In a city where fortunes change by a deal of cards or a roll of the dice, Lone Star State-born Whataburger is betting its westward expansion to Las Vegas will net them more followers.
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The burger chain, which is headquartered in San Antonio, revealed on Monday that it will open up on the town's famous Las Vegas Strip next to the Waldorf Astoria this fall.
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The opening in Nevada's biggest city gives Whataburger its 15th different state with a location and inches the chain closer to 1,000 stores.
"As the city that never sleeps, and a brand that is open 24/7, it only made sense to bring a Whataburger to the Strip," Ed Nelson, Whataburger's president and CEO, said in a statement. "We're excited for both locals and visitors to sink their teeth into a fresh new option and find ways to customize their Whataburgers 'just the way they like it.'"
Whataburger, which is a 72-year-old brand that is currently under ownership by investment holdings firm BDT Capital Partners, said Panda Restaurant Group, which itself owns the Panda Express chain, will be the franchisee for the Strip space.
The location expects to hire 210 local workers.
How Las Vegans are reacting
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The Las Vegas opening will usurp the Phoenix metropolitan area as the westernmost Whataburger location.
For those familiar with the demographic of "Sin City," locals primarily comprise of transplants from other states, either there for work or to start all over.
Texas transplants, in particular, were fast to celebrate a home state favorite arriving closer to them.
"Y'all my day is made," Zora Asberry, who responded to Vegas-centric Twitter feed @LasVegasLocally, tweeted in response to the news. "This Texas transplant in Las Vegas is one happy girl."
A Twitter user used one word and three exclamation points for his reaction: "FINALLY!!!"
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"I'll be glad to finally have a good burger place in town!" another user, Xavier, tweeted.
Of course, detractors were abundant. One user, @LetTexasBet, thinks the westward expansion takes away from the taste.
"The more @Whataburger expands, the worse quality it has. They've seriously taken a turn downhill in the past decade," the user tweeted.
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