Wouldn't it be nice to be able to satisfy your Whataburger craving while you're vacationing in Idaho?  They have no Whataburger locations there, or in other words they haven't realized the greatness of the Taquito just yet.

Texas has several restaurant chains that are so popular here that they deserve to go national, and we'll name five of them.  Feel free to add to the list... if you feel like sharing our southern secrets with the rest of the US, that is.

Some of us don't know how people survive without the ability to visit the Whataburger drive thru at 2am after a night out.  The northern states are SO missing out.


5 Texas Restaurant Chains That Should Go National

Whataburger.  The first location popped up in 1950, and they've been cranking out burgers, fries, chicken sandwiches, shakes and Taquitos ever since.  And they're good people too, right?  The company has fueled a huge push recently to help Hurricane Harvey victims.  It seems like these guys are part of the communities they're in.

bigbass1170 via reddit

Torchy's Tacos.  There's one location in Tyler (426 East SE Loop 323), and otherwise East Texans have to drive Dallas, Austin, or Houston to get these creative street tacos.  The names of the taco baskets are as creative as the ingredients, like the "Trailer Park."  That's a huge fried chicken breast, topped with sautéed green chiles, lettuce, pico de gallo, and shredded mixed cheese on a flour tortilla and topped with poblano sauce. They've got a bunch of equally creative taco choices.  Just not in New York.  Yet.

Shawn Knight

Texadelphia. They've got locations in Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Oklahoma, and South Texas now, but the first signature cheesesteak was grilled up in Austin in 1981. They Tex-ify the Philly cheesesteak with things like jalapenos and homemade queso. (You know, things you do at home when you're piling snacks onto a plastic plate to watch football.)  Maybe a Philadelphia location isn't a great idea because they'll scream cheesesteak blasphemy, but Kansas deserves to get some o' this.

Jim's. If you have a cool first name like Jim, you don't need any other fancy words in the name of the restaurant.  Texas gets it, and people in San Antonio have been supporting Jim's locations since 1947.  They cook up things like chicken-fried steak, huevos rancheros, tortilla soup, fried chicken, steaks, burgers, and homemade pies. They have locations in Austin now too, and although we're not quite sure if Chicago can handle it, something this good and Texas-y deserves to be a national treasure.

Waffle House.  You knew this was coming. Longview has two Waffle House locations and Marshall has one, and there are several other locations across Texas, Louisiana, and much of the South as well.  This is where ya all get custom-made waffles and hash browns that can be ordered scattered, smothered, or peppered.  Oh, and lunch too if you're in the mood for a burger, melt, or chicken sandwich.  And we hear they have blueberry biscuits in the test kitchen.  There are hundreds of Waffle House locations across the Southeast and even in spots around Colorado, but none yet in the Pacific Northwest or Upper Midwest.  Those folks need waffles too.  Give it time.

Hungry?  What restaurant chains do you think should go national?

We'll see if these chains grow or not, and in the meantime we'll be just fine keeping these hot little secrets all to ourselves.