We ate our way through Whataburger and ranked it all, from best to worst
The Triangle is closer than ever to realizing its Whataburger dreams. The popular Texas burger chain opened a new location in Mebane last week, its 11th in North Carolina and inching ever closer to the Triangle.
Patience is a virtue and when it comes to burgers, and I simply don’t have it. So a team from The News & Observer ventured to Mebane to sample as much of the menu as we could possibly fit into a lunch.
There were streamers in the air, lines in the drive-thru and a genuine buzz about the new burger joint.
Here are the best bites at Whataburger.
1. The No. 1 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 Whatburger 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.
2. 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 — jalapeno ranch is a winner.
3. 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?
4. Dr Pepper Blackberry Milkshake
This limited time shake is 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.
5. 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.
6. 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?
7. 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 would is downright buttoned up, simply tasting of butter and burger.
8. 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.
9. The Sauces
The sauce game is strong at Whataburger, practically a signature, with more than a half dozen options for your dunking needs. Mini-ranking of the ones we tried:
- 1. Gravy: Decadent, creamy, peppery.
- 2. Jalapeno ranch: Fresh, tingly, sour.
- 3. Honey Butter: Sweet, thick like icing.
- 4. Creamy Pepper: Big black pepper, good on onion rings, better on a patty melt.
- 5. Buffalo: Tangy, sharp, glows orange.
- 6. Buttermilk Ranch: Herbaceous, sour.
- 7. Spicy ketchup: Vinegary, not, in fact, spicy, cool packaging.
10. Whatachick n 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 originally published December 16, 2025 at 3:32 PM with the headline "We ate our way through Whataburger and ranked it all, from best to worst."
