Let’s Talk About Ketchup

Reason #126 that I love Texas: Whataburger

Sooner or later, I will blog about all the things that make Whataburger so great, but for now, I want to focus on one item–ketchup.

My wife and I ordered Whataburger for lunch today and on the way home she commented that with any other carry out food she would use our own ketchup, but with Whataburger, you have to use their ketchup. Indeed, Whataburger’s ketchup is a unique condiment.

One of the things that makes Whataburger ketchup unique is its packaging:

As you can see, Whataburger packages their ketchup in plastic containers similar to other restaurant’s dipping sauces, and with good reason, ketchup is a dipping condiment. Whether you’re eating fries, onion rings, hash brown sticks, or even a burger, dipping them in ketchup makes it that much better. Every other fast-food joint and restaurant I know uses the messy, bag like, ketchup packets. It’s hard to get all the ketchup out of the packet and you must find a spot (i.e. a plate, wrapper, bag, etc.) where you can squirt your ketchup. With Whataburger, you simply peel back the wrapper and start dipping.

I’ve always wondered, why don’t more restaurants follow Whataburger’s lead?