Sweet 16: South Carolina's first Whataburger opens doors, 'we're very excited to be here'

Dozens of cars lined up in Boiling Springs Monday morning for the grand opening of South Carolina’s first Whataburger.

Located at 3647 Boiling Springs Road, the new location of the Texas-based hamburger chain is offering only drive-thru service in July while staff members continue to train.

The new Boiling Springs Whataburger is open 24/7, and its opening marked a significant milestone for the company that has been operating since 1950.

“This is going to be what we call our Sweet 16, our sixteenth state. It’s our very first Whataburger in South Carolina, and we’re very excited to be here,” said Preston Hughes, the growth market leader at Whataburger.

Hughes, overseeing all the new South Carolina locations, and his family, who recently relocated to Greer, were at the celebration and ribbon cutting. He estimated that over 150 people were in line before the drive-thru opened.

The Boiling Springs Whataburger is built in the chain’s latest restaurant design, a different look to the classic A-Frame Whataburgers some customers may remember from Texas. Whataburger Senior Public Relations Specialist Miranda Grubbs says the change was implemented over a number of years to make the restaurant’s lobbies and kitchens more comfortable.

“Our A-Frame restaurants, as we call them, were originally built in that style because our founder, Harmon Dobson, was a pilot. He wanted to be able to spot his restaurants from the sky, which is also why we have our iconic orange-and-white brand colors,” Hughes said. “Nods to our A-Frames can be found all around. You’ll see an orange A-Frame motif above the front doors when you walk into our new restaurants, iconography of our A-Frames on our mural walls inside the lobby, and even our table tents.”

During the grand opening on July 15, the restaurant staff gave out Whataburger merch to the first 350 drive-thru customers and gave the first four customers in line free Whataburger for a year. A grand opening party, featuring snow cones, a 360-degree photo booth, yard games, face painting, balloon animals and more Whataburger swag giveaways was held in the parking lot from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

When the restaurant officially opened at 11, the drive-thru line was winding onto Old Furnace Road.

Andrew Richards, a Boilings Springs resident and owner of Walker Vintage Parts, arrived at the head of the drive-thru line at 7 p.m. Sunday.

“I’m gonna save so much money with a year of free Whataburger,” Richards said. “I've had it in Texas, a bunch of times. And I told the CEO, I’m tired of driving to Texas for a burger, so I'm glad you're here!”

Richards said his current favorite at the restaurant was their patty melt.

Hughes said the restaurant chain is known for its fresh, made-to-order big portions and bold flavors. Some of its most popular items are the classic Whataburger, the Sweet & Spicy Bacon Burger, a Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich and a current limited-time offer, the Buffalo Ranch Chicken Strip Sandwich. The restaurant also offers an extensive breakfast menu, as well as desserts, salads, and shakes.

He hopes they’ll also be known for treating their employees well. Hughes said the restaurant is always hiring and can take applications in-store or at whataburger.com/careers .

“At every store, we have over 100 family members (employees),” Hughes said. “We give health insurance to our family members; we give PTO. They get great, competitive pay, college scholarships are offered, and a plethora of other great benefits are offered. The great thing about Whataburger being 24/7 is that no matter what time of day you need to work if you need a part-time job, a few hours here and there, we can provide almost anything.”

Hughes said eight, possibly nine, Whataburgers will be opened in the next year, and over 30 locations are planned statewide over the next few years. Locations are set to open this year in Greenville, Irmo, Mauldin, Anderson, Columbia, Spartanburg, and Lexington.

“The great thing about Whataburger is we always open on a Monday, so in two weeks we’re doing Woodruff (Road), then it’s Mauldin two weeks later on Butler Road; two weeks after that, it will be the Anderson store,” Hughes said.

The next restaurant opening will be the Greenville location at 1466 Woodruff Road on July 29.

Samantha Swann covers city news, development and culture in Spartanburg. She is a University of South Carolina Upstate and Greenville Technical College alumna. Contact her at sswann@shj.com or on Instagram at @sam_on_spartanburg.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Sweet 16: South Carolina's first Whataburger opens doors, 'we're very excited to be here'