(FOX 44) – Whataburger is a Texas staple.
If you ask someone who frequents the fast food chain for their usual order, you’ll start to see some menu items have a huge following: We’re talking about you, Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit.
But what about any former Whataburger menu items that are now long gone?
Ashley Bean Thornton is a self-proclaimed “superfan” who lives in Waco. She said she has been going to Whataburger every day for the last 10 years or so.
“To me, it’s a clean, comfortable place where I feel welcome and the food is good,” said Thornton. “I love that you run into every kind of person there, from homeless people to senators and bank presidents. I hope that is what heaven will be like!”
When asked about items no longer served at Whataburger, Thornton had one item she misses most.
“I am still grieving over the loss of the Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuit! The best thing that was ever on the menu! I bought two cases of them right before they took them off the menu, hoping they would eventually come to their senses and bring it back. But my supply is dwindling, and I am starting to lose hope,” said Thornton.
The Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuit was a breakfast item carried at Whataburger.
“All I can tell you is that every day I woke up a little bit happier because I knew I was going to get a Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuit for breakfast,” said Thornton. “And now every day I wake up a little sadder because I am not.”
Discussions on Internet message boards mourn the loss of other discontinued Whataburger items. Some Redditors especially miss the seasonal pie desserts – which came in pineapple, chocolate, pumpkin, strawberry, cherry, lemon and banana varieties.
Another poster on Reddit, who said they used to work at Whataburger, remembered a time when the fast food chain had a chicken sandwich with a peppery sauce.
There’s another discontinued Whataburger item that people seem to want back over anything else: the steak fajitas (also known as the beef fajitas). Fajitas debuted at Whataburger in the early 2000s and then disappeared. Someone even posted on Whataburger’s official Facebook page asking where the fajitas went. (A company representative responded and said they would “pass along your suggestion to bring them back to our team.”)
But why do beloved items ever get taken off the menu? Whataburger Public Relations Director Dash Blaker said the company changes its menu every few months to keep things fresh. Sometimes this means removing fan favorites to make room for exciting new offerings.
“[For example,] Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits come off the breakfast menu and the Breakfast Bowl comes on. Will Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits ever come back? Could be. How long will the Breakfast Bowl remain? We’re leaving that a mystery,” Blaker teased.
Blaker said the company doesn’t announce when items are coming off the menu or pre-announce menu additions. Whataburger does send updates when the company introduces limited-time offers, as they did recently for the Chili Cheese Burger, Chili Cheese Fries, Breakfast Bowl and White Chocolate Raspberry Shake.
“Sometimes when old favorites return, they just re-appear on the menu – like the Grilled Cheese Sandwich did not long ago,” said Blaker. “As a practical matter, we can’t try new things and continue to add menu items without removing some others.”
Blaker went on to say that while Whataburger definitely hears from fans when one of their favorite foods rolls off the menu, customers also tell them they love it when new items become available.
The one thing Blaker says the company will never change? The No. 1 Whataburger that started it all.