| Type | Privately held |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food, restaurants |
| Founded | 1950 |
| Headquarters | San Antonio, Texas |
| Key people | Harmon Dobson, Founder |
| Products | Fast food, including hamburgers, french fries, and signature breakfast offerings |
| Website | whataburger.com |
Whataburger is a privately held, regional restaurant chain specializing in hamburgers. The company, founded by Harmon Dobson, opened its first restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1950.[1] Today, Whataburger Restaurants, LP is still owned and operated by the Dobson family and has nearly 700 locations in the United States (Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia).
Whataburger is known for its distinctive A-framed, orange-and-white striped roofed buildings. The first A-frame restaurant, which is still standing, was built in Odessa, Texas.[2] There are currently over a dozen still in operation.
Aside from the classic Whataburger, other menu items include the Whataburger Jr. (a smaller version of the Whataburger), the Justaburger (a Whataburger Jr. with only mustard, pickles, and onions), the Whatacatch fish sandwich, the Whatachick'n Chicken Sandwich, and taquitos.[3] Whataburger also has a breakfast menu and serves breakfast sandwiches along with other items. Whataburger's breakfast menu is unique because it is served from 11:00 p.m. through 11:00 a.m. each day, a wider window than most other fast-food restaurants, and all regular menu items are still available during breakfast service.
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On August 8, 1950, company founder Harmon Dobson opened his first Whataburger restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas.[4] The small, wooden kiosk sold the enormous five-inch burgers for 25 cents each, and before the first week was out, lines stretched down the street.
In 1952, Joe Andrews, Sr. brought his family to the newly opened Whataburger in Kingsville, Texas. After one bite, he knew he wanted to a part of Whataburger. Joe was awarded the first franchise location shortly thereafter (the fifth Whataburger restaurant) which opened in Alice, Texas in 1953. The company began expansion outside of Texas in 1959, when Whataburger #21 opened in Pensacola, Florida.[5]
By 1960, there were over 17 Whataburger locations in Texas, Florida, and Tennessee. The familiar orange- and white-striped Whataburger A-frame started as a back-of-the-napkin sketch for Harmon Dobson. That sketch led to the opening of the very first A-frame Whataburger at the 24th Whataburger location in Odessa, Texas in 1961. In 1962, the menu grew with the addition of hot fried pies and French fries.[6]
Whataburger had twenty-four restaurants by 1963, including the first restaurant in Arizona. By 1965, it was estimated that Whataburger sold 15,000 burgers a day in the Texas Coastal Bend area alone. Inside dining rooms were added to the A-frames in 1966 and in 1967, the official company logo, the familiar "Flying W," was commissioned.
In 1967, an airplane crash took the life of company founder Harmon Dobson.[7] Dobson's wife, Grace, took control of the business. By the end of the decade, there would be 60 Whataburgers completely finished and six more under construction. Whataburger doubled its number of restaurants from 1971 to 1979. The first drive-through was installed in 1971, and in 1972 the company opened its 100th restaurant. Soon after, Whataburger was ranked in the top 25 out of 900+ fast-food restaurants. In 1977, the company had 205 restaurants in 12 states with 34 franchisees.[5]
In 1980, the 187th Whataburger store, located in Fort Worth, Texas, set a single-day sales record of $4,816.19. By the end of 1980, the company would open its 300th location. In 1982, three Corpus Christi locations began 24/7 operation. New menu additions soon followed, including the Breakfast on a Bun, the Whatachick'n and breakfast Taquitos. As Whataburger turned 35 in 1985, it noted that in its Texas Coastal Bend stores alone, it served 10,434,840 customers per year. The company reached the 400-store mark in 1987 and reached 440 by 1989.
Although the chain had extended itself into California in the late 1970s, it pulled out of that market completely by 1987.
As the number of stores jumped to 475 in the early 1990s, significant menu items including to Whatameals, cookies, biscuits and chicken strips were added. By mid-decade, the company delivered its first $1 million net Saturday and handed over the reins of President/CEO to Tom Dobson, Harmon's son. Tom oversaw expansion to over 500 units and beyond, making Whataburger the country's eighth largest hamburger chain.
On May 6, 1999, the company's flagship "Whataburger by the Bay" opened on Shoreline Drive in Corpus Christi, Texas.[8] A tribute to founder Harmon Dobson, this flagship store boasts 6,000 square feet (560 m2), water views, and a life-size bronze statue of Mr. Dobson near the entrance at the bay side.[5]
On August 8, 2000, Whataburger celebrated its 50th anniversary with 575 units in operation. In 2003, the company hired Austin-based advertising firm McGarrah Jessee [9] which created the gravelly-voiced advertising campaign featuring the voice of Ohio actor William Bassett. In October 2011, the agency unveiled a new, documentary-style campaign which highlights the pride Whataburger employees have for the company.[10] Today, there are nearly 700 locations in 10 states with sales of $1 billion annually. Whataburger relocated its home office to San Antonio in 2009.[11]
Whataburger has consistently added promotional and "limited time only" food products to its menu. Most of the limited-time-only products will be served for a set period of time, such as the Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich, the A1 Thick and Hearty Burger, Patty Melt, and the Peppercorn Ranch Whatachick'n. These products usually return on the menu again for a limited time after a few months. The newest product to be offered is a strawberry pie (as an alternative to the traditional apple pie) and the new Grilled Chicken Melt sandwich. Some of their promotion products have sold so well that they have been added to the menu permanently, namely the "Three Piece Chicken Strips" Whatameal and the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit. Occasionally, Whataburger's famous breakfast taquitos are sold for 99 cents each for limited periods of time, usually from the day after Christmas through January. Also, the Breakfast on a Bun (also referred to as a BOB) is periodically listed on the menu for 99 cents. In July 2009, Whataburger introduced a new limited-time product called the Chop House Cheddar Burger. In late 2009 when the A-1 Thick and Hearty Burger was the limited-time special, Whataburger announced that it was the last time, and that on December 21, 2009, it would go away forever.[12] It was unknown whether it would ever make a comeback.[13] On September 9, 2011, it was announced on Whataburger's Facebook page that the A-1 Thick and Hearty Burger would be returning as part of a promotion selling the "All-Time Favorite" limited-run sandwiches. [14]
Whataburger was originally headquartered in Corpus Christi, Texas. The company had considered moving its headquarters inland before Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast in 2008. Whataburger had its crisis management system and team set up in San Antonio, Texas, so the company decided to move its headquarters there.[15] The headquarters moved in 2009.[16][17]
Whataburger is not to be confused with "What-A-Burger" (note hyphens), several small groups of family-operated restaurants in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina operating under very similar names, but completely unrelated.
The first Virginia store opened in 1950 by entrepreneur Jack Branch near Newport News, Virginia at Newport News Circle (intersection of Jefferson Avenue and U. S. Route 258) in the former Warwick County (now a portion of the City of Newport News). Branch's' first location predated the first Texas Whataburger restaurant slightly; a move to a location within sight took place after a modernization project involving the traffic circle. That store is still in business today.
Apparently, the Newport News Circle store and other small What-A-Burger operations in the Richmond-Petersburg areas and in North and South Carolina and the Texas Whataburger chain were all unaware of each other's existence several states apart until around 1970, when there was some correspondence. However, no legal actions took place at that time.
It was over 50 years before the matter came before a U.S. Federal court, when a federal lawsuit was filed over alleged trademark infringement. By then, the original founders (Paul W. Branch and Harmon Dobson) were no longer available to shed light on any agreements or understandings they may have had.
Decided in 2004 by an Appeals Court, it was essentially decided that the Texas Whataburger has a legitimate trademark; however, the then-current Virginia operations did not harm the much larger Texas-based chain in any way, nor do they cause any reasonable public confusion.
In part the court said "There is no evidence — nor can we imagine any — that consumers are currently likely to be confused about whether the burgers served by Virginia W-A-B come from Texas or Virginia."[18]
The Concord, North Carolina based What-A-Burger Drive Ins, Inc., was not a party to the lawsuit, but under case law procedures, the use of the name there apparently would fall under the same criteria applied to this case.
There is also a small chain of restaurants called Watsonburger, with about 15–20 units located in northern Texas and southern Oklahoma. These restaurants have a menu and overall "look and feel" very similar to that of Whataburger. (See McDowell's.)