Whataburger — Restaurant in Albuquerque

I never leave reviews but I think this one is warranted.

My boyfriend and I come here regularly for his lunch break during the week. Usually, the service is decent and quick as I usually order the food in advance so we can pick it up and save some time. This is NOT what occurred today. I placed an online order at 4:30pm, and scheduled the pick up for 5:55-6:00 pm. When we arrived, the girl at the front counter brought us our drinks and told us it'd be a few minutes so that they could get the order together. No big deal. The big deal lies in the fact that my boyfriend and I spent his ENTIRE 30 minute lunch break waiting for an order that I placed 2 HOURS PRIOR. In the time we waited for our food, I saw at least three cars enter and exit the drive through, and at least two customers inside approach the front counter asking how long it was going to be. A little disheartened, and realizing that my boyfriend's time was running out, I then went to the front counter and asked what we were waiting on. The girl then went to the back, and in that time, I saw most of the people running the line huddled together, chatting and laughing. The girl then returned, and told me that as soon as the fries were done, she'd bring our order out. That was fine by me, and I went back to my area. Between the time I had spoken to her and the time we actually got our food, another person came in, ordered, AND RECEIVED his food, fries and all. I approached her again, asking why it was that we were still waiting when he had just walked in, and was serviced in 10 minutes at MOST. Right as I went to ask, the manager or team lead brought our food to us, and handed it to me very abruptly and honestly very rudely. Given that my boyfriend then had less than five minutes before having to return to work, we left. Upon inspecting our order, it was clear that our fries were definitely NOT fresh, and didn't even have salt on them. Absolutely ridiculous.

As someone who's first job was at a whataburger, I know that what occurred today was not at ALL how they function. I know it can get hectic, but there were maybe two cars in the drive through, and ONE group in the dining area. To say I'm disappointed is an absolute understatement. If I had wanted to wait 30 minutes for my food, I would've gone through the drive through, and probably would've gotten my order MUCH faster.

I hate to sound like a Karen, but do better, you guys. I'm tempted to not come back at all after today. This is...

I'musually the first to defend whataburger when people complain about them. Its not easy to work the graveyard shift, especially when yo get slammed at 2:30am. But one thing I can't stand: when the workers use the shift to slack off or not get their job done. I went late at night to the closest location, 2nd and menaul, to get a shake. It was only about 12:30am. I was excited to see the big sign in front of the driver that said, "try our Rootbeer Shake!" As soon as I ordered the shake, the kid on the com says, "We're not serving shakes right now..." I waited to hear the explanation and nothing, silence. So I asked, "why not?" You could tell he was used to saying that and getting away w it because he was taken aback by the question, "huh?'" I asked again, "why aren't you serving shakes right now?" Finally he said, the shake machine is down for cleaning." Naturally, I asked, "when will it be back UP?" I could tell it was annoying him because he just gave me a generalization rather than a time.If it was going to be just a few mins, Id have waited. Nope. It was going to be back up, "LATER." I had my dog in the car and didn't want to drive all the way home and back "later" to get my shake, so I just ordered some food. Disappointed because clearly, he just didn't feel like making a shake. Is it really that hard to make a shake. I usually would't make a big deal about something like this because like I said, Feel for the graveyard workers, having worked that shift at a hotel for 15 years. But this wasn't the first time I've heard that very excuse. I finally asked someone I knew that had worked at a similar late night drive thru place, and he said, " They always say the shake machine is down for cleaning because they don't want to have to deal w shakes." Obviously it seems paradoxical to have a big sign that says, "try our root beer shake!" and yet not be be able to order one. Its probably one of the simplest instant recipes for disappointment I can think of... It would almost be better if they hadn't wasted the money making that sign. Because now I want to try the rootbeer shake but because its 2:21am, I'll probably have to drive completely across town to get one at another location... that is, if the shake machine is "down for...

This Whataburger location on MENAUL and 2nd Street is odd. Has been closed for different reasons a couple of times, whereas the are others that're open 24 hrs. The worst part is the VERY long wait in the drive through. In the past week, there was a VERY long car line, with 4-5 cars on the road waiting to turn into parking lot, late at night. {That doesn't mean the food is that good; means that they're one of the few restaurants open past 9 or 10 pm, AND that their service is VERY slow.} After 7 minutes of NO movement, the car in front of me and I drove off. Some weeks before that my car was 2nd in line.... Unfortunately, the only car in front had to wait for their order - for more than 11 minutes, and so I , then another car behind me had to wait for 13+ minutes each. Recently, the 2 times I've had a simple biscuit they've been dense and firm instead of fluffy or flakey, AND a little too undercooked inside. But the biscuit in their breakfast biscuits are okay - probably because the biscuit is cut open, letting the steam out, and is firm enough to hold together as a biscuit sandwich.

If you can, go to the other Whataburger location on Carlisle, north of I-40 -- where they're open 24 hours, faster {though there's always a long car line} , and management cares about quality --but DO SPECIFY if you want real half-and-half cream for coffee, or they may default to sweet vanilla...