Delayed again.
The much anticipated Whataburger opening has been delayed again.
It was expected to open this past week, but that was put off. So, when will it open?
Mississippi’s 13th Whataburger could open very soon. A new date has been announced, and the location at Grandview Boulevard in Madison will open on Dec. 4, according to Whataburger officials in the worldwide headquarters in Texas.
It was announced in February that Whataburger is going to move into the building previously occupied by Back Yard Burgers.
It was originally expected to be open in the early part of 2025.
However, a complete overhaul of the building and parking lot did not take as long as expected and the Texas-based burger joint announced previously it would be open before Thanksgiving.
This Whataburger is different than any other. As with anything else in Madison, Whataburger is subject to how Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler wants things to look. In this case, Hawkins Butler doesn’t want Whataburger to have its iconic orange sign.
“It will be the only Whataburger in the United States that is not orange,” Hawkins Butler has said, even though there may be others nationally that have a white logo.
The new Madison one has an all-white “Whataburger” sign out front, and all of the outdoor signage will be all white. That is in line with many of the businesses already in place in the same area. It is notable that just around the corner from where Whataburger will be located, Hobby Lobby has a large orange sign on top of its big-box store.
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Also of note is that Madison Central, the city’s only public high school, features orange as one of its primary colors, and it’s not unusual to see orange Madison Central Jaguar paw prints throughout the city.
This will be the seventh Whataburger in the area with locations already in Jackson, Flowood, Brandon, Richland and Ridgeland.
Whataburger officials have not said exactly how many jobs will be created with this restaurant. However, other Whataburger openings in recent years have had announcements of as many as 150 full- and part-time jobs associated with them.
Ross Reily is a writer for the Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: When will the new Madison, Mississippi, Whataburger open in 2024?