Whataburger announces first Midlands restaurant for this SC city
At long last, a Whataburger — the national chain, not the West Columbia locally owned restaurant — is coming to the Midlands, Irmo to be exact.
The San Antonio-based hamburger chain is accepting bids to build at 1185 Dutch Fork Road near the Ballentine Family YMCA, Walmart, Chick-fil-A and Sonic.
Six other Whataburger locations have been announced this year in South Carolina, two in the city of Spartanburg, one in Boiling Springs, one in Duncan, one in Anderson and one in Greenville.
Most of the other locations are being built in existing buildings, but Irmo will be new construction of a 3,305 square-foot building on vacant land, according to plans on IDILand.com, a website for general contractors to see construction plans for bidding. The Irmo bids are due Sept. 18.
A representative of Whataburger did not answer requests for comment on the Irmo plans or what other cities in South Carolina will be considered as part of an aggressive expansion program.
In Greenville, the board of zoning appeals will consider whether to grant a special exception for a 24-hour drive-thru. The location is slightly less than an acre and was formerly a Title-Max office, across Laurens Road from a Chick-fil-A and a Cookout in a commercial area with many other fast-food businesses and a Publix.
A document filed with the board of zoning appeals says the Laurens Road Whataburger expects to do $3.4 million in sales a year. All Whataburgers are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week except Christmas.
The company was founded in 1950 as a roadside burger stand by Harmon Dobson in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Dobson died in a private plane crash in 1967, and his wife Grace took over the company. By the time she died in 2005 at age 80, the company had grown to 600 restaurants.
The family sold its majority interest in the company In 2019 to Chicago-based investment firm BDT Capital, which began the expansion program..
