Texas fast food chain Whataburger opens in Mauldin, ‘it’s just a great community’

Texas fast food chain Whataburger opened its third restaurant in the Upstate on Monday.

On Monday, Whataburger opened in Mauldin.

According to Preston Hughes, growth market manager and district manager for the South Carolina stores, the restaurant has already opened stores in Boiling Springs and on Woodruff Road in Greenville. A store in Anderson will open in two weeks and two stores will open in Spartanburg in October.

The restaurant will then expand to Irmo and Columbia by the end of the year.

“We’re really excited because Mauldin, look at the colors. Mauldin High School was here today and they’re orange and white. It fits the brand perfectly. It’s a community that has a lot of schools, a lot of families, a lot of great businesses, it’s just a great community that we want to be a part of,” Hughes said.

“One thing people don’t realize about the brand is that every one of our employees has the opportunity to get college scholarships, and if they don’t want them, they can give them to a family member to use for their education.”

Whataburger sources its produce locally, with distribution facilities and fresh beef sourced from Atlanta. Hughes says the product goes from farm to store in seven to 10 days.

Some Whataburger superfans camped out in front of the new stores before the opening to secure their status as early customers.

Kizzie McCrayry and Jacob Huntley arrived at the Mauldin Whataburger at 6 p.m. Saturday night. The two friends did the same at the Woodruff Road store’s grand opening last month.

“The first time I had a Whataburger, my friends and I were going to Vegas, and my friend Jacob was telling me how good the Whataburger was,” McCrayry says with a laugh. “When I had it, I can tell you it was the best burger for me. When I hear people say it’s not that bad or compare it to McDonald’s, it really makes me want to fight because it’s not true.”

In between, they won 208 free hamburgers from the chain and four boxes full of Whataburger goodies.

This article was originally published on Greenville News: Mauldin Whataburger Grand Opening, What You Need to Know About Going There