Whataburger Review

I recently spent the day with my son, we hit a few places around town and than decided to stop at the new Ferrari Dealership they just finished building a few months ago. We have been talking about going there for a while now, and even as close as it is and as many times as we pass it in a week we never stop in.

After hitting the Ferrari dealership which was pretty bad ass, we decided to take a ride for a bite to eat. While we were driving and listening to music we would discuss what we wanted to get for lunch at each light that we hit. Neither of us could really come to a decision on anything specific, we wanted something we never had before.

As we drove down US 19 and passed all kinds of places we either have never had before or hadn’t had in forever it just seemed as if we kept driving and wanting something different. As we were headed north on US 19 somewhere near Tarpon Springs, Florida we noticed a Whataburger on the opposite side of the street. We both agreed, we would try Whataburger for the first time.

Whataburger is not really new around here, we actually have at least three that I have seen, but have never actually been to one. I have heard about it from people I run into from time to time during those general conversations that can be oh so helpful sometimes. One friend said they scream “Welcome to Whataburger” in the same fashion “Moe’s” and “Firehouse Subs” greets their customers, how could I possibly miss out on that much excitement.

I seem to have this crazy urge to post pictures of food while doing my reviews lately, so while we were sitting in Whataburger getting ready to dig in I snapped a few pictures of a Whataburger Hamburger and a picture of Whataburger Fries. I can’t promise that this will make you want to run out and head to a Whataburger, but as far as food pictures go the Whataburger food items looked pretty good.

Picture of a Whataburger Bacon Cheeseburger

This Whataburger review will consist of five different sections that I have the energy to write about, which are typically the key points I remember from my experience there. When it comes to fast food I typically review three specific areas, Customer Service, Food Taste, Presentation, Order Accuracy and Cleanliness of the fast food establishment.

1. Customer Service

As much as I would love to say that we were greeted with cheers and screams of joy, that simply would not be the case. Perhaps my source that initially informed me that they scream, “Welcome to Whataburger” was slightly confused. Having someone scream at me the minute I walk in the door really is not all that important to me, however being greeted in a friendly manor at the register or by a hostess, server, etc. is something that I expect. No such luck at the Tarpon Springs Whataburger, I actually had to ask the person what they just mumbled to me.. twice. The words, “Thank you” or “Have a nice day” also did not exist in the conversation.

Customer Service Rating for Whataburger, Tarpon Springs: 1/5

2. Food Taste

The Whataburger Bacon Cheeseburger had very fresh vegetables along with a nice fresh bun, the taste of the cheeseburger was excellent. The fresh vegetables made a big difference when it came to the overall taste of the cheeseburger, it actually made me forget I was eating something that was terrible for me. The bacon on the burger was cooked just how I like it,  I can’t stand when bacon is all drippy, soggy and barely cooked. This bacon was nice and crispy.

French Fries are one of my all time favorite foods, I have a deep deep love for crispy french fries. Whenever I go to Wendy’s or any place that has a chocolate shakes or a frosty type of thing I will always dip my fries in it. I also love “Disco Fries” or “Jersey Fries”, which are french fries with American cheese on them, add side of brown gravy and you have “Disco Fries” or “Jersey Fries”. The fries at Whataburger were fresh, not coated in grease and perfectly crunchy, dipped into the chocolate shake I ordered they were perfect.

Food Taste rating for Whataburger: 4/5

3. Presentation

This may or may not be a big deal to many of you but it is to me, it pisses me off when I order something as basic as a hamburger or a cheeseburger and I unwrap it to find a jumbled mess of the dead parts I ordered to eat. No problems at Whataburger as you can tell by the pictures the presentation was excellent, I actually messed that burger up like a nerd to take the picture.

Presentation Rating for Whataburger: 4/5

Picture of Whataburger French Fries

4. Order Accuracy

Whataburger Menu

This order was pretty simple, I wasn’t expecting anything to terrible when it came to the order being delivered. The order consisted of (2) Number 5 Combo’s – Bacon and Cheese Whataburger (no pickles, no sauce), that came with fries and a drink. We added two chocolate shakes and we were set.

The Bacon Cheeseburgers were perfect, no issues there. They did forget one of the chocolate shakes which was no big deal, one thing that was messed up were the Lipton Tea machines. I rarely order Sweet Tea when I go through a drive thru, if they do have sweet tea when I am inside I will get it. The sweet tea machine contained unsweetened tea instead of sweetened, it was no fun realizing that after I just drained every last drop to get my cup 3/4 of the way full. I ended up dumping about three hundred sugar packets into the cup and dealing with it not being the sweet tea that I wanted. I later heard a customer complain about the same issue after she wanted unsweetend tea and filled up her cup to find out it was actually sweetened.

Order Accuracy for Whataburger, Tarpon Springs: 2/5

5. Cleanliness of Establishment

I feel that perception can mean everything, if I walk into a fast food restaurant and the place is a train wreck it’s safe to say that along with missing the big things, chances are they have never even considered the small things. Trash overflowing, floors that need a good sweeping and tables with trash on them are all red lights for me when walking into any fast food place.

Whataburger in Tarpon Springs was extremely clean, to the point it was spotless and looked to be brand new no which direction I looked. Nice work on the general maintenance at this location.

Cleanliness Rating for Whataburger, Tarpon Springs: 5/5

Overall I would return to a Whataburger again in the future, however I really would not see myself going out of my way to go and eat there. It’s really not very close to my house and the food, all though good was not “memorable” or something I would find myself craving like White Castle on a drunken night. The burger was tasty, but it instantly made me think of the old Wendy’s TV Commercial and the “Where’s the Beef?” scenario. The burger covered the bun but it was just shy of paper thin in my opinion, it looked similar to two pieces of card board on top of each other. Just thin, again very good tasting just very thin in nature.

Total Rating for Whataburger: 3.2/5

About Whataburger
“Fans of this chain know they can get quite a burger at the place with the orange and white roof. Whataburger Restaurants is a leading regional hamburger chain with more than 700 outlets in Texas and about 10 other states. The restaurants are typically open 24 hours a day and serve burgers and fries along with chicken sandwiches, salads, and a breakfast menu. Nearly 600 of the restaurants are company-owned. Loyal Whataburger fans can also don the company’s line of apparel sporting the chain’s logo. The late Harmon Dobson founded the family-owned chain in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1950.”

- Source: Hoovers.com

If you would like to see me change the format or add something to the way I review fast food restraunts and other local business’s please leave a comment with your suggestion.

Tagged as: chocolate shakes, fast food, ferrari, florida, french fries, hamburgers, review, tarpon springs, us 19, whataburger