Too late again.
The much anticipated opening of Whataburger has been delayed again.
It was expected to open last week, but that was postponed. So when will it open?
Mississippi’s 13th Whataburger may be opening soon. A new date has been announced, and the location on Grandview Boulevard in Madison will open on December 4, according to Whataburger officials at the national headquarters in Texas.
It was announced in February that Whataburger will move into the building formerly occupied by Back Yard Burgers.
It was expected to open in early 2025.
However, the complete renovation of the building and parking lot didn’t take as long as expected and the Texas-based burger joint previously announced it would be open before Thanksgiving.
This Whataburger is different from any other. Like anything else in Madison, Whataburger is subject to what Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler wants things to look like. In this case, Hawkins Butler does not want Whataburger to have an orange logo.
“It will be the only Whataburger in the United States that isn’t orange,” Hawkins Butler said, although there may be others in the country with a white logo.
The new Madison has an all-white “Whataburger” signature on the front, and all exterior signage will be white. It depends on many of the businesses that are already in the same area. Notably, around the corner from where the Whataburger will be, Hobby Lobby has a large orange sign above its big-box store.
Fenian’s revenge? New ‘dive bar’ in Belhaven. See when to get a fried baloney sandwich
The Amazon impact: The industry looks at MS differently after the AWS announcement. What can follow?
The opening date has been announced for the new Whataburger on Grandview Boulevard in Madison, MS.
Also of note is that Madison Central, the city’s only high school, has orange as one of its primary colors, and it is not uncommon 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 did not say exactly how many jobs the restaurant will create. However, some Whataburger openings in recent years have had announcements of as many as 150 full- and part-time jobs associated with them.
Ross Reilly columnist 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 the Mississippi Clarion Ledger: When will the new Madison, Mississippi, Whataburger open in 2024?