Iconic Texas burger chain could open first Carolinas location in SC. What’s planned?

Whataburger, the Texas-based hamburger chain known for burgers so big two hands are needed to hold them, is looking for a site to build its first restaurant in South Carolina in the Upstate.

The real estate firm Collett Greenville announced on Instagram the chain is looking for a 1- to 1.5-acre site, preferably to buy on a retail or restaurant corridor. The post did not say which city it is looking for property in.

Started in 1950 as a hamburger stand in Corpus Christi, Texas, by entrepreneur Harmon Dobson, the chain has 800 restaurants and 43,000 employees, which the company calls family members, according to its website.

The name comes from Dobson wanting to make a hamburger so good people would exclaim, “What a burger!”

Dobson died in a plane crash in 1967, and his wife Grace took over the business. She expanded the menu and the number of locations before her son Tom Dobson took over as CEO. The company has continued rapidly expanding across the Southeast and Southwest — but has yet to open any restaurants in the Carolinas.

This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 12:27 PM.