These Are The US States Where You Can Find Whataburger
The definitive winner of the "best fast food burger" is a hotly contested topic – and your rank likely has more to do with where you live than anything else. While most consumers have opinions on national chains like McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's, it is the regional chains that make all the difference. West Coast burger lovers swear that In-N-Out is the superior burger, and Midwesterners starkly defend Culver's never having tried a bite of the South's favorite, Whataburger. Some believe that until you have tried all the regional favorites, you cannot accurately rank the best fast-food burgers. If you want to try a Whataburger for yourself, you only have a few states from which to choose.
In case you didn't know, Whataburger is a Texas-based fast-food chain specializing in burgers, chicken, and fries. The first location opened in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1950. More than 70 years later, the chain now has 284 operating locations across its home state of Texas, along with an additional 88 restaurants across 12 states in the southern and western parts of the United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
Whataburger is slowly but surely expanding beyond Texas
The quality, taste, and regional charm of Whataburger are commonly compared to other regional chains like In-N-Out, which proudly caters to Southern California and just a few surrounding states. However, unlike In-N-Out, which has no plans to expand to the East Coast, Whataburger has expressed its hopes of growing its Texas-sized burger empire even further east.
In 2022, Whataburger made its debut in Georgia, opening eight locations with plans for even more in the coming years. It was then announced that the burger joint intends to expand into North Carolina and South Carolina. In April 2024, the company broke ground on its first location in Columbia, South Carolina, and was met with significant excitement amongst the locals, per Beaumont Enterprise. With the reintroduction of franchising Whataburger restaurants back in 2020, Whataburger's mascot, Whataguy, may soon be spotted all across the country.