The Unvegan

In much of the south, there is a burger chain called Whataburger. Completely unknown to people of the north and even to people in Southern California, Whataburger definitely has been cooking up burgers for quite a while. Last time I was in Phoenix (which is the south as far as I’m concerned), I made it a goal to visit Whataburger and see how their burgers stand up to the rest of the fast food world.

I rolled up to the drive-thru and saw that the Whataburger itself was actually a nice little customizable burger. It’s always nice to go to a place that doesn’t automatically assume you want lettuce on your burger. I decided to order the double cheeseburger with just cheese, meat, bun and ketchup. We pulled around to the side window to grab our food and although it took a couple minutes, the wait wasn’t terrible.

Before hitting the road, I opened up my burger real quickly to make sure they hadn’t messed up. Fortunately they hadn’t and I found just what I had ordered. Aesthetically speaking, this burger wasn’t much to look at. The bun was flattened, the entire burger was somewhat bent out of shape and overall nothing about it really screamed deliciousness. But I do not judge on looks, since presentation often has very little to do with taste. And it’s a good thing I don’t because my Whataburger was a pretty darn good fast food burger. In general, the burger was larger than the average fast food burger. The patties were tasty and the cheese added just the right amount of gooey deliciousness to the burger. I didn’t really mind that the bun had been a bit flattened, since I would have flattened it in my mouth anyway.

Whataburger is definitely worth a stop if you find yourself in the south. The burger is a definite step above the big 3 (Burger King, McDonald’s and Wendy’s), but just short of the likes of In-N-Out and Five Guys. And come on, none of those places have names better than Whataburger.