Your Whataburger ordering guide: We ranked every bite from best to worst
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Whataburger’s classic burger delivers a juicy, balanced cheeseburger experience.
- Onion rings and sauces, especially jalapeno ranch, elevate the sides menu.
- Chicken biscuit and limited blackberry shake stand out; chicken strips disappoint.
The Triangle’s burger situation has changed. Whataburger is here.
The popular Texas burger brand opened the very first Triangle location Thursday, March 26 in Wake Forest. The new double-drive-thru restaurant is at 489 Dr. Calvin Jones Hwy in the Grove 98 development.
Whataburger’s new Wake Forest location is the brand’s 13th opening in North Carolina in only a year. In April, it will open its first Raleigh location at 501 E. Six Forks Road.
If you’re already mapping your first Whataburger trip, here’s exactly what to order — and what to skip — based on a team outing this winter, when my teammate Renee Umsted and I ventured to Mebane to sample as much of the menu as we could possibly fit into a lunch. Here’s every item we tried, ranked from best to worst.
FULL STORY: We ate our way through Whataburger and ranked it all, from best to worst
The Whataburger
The namesake burger has to be good, right? And the Whataburger is, in fact, great. In the fast food burgersphere where we swap speed and convenience for flavor and burger-ness, the Whataburger delivers everything we long for when we crave a cheeseburger. Opting for the original, I went with the single patty burger, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and mustard.
At Whataburger, the burgers are built with the cheese under the patty, and the onions are diced instead of sliced. In this smashburger world, the Whataburger harkens back to the roadside griddle, serving a burger that’s juicy and melty but not crispy, with everything in perfect harmony.
Onion Rings
A rarity in fast food, Whataburger joins the ranks of Burger King and Cook Out in offering onion rings. These are by far the best — light and crisp, appearing more battered than breaded and hearty enough for a sauce dunk. The move here: jalapeno ranch is a winner. Remember that when you’re ordering.
Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit
Breakfast is served 12 hours of every day, from 11 p.m. to 11 a.m. This biscuit will help make sure you don’t miss the most important meal of the day. The crumbly biscuit is buttery and salty and could give any of the usual AM suspects a run for their money. This version of the chicken biscuit plays up the sweet and savory, with the honey butter being more of an icing dripping from the chicken tender. Of all the sauces Whataburger has, what it needs for the biscuit is Texas Pete. Ironic, huh?
Dr Pepper Blackberry Shake
This shake is limited time. It’s blackberry-forward and better for it. There is no blackberry shake at Cook Out, and I never knew how much I wanted one. The Dr Pepper is a subtle, back-burner flavor to the blackberry, but does bring the occasional note of the controversial soda.
If it’s still on the menu when you go, grab it.
French Fries
Thicker than a shoestring, the Whataburger fries are long and thin and reliably crisp. The flavor is a bit cleaner than McDonald’s, but maybe a little light on the seasoning. You’ll find just a light dusting of salt, leaving the big flavors to the sauces.
Spicy Chicken Sandwich
There’s no hotter fast food item than the chicken sandwich, and Whataburger comes to play. This one far surpasses the chicken strips, served juicy and crispy with a bright red ring of fried-in hot sauce. There’s a strong pickle tang and a little tingle from the spice, though not a lot of heat. Can we just agree the lettuce and tomato adds nothing to a fried chicken sandwich and should just be left off forever?
Patty Melt
Patty Melts are a diner icon but rare in fast food. Whataburger includes them on the All Time Favorites menu, served with thick Texas Toast. The thin burger patty is sandwiched between two slices of Monterey Jack cheese, topped with slightly caramelized diced onions and a creamy pepper sauce. The pepper sauce does a lot of the heavy lifting here, with a punch of zesty spice. Patty Melts are known and loved for the signature greasiness, but this one is downright buttoned up, simply tasting of butter and burger.
Strawberry Shake
If there’s a knock on the Cook Out milkshake, it’s that you can only eat them with a spoon. The strawberry shake is thick, but even in sub-freezing temperatures can be slurped through a straw — your jaw might be a little sore. The shake is on the sweeter side of the strawberry spectrum, nodding more towards candy than a springtime fruit.
The Sauces
The sauce game is strong at Whataburger, practically a signature, with more than a half dozen options for your dunking needs.
Chicken Strips
Among the biggest let-downs, the chicken strips have a dense breading that throws the bite out of balance. But they are served with Texas Toast and you can’t go wrong dunking them in gravy.
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at the top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.
