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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
Lifestyle
Sarah Bahari

At Whataburger, a secret item moves to the main menu

A secret treat at Whataburger is getting a spot on the restaurant’s official menu.

The Texas-based fast food chain recently announced that chili cheese fries are available on its regular menu alongside the usual cheeseburgers, patty melts and breakfast burgers.

Before now, in-the-know customers have ordered the chili cheese fries from the chain’s secret menu. The announcement comes less than a month after the restaurant added a chili cheeseburger to its regular menu.

“We’re answering the call from Whataburger fans loving the new chili cheese burger and requesting chili cheese fries,” Rich Scheffler, Whataburger’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, said in a statement.

The dish comes with crispy fries, topped with beef chili and a mixture of cheddar and jack cheeses. And because this is Texas, of course, the chili comes without beans.

Whataburger fans have extolled the fries on TikTok and other social media.

Nearly all fast food joints offer secret menu items, many of which were invented by customers then adopted by the restaurants. For example, McDonald’s offers the secret Land, Sea and Air, a gargantuan sandwich stuffed with a Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish and a McChicken. Or In ‘N Out has the secret Animal Style burger, with pickles, grilled onions and mustard fried into the patty.

Other secret items at Whataburger include chicken and pancakes, a play on the favorite Southern dish of chicken and waffles, the Whatahash burger, a hamburger smothered in hashbrowns, and The Hulk, a combination of Powerade and Vault Soda, according to the website Hack the Menu.

Chili cheese fries are available at select Whataburger locations for a limited time. Prices vary depending on the market.

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