Whataburger — Restaurant in Austin

My 86 yr old mother, who is in a memory-care community, on hospice, loves chocolate malts. I go to Whataburger to get them for her everytime I go to visit her. These malts are about the only thing she will eat or drink reliably now.

I've been going to this Whataburger for a little while now to get them. I always order them with extra chocolate, because it seems that the chocolate malts come out looking like vanilla unless you ask for extra chocolate.

Last week, I ordered my Mom's malt in the drive-thru, and the person on the speaker said "we don't have malts anymore, I can make you a shake". I said, "what do you mean you don't have malts anymore? They are on the menu." The employee said, "Malts have been discontinued. Shakes are the same as malts." I said, "No, shakes and malts are NOT the same thing." She said, "Do you WANT A SHAKE OR NOT???" I couldn't go empty-handed to my Mom, so I said yes, and when I paid at the window, I noticed the price had gone up ten cents! I asked the cashier about the price and the malt being discontinued, and he said ALL THE PRICES went up, and the malt was just out of stock at the moment. Geez!!!

I went back two days later and went inside. Got my malt for Mom, paid the higher price, no problem.

Yesterday (7/2/24), I went inside again to get Mom's malt, and after waiting an extraordinarily long time at the register while there were multiple employees milling about unpacking items and ignoring me, a young woman finally came over, unlocked the register to take my order. She said, "We no longer have malts, I can make you a shake." I looked at her in disbelief. All over the menu it says malts. Malts are my dying Mother's favorite. Malts are sweeter and taste different than shakes. I turned around to leave, and then turned back to asked her why. She said, "My manager has decided to no longer stock the malt mix., you can talk to him about it." I asked where he was. She said he wasn't in. Of course he wasn't!

Naturally, I went to another Whataburger far out of my way where they have malts - guess what, for a lower price - and took it to my Mom, where she drank it all. And I will be calling and writing Whataburger Corporate about this store. I won't be going back to this location, and I encourage you to rethink your choice in Whataburger stores before you patronize this one.

I wondered why this manager would make the decision to discontinue malts, and the only thing that makes sense is that he's concerned about profit. He's raised the prices, and malts and shakes are the same price. If he has to order an additional ingredient from Whataburger Corporate to add to a shake, he must not make as much money on a malt.

Please think this over when buying your next burger - or...

Visited this specific whataburger in Austin while on the way. I invited two of my friends who never had a whataburger before, assuring them that whataburger stands out from many other cheap knock off burger franchise. I was surprised that my sandwich had raw mushrooms on it, and the cheese was not melted at all; it almost seemed like it was just slapped on the burger carelessly. Seeing that the burger was unlike any other I had from whataburger I decided to ask the gentleman at the register if he might be able to help me with this unpleasant issue. He brought in the manager. The lady’s name was Roxana. I tried to remain professional as a customer and bare proper conversation etiquette while explaining the manager what is that I am concerned about with my specific order. When I stated that the mushrooms taste raw and the cheese is not melted the manger’s automatic response was “the whataburger does not melt cheese”. Ironically, my two friends had their cheese melted. Moreover, the lady could not believe that my mushrooms are raw. Therefore, I told her she is more then welcome to try it herself. Again, I tried to be polite and respectful to the lady. However, without a word of explanation she jus took the trace from me and tossed it to the garbage with an anger, in front of other customers. When the same manager had brought a new meal for me, I wanted to thank her but she turned her back on me and walked away without rendering any respect. My friends who had never been at whataburger before were disappointed. I myself was surprised why a manager has such a bad attitude towards customers that do not mean anything bad. I was truly amused, the Texan whataburger was always my choice of fast food and for the nearly decade, I had never seen a burger made by the company that would be semi raw. I wonder if such person shall hold a such position and represent the company’s name, ruining the...

Listen, I didn’t ask for much today. Just a malt. A simple, delicious malt—the kind that Whataburger explicitly advertises as an option. But no. Apparently, I live in a cruel, maltless world.

Let me set the stage: I was having a rough day. The kind of day where your boss drops bad news on you, and you just need something—anything—to turn it around. I braved the soul-crushing gauntlet that is Austin traffic, sacrificing what should have been a quick lunch break to the gods of gridlock, all for one thing: a malt.

But when I finally arrived, sweaty, exhausted, and questioning my life choices, I was met with a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. “We don’t have malts.” Excuse me? You advertise them. You promise them. And yet, all I could get was a plain ol’ shake. A weak, maltless shake that tasted like regret.

Instead of the sweet, rich comfort of a malt lifting my spirits, all I got was a cup of empty, fat-laden calories and the crushing weight of disappointment. My day stayed bad. My waistline expanded. And my faith in Whataburger’s menu integrity? Shaken. But not stirred, because apparently, malts are too...