SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — The popular fast-food chain Whataburger will open in the DeSoto County suburb in late 2021.
“This outstanding fast food restaurant that originated in Texas and is crazy popular in the Deep South is expanding its territory northward, and we made the cut!” Mayor Darren Musselwhite wrote on his Facebook page Thursday.
The company confirmed the news in a statement, writing:
“It’s true. Whataburger will be bringing our iconic burgers and exceptional customer service to Southaven! We hope our Memphis-area fans are as excited as we are. We’ll have more information to share soon.”
– Whataburger
Musselwhite said Whataburger is demolishing the old TGI Fridays building on Goodman Road just east of Airways and building a new building.
It’s good news for the thousands of people who travel Goodman Road every day.
“I think it’s going to be good for us,” said Bobbi Ott.
Ott was excited to hear popular fast food restaurant Whataburger will once again serve people in the Mid-South.
The Texas originated restaurant confirmed for us Friday they’ve chosen Southaven as a new location.
According to the company’s website, the closest locations are in Ridgeland and Vicksburg, Mississippi. There are currently no locations in Tennessee.
“I work right around the corner so more lunch options,” said Ott.
“I think it’s going to be good for the community and it will bring in more revenue,” added Monisha Cooley.
Musselwhite said the city is seeing growth and there are a lot of projects in the works. The reaction to Whataburger ocming to town has been a major hit.
“The city has about $500 million in pending industrial professional developments to create many, many jobs, over a thousand new jobs but the people love their food, they love their restaurant so Whataburger coming to the area is a big deal and I know everybody is excited about it,” he said.
He believes this shows a sense of momentum to bring other popular businesses to the area.
“It is a domino effect you know when you have one quality business that comes there, when they put their stamp on your city and it’s an immediate reference for other businesses to come,” he added.