What-A-Burger
Encyclopedia
What-A-Burger is the trading name used by a small group of restaurants which were established by entrepreneur Jack Branch and members of the Branch family beginning in 1950. With the first location at a busy traffic circle
near Newport News, Virginia
in the former Warwick County
, they soon established additional locations in the cities of Richmond
, Colonial Heights
, and Petersburg, Virginia
, each along busy through-traffic highway corridors. Another location was opened by a member of the Branch family in the 1950s in Greenville, South Carolina
.
. Branch's' first location predated the first Texas Whataburger restaurant slightly.
Newport News Circle was a busy intersection located at Jefferson Avenue and U.S. Route 258 governed by a traffic circle (aka "rotary") in the former Warwick County
. (Warwick County later became politically consolidated with the City of Newport News, assuming the latter's better-known name). U.S. Route 258, later known as Mercury Boulevard
in honor of the astronaut
s of Project Mercury
at NASA
's center at nearby Langley Air Force Base, led from Fort Monroe
to the James River Bridge
and has been a major traffic artery in the area for many years. Jefferson Avenue at the time carried Virginia Route 168, which led from Anderson's Corner
on U.S. Route 60 west of Colonial Williamsburg
to the harbor near Newport News Point, where traffic long crossed Hampton Roads by means of an automobile-carrying ferry (later using the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel
). It was a very busy location, especially in the era after World War II
and before the U.S. Interstate Highway System was created.
Branch's original location on the traffic circle was operated by his brother, Paul E. Branch, Jr., and was moved some years later to another location slightly west of the former traffic circle after a highway modernization project took place. That store is continuing business as of January 2011.
Founder Branch later was involved in establishing additional stores in the independent cities of Richmond
, Colonial Heights
and Petersburg, Virginia
, as well as one in South Carolina
. The other Virginia stores were located along U.S. Route 1 (Virginia)|U,.S. Route 1, also a major through traffic corridor in the years before Interstate 95 was built. In addition to the U.S. Route 1 locations another Richmond location was added on State Route 161 in Richmond. (Route 161 was touted as a western bypass of Richmond's Lee Bridge in its early pre-Interstate Highway years, using the privately owned Boulevard Bridge
to cross the James River
.
period. For example, a small chain now based in Concord, North Carolina
, was founded by Eb Bost and operates as What-A-Burger Drive-Ins, Inc. with several locations in that state and in Columbia, South Carolina
, all still under the leadership of members of his family.
The What-A-Burger restaurants in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina are not to be confused with the much-larger Whataburger chain based in Texas, although they predated the first Texas Whataburger restaurant.
A different entrepreneur, Harmon Dobson, established a "Whataburger
" restaurant in Texas slightly later than Branch's Newport News Circle location, but also probably around 1950. He registered the trademark
"Whataburger" in 1957. The Texas business eventually become a corporation with as many as 675 "Whataburger" franchises located throughout the southern United States
and Mexico
. The San Antonio, Texas
-based chain's sales hit the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2007. However, notwithstanding the much larger size of the Texas-based chain, the locations of the chain as of 2004 were limited to Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Mexico. The company has no locations in the Carolinas or Virginia.
Despite being largely bypassed by through traffic using the Interstate Highway System, the Branch family locations in the Richmond-Petersburg
and Newport News areas thrived, building a local and loyal following, especially at lunch hours. Reviewers commenting online in both the Richmond and Newport News areas noted many years of their patronage. A recent review in the State (Columbia, SC) newspaper's blog, following their local "Cheeseburger crawl" stated "You can order either the regular Whataburger or the Whataburger with cheese; ordering it "all the way" comes with mustard, onions, pickles, lettuce and tomato, although you can also add ketchup and mayo, or request grilled onions."
lawsuit between the two Virginia corporations in conflict with the Virginia-based corporations (What-A-Burger of Virginia, Inc. and What-A-Burger of Newport News, Inc.) and the chain based in Texas was decided in 2004.
Rather, based upon the evidence presented when the lawsuit was brought more than 50 years later, the founders, since deceased, apparently first became aware of each other's businesses in 1970. Representatives of the Texas chain told the courts during the federal lawsuit that the company had no plans for expansion into Virginia. (Neither the North Carolina-based What-A-Burger chain, nor any of the many others with similar names, was party to this particular lawsuit).
At the conclusion of the 2003-2004 legal action, the court found that "no actionable damages had occurred" (or were likely to) for either party, nor is there any reasonable public confusion, do they ruling in part "There is no evidence — nor can we imagine any — that consumers are currently likely to be confused about whether the burgers served by Virginia W-A-B come from Texas or Virginia."
Traffic circle
A traffic circle or rotary is a type of circular intersection in which traffic must travel in one direction around a central island. In some countries, traffic entering the circle has the right-of-way and drivers in the circle must yield. In many other countries, traffic entering the circle must...
near Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
in the former Warwick County
Warwick County, Virginia
Warwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Warwick on July 16, 1952...
, they soon established additional locations in the cities of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, Colonial Heights
Colonial Heights, Virginia
Colonial Heights is an independent city in Virginia, United States. The population was 17,411 as of 2010. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the City of Colonial Heights with Dinwiddie County for statistical purposes...
, and Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
, each along busy through-traffic highway corridors. Another location was opened by a member of the Branch family in the 1950s in Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
.
History
The first Virginia store opened in 1950 by entrepreneur Jack Branch near Newport News, VirginiaNewport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
. Branch's' first location predated the first Texas Whataburger restaurant slightly.
Newport News Circle was a busy intersection located at Jefferson Avenue and U.S. Route 258 governed by a traffic circle (aka "rotary") in the former Warwick County
Warwick County, Virginia
Warwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Warwick on July 16, 1952...
. (Warwick County later became politically consolidated with the City of Newport News, assuming the latter's better-known name). U.S. Route 258, later known as Mercury Boulevard
Mercury Boulevard
Mercury Boulevard in the cities of Hampton and Newport News in the Peninsula region of southeastern Virginia carries U.S. Highway 258 approximately south from Fort Monroe at Old Point Comfort on Hampton Roads to the north end of the James River Bridge...
in honor of the astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s of Project Mercury
Project Mercury
In January 1960 NASA awarded Western Electric Company a contract for the Mercury tracking network. The value of the contract was over $33 million. Also in January, McDonnell delivered the first production-type Mercury spacecraft, less than a year after award of the formal contract. On February 12,...
at NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's center at nearby Langley Air Force Base, led from Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...
to the James River Bridge
James River Bridge
The James River Bridge is a four-lane divided highway lift bridge across the James River in the U.S. state of Virginia. Owned and operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation, it carries U.S. Route 17, U.S. Route 258, and State Route 32 across the river near its mouth at Hampton Roads...
and has been a major traffic artery in the area for many years. Jefferson Avenue at the time carried Virginia Route 168, which led from Anderson's Corner
Anderson's Corner, Virginia
Anderson's Corner, Virginia is located in James City County near the unincorporated community of Toano. Located at the intersection of U.S. Route 60 and State Route 30, Anderson's Corner was the western terminus of State Route 168 a new four-laned highway also known as the Merrimack Trail which was...
on U.S. Route 60 west of Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
to the harbor near Newport News Point, where traffic long crossed Hampton Roads by means of an automobile-carrying ferry (later using the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel
Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel
The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel is the -long Hampton Roads crossing for Interstate 64 and U.S. Route 60. It is a four-lane facility comprising bridges, trestles, man-made islands, and tunnels under the main shipping channels for Hampton Roads harbor in the southeastern portion of Virginia in the...
). It was a very busy location, especially in the era after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and before the U.S. Interstate Highway System was created.
Branch's original location on the traffic circle was operated by his brother, Paul E. Branch, Jr., and was moved some years later to another location slightly west of the former traffic circle after a highway modernization project took place. That store is continuing business as of January 2011.
Founder Branch later was involved in establishing additional stores in the independent cities of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, Colonial Heights
Colonial Heights, Virginia
Colonial Heights is an independent city in Virginia, United States. The population was 17,411 as of 2010. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the City of Colonial Heights with Dinwiddie County for statistical purposes...
and Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
, as well as one in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. The other Virginia stores were located along U.S. Route 1 (Virginia)|U,.S. Route 1, also a major through traffic corridor in the years before Interstate 95 was built. In addition to the U.S. Route 1 locations another Richmond location was added on State Route 161 in Richmond. (Route 161 was touted as a western bypass of Richmond's Lee Bridge in its early pre-Interstate Highway years, using the privately owned Boulevard Bridge
Boulevard Bridge
-External links:*...
to cross the James River
James River
The James River may refer to:Rivers in the United States and their namesakes* James River * James River , North Dakota, South Dakota* James River * James River * James River...
.
Other What-A-Burgers
What-A-Burger restaurants (as well with other variations of the name) were formed by other entrepreneurs than the Branch family during the post-World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
period. For example, a small chain now based in Concord, North Carolina
Concord, North Carolina
Concord is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. According to Census 2010, the city has a current population of 79,066. It is the largest city in Cabarrus County and is the county seat. In terms of population, the city of Concord is the second largest city in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area...
, was founded by Eb Bost and operates as What-A-Burger Drive-Ins, Inc. with several locations in that state and in Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
, all still under the leadership of members of his family.
The What-A-Burger restaurants in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina are not to be confused with the much-larger Whataburger chain based in Texas, although they predated the first Texas Whataburger restaurant.
A different entrepreneur, Harmon Dobson, established a "Whataburger
Whataburger
Whataburger is a privately held, regional restaurant chain specializing in hamburgers. The company, founded by Harmon Dobson, opened its first restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1950...
" restaurant in Texas slightly later than Branch's Newport News Circle location, but also probably around 1950. He registered the trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
"Whataburger" in 1957. The Texas business eventually become a corporation with as many as 675 "Whataburger" franchises located throughout the southern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. The San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
-based chain's sales hit the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2007. However, notwithstanding the much larger size of the Texas-based chain, the locations of the chain as of 2004 were limited to Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Mexico. The company has no locations in the Carolinas or Virginia.
Signature food
What-A-Burger locations are notable for their large burgers (in comparison with typical fast-food fare). They offer more limited menus than many larger chains. Food is generally cooked to order within sight of waiting customers.Despite being largely bypassed by through traffic using the Interstate Highway System, the Branch family locations in the Richmond-Petersburg
Richmond-Petersburg
The Greater Richmond Region is a region located in a central part of the state of Virginia in the United States. As of 2010, it had a population of 1,258,251, making it the 43rd largest MSA in the country...
and Newport News areas thrived, building a local and loyal following, especially at lunch hours. Reviewers commenting online in both the Richmond and Newport News areas noted many years of their patronage. A recent review in the State (Columbia, SC) newspaper's blog, following their local "Cheeseburger crawl" stated "You can order either the regular Whataburger or the Whataburger with cheese; ordering it "all the way" comes with mustard, onions, pickles, lettuce and tomato, although you can also add ketchup and mayo, or request grilled onions."
Lawsuit: a larger chain, similar name
During the formative years, neither the Branch family nor Dobson and his associates were apparently aware of the existence of the other. A federal trademark infringementTrademark infringement
Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees...
lawsuit between the two Virginia corporations in conflict with the Virginia-based corporations (What-A-Burger of Virginia, Inc. and What-A-Burger of Newport News, Inc.) and the chain based in Texas was decided in 2004.
Rather, based upon the evidence presented when the lawsuit was brought more than 50 years later, the founders, since deceased, apparently first became aware of each other's businesses in 1970. Representatives of the Texas chain told the courts during the federal lawsuit that the company had no plans for expansion into Virginia. (Neither the North Carolina-based What-A-Burger chain, nor any of the many others with similar names, was party to this particular lawsuit).
At the conclusion of the 2003-2004 legal action, the court found that "no actionable damages had occurred" (or were likely to) for either party, nor is there any reasonable public confusion, do they ruling in part "There is no evidence — nor can we imagine any — that consumers are currently likely to be confused about whether the burgers served by Virginia W-A-B come from Texas or Virginia."