Embarking on a journey to capture student’s thoughts and opinions on Whataburger, I interviewed students Henry Taylor, Harber Lampl, Grant Reed, William Wayne, and Jack Stevens to get their opinions.
What is your go-to menu item?
Henry: “The patty melt because it just tastes the best. The bread is good, It’s just the best thing on the menu.”
Harber: “My go-to menu item is, of course, the cheeseburger with bacon.”
Grant: “I’ll probably have to go to a fried chicken sandwich because I just always liked chicken more than burgers on average. And no matter the restaurant, if they have both, I’m pretty much always choosing the chicken.”
William: “I just like a plain cheeseburger with a side of fries and a Dr. Pepper.”
Jack: “I usually go to the chicken sandwich with the lettuce and the tomato, because it’s consistent. It stays good every single time I go there and it’s easy to get.”
What’s your opinion on Whataburger’s variety of sauces?
Henry: “I think it’s pretty cool. I don’t use ketchup and spicy ketchup, but I like the fact that there’s a lot of options.”
Harber: “I think it’s a good variety, but honestly, I never use it. Most I get is ketchup, so it doesn’t really matter to me, but it is nice to have. Also maybe sometimes I’m feeling a little barbecue sauce or something.”
Grant: “I’m a simple man, I’ll pretty much just get ketchup wherever I go. If I go to Chick-fil-A, I’m just getting ketchup.”
Jack: “I think most like every other fast-food place should implement a variety of sauces because if you’re a fan of spicy, right? Why not have ketchup, but it’s spicy ketchup. You know what I mean? It’s just a win.”
How do you think Whataburger stands out in the fast food industry?
Henry: “I think that it stands out as being higher quality than other fast food restaurants. They’re just like a better version of McDonald’s or a better version of In-N-Out.”
Harber: “Well, first of all, it’s Texan, obviously, so if there’s a Whataburger around, I’m going to go to that one instead of like In-N-Out or Sonic. Because it’s better quality than Sonic, it’s not as expensive as In-N-Out, and it’s, I’d say, just as good. And it’s not as good as Shake Shack, but the fact that Shake Shack is also literally twice as expensive as every other fast food restaurant is ridiculous. The third point comes back to the fact that it is Texas, I have to stress that a little more, obviously, state pride, you know?”
Grant: “I don’t think it does. Pretty much the only times I’ve gone there was on a road trip, and it’s mainly just because there’s not a better place in that exit and I’m really hungry. I’m just going to Whataburger because it’s just fast food.”
Jack: “It’s prominent because of its easiness and it’s delicious, right? It’s a good breakfast place, you can go there for lunch. Compared to all the other fast-food restaurants, it genuinely has good food.”
William: “I think for the most part, like compared to McDonald’s and stuff like that, they have pretty good quality. The burgers are just… I just feel like it’s a better quality. Everything doesn’t seem like it’s just all packaged, it actually seems like they’ve cooked it there and they’re not just heating it, and also just the flavor is a lot better.”
How did your most recent encounter with Whataburger go?
Harber: “I think it went pretty well. I’ve eaten at Whataburger quite a lot, but every single time it’s always takeout. But I must say it has been very good consistently. That’s the other thing, it’s been quite consistent.”
Grant: “I remember two times where the wait was over 45 minutes for whatever reason.”
William: “It was really good. It’s been a little while, but it’s probably six months ago, but it was good.”
Jack: “The wait was, I want to say 10 minutes, but it was good food. Nothing was soggy. The fries came out warm, fresh, and everything. So it all worked. Yeah, it was good.“
How would you describe the overall dining experience at Whataburger?
Henry: “It’s usually pretty good. The restaurants are usually pretty clean. The only thing that could really fix it for me is just that sometimes they’re small, like in the middle of the day. Sometimes you’ll go and there will be way too many people in there.”
Harber: “The dining factors, I mean, again, I can’t really talk about dining-in necessarily because I don’t actually eat in the restaurant ever. Yeah, but it looks nice. I definitely love the catchy orange and white colors they have for sure. They’re a unique-looking restaurant, like Sonic. Yeah, for sure. But other than that, I don’t have too much to say on that.”
Grant: “I’d say generally it’s been pretty typical. I haven’t gone there too many times, but I just remember two times when the wait was over 45 minutes for whatever reason. Just because of that, I’ll try to avoid it.”
William: “I’d say it’s good. The restaurant is always clean. The people are really friendly.”
Jack: “For the most part, I like having a clean eating space. A clean eating space is very important to me. I feel like having a good place to talk with friends and all that stuff is always good. That is really what I value,”
How do you feel about Whataburger being exclusive in Texas?
Henry: “I don’t really care. It’s pretty cool. It doesn’t really affect me personally.”
Harber: “I mean, good and not bad, just like good and neutral, I guess. I just feel like I think they could have success elsewhere, especially in places like Colorado.”
Grant: “I mean, it doesn’t really affect me. All my road trips have at least involved Texas. Most of them have been in Texas and Oklahoma. If I’m out of town in another city, I’m not going to try to go find a Whataburger to eat at.”
William: “I don’t have a big problem with that. I think it’s cool just to have something like your state is known for that.”
Jack: “It’s very good that Whataburger is exclusive in Texas because Texans like Whataburger. Amen. Hallelujah, free Texas.”
If you could improve one aspect of Whataburger or its menu, what would it be?
Henry: “I think I’d add more shakes. There are some of the shake options that they cycle.I think I would keep them all the time because I think that’d make them quite a bit of money.”
Harber: “Maybe have a competitor to the Big Mac. I mean, they have pretty competitive prices already. I mean, the burgers really aren’t expensive. That’s a tough question. I think maybe an even nicer interior restaurant, like I don’t know, extra seats or something.”
Grant: “I can’t really say anything is bad about it, but maybe just something that really stands out, like really good-tasting food that blows me away. Because it’s good. It’s just not better than other fast food places”
William: “For me, I don’t usually eat fast food for breakfast that much. I really like sweet food, sweet stuff for breakfast usually. Maybe having a little bit more variety at breakfast time.”
Jack: “Orange is not my favorite color. It’s probably one of my least favorite colors. I probably would change the color orange and the Whataburger logo to a different color. I see orange on my cat, I don’t like that. You know what I mean?”
Do you like Whataburger’s breakfast menu or its regular menu?
Henry: “I’ve never eaten the breakfast menu.”
Harber: “It all depends on the mood because if it’s breakfast time, I really do love the burritos, right? And their honey butter chicken biscuit is awesome. But I don’t know, I think it’s a two-way tie, but maybe the breakfast menu has the edge over the burger because breakfast has hash brown sticks.”
Grant: “I don’t think I have had the breakfast menu so I guess I’ll have to go with the regular menu.”
William: “I like the regular more just because I eat fast food more for lunch or dinner.”
Jack: “I prefer it’s a regular menu, usually. I don’t go out there for breakfast much.”
How do you feel about the overall quality of the food being served?
Henry: “I think it’s pretty good. It’s like a normal restaurant level. Much better than other fast food places.”
Harber: “I think it’s good. It’s good in relation to the competition. It could be better, though. I think if they turned their grills hotter, they could get a better crust on their burgers and shorter cook time, yeah, but other than that, it’s quite good.“
Grant: “I mean, it’s been pretty good. It’s never been bad. I’ve always liked it.”
William: “I’d say it’s really good. Just like I said earlier for fast food, I’d say it’s definitely on the top couple of just quality. Because like I said earlier, I feel like they actually put a lot of effort into it. The burgers all taste really good and don’t taste as processed as the chicken tenders and all that stuff for example. Those actually are really good compared to stuff like McDonald’s where you can tell, I mean, it looks like it’s just processed stuff. I think it’s really good.”
Jack: “I would say for the most part, it’s good. Like I said earlier, the fries are fresh, usually. On certain occasions, it’s slightly saggy, maybe on certain occasions, but for the most part, it’s pretty good.”
If you had to describe Whataburger’s brand in three words, what would those words be?
Henry: “Quick”, “Tasty”, “Burger”
Harber: “What”, “A”, “Burger”
Grant: “What”, “A”, “Burger”
William: “Delicious”, “Friendly”, “Clean”
Jack: “Consistent”, “good”, “filling”
If you could add anything to Whataburger’s menu, what would it be?
Henry: “Well, as I said earlier, more shakes. They’ve got to keep the ones they have in, like the Dr. Pepper shake, and banana. I never had the banana pudding shake, but seems interesting.”
Harber: “I think I would add a Philly cheese steak.”
Grant: “The Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich.”
William: “Maybe something like a sweet pastry or something at breakfast time or I don’t know, just something to go along with, like a savory sandwich.”
Jack: “Usually, they exclusively have three types of milkshakes. I would add different varieties. Like, for example, Oreo milkshakes or that stuff.”
Overall, the interviewed students expressed positive opinions about Whataburger. While some of the students suggested improvements to shakes and other unique menu items, the overall attitude towards Whataburger was generally good. Also, the exclusivity to Texas is viewed positively by some of the students as a source of state pride. Despite occasional concerns about longer wait times, the overall dining experience was described as consistently good. The brand is characterized as quick, tasty, and clean. Overall, the interviewees present Whataburger as a reliable and enjoyable fast-food option.
