Kansas City area Whataburger opening in old Winstead’s site. Police warn about traffic

It’s another area opening for Whataburger.

The Texas-based chain plans to open at 905 Missouri 7, Blue Springs, at 11 a.m. Monday.

Openings tend to attract long lines of customers, eager to try the famed burger that is a favorite of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Traffic at three previous area openings was blocks long. So Whataburger is paying for police and private security to help direct traffic during the opening week. Blue Springs police issued a news release Thursday warning of extra traffic and detours near the restaurant.

There will be free Whataburger for a Year gift baskets for the first customers in both drive-thru lines and the dining room (three baskets total). There will also be miscellaneous swag for customers periodically throughout the day.

The dining room and double drive-thru will be open 24/7. Custom wall art spotlights Blue Springs landmarks.

Whataburger plans to roll out additional services, such as online ordering via the Whataburger App and Whataburger.com for curbside pickup and delivery in the coming weeks.

The corporate-owned location will have 135 employees, called “family members,” and Ken Weston is the operating partner.

Winstead’s had long operated on the site but it closed in late 2018. Owner Haddad Restaurant Group said the lease expired and they decided not to renew it.

The Blue Springs restaurant is the fourth area Whataburger. Locations also are open in Independence, Lee’s Summit and Overland Park.

A location at 10780 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, Kansas, across from the Legends Outlets Kansas City, is scheduled to open this spring.

Items are made to order, and it uses 100% beef and a 5-inch bun. The menu also typically includes fish and chicken sandwiches, salads, and breakfast items such as a honey butter chicken biscuit, and pancake platters.

After the beloved San Antonio, Texas-based burger chain offered to send Mahomes some of his favorite ketchup and a T-shirt in late 2018, he tweeted back, “I just want a store in Kansas City!”

Plans for a Lee’s Summit Whataburger in June 2020 were the first confirmation that the chain was coming to the metro. Now Whataburger franchise partner KMO Burger, which includes Mahomes as a partner, plans to open 30 locations from Wichita to St. Joseph. But the group plans to concentrate on the metro.

This story was originally published May 5, 2022 at 11:43 AM.