Whataburger — Restaurant in Austin

Edit: I found myself in a traffic jam, just before 11:00 a.m., and right next to my least favorite Whataburger in the world with a stomach that was growling, and I didn't have much of a choice. So, I went inside and ordered, intense on breaking the habit of wrong orders, missing items, and 30 minute waits. Wouldn't you know it, they finally got their act together. What made the difference? The actual operating partner, a Mr. Puri, was there. He was the one at the actual register and took my order. And wouldn't you know it, my order came out right, nothing was missing, and it for once came out hot. I guess in order to have this place get it back together, the owner is going to have to start showing up more. I feel bad that that is the only way his business is going to stay afloat. Looks like the place is a circus, everything is dirty, nothing is right, the food is cold, and worse, the attitudes of their employees are absolutely horrible. Within there today, the entire restaurant was a complete 180 and it was actually a pleasurable experience getting food. I guess I will have to look for him in the future in order to make sure my order doesn't get messed up. Thank you for finally making my tummy happy!

Edit: in the last 6 months, this place is gone downhill and fast. Out of my last five visits, I have had things missing from my bag every single time. Now, even if there is nobody else in line, they make you wait outside of the drive-thru Lane for someone to come bring it your food. This means it takes three times as long for them to walk your food out, and when they forget something, like they always do, it now takes them three times longer to walk all the way back inside then back out again with the missing items. At this point, everything is now ice cold by the time I get home. It is unnecessary and there is no reason to do this. There's no reason to not have everything in the bag either. I've worked in the restaurant industry and you always check the bag against the receipt. Don't think you put something in there, check that you put something in there. It's not rocket science. The staff are incredibly apathetic and Unapologetic and even though they messed up, they make you feel horrible for asking them to give you what you paid for. It's ridiculous. Think I'm going to give up on this location for good. It's not getting better, only getting worse. I will give my money to a different location from here on out. Recommend you do the same.

Strongly recommend going inside. Staff is friendly and fast when walking up to the counter and my order has been correct 100% of the time. They are friendly in the drive-thru, but the order is almost always wrong (perhaps they can't hear me through the speaker? Also, I've noticed they haven't repeated my order to confirm it) and I have yet to actually received my food AT the actual window. Every time I have gone through the drive-thru, they have made me pull forward and wait. No special orders, no big orders, but for some reason I still have had to wait no less than 10 minutes each time for a #1 with cheese. Inside is clean and there has never once been a line, but the drive-thru is almost always packed so it is worth going...

First, the food was good. Though sometimes they miss the mark and mess up, or give what could be considered a chicken nugget instead of a chicken strip.

Second, drive-through speed sucks. I went through last night (earlier today technically), and the drive-through was backed all the way around the building and nearly to the service road. This is not uncommon. Usually, the cars move faster through the line, though. I joined the line at 12:17am even with cars leaving in frustration and customers being served promptly at the front counter. I did not leave the line with my food until 1:40 am. When I got to the window, all I got was a half-baked apology from the girl working the window. I understand her frustration, though. No reason or excuse was offered, which isn't that big of a deal.

As someone who worked fast food for nearly four years in high school and college, including time at Whataburger, cars moving that slow through the drive-through is unacceptable. If it were a staffing issue, shut the lobby down. If the grill or one of the fryers is broken, explain that at the speaker. The terrible speed of service cannot be justified. Whoever is in charge of staffing for this location needs to be able to assess patterns better and have some better foresight. I'm not saying predicts being busy with 100% accuracy, but it should be a given that Saturday night into Sunday morning the weekend right before Halloween is...

Don't normally feel inclined to write a review about a place like Whata, but sad to see this location headed in this direction. Not sure if it's new franchise ownership or just the struggle every establishment is having with staffing, but the quality of food and service has gone downhill dramatically here. This used to be our favorite Whata, but we won't be returning anytime soon. Our food was served cold even though there was a line in front of us in store and wrapped around the drive thru. The buns were dry and stale, tasted like they'd been left on a counter for a few days. Ordered no mustard on the burger (which was correct on the receipt) but burger was covered in mustard. Asked to dine-in, but our order was crammed (and then smooshed) into a tiny-to go bag and brought to us without any ketchup or sauce. It took forever for all of us who ordered inside to get our food, and one guy's order was completely forgotten. This was not even close to their busiest night, but it wasn't empty either so I'm not sure how the wheels weren't turning. Giving it 2 stars instead of 1, only because the fries tasted OK. Advice - drive 2 minutes down the Mopac feeder to Chik Fil A or cross under Mopac...