Whataburger facts for kids
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Whataburger in Frisco, Texas
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| Private | |
| Industry | Restaurant |
| Genre | Fast food |
| Founded | August 8, 1950 in Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S. |
| Founder | Harmon Dobson, Paul Burton |
| Headquarters |
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U.S.
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Number of locations
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1000 (2024) |
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Area served
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Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Kansas, Nevada, Colorado, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana |
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Key people
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| Products | |
| Revenue |  $3.340 billion (2022) |
| Owner | BDT & MSD Partners (majority) Dobson family (minority) |
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Number of employees
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43,000 (2021) |
Whataburger is a popular American fast food restaurant chain. It is known for its delicious hamburgers. The company started in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1950. Its main office is now in San Antonio, Texas.
Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton founded Whataburger. The Dobson family owned the company for a long time. In 2019, a company called BDT & MSD Partners bought most of it. The Dobson family still owns a small part of the business.
In 2019, Whataburger had over 670 locations in Texas. It also had more than 150 restaurants in other states. These included New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and the Southern United States. Many of these locations are run by other owners, called franchises.
For many years, Whataburger restaurants had a special look. They had orange and white striped roofs shaped like an "A". The first A-frame restaurant opened in Odessa, Texas, in 1961. Even though it was a special landmark, this building was taken down in 2019. A new restaurant was built in its place.
Whataburger mainly focuses on burgers made with ground beef. Some popular choices are the Whataburger, the Whataburger Jr., and the Triple Meat Whataburger. They also offer chicken options, like the Whatachick'n. In the mornings, you can get breakfast items. These include biscuits, sausage, bacon, and eggs.
Contents
Whataburger's Story
How It Started
In 1950, Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton wanted to open a burger place. Dobson's dream was to make a burger so big and tasty. He wanted people to say "What a burger!" after taking a bite. In June 1950, Dobson got the official name "Whataburger".
Their first restaurant opened in August 1950. It was on Ayers Street in Corpus Christi, Texas. The first burger cost 25 cents. It was called the Whataburger. It had a quarter-pound patty on a wide bun. It also came with fresh lettuce, three slices of tomato, four pickles, and chopped onions. Ketchup and mustard were also added. This recipe is still mostly the same today. They also sold soft drinks and chips.
In 1951, Burton and Dobson decided to stop working together. They disagreed when Dobson raised the burger price to 30 cents. Burton then owned the Whataburger restaurants in San Antonio, Texas. A few months later, burger prices went up to 35 cents. In 1952, Dobson opened a new location in Kingsville, Texas. This was the first store outside Corpus Christi. In 1953, Joe Andrews, Sr. became the first person to own a Whataburger franchise. His restaurant was in Alice, Texas. The first Whataburger outside of Texas opened in Pensacola, Florida, in 1959.
Growing Bigger: 1960s and 1970s
By 1960, Whataburger had stores in Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. Harmon Dobson loved flying airplanes. This inspired him to design the orange and white A-frame store. The first one was built in Odessa, Texas, in 1961.
In 1962, the menu grew to include French fries and hot pies. By 1963, Whataburger had expanded to Arizona. There were 26 stores in total. In 1965, the company was selling about 15,000 burgers every day. This was just in the Texas Coastal Bend area. In 1967, the company got its "Flying W" logo. By then, there were 40 restaurants in four states.
On April 11, 1967, Harmon Dobson died in an airplane crash. His wife, Grace, took over the business. In 1969, Grace became the head of the company's board.
In 1971, Whataburger opened its first drive-through restaurant. In 1972, they opened their 100th store. By 1974, the A-frame design was updated. This new "Modern A-Frame" allowed for drive-thrus and bigger dining areas.
New Items and More Stores: 1980s and 1990s
In 1980, Whataburger opened its 300th store. In 1982, three stores in Corpus Christi, Texas started staying open 24/7. In 1983, new breakfast items were added. These included Breakfast on a Bun and breakfast taquitos. The Whatachick'n sandwich also joined the menu. By 1987, the company opened its 400th store.
In 1993, Harmon and Grace Dobson's son, Tom, became the CEO and President. The menu kept growing. They added Whatameal packages, cookies, biscuits, and chicken strips. In 1995, Whataburger celebrated its 500th store opening. It was known as the eighth-largest hamburger chain in the country.
On May 6, 1999, the company opened "Whataburger by the Bay". This huge store is in Corpus Christi. It is the largest Whataburger at 6,000 square feet. It even has a life-size statue of Harmon Dobson.
Whataburger restaurants, with their A-frame design, were often shown in the TV show King of the Hill.
Whataburger Today: 2000–Present
On August 8, 2000, Whataburger celebrated 50 years. It had 575 stores open. In 2001, the state of Texas officially called Whataburger a "Texas Treasure".
In 2003, Whataburger started new TV ads. These ads featured the voice of actor William Bassett. By 2007, the company had 700 stores in ten states. Its yearly earnings reached $1 billion.
In October 2011, the TV ads changed. They started showing real employees and customers. These people described what made Whataburger special. By the end of 2011, there were 728 stores in ten states. The Dobson family owned 611 of these stores. About 25 other owners ran the remaining 117 stores.
In May 2019, news came out that Whataburger might be sold. On June 14, 2019, the Dobson family sold most of their ownership. It was bought by BDT Capital Partners, an investment company. The family said they sold it to help Whataburger grow even more. Most of the company's leaders stayed in their jobs. Ed Nelson, who was the chief financial officer, became the president. Whataburger's main office stayed in San Antonio.
On August 1, 2020, Ed Nelson became the CEO of Whataburger.
Starting in 2021, Whataburger began opening stores in the Midwest. These new locations are around the Kansas City metropolitan area and Wichita, Kansas metropolitan area. On January 5, 2022, the first of eight new stores opened in Middle Tennessee. This brought Whataburger back to the Nashville area after many years.
In March 2022, Whataburger announced plans to open stores in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The first one opened in November in Kennesaw.
In April 2023, the city of Flower Mound, Texas, approved a Whataburger. At that time, Flower Mound was the biggest city in Texas without one.
As of May 2024, Whataburger has plans for six new locations in North Carolina. They also plan to open nine new locations in South Carolina.
Whataburger Products You Can Buy
Whataburger sauces have been sold in H-E-B grocery stores since 2014. Because they were so popular, the company now sells 1-pound packages of bacon. You can find these at H-E-B and Central Market stores.
Whataburger also sells its own sauces in squeeze bottles. You can buy jars of its picante sauce and salsa verde. They even sell boxed pancake mix.
Company Leadership
Whataburger earned over $3 billion in 2022. It had more than 900 restaurants in 14 states. The company also sells products in grocery stores across the U.S. As of 2022, about 50,000 people worked for Whataburger.
The company is led by its president and CEO, Ed Nelson. Other important leaders include Debbie Stroud, Rich Scheffler, Elena Kraus, Janelle Sykes, James Turcotte, Peggy Rubenzer, Joe Shannon, and Alexander Ivannikov.
Main Offices
In 2009, Whataburger moved its main office. It moved from Corpus Christi to a new building in San Antonio. The new office is at 300 Concord Plaza Drive. It is a 140,000 square foot building.
Before this, the main office was in Corpus Christi, Texas. There were also smaller offices in Houston, Irving, and Phoenix.
After Hurricane Ike hit Texas in 2008, Whataburger thought about moving its headquarters. On November 21, 2008, the company announced it would move to San Antonio. The Corpus Christi office stayed open for a while to help with the move. San Antonio was chosen for several reasons. It had more people who could work for the company. It was also safer from hurricanes. Plus, office space was more affordable.
In March 2009, Whataburger bought the Concord Plaza building. The company liked that it was close to neighborhoods and schools. It was also near the San Antonio International Airport. Whataburger planned to move 250 jobs to San Antonio. More than 60% of these workers came from Corpus Christi. The rest were hired in San Antonio.
Other Burger Places with Similar Names
Sometimes, Whataburger is confused with another restaurant chain. This other chain is called What-A-Burger (with a hyphen). It is a family-run business in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The first What-A-Burger opened in 1950. It was started by Jack Branch near Newport News, Virginia.
What-A-Burger and Whataburger did not know about each other for many years. They were in different states. Around 1970, they started talking. But they did not take legal action until 2002–2003. Both companies sued each other over their names. In 2004, a court decided that the Texas Whataburger had a legal trademark. But the court also said the Virginia chain did not cause confusion. It did not harm the much larger Texas company. The court said, "There is no evidence... that consumers are currently likely to be confused about whether the burgers served by Virginia W-A-B come from Texas or Virginia."
There is also another restaurant chain in North Carolina called What-A-Burger Drive-In. It is owned by Eb and Michael Bost. This chain was not part of the lawsuit. But it also kept its name. These stores were numbered, from #1 in Kannapolis, North Carolina, to #15 in Concord, North Carolina. Six of them are still open as of March 2009. In June 2024, the Texas Whataburger sued this chain. This happened after the Texas company said it would open locations in North Carolina. The lawsuit claims three restaurants in North Carolina started using the name "What-A-Burger #13" after the Texas chain got its copyright.
There is also a local restaurant called What-A-Burger in West Columbia, South Carolina. It was founded in 1953 and is not related to the others.
Whataburger Sponsorships
Whataburger has supported many music festivals. The company also sponsors sports. It supports the Whataburger Sports Complex in Kilgore, Texas. It also sponsors the Arizona Soccer Association and David Starr Racing.
In June 2024, Whataburger made a deal with Bobby Witt Jr.. He is a baseball player from Texas. He plays shortstop for the Kansas City Royals. He was a big supporter of the Whataburger brand. On December 14, 2024, a special "Wittaburger" pop-up was at Bobby Witt Jr.'s wedding party.
Gallery
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Whataburger French fries
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Whataburger Field sign in Corpus Christi, Texas
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Whataburger restaurant at night
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A Whataburger at an unknown location
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Thomasville Road, Tallahassee
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See also
- Whataburger Field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks
- List of hamburger restaurants
