In which city was the first Whataburger opened?

The first Whataburger opened in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1950. Founders Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton opened the restaurant on Ayers Street, across from Del Mar College, launching the chain that would become one of Texas’s best-known burger brands.

Dobson wanted to create a burger so large and satisfying that customers would need two hands to hold it. The original 25-cent burger was served on a wide bun with a quarter-pound patty, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, ketchup, and mustard. The name came from the intended reaction: “What a burger!”

Corpus Christi is sometimes confused with San Antonio because Whataburger is headquartered there today, and San Antonio became important to the company’s early franchise growth. The first restaurant outside Corpus Christi opened in nearby Kingsville in 1952. The first location outside Texas came later, in Pensacola, Florida, in 1959.