Whataburger is reportedly planning to expand to Tennessee.
Metro documents obtained by the Nashville Post (subscription needed) reportedly showed the popular Texas restaurant chain is preparing to open a restaurant, with an address on Old Hickory Boulevard in Hermitage included in the documents.
iHeartMedia reached out to Whataburger for confirmation and the restaurant chain said it would not comment on specific locations, but was looking at a number of locations in the area and was excited to enter the Nashville market.
The San Antonio chain currently has more than 800 restaurants in 10 states, which includes more than 670 in the state of Texas and over 150 in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Oklahoma, according to the company's official website.
In July, Whataburger senior vice president of real estate James Turcotte confirmed the company's plan to expand to the southeast, which included Tennessee, to the Nashville Business Journal (subscription needed). Whataburger has not franchised stores since the early 2000s, according to Eater Nashville.
Whataburger's first location was opened in Corpus Christi in 1950 by Harmon Dobson in 1950. The Dobson family kept majority ownership of the chain until 2019, when it was taken over by a venture capital, with the family still holding a minority stake in operations.
The restaurant's most recognizable products include the "Whataburger," the "Whataburger Jr.," the "Justaburger," the "Whatacatch" fish sandwich and the "Whatachick'n."