Whata-change

San Antonio-based Whataburger sells to new owners amid expansion plans

Whataburger will keep its headquarters in San Antonio.

Courtesy photo

After 69 years as a family business, Whataburger has a new owner. In a June 14 release, the beloved San Antonio-based fast-food chain announced that Chicago’s BDT Capital Partners had acquired a majority interest in the company.

The Dobson family, which opened the first restaurant in Corpus Christi in 1950, will hold minority ownership, and the company headquarters will remain in San Antonio, the release says.

The move comes as the brand explores ambitious expansion plans. It is also on the heels of reports that the company was exploring a sale.

“As the brand embarks on a growth and expansion plan, we decided the time was right to promote new leadership to carry the company forward,” said current president and CEO Preston Atkinson in the release. “This leadership team has the right combination of Whataburger core values, strategic vision, and people-centered leadership to take us into the future.”

According to the release, the decision was an emotional one for the Dobson family.

“This is both exciting and bittersweet for the Dobson family. Whataburger has been the heart and soul of our family legacy for nearly 70 years, but we feel really good about the partnership with BDT,” Tom Dobson, Whataburger board chairman and son of founder Harmon Dobson, said in the release. “They have a track record of success with businesses as special as ours that want to grow, while preserving culture and family history.”

BDT, the release states, is a "merchant bank specializing in family and founder-led companies."

Atkinson and Dobson will "retire from the day-to-day operations of the company," the release says, but they will remain on the board. Although the leadership team will be realigned, the company has kept tenured Whataburger executives in strategic roles. Restaurant employees — the company officially calls them "Family Members" — will not see any changes.

Perhaps most important, Texas customers will still be able to get the burgers, chicken sandwiches, and taquitos that have made the chain a cult favorite — and claim Whataburger as their own.

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san antonio's culinary stars

5 outstanding San Antonio eateries land on first OpenTable Icons list

Photo by Robert Lerma

Nic

There's no denying San Antonio is full of high quality restaurants and talented chefs, and now five local restaurants are earning new recognition in OpenTable's inaugural San Antonio Icons list.

The OpenTable Icons lists, which first launched in July 2024, highlight local eateries in 25 cities across the U.S. and Canada, from award-winners to trendy hotspots and all types of cuisine. Chosen restaurants must have recently earned Michelin stars, James Beard Awards or nominations, positive reviews from diners and critics, and more.

The newly released San Antonio list is a combination of fine dining establishments and international culinary experiences mostly located in downtown or North Central San Antonio. While no one cuisine dominated the list, two out of the five restaurants –Clementine and Biga on the Banks – focus on contemporary American dishes.

The list also includes one 20-seat dessert bar, Nicosi, which opened in June 2024. This unique establishment takes a hard stance against the modern practice of constant social media sharing with its no-phones-allowed policy, allowing guests to place their full focus on the experience unfolding in front of them.

"In a sleek space with velvet curtains and 20 seats overlooking an open kitchen, chefs Tavel Bristol-Joseph and Karla Espinosa whip up an artful, eight-course dessert menu that’s one of the city’s most singular dining experiences," OpenTable's editors wrote.

Here is the full list of San Antonio Icons:

Best Quality Daughter, an Asian-American restaurant in the Pearl District
Cured, a gastropub-style restaurant in the Pearl District
Biga on the Banks, a contemporary American restaurant on the River Walk
Nicosi, an omakase-style dessert bar in the Pearl District
Clementine, a contemporary American restaurant in North Central San Antonio

San Antonio foodies will recognize longstanding local staples like Biga on the Banks, which has been mastering the art of new American fine dining in the Alamo City for more than 30 years. OpenTable praised the restaurant for its fresh fish offerings, an "eclectic" wine list, and more.

"When he opened Biga in 1991, London-born chef Bruce Auden kicked off a new era of fine dining in San Antonio, amassing a huge celebrity following (Julia Child, Emeril Lagasse) and racking up several James Beard nominations," OpenTable's editors wrote. "In 2000, the restaurant moved to a bigger space with sweeping Riverwalk views, the perfect setting for Auden’s ever-changing global menu with Texas accents — think spiced antelope and quail, habañero jerk scallops, and za’atar roasted cauliflower."

Pioneering establishments like Best Quality Daughter – whose head chef and owner Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin was nominated for CultureMap's 2024 Chef of the Year – also rightfully made the list.

"Dobbertin unabashedly combines Asian and global flavors in unique dishes like salt and pepper shrimp with Thai chimichurri or rice chips with mapo hummus, resulting in this singular restaurant in the historic Mueller House that is so very San Antonio," the editors wrote.

More information about OpenTable's San Antonio Icons list can be found on OpenTable. Texas travelers can also find OpenTable icons in Austin, Dallas, and Houston.

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