Georgia Whataburgers: Why is the Southeastern fast-food chain a big deal?
A Double Meat Whataburger with Cheese, Peach Shake, French Fries Whatameal. (Provided by Whataburger)
A famous burger chain is coming to metro Atlanta.
Whataburger announced on Thursday that the company will open several new Georgia locations beginning in 2022. Currently, there's one location about 13 miles from the Georgia-Florida border in Thomasville.
The first two will be in Cobb County and Cherokee County:
- 705 Town Park Lane NW, Kennesaw, Ga. 30144
- 9766 GA-92, Woodstock, Ga. 30188
The following year will see six more restaurants in Gwinnett County, Athens-Clarke County, Dawson County, Forsyth County and Jackson County:
- 503 Lakeland Plaza, Cumming, Ga. 30040
- SEQ Buford Dr and Exchange Dr, Buford, Ga. 30519
- 3321 Lexington Rd, Athens, Ga. 30605
- 3201 Atlanta Hwy, Athens, Ga. 30606
- 100 Pottery Rd, Commerce, Ga. 30529
- 15 Wallace Blvd, Dawnsonville, Ga. 30534
The chain says currently has locations in 14 states, but there are fans everywhere.
What about the chain has so many people worked up?
What is Whataburger famous for?
More than 2 million people follow Whataburger on Facebook. The company's Facebook page for its Fancy Ketchup has more than 16,000 fans.
If you don't believe the hype, perhaps some recognitions carry some weight. Newsweek rated Whataburger as one of the "nation's favorite fast food chains in 2022," after ranking it No. 2 on its 2021 list of "America's Best Customer Service Companies."
The fast food chain promotes customizable burgers and quarterly limited-time menu offerings. For example, in January Whatabuger announced a limited eidtion spicier spicy ketchup, a new batch of one of the chain's signature sauces.
Can you buy Whataburger Fancy Ketchup in Georgia?
Whataburger estimated in 2021 the fast-food chain serves about 17 million pounds of ketchup and 350k gallons of mustard per year.
In 2013, Whataburger started bottling Fancy Ketchup, Spicy Ketchup and Original Mustard for sale at H-E-B, a supermarket company in Texas, and online. Brookshire's in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas sells condiments.
Walmart sells bottles too, but Georgians shouldn't start searching their neighborhood stores. For now, the closest stores for Georgia residents to buy Whataburger condiments are in Alabama, Florida and Tennessee.
History of Whataburger
The first Whataburger was founded in 1950 by Harmon Dobson in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Nine years later, Dobson opened the 21st Whataburger location in Pensacola, Florida, the first outside of Texas.
In 2021, there were more than 840 restaurants in Arizona, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and, of course, Texas. The company also recently announced locations coming to Colorado and Missouri.