Fine Dining - Whataburger (Part One: Eat Deets) feat. Ashley Robinson (Fear the Walking Dead)

Episode Date: March 6, 2024

The ban on fast food has been lifted! Michael is joined by long-time friend, TV producer Ashley Robinson, a native Texan who is all aboard the train as it takes its first stop at a fast food joint: Texas' own Whataburger "Fine" Dining is now on video! Head on over to our YouTube to watch this episode! What's Going On Over There with the lady staring down the cashier? The Eat Deets of Whataburger's plane-flying, coupon-dropping founder is almost as interesting as the franchise itself Many couples have gotten married in front of Whataburger Famous for its specialty ketchup, Whataburger condiments are available in stores nationwide A Yelper apologizes for her drunk behavior the morning after a rough night in this week's Yelp from Strangers The full review comes next week!   Music by: James McEnelly (@Ramshackle_Music) Theme Song by: Kyle Schieffer (@JazzyJellyfish) Segment Transitions Voiced by: Sandy Rose "Fine" Dining is on Patreon! Get an extra episode every month (February concluded with a special episode recapping all restaurants on the Tchotchke of Mediocrity between 4.00 and 6.00, taking a trip down memory lane with each one), extended Yelp from Strangers segments every other week, merch discounts, download access to our music including the 7 singles from our Olive Garden musical, and more! Patreon Producers: Sean Spademan, Joyce Van, & Sue Ornelas   Get the 5 Survival Tips for Casual Dining at www.finediningpodcast.com!   Send in your Whataburger stories at [e-mail].   Follow the show on TikTok and Instagram @finediningpodcast Follow Ashley on TikTok and Instagram @ashapaloooza   Let me know where I should go next by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, PodcastAddict, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I read every one!   Next week on "Fine" Dining: Whataburger (Part Two: Review)! Ashley and I kick off some of the burgers that'll be in this year's Septemburger competition, dabble with the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit, and order a "Patty" without the "Melt." Ever work at Whataburger? Send your stories to [e-mail].

Hello and welcome back to the Fine Dining Podcast, the search for the most mediocre restaurant in America. Now including fast food. Episode 50 hit and I have just leveled the place building from the ground up once again, allowing fast food to make the cut. I kept thinking that I needed table service to find one of these most mediocre restaurants. And what I'm finding is that when you include casual dining, honestly, the average of all of them put together is above five.

So fast casual, fast food, they need to be in the mix to kind of pull this bar down. Pulling the bar back up, I am joined by Ashley Robinson, one of my friends, she's a producer on Fear the Walking Dead. She's got a few other of her own projects in the pipeline, which we'll talk about in a little bit. Ashley, thanks for coming on the show. Thank you so much for having me, especially considering I'm a fan.

Shout out to my choice being the closest, Applebee's. Applebee's sitting at a 5.02 out of 10, currently the most mediocre restaurant that I've been able to find. But is a 5.02 a 5.00? Not quite, but- It's not quite. It's not quite.

So I gotta keep looking. This week, I'm in Texas, so what a burger. What a burger. What a burger. What a burger? Do you have like strong ties to what a burger? I do. As a Texan, which I feel like we should tell folks listening, no matter what we say here, please don't come for Michael.

Well, I mean, I'm born in Chicago. I've spent more time in Texas than anywhere else, but like, if word gets out. I feel like Texans and Water Burger, I don't even know why they're fighting words. I don't, I don't know. Yeah. And to, I guess, back down from this a little bit, I like Water Burger. And when you hear the food review next week, you're gonna see that I like Whataburger's food. I'm not here to Dunk on Whataburger or anything like that. I just don't think the entire menu is 10 out of 10, right?

And I think Texans in particular think that they're perfect True. Thanks. I'm even kind of wearing once you see some clips from the video I'm kind of wearing I matched water burger today Got water burger colors on we are now on YouTube so head on over to YouTube Look up fine dining podcast and you can watch these episodes now go ahead and hit subscribe leave a comment come for my throat for not giving full 10s to the entire water burger menu or just Not giving full tens to the entire Whataburger menu or just compliment Ashley on wearing Whataburger colors. Yeah, or you can leave Michael nice words. Or you can be really mean to Ashley We can kind of cover all of the bases. People love me. They won't do that

So we've been talking a little bit too long But for those of you listening for the first time I am looking for the perfect five point double zero out of ten restaurant and I'm doing this because I'm looking for a kindred spirit in restaurant form I am incredibly mediocre and I think I can find a restaurant that matches. I Think you can too if there's anybody who's best suited for this job. It's you I really thought you're about to jump in and be like No, you're better than mediocre. Nope. You're like this is this is for you. This is your jam. This is your lane. All right, well, we'll be back. Our table's not quite ready, but we're gonna play an intro song anyways. See you in a bit. Your table is ready. Follow me. Have you tried our chicken breast? Serving pancakes and

rips. I recommend the spaghetti.'re here to satisfy, not to impress Your table is ready Complimentary butter and bread, these walls have growth signs Knit, knack, cowboy hat, good luck hat, autographed guitar Some crap from your city Behold the trash key of mediocrity Fine dining It's just fine dining, fine dining

Two ledgers on the sign are shining. Neon flickering irregular timing. Identify the perfect vibe. Palatin. Fine dining. Fine dining. First impressions. I texted her, we were supposed to meet at 1130 and I was like, yeah, but they stopped serving breakfast

at 11. I'm gonna go early, you don't have to, but if you want to, you can. I wanted to go try the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit, which is a big deal. When it comes to fast food breakfast items, people talk about the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit from Water Burger.

They do, they love it. It's like the greatest creation for a Texas person. In their mind. Yes. In their mind. Delusional. But it's there. I will review it in next week's episode,

but I did go early to get a little extra sampling before our meal. But that led to me going in and seeing some things and taking note of some things. Because I had time to, you know, ordering a little breakfast thing, eating it doesn't take that long. And so I'm writing notes, then I go out and I'm like, all right, I need to grab some footage and some photos for social media and whatnot. I'm just standing in the parking lot and I'm like in the middle, no one's coming in. I will move if they are, but I'm just like standing in the middle of the drive, just like taking pictures

like a tourist who's never seen a restaurant before and you pull in and that's your first impression. That was my first impression. I didn't recognize Michael at first because all I saw was a tourist taking pictures. So I was like, what is this funny man doing outside? Thanks for assuming he was funny. And then it was you. And I was like, oh, he's not funny. It's like, be welcome to this spot. And I was like, I'm gonna plus it. You're like, oh, he's not funny. I'm gonna plus it. I'm gonna plus it. Be welcome to this spot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think also listeners should know this is a water burger that's not too far from downtown. So it's right in the center of town,

where a lot of people can go to at three in the morning. Oh yeah. When they've had a couple. When they've had a couple, which isn't the time we went, but when we get to our Yelp reviews. Oh my goodness. There might be some mentions. Now, another first impression I had is just looking at the outside

of the building. It's got your big, I mean, hold up your cup, a striped orange and white pattern. That's kind of the colors of Water Burger. It's recognizable if you're from Texas or if you've driven through Texas. And the building matches suit and it's very clean. Like the white is, you know, when people take extra care of their white sneakers. Yeah. It was kind of like that. And that's kind of how they are across the board. I wonder if they like actually.

Company policy to power wash or something. Maybe because some of these water burgers are old, especially when you go on the inside. And you expect some yellowing. Mm hmm. And there is no such yellowing. Now, water burger is white and orange. White and orange. It's fresh. It's clean. It's water burger. Yeah. So. They should hire you. Not after this review, where I don't give all 10. But there was, I guess, I think an incident is a strong way to put it. It's not really an incident, but there was a happening that I noticed when I arrived. I walk into the Water Burger. There's a lady sitting on, there's like a bench directly facing the counter where you go to order and I get in line and this lady stands up and gets in line in front of me because I guess she was there first

I mean not even I guess she literally was there first technically She did belong in front of me. I just assumed because she was sitting that that wasn't the case She walks up to the cashier. She's got her hands behind her back and kind of a, probably an older, a little bit more worn in, Christmas sweater. This was December 26th that you and I went to Water Burger. And she just stares at the cashier for a while.

The way you described it made me think of like a Mexican standoff. Specifically the Diddy meme where he's looking at the singer and the singers just stare him back at him. And they just go back and forth and nobody says anything. And then she walked away. She didn't say anything. She exited the restaurant. She went out the back door and left. And it makes me wonder, Ashley. It makes me think a very specific question.

It makes me ask, what's going on over there? What's going on over there? What's going on over there? Should I wear it? Should I damn? What is going on over there? Ashley, what is going on over there? So my guess is this woman was summing up the courage to ask very, something very important and she just couldn't find it in herself to do that. It was a proposal. So she decided to take a break.

She decided to leave, probably get herself together. Get her bearings. Maybe go get a ring. Like she didn't take a knee. The cashier was very pretty. I honestly didn't notice. I was very consumed by this woman just mad dog in her, basically.

Actually, I have a question. Yeah, yeah. What did the cashier do? She just kind of stared back with like her eyebrows up, like a, uh-huh, go on, like an expectant waiting face. Yeah. And then actually come to think of it, I don't think the cashier said, how may I help you?

Maybe that's what it was. Maybe. This woman was like waiting for some goddamn courtesy. Maybe they got beef. Maybe they got beef. Maybe this woman's been here before and she was disappointed by who was at the counter. And you know how you squash the beef? You asked them to marry you.

Yeah. It's like those people who are like, their marriages in shambles and they're like, should we have a kid? Exactly you escalate to solve. I think that's exactly what happened. I think we've in fact figured out what's going on over there Now usually That segment is for a thing that we never get the answer to But I got the answer because this woman, 25 minutes later, came back in the water burger.

25 minutes is not a short amount of time. You didn't just go out and regroup. You walked somewhere. And came back. You had another destination and came back. This woman walks back into the water burger, walks up to the counter, stares again. This is very much like a do I have your attention? Okay, I do. Cool, cool. I can proceed. Do y'all have hot chocolate? She stares back. No. Okay, then.

And she leaves again. And never come, well, I don't know about never, but within the time frame that you and I were there, never came back. So she wanted hot chocolate. It was December 26th. She was wearing a Christmas sweater. She just wanted to feel festive, presumably. She did not want to let go of that Christmas spirit.

I told you it was deep contemplation. It's the day after Christmas, she's like, no, no, no. It's all slipping away from me. People aren't celebrating anymore. Please, anyone, hot chat, yeah. Yeah, I think you're on the side. I think that's what was going on over there. I do think so too.

Play the song. What is the legato, my song. Those are my first impressions. I don't want to get too much into the atmosphere and talk about like what's on the walls, what's it like to be inside of a water burger. We'll save that for next week. This week, it's about education. Okay. Are you ready to learn about the history of waterberger. We're gonna get some water facts. Yeah, we're gonna call it that. All right. Are you ready for some water facts?

Yeah. All right, let's do it. We're gonna go into this. Weeks, eight dates. It's eight dates. Eight dates. Eatery details. Eatery Details

Founded in 1950 by Harman Dobson in Corpus Christi, Texas. Harman Dobson really sounds like a detective. I was gonna say he sounds like a writer. Like a novel by Harman Dobson. Who done it? By Harman Dobson. You know, just a few episodes. I did a hoot done it as my second annual hootable. Yeah. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Uh, makes some sense. I guess. But like, can you imagine you're in a dining room and every single time a person finishes

just what a finish is their burger? Thanks for clarifying. Burger. What a burger. Yeah. Necessary clarification. People shouldn't be finishing in a what a burger. What a person.

Although, I mean, if they're doing it, I would. Do you want them to not finish? Like, I don't think so. I don't know what. Sorry. Then you'd have like terrible conversations afterwards. You'd have to like rethink this entire thing. Can you imagine you're just doing it in a whataburger

and there is no climax and then you just stop and order food? The excitement is after you finish the burger. As he said. What a burger. Mediocre sex. Eat Deets. The idea was pretty simple. Dobson's only signature was to expand

the standard two and a half inch burger buns to five inches, which made it appear bigger. I don't know if that makes it appear bigger. It is bigger. It is bigger. Two ounces of beef was the standard at the time, so he doubled that to a quarter pound. McDonald's wouldn't follow suit until 1970, like 20 years later. That makes Whataburger the first fast food place to sell quarter pounders.

Wow, I didn't know that. E. D. D. Water burgers were 25 cents a pop at first. McDonald's burgers were 15 cents at the time to give you a relative idea. So all this extra meat, this hunk of beef, the bigger buns, 10 more cents. 10 more cents.

That's like, I'm trying to relate to back in those days. What was that like? That's like two hours of work in today's money. You know, in $20.23. Yeah, this is 2024. That's right, forgot we're in the new year. 80. Dobson found success almost immediately

and rapidly expanded. Within three years, Whataburger Number five was opened by Dobson's first franchisee in Alice, Texas. Where's Alice? I have no idea. Texas is a large state. It's so big. I haven't memorized the names of all the cities here.

I just found out there's a place called Middleweight. Middleweight? Middleweight, Texas. It's where they shoot the Jesus show. What? Jesus show? Is there a show just called Jesus? It's called The Chosen and it's about Jesus. And they built an entire Bethlehem in Middleweight, Texas. You should actually go there

and see if there's any joints. Any food? Any joints. Can I review the body in Blood of Christ? Yes, is it good? Eat Deets On the side Dobson was a pilot He liked to fly over Corpus Christi trailing a giant water burger banner behind him

Air-dropping coupons for free water burgers from the sky and blaring his duck-like air horn Dobson is a stunt queen like Air horn. Dobson is a stunt queen. First of all, why? How would you, well, I guess- He's got something to prove. The 25 cent quarters, how do you have a plane on the side? Well, I mean, a plane in 1959 money was, you know,

a few hundred bucks. That's true. I don't know. But imagine you're just outside mowing your grass in a couple- You just get a bunch of paper cuts? Yeah. Watermelon kupa is just flying all over everything you've done.

Yeah. Supposedly, all that airtime convinced him his buildings needed to be more obvious, visible from thousands of feet above. So he introduced the iconic A- frame style building with bold orange and white stripes to help his restaurant stand out. There's still a few if you come to Austin, Texas, there's still a few A line buildings around. Yeah. So their Cameron road location is still an A line. It's also interesting to me that like, why do you need to see them from the sky?

You can't practically land. I mean, it's not a fly through. We got to get in the mind of Mr. Dobson here who has a plane on the side. Who also died in a plane crash. Are you serious? Are you surprised? Dude was a maverick.

How old was he? 1967 is when he died. It's only 17 years after the opening of Whataburger. I don't know how old he was when he opened Whataburger. Do you think some coupons fell out when the clash happened? Let's not joke about this. This isn't funny. That's what I thought about immediately. He got a paper cut. Oh God, that's terrible. It is and we're laughing at it. I'm sorry.

Oh God, that's terrible. It is. And we're laughing at it. I'm sorry. It is. French fries and fried pies weren't added to the menu until 1962. The original menu was only burgers, drinks, and chips. Chips. Chips were the original side they offered.

Interesting. I would want fries. Their fries are very underrated. People don't put respect on the name of the Waterburger Fry. The Waterburger Fry is iconic. It's iconic. It's so good. Eat Deets.

By 1980, a staggering 300 restaurants had been opened in the south. Two years later, many of them became 24 hours, a policy that carries on today. Yes. And one of my favorite things about Whataburger, because there was a Whataburger, I went to the University of Texas. You also went to the University of Texas. Yes. We kind of met at University of Texas because we didn't meet in Texas. But there's one real close to campus and 247, it's a great place to go when you're hungry, it's one in the morning, you're out with friends, you know, you're away from the oppression of being home with your parents where there's rules and bedtimes and you have

freedom. And you decide to make the adult choice to order three water burgers, two milkshakes, and like four sets of medium fries to yourself. To what? Milkshakes. Milkshakes? Oh my gosh, we're not going to get into this on camera.

We just did. Oh my gosh, I think I single-handedly like gave that specific water burger about 40% of my earnings. By 1995, what a burger had 500 locations and was the eighth largest hamburger chain. Wow, I didn't realize it was that huge. At by that point, I didn't either. Yeah. Because when I think of like the big names in fast food burgers, McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's. Those are the three I think of too.

Yeah, those are like the big, big ones. Yeah, I mean, I guess the other two are up for grabs. Yeah. Hmm. Because the other big ones that you think of, they're not burger plate like Taco Bell, KFC, they're not Domino's. Burger joints.

Eight days. Through its tenure, like many chain restaurants, Whataburger has inspired a group of hardcore fans. On Valentine's Day, 1996, 24 couples got married at a Whataburger. Can you imagine being a kid and you ask your parents how they got together?

So tell me the story. Well, we actually got married at a Whataburger. Yeah. Did mom wear orange and white? Did you toast with sweet tea? Like that's ridiculous. How do you do that like cling the glass when it's Styrofoam? Kung, kung, kung. Eat Deets. In 1999, a crew on the Space Shuttle Columbia requested

Waterburger cookies for their voyage. I forgot, Waterburger had cookies. I feel like everyone, my my response to that is why Subways right there the apple pie get a shake get a shake. Yeah, what do you what are you guys doing? The Queen of Tejano music, Selena, loved Water Burger. Fans still leave burgers at her monument in Corpus Christi. I have left a Water Burger at her monument. Have you really?

Yes, I have. Is this like a well-known thing? It's a thing. I didn't know that until I said it just now. When you go to the Selenium Museum, which is also like right down the street from the Water Burger, you go out there and you take her a burger It's like you know, it's wasteful Only for Selena's

She's not the only celebrity endorser Selena Gomez Ava Longoria and BJ Novak are all fans. That seems on brand. I'll throw them off from Texas, I believe. Are they? Yeah. I know Avalon Gloria and Selena Gomez for sure, but BJ Novak, I know he's from somewhere in Southwest.

I know that he loves chain restaurants because he has a brand called Chain, where he teams up with like top chefs to bring like culinary mastery to classic chain restaurant dishes. That's interesting. And he did a festival in LA and I got really sick that weekend and couldn't go. Oh no! I know.

Because they had Sonic, Red Robin, Jack in the Box, Panda Express, Pizza Hut, Dunkin' Donuts, and I had one or two other places that like teamed up with it for these dishes. So I just had, I didn't get to try. Damn, that would have been a cool thing to go to. It would have been really cool. Eat Deets.

In 2001, the Texas legislature officially recognized Whataburger as a Texas treasure Which kind of reminds me Colonel Sanders got his state's highest honor Which kind of encourages negative American stereotypes that we have honors for fast food like what are we doing? Why are you wasting time on this people are dying? And it's part it's in part because of this thing When I walked in there was like a big seal on the water burger on the door that was like water burger officially a Claire a clared

What a burger officially declared a Texas treasure cream. BlueClayered. Whataburger officially declared a Texas treasure April 2001 and then it has like a big star and says Texas Senate and Texas House. And so legit. And that's just on the door. Yeah, it's like a literal stamp of approval. In 2010, Jerry Baird, a Whataburger multi-franchise owner, summited Mount Kilimanjaro and planted a flag

with the flying W on the peak. That is so ridiculous. Eight. We all know about the famous McDonald's coffee causing third-degree burns leading to a lawsuit. Well, as they say, gravy is Texas's coffee, right? I take mine with cream. In 2010 and again in 2018,

Whataburger gravy spilled on a kid's leg. Different kid. Yeah. Imagine it being the same. The same kid, eight years apart. I keep getting burned by Whataburger gravy. At that point, it's like kind of his fault. The way he eats gravy is probably.

Right. We should have a discussion with this kid. Yeah. by Waterburger Gravy. At that point, it's like kind of his fault. The way he eats gravy is probably we should have a discussion with this kid. The spills caused second-degree burns and led to lawsuits. The fast food chain was not held liable in the 2010 suit and the 2018 one was dropped. Interesting. You think Waterburger has like, I mean, they are protected by the Texas state government. They've got insiders. They've got people. They've got a crew. They've got a cleanup crew. These people. And they're not cleaning up gravy. They're not. They're cleaning up the mess that the gravy made, if you know what I mean.

Waterburger, where the body's at? We got the people need to know. What a burger where the body's at. We got the people need to know. What a mystery. This is you promised me this is what this episode was going to be like in your delivery. Can't help it. It's fun. Eat Deets. In 2016, Whataburger entered into tense conversations with DC Comics claiming that the Wonder Woman movie logo looked too similar to the Flying W.

I could see it. I'm not sure if a deal was worked out, but the matter never went to court, so they, yeah, something worked out, I guess. Who came first? The woman or the water burger? I'm trying to make another climax joke, but. Are you asking, did Wonder Woman predate?

Yeah, I think Wonder Woman predated Water Burger. But the specific logo used for the movie was the point of contention. Oh, I see. Not, it wasn't like comics related. Yeah, okay. Yeah. If you've ever lived in Texas, you'll know that people, kids especially, love to steal the plastic table numbers that Waterberger gives out and collect them.

In 2017, the practice became an epidemic in the small town of Denton, leading to the local police to make a statement threatening to find the thieves. Oh my goodness! So many people take those. I have one in my house because everybody should have one. I have one somewhere. I don't know where it's like it's in my home in LA. It's somewhere and I genuinely do not think or remember stealing it. They just didn't take it off my table. It was not an intentional theft.

Same. But I have one. You said it was. It was. It was. In 2018, the chain came under fire for the lack of sustainable cups. Whataburger uses gigantic styrofoam cups,

while most places use bamboo or paper nowadays. Only fast food chain that still does it that I can think of. Yeah, me too. Yeah. Just super wasteful. Despite the criticism, Whataburger hasn't changed its practices. They're very cumbersome.

Like if for no other reason, the fact that I feel like it's gonna break when I'm gripping it is a reason to change. They're also huge. They are huge. I felt like when Donald Trump was drinking water and he had to use two hands. But for me, I was just like concerned that my thumb was going to break through the styrofoam.

So I was like, I have to be gentle to drink this thing. But I just felt very like dainty. It eats. In 2019, BDT, Capital Partners,, a Chicago Merchant Bank, acquired the majority rights to Whataburger. This caused outcry, not so much at the idea of an investment firm owning the company, but rather that it wasn't Texan. I do remember when this happened on Twitter.

People were upset. Yeah. They were mad, which nothing's really changed since it happened. Of course nothing's changed. It's just an owner that like sits in a tower far away and collects all our money. At least he's not flying over and crashing planes over everything. You don't know that. Okay. These days the chain has some of the strictest franchise requirements we've covered.

They expect new franchisees to open at least five locations within five years and require at least a $12.5 million net worth. Five locations in five years. So if you want to open a water burger, you have to commit to opening five and you have to be worth $12.5 million before you even start. That's a a high commitment. It is maybe because they don't want a lot of turnover I think some people own many restaurants and have like a portfolio and they don't want to be just one of many I think they want to be like well if you're committing to what a burger and you want in the what a burger family Make a commitment get married in front of our place

get married in front of our place. Eight. In 2020, a 16-year-old ate a 10-patty water burger in under 20 minutes to try and beat his youth group's record. When asked why he did it, he said his friends told him he would earn a lot of church cred if he managed to get it cred. Oh my God. If he managed to get it down. Church cred? Well, first I need to know how did this record start?

And we ate the- Like who holds it? Who holds it? We ate those today. They're kind of big. Yeah. So I don't know how he shoved 10 patties into his mouth. He had the power of Jesus on his side.

So I don't think I could do more than maybe four. Yeah. I could probably manage more, but it would be unpleasant. And I'm past that time in my life. I'm 35. I'm not looking to age faster. And I feel like a 10-patty burger in one sitting And I feel like a 10-patty burger in one sitting is just the clock ticks down. It really does. A little bit more drastically. But you get church cred. Don't need it. I'm alright.

Eat Deets. Just a few months ago in September... I can't say the normal name of the month. Just a few months ago in September, I can't say the normal name of the month. Just a few months ago in September, Wattaburger entered the digital kitchen game in Austin by establishing the first all-digital location. You can order by kiosk or online with the app. I've tried it.

It's weird. I think I prefer to have people. I do too. Yeah. I always prefer to have people. What are we trying to be replaced? We're making it easier for robots to replace us? We are. We got to have people. I do too. Yeah. I always prefer to have people. What are we trying to be replaced? We're making it easier for robots to replace us? We are.

We gotta rise up. What a robot. As he looks at her. Are you proud? Disturbingly. Are you proud of this? Sometimes I am. Ha ha ha.

D.R.D. Today, Waterburger has more than 900 locations across 14 states. My mom's side of the family is from New Mexico. Every time they would come to visit Texas, they do now, but before they didn't have any. So they were really excited when Waterburger expanded that way. Yeah, yeah. Very, very excited. It hasn't made it up to California. I think the closest one to LA is in Phoenix.

Mm-hmm. And I'm just not going to make that drive for Waterburger. I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to go bake in your car to get Waterburger. Yeah. E-D. They serve 17 million pounds of ketchup each year. Water burger ketchup is that girl.

And shout out to the greatest store that's ever existed, HEB, for carrying water burger products. Water burger ketchup. And they have the honey butter, right? They do. They also now serve a waterburger sausage, like breakfast sausage. Oh, in at HUB? Yeah, you could buy it kind of like you buy ground beef.

Why are we doing this? I don't know. Not just at HUB. They're in stores in 25 states. I didn't know that. Yep. Waterburger. Waterburger. Now you know. What a eat dates. Did that landing stick I don't not at all

Okay, we've learned about what a burger You guys are on the edge of your seat waiting for our review of the place But before we get to that we got to go to Yelp and see what other people are saying About this what a burger location in this week's Yelp and see what other people are saying about this Whataburger location. In this week's yelp from strangers. A little yelp, a little yelp. Give us those complaints while you're literally white and dying. Yelp!

Alright, this is Yelp from Strangers, our segment where we turn to yelp and read out our favorite 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 star yelp reviews of the very Water Burger at which we dined. Mind if I start us off? Yeah, please. Three-star review. I'm gonna go with a three-star review. This is from Orion G, like the Constellations Belt. Orion G.

This is from March 26, 2011. And I want to compliment you for the deep dive that you did because you picked out all these Yelp reviews and you read them all. They had some interesting ones. This might be one of the best collections of Yelp reviews that has been on this show. Snaps to me. So the full version is going to be on Patreon. You'll get to hear all, not five, but six of them. But I'm gonna start us off with a three star review. Orion G March 26 2011. Sometimes I just need to shove something down the ravenous hole while out on air. What?

Is this the stuff that you think I want to be saying into a microphone? Yeah, I do. This place is a sometimes stop. This place isn't bad. The service is decent, but fast food it ain't. I've actually read my friends list from Facebook waiting in line here and not during Russia. This is like, I read the dictionary for fun. What do you...

I'm gonna maintain this. Of the many things you could scroll on your phone, why were you reading your Facebook friends list? Like, get an app. Read a news article. Get Pokemon Go. Like... Orion. But it ain't awful.

So that's something, right? Three stars. Oh, Ryan, an agent of chaos. Great. Five Star Review. So the next one that we have is a five star review that I really felt the enthusiasm through the screen when I read it. From Ankhleesa F.

God, I said extra sauce and they did that shit. I never ate so fast. Oh my God, no fries left and it was fast. Why is she admitting this publicly? She was very excited that they got the extra sauce right. I ate this shit so fast. I ditched my dignity. Five stars down the ravenous hole. They did that according to Uncle Lisa. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then you picked out a bonus five star review because you found a different one. That isn't really a review. It's an

apology, but she gave it five stars. So we're gonna we're gonna just tag this one in Also a five-star review. Yes by Madeline F This is from June 8th, 2017. She says dare water burger. I apologize profusely for my drunk ass I came in with my dog who is registered as a service dog, but didn't pass training because she's too much of a jerk. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha catching a stray that she'll never know is on the internet for other people to read. She continues, I just wanted to let you know after being a horrendous customer, Karma shortly reared its unrelenting head. Walking to my apartment, I slipped and fell into the creek near my house. I realized I deserved it.

I highly doubt any employees will read this, but know that I am sorry and I hope you didn't have to deal with any more turds such as myself. And three people loved this. The fact that she took ownership, big props. Big props. Big props. You can go download our full Yelp from Strangers segment at our Patreon. The link for that is in the description of this episode, or you can go to patreon.com.

slash find dining podcast. And we're now offering a one week free trial. So what do you have to lose? Go check it out. People have wild opinions and we get to read oh so many of them. Thanks. All right, so we've covered the history.

We've covered our first impressions. We've even gone to Yelp and seen what other people had to say. One week you have to wait before you can hear what we have to say. But in the meantime, Ashley, thank you for joining me. Thank you for having me. Is there anything that you want to plug,

to talk about, to discuss, to bring up? Well, currently I'm in the process of developing 13 ghosts for television. Yep. So if you like 13 ghosts, please scour the internet for the many interviews and articles that have been coming out about it. Share those with your friends and have your friends share those.

I'm unfamiliar. What's the source material of Thirteen Ghosts? So Thirteen Ghosts is a William Castle film from the 60s that was remade in 2001. That stars Matthew Lillard, Tony Shalub, Ra Diga, and Shannon Elizabeth. And we are adapting that for television, possibly with Sony and William Castle Productions. Amazing, amazing. Yeah, so we're just trying to get the word out there. The more that fans share, the more that we can show that this would be like a built-in audience

and a cool project to create. Great, well thanks for joining me. I'll see you in one week. And in the meantime, we're just gonna be sitting here waiting on our table. Have a fine day. Waiting on our table, this step is done And we had some fun now We're waiting on our table, waiting on our table Join us next time, we're stuck in line Waiting on our table, waiting on our table

We're so hungry, Tommy's crumbling Waiting on our table, waiting on our table We gotta continue our search for mediocrity Yeah Waiting on a demo, waiting on a demo We'll be waiting and dissipating it Waiting on a demo, waiting on a demo Swimping in X-Wing, we're digging in goodwill

Waiting on a demo, waiting on a demo Got an appetite for just a type of a Waiting on a table, waiting on our table Got an appetite for just a type of a Waiting on our table, waiting on our table Search to continue when we see you next week But I'm not ever nervous Waiting on our table, waiting on a table, waiting on a table, waiting on a table, waiting on a table, waiting on a table