Whataburger submits building plans for 2 Raleigh locations. Here’s where they’ll go

Whataburger’s arrival in the Triangle appears to be imminent.

The Texas burger giant has already submitted plans for at least two locations in Raleigh amid its long-awaited expansion into North Carolina.

Whataburger has filed plans for its Raleigh’s first locations at 501 E. Six Forks Road , replacing a closed Applebee’s, and at 6305 Falls of Neuse Road, where a closed PDQ now stands. Those plans suggest the existing buildings would be torn down and replaced by new stand-alone Whataburgers.

The beloved burger chain has confirmed its plans to move into North Carolina and the Triangle , but has been quiet about when and where its restaurants might open.

So far Whataburger has submitted plans for locations in Raleigh , Charlotte , Fayetteville and Greensboro , but has also signaled its intention to open statewide. Earlier this year, the Charlotte Observer reported that the company had submitted plans for a restaurant at 5018 Sunset Road in north Charlotte. That location would also be a tear-down and rebuild.

The Whataburger rumor mill has been churning since 2021 when the company first created corporate filings in North Carolina. Those rumors have become red hot this year.

Earlier this year a Whataburger spokesperson confirmed to The News & Observer that the brand would open locations in Raleigh, Durham and Cary. The company has said in the past that it could open restaurants as early as 2025.

Like In-N-Out on the West Coast and Cook Out here in North Carolina , Whataburger is one of the country’s most popular and most obsessed-over regional burger brands.

The restaurant chain is known for thin patties, signature sauces like its Spicy Ketchup and most locations being open 24 hours a day.

What will Whataburger’s Raleigh restaurants be like?

In plans submitted to the City of Raleigh and obtained by The N&O, Whataburger proposes to demolish the existing Applebee’s at the intersection of Six Forks Road and Wake Forest Road and build a new, 3,305-square-foot restaurant at the site.

This would not be the first time the burger chain has taken the place of an Applebee’s. Whataburger is renovating a closed Applebee’s in Jacksonville, Florida, the Jacksonville Daily Record reported .

Like nearly all of Whataburger’s restaurants (with the exception of the two-story location in Corpus Christi, Texas), the one in Raleigh’s Midtown area would be one story , plans show.

The proposed plan, which is under review and has not been approved by the city, includes two menu boards, indicating two drive-thru lanes . There would also be 38 parking spaces on the 1.2-acre lot.

Whataburger declined to comment on plans for the Six Forks site.

Plans for another site — at the intersection of Falls of Neuse Road and Spring Forest Road — have also been submitted to the city and are under review. The project description includes the demolition of an existing restaurant (PDQ) and “the construction of a new Whataburger commercial fast food building and associated parking.”