beer, Southwest Airlines, and H-E-B, Chaudhury says it’s no longer the brand she hears out-of-staters crave as far as food or merchandise.

“When bands or friends or family come from out of state, it’s not Whataburger they want to go to, it’s Buc-ee’s (the gas station chain with a cute beaver mascot).”

That said, Chaudhury points to the strong Las Vegas opening as evidence that Whataburger’s popularity is expanding: “As a Texas brand it’s becoming stronger nationally in a different way.”

 

Terry Guerra, 88, poses for a portrait at the flagship Whataburger in Corpus Christi, Texas. (Mark Felix for The Washington Post)

Bringing Texas to the masses

The beef at the center of a Whataburger, Nelson says, is still processed exactly as it’s been in the past; the company opened a new processing plant in Atlanta to make sure East Coast locations are getting fresh meat shipped faster.

Nelson says his culinary team is meticulous about creating and focus-testing new menu items, such as upgraded coffee options and boneless “Whatawings” that hit stores earlier this year. Creating new burger variations on a 74-year-old menu must scale for more than 1,000 stores.

Nelson said that long lines in new locations like Las Vegas make great headlines, but are awful if you’re the customer in that line. Last year, the company built a Digital Kitchen concept restaurant in Austin it hopes to expand on offering a cashless, kiosk-based restaurant with no inside seating, no lunch hostesses or plastic order-number table tents, just curbside or drive-through pickup service.

It’s likely that no location offers a clearer glimpse of the 74-year-old company’s willingness to adapt than the modern-looking Las Vegas Boulevard location, between the Aria and the Waldorf Astoria.

Not only is the giant W missing from the name at the front of the metal-and-glass box location, but it’s a shared space. Customers can order a No. 1 Whataburger with cheese at the giant counter as well as slices and beer from Parry’s Pizzeria & Taphouse, the company’s partner in the space. The interior is open with a few large communal tables and features gigantic TV screens that can also be viewed upstairs in a lounge area and balcony overlooking the strip.

The space looks impressive, but the Vegas location doesn’t look much like a Whataburger from the outside, even if the smells and tastes are familiar.

Whataburger’s CEO acknowledges that expanding nationwide and tweaking the brand for new markets while keeping longtime customers like Jim Fitz and me happy could be a recipe for growing pains. But he also believes the taste of Texas will prevail, one Whatasized combo at a time.

“The spirit of Texas is large, people admire it across the world,” Nelson said. “And so the passion Texas has around the things we do, including our burger, is important.”

 

Thank you, HJ.  Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

[Deej 77671]

Waited 15 minutes? That was happening before Chicago took over. 

[Js1 86939]

Quote

The conversation has even spilled into college football message boards, where fans of Texas A&M and Baylor have complained about long waits, portion size and cold food.

Uh excuse me, we bitch just as much. 

[elfenix 34658]

14 minutes ago, Deej said:

Waited 15 minutes? That was happening before Chicago took over. 

No shit. We've called it Waitaburger forever. 

[HenryJames 67116]

It's wildly inconsistent.

[futureman 22664]

the last three times (three.) I’ve ordered bacon on my sausage egg and cheese biscuit they have charged me and not provided the bacon.  the most recent time, last night, the biscuit and s.e.c. were cold.  it’ll probably be a while before I’m back.