Whatburger\u2019s forthcoming south Fort Myers location has signage in place and looks ready to open from the outside. But the Texas-based burger chain will not welcome Southwest Florida\u2019s first customers until about September.<\/p>\n
Juan Valenzuela, Whataburger\u2019s senior field marketing and events manager based in Florida, said the finished appearance should build a buzz with at least two more months of waiting.<\/p>\n
The region\u2019s first Whataburger will be at 12916 S. Cleveland Ave., in what had been an Aussie Grill and a Boston Market prior to that.<\/p>\n
The corporate-owned restaurant will need to hire between 65 and 75 employees prior to opening.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s also a people component,\u201d Valenzuela said. \u201cWe\u2019re very careful with how we build our teams. We have a very structured training program. We have a commitment of high care and love that we serve everybody. Building a team can take time sometimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may look like it\u2019s ready to go on the outside, but there are still some things being worked out on the inside. It\u2019s a little bit of a teaser.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whataburger originated in 1950 in Corpus Christi, Texas. It expanded into Florida for the first time in 1959 in Pensacola, but the chain has yet to reach Fort Lauderdale or Miami. The Jacksonville and St. Augustine locations are as far south as the chain goes on the east coast.<\/p>\n
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Whataburger<\/p>\n
David Dorsey<\/p>\n
Whataburger recently opened its 53rd Florida location \u2013 a blip considering there are more than 900 in Texas.<\/p>\n
Valenzuela\u2019s territory includes south Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, Orlando, Tampa and Southwest Florida.<\/p>\n
Southwest Florida\u2019s second Whataburger is slated to go into a former Pollo Tropical location at 22927 Lyden Drive across from Coconut Point mall in Estero by the end of this year, Valenzuela said.<\/p>\n
The company is also scouting for a third location in the Port Charlotte area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not in the business of building a restaurant to take from the community,\u201d Valenzuela said. \u201cWe\u2019re in the business of building a restaurant to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whataburger gives back by having a free breakfast program for teachers and a student success program. There are also scholarship opportunities for customers and employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kids who work for us from the community also are eligible for that scholarship,\u201d Valenzuela said. \u201cWe take a lot of pride in being able to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n
But before Whataburger can give back, it has to open. Valenzuela said Whataburger is focused on thriving in Southwest Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Fort Myers market, it\u2019s been a long time coming,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have such a fan base. So many people know us from either growing up in Texas or visiting Texas. It\u2019s good to be where they are. We want to be where they are. It\u2019s very exciting for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whatburger\u2019s forthcoming south Fort Myers location has signage in place and looks ready to open from the outside.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316287,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,2758,897,7586,1521,22802],"class_list":["post-316286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-fast-food","tag-fort-myers","tag-restaurant-opening","tag-southwest-florida","tag-whataburger"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}