San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
There was a point to Whataburger A-frames
I recently had a conversation with a friend about the old Whataburger restaurants, and he had no recollection of them. I was wondering if you had any photos of the buildings.
— Ron Wood When Those People from Chicago (BDT Capital Partners) bought a majority stake in Whataburger two years ago, we all were worried that they would change things. But if you remember the pointy-roofed Whataburgers of old — really old — not to worry, because original Whataburger got there first.
A Whataburger spokeswoman found the story of the early stores’ distinctive architecture in a company history, based on the book, “The Whataburger Story: How One Man’s Dream and One Woman’s Heart Inspired a Business to Become a Family,” by Greg Wooldridge.
The longtime family business was founded in 1950 in Corpus Christi by entrepreneur Harmon Dobson, who with partner Paul Burton opened a hamburger stand in a simple “wooden box” portable building. Bigger burgers (with a customsize bun) cooked to order caught on, and Whataburger became a chain, to be housed in buildings that could be seen not only from the road but from far above it.
A pilot, Dobson “plotted Whataburger’s early expansion plans from the air,” according to company history. His concept for an eye-catching, memorable design was the famous A-frame — about three stories or 30 feet high.
The Handbook of Texas says Whataburger’s orange-and-white color scheme derives from the founder’s love of flying, as they were “traditionally the colors used on many airport structures.” Distinctive in shape and color, the restaurants were intended to be seen from a mile away.
Dobson is said to have sketched his design on a napkin, and it was realized by Corpus architect John M. Olsen. The first A-frame was Unit No. 24, built in 1961 in Odessa, and Whataburger went on to build about 80 of the peaked-roof stores through 1976.
The silhouette was striking, but the company history stated it “wasn’t ideal for serving and seating customers.”
The original design, as modified by Dallas architect Richard Wallace, evolved to become the “flying A frame” — reminiscent of the chain’s “flying W” logo — with a less steeply pitched roof and the addition of wings, for more kitchen and dining space.
Canopies shaded parking spaces and drivethrough lanes were added, while preserving the bright, high-contrast colors chosen by the founder (who died in 1967 when his Cessna Skymaster crashed en route from La Porte to Victoria). The numbered table tents customers receive when they order, arccording to the history, “are another recognition of the original A-frame roofs.”
Currently, there are only 10 original A-frame Whataburgers out of more than 840 in 10 states. “Those buildings have evolved through the years to meet current building requirements,” the company history explains.
The closest to San Antonio is at 6106 Cameron Road in Austin.
Other A-frames still are standing but remodeled — sometimes nearly beyond recognition — and repurposed. You can see some on RoadsideArchitecture.com, a website curated by Debra Jane Seltzer, author of “Vintage Signs of America.” With former canopies enclosed, peaks lopped off and new wild or subdued paint jobs, former Whataburgers now are other restaurants, art galleries, churches, service stations, smoke shops, used car lots and auto-parts stores.
Whataburger is expanding across the South, with plans for new stores in Texas in a new design that incorporates references to Whataburger’s iconic look with more dine-in space. You can see a prototype in the recently renovated store at 7007 S. Zarzamora St.
A local chain, Burger Boy — which descends from Whopper Burger, founded here in 1955 — also was known for distinctive architecture that featured multiple Aframes in a single complex roofline, kind of like a cootie-catcher paper fortune teller, writ large and rendered in brick and shingles. You can still see the classic origami-like design at the flagship Burger Boy, 2323 N. St. Mary’s St., and in elements of the chain’s newer stores.
Do you know of any former iconic burger stands in the San Antonio area, since transformed into other uses? To share, send photos and addresses to this column.