Whataburger

Avoid at all costs.
I realize fast food on TV is much better than fast food in person, but it’s ridiculous when your dining experience interrupts the staff’s Wednesday Party Night. A company like What-​A-​Burger should be ashamed for hiring a bunch of kids and then letting them run amok in a restaurant instead of serving food and tending to customers.
The inmates were in charge of the asylum.
I don’t know what went wrong at this location (located adjacent to UTAustin), but I’ll be sure to visit Torchy’s or Schlotsky’s or Cane’s long before I make the mistake of going here again.

Horrible service. I know it’s just a whataburger, but the service here is ridiculously awful. I now go out of my way to avoid this location at all costs.

6 cars ahead of me in the drive through, it’s been 15+ minutes and there’s still two ahead of me. Will not be returning.

So, I can’t say anything about the service, but compared to the burgers available in California, I can say Whataburger lives up to the hype. I just got a basic cheeseburger and split it with the friend on our way out of Texas and the patty was juicy and huge. For a fast food burger, it’s definitely top notch.

Horrible service. They barely had any customers but yet we had to wait 30 minutes in the drive-​thru for our order, which was a burger & some chicken tenders. To top it all off, after waiting half an hour, they ended up giving us the wrong order.

I really like Whataburger. They make a solid product, sell at a reasonable price, and they’re open late. All plusses.
Compared to other outlets, this one is pretty darned good! I’ve been by twice and a) the service has been reasonably fast, and b) the bathroom was clean. This is especially notable considering the heavy traffic from the nearby campus!
This place gets 4 stars on the ‘CTJ Scale’, as noted below.
5 out of 5 stars: Come-​to-​Jesus good. Would be OK passing away after finishing a meal here.
4 out of 5 stars: Come-​to-​Mary good. Would be OK being seen eating here by Mother Mary.
3 out of 5 stars: Come-​to-​Joseph good. Would be OK having a beer here with Jesus’ Dad.
2 out of 5 stars: Come-​to-​the-​Apostles good. Meh. Wouldn’t have my last supper here.
1 out of 5 stars: Come-​to-​Nobody good. I wouldn’t have my penultimate supper here, either.

TERRIBLE SERVICE. I asked what was in a burger and the cashier rolled his eyes with annoyance, and proceeded to tell me in a rude manner. What was worse was that he didn’t listen to me when I said I had exact change. While I was getting my cents, the employee closed the cashier drawer, and told me I couldn’t get my change in exact because he already closed the drawer… Also when handing out the cup he smacked it on the table and gave me a look. Hopefully this is just one of the workers, but he made me want to avoid Whataburger. Good job dude.

It’s Whataburger. The food is great for eating after going to 6^th and it is busy with the university being so close. That being said, it is ALWAYS packed, especially at night. This means the wait time for food takes forever. :\
Three stars for our need of instant gratification not being filled and sometimes weird chicken. I still like it though.

This was the first time I’ve been inside a Whataburger in quite a while. Ordered off the All-​Time Favorites menu and got the Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich combo. It was delicious, we had to wait a little bit but it was during lunch rush and they brought out our orders right to us and let us pick off the condiment platter which was cool, you usually don’t see that in a fast food joint. I didn’t like the onion rings though, the batter just didn’t appeal to me. Plus ranch was an extra .38 cents? Come on man!
I’ll still come back for lunch though!

This place doesn’t serve breakfast anymore– When I asked for a breakfast item, the cashier laughed at his friend (clearly I could hear it) and kept wondering why people keep ordering breakfast items– Well
1. There is a breakfast menu clearly displayed
2. There are two breakfast ads on the checkout table that say breakfast from 11am to 11pm.
3. If you didn’t have breakfast why were you so rude? You could of just said «We don’t have breakfast anymore, sorry» instead of laughing behind my back (and I could clearly hear).
How could a customer know they’re not serving breakfast? Take down all your breakfast signs and hire new staff.

Worst service I have ever experienced at a Whataburger. Markiese, the cashier, condescendingly says, «oh, another survey.» When the order finally comes out, Darrel makes a loud pitched screech and throws the order at my disabled mother and just turns away, no condiments offered, nothing.
It wasn’t just my order they ruined. Others as well as their own employees.

Food is about as great as any whataburger. The staff is usually nice, and they’re open ²⁴⁄₇. This is my go-​to place when I’m up late studying and want food when everywhere else is closed.
Protip: don’t come here after 10 on a Friday or Saturday unless you’ve got over a half-​hour to kill

Best place on earth. Even better when you’re drunk. Go here. If you don’t you’re wrong. Buy everything. Whata for lyfe. Texas forever. Thank you. Thank you Whataburger. Thank you breakfast. Thank you Texas.

I sent a letter to Whataburger last month. I have not gotten a response yet. Hope they’ll read it here, because they might have an issue with their security guard that may badly harm their brand.
Dear Whataburger Operations Manager,
Last Saturday, November 1^st I was kicked out from your location on 2800 Guadalupe St, in Austin, TX. After ordering me to move my hand from the other side of the counter, the security guard decided I should immediately be thrown out of the restaurant.
To begin with, the pretext was false as my hand was never beyond the counter area. So, to my question of what the guard meant by the other side of the counter, his response was to quickly come around, grab my arm and take me outside. On our way to the sidewalk, he threatened to take something from the back of his belt so I would not even attempt to resist him grabbing me. I suppose it was a can of Mace or an equivalent liquid; regardless, I’m glad I did make the right decision of not even jerking my arm away from him. That would have not been beneficial for any of us.
I was standing next to my cousin when this whole situation started, so as the guard was pushing me to the sidewalk, I told him I needed to wait for my cousin. He said he did not care and he threatened to call the cops on me. He finalized the scene at the sidewalk with the phrase: «we don’t want your business.» We left, having said basically nothing back at him; for sure, I did not offend him or anyone else in the restaurant and I didn’t even raise my voice for the few words I uttered.
My reaction to the whole situation says something about my personality: I don’t go around causing trouble. I pride myself in being polite and courteous. «Too polite» I find myself saying when people take advantage of it, although those attitudes have not quite dampened my attitude over the years. Surely, I am not the most educated person ever to have set foot in Whataburger on 2800 Guadalupe St., but I believe I am quite far from the obnoxious, loud behavior one sees there systematically on the weekends. Incidentally, I had never before seen anyone else get kicked out from that location, even though I’m a regular customer there and the guard has been working there for years. But that could be just a coincidence.
What does not seem to me as such a question of chance is that it was me, out of all people there, who was taken out. It seems to me the security guard wanted to make an example of someone there. I interpret that this situation has a lot to do, precisely, with my personality as described in the previous paragraph and my fairly calm demeanor. Although from the guard’s perspective I could have been doing something that came off as aggressive – since I was standing on the area in front of the registers, where the money is kept – he never explained anything and he did not let me reason with him. In this sense, perhaps he saw an opportunity to take someone out who would not put too much of a big fight, and he took it. On the one hand, I’m inclined to think that he normally uses this type of approach to keep things calm throughout the night. But upon further reflecting on this, that would imply that Whataburger’s business model accounts for such mistreatment of a portion of their customers to keep everyone else well-​behaved and maintain your 24-​hour service. I strongly doubt I’ll find the word intimidation in the same document where you laid out your revamped branding strategy these last few years.
I know there can be many other explanations to this situation. Perhaps the guard’s actions are now protocol given Whataburger’s previous experiences in similar locations with similar market segments. Perhaps the guard’s interpretation of organizational procedures was a bit too strict. Perhaps he had been having a rough day, or week. All things I could understand if properly explained. However, I certainly hope this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I only spoke Spanish since I got into the restaurant and until I asked the guard what he meant by the other side of the counter.
That would be a very unfortunate and completely different situation.
Despite being a regular client and an advocate for the fantastic taste and value of your hamburgers over any other fast food chain in Texas, despite the convenience of many of your locations on the whole state, despite the inconvenience I will cause myself with this decision, I will no longer be a Whataburger customer. Just like the security guard demanded, you have lost my business. This situation is embarrassing and humiliating to me. I work hard to not cause any discomfort to others and I will go great lengths to not make others upset. As such, I expect a sincere, personal apology, because this is unjust and undeserved.
I look very much forward to your response.
Kind regards,

By this review, I would like manager focus training your cashier, name Justin C. He talked so rude to me such as many else customers, he bring food tray to my table and throw it down with a chill face, he does not give me any ketchup although he hold it in his left hand…
Finally, I wanna store’s manager re-​training yours staff before he continue work here!

Typical fast food place. Good late night food. I had the chicken fingers and fries. It comes with Texas toast and a drink. It was pretty good and cheap. Im sure the burgers are good also.

Great place to take the family to. Great burgers amazi b good french fried and shakes that will make you say mmmmm… chocolate. …. Come on down and get you some. And the N and out taste like microwave burgers.

Worst Whataburger experience I can remember in a long time. My burger was fresh, hot, and prepared correctly, which is the main point. But the service and the rest of the experience was beyond inept.
They brought me the wrong size of fries. When I pointed this out to the lady, she promised to bring out the correct size. Nope, never happened. I decided I wanted to try a lemon pie. (Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a sucker for a citrus dessert.) Well, the fried pie was stuck to the carton. When I finally pulled the crust from the cardboard carton, it was an apple pie. Brought it back to the counter and she told me it would be 7 minutes before another pie would be ready. At this point, I just wanted out of this Whataburger. I told her I didn’t want to wait and she told me just to ask for a free pie next time.
A) I seriously doubt that they will have any memory of owing me a pie. B) I seriously doubt I’m coming back to this Whataburger.
I’ve always liked Whataburger because it’s a Texas business and their food quality usually justifies their price. In this case, I got screwed out of my fries and a pie. Fail.

A friend recently asked me, «What makes Whataburger so good?» I honestly didn’t have a good answer. Having lived in Austin for graduate school, I took many a good late-​nite trip to Whataburger gorging on 3AM breakfasts or 10pm greasy burgers.
Neither of those things are that much better than you can get pretty much anywhere else. And yet there is something intrinsically appealing about a Whataburger. Maybe it’s the old-​fashioned way they bring out your food, with the large red trays with cubes of ketchup and extra napkins.
Or maybe it’s just nostalgia. Many a good night has began or ended with a trip to Whataburger and one sip of their thick shakes or bite of their crunchy onion rings and I am flooded with memories of happy midnight sojourns.
Because really the food isn’t much better than alright. But sometimes alright mixed with the right amount of good company and a good buzz of something is the best thing in the world.

Doesnt Compare to the Westcoast In-​N-​Out!
I heard that Whattaburger was a must try on my visit and that I would not be disappointed. However, I was super disappointed! This had to be the most flavorless, bland, sad looking burger with cold french fries that I’ve ever had! Burger King makes better burgers!
I dont know how anyone can compare this place to the tastebud explosion that is In-​N-​Out.
The one star is for the super friendly staff… too bad they are just selling a poor quality product.