12 December 26, 2024-January 1, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents But honestly, more often than not, we’re stopping at Buc-ee’s or H-E-B for food on road trips, which brings up a crucial and brilliant point Gallaga makes in his article: Whataburger simply has not kept up with other iconic Texas brands. Left in the Texas Dust Texas-born H-E-B, for instance, has ex- panded and absolutely slayed, getting better with each new store opening. Buc-ee’s has single-handedly changed road trips while raising the bar for bathrooms across the state (and soon the whole country). Who- ever thought kids in Michigan would want gas-station pajama pants for Christmas? (According to a recent podcast I listened to, some do.) At California-born In-N-Out, the lines are notoriously long, but at least your order will be correct, the food will be hot and you know exactly what you’re getting every sin- gle trip. Whataburger hasn’t figured out that those qualities are what consumers expect. One factor that could be preeminent in the decline of Whataburger is manage- ment. Someone once told me any business is only as good as the people running it. I take that a step further and link how the higher-ups treat their employees as a har- binger of success. Chik-fil-A, In-N-Out and Raising Cane’s are known as satisfactory places to work, with intentional training, decent pay and upward mobility. Buc-ee’s bathroom atten- dants are paid up to $18 an hour. Have you ever met an H-E-B manager? They’re all signed, sealed and delivered. Pull into a Whataburger drive-thru and you just don’t know what you’re going to get, although newer locations are generally bet- ter — not beaten down by chicken butter bis- cuits at dawn and grilled jalapeños at midnight. But at some older stores, there is no essence of happiness. No one wants to be there. It gives punishment. So maybe it’s not so much that Whata- burger has gotten worse; it’s that other chains have worked hard to polish service, food and wait times. Whataburger is wad- ing in a pool of indifference. As Gallaga pointed out, maybe there’s been too much concentration on expansion. He reported that the opening of the Kansas City restau- rant was so bad in terms of customer ser- vice and marketing, they had to call a do-over. Head. Tilt. In not-good news, a few days ago, a new Whataburger employee complained on Reddit about getting only one shift per week and asked if they should quit (yes!). Another Redditor, Froot_Toot, who claims to be a Whataburger manager, tells them, “So I know with changes coming in the new year, a lot of stores are getting tighter on scheduling.” Great. Even slower. The WaPo article quotes Whataburger CEO Ed Nelson as saying, “Whataburger has a cult following,” and the company had its best financial year ever in 2023. Perhaps the strategy of leaning on that cult following is asking too much: Even the most devout fol- lowers can falter. One too many bad batches of Kool-Aid ... and, well, Nelson is retiring at the end of this year. We hope things turn around, but I’m still not committing to the drive-thru line any- time soon to find out. ▼ CANNABIS UP IN SMOKE TOTAL THC BAN COULD LEAVE DALLAS BREWERIES HIGH AND DRY BY REBECCA HSU O n Dec. 4, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced Senate Bill 3, a legisla- tive initiative that seeks to prohibit the sale of all forms of consumable tetrahy- drocannabinol (THC) in Texas. Patrick has significant control over the Senate’s legisla- tive agenda. The bill’s low number signals that it is one of his top priorities in the up- coming session. Dallas and Texas-based producers of THC beverages also welcome oversight but hope legislators take a rational approach. For a bit of background, in 2018 the fed- eral Farm Bill legalized hemp products con- taining up to 0.3% delta-9 THC by weight with the aim of supporting agriculture. In 2019, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 1325 aligning state and federal laws. Anything more potent than 0.3% is consid- ered marijuana and remains illegal. Patrick says some retailers have abused the law, selling products with dangerous levels of THC and allegedly marketing them to minors. Since the passage of the laws, THC-in- fused drinks and seltzers have hit the mar- ket. Brands like Hi, Power House THC and Buddi and CannaBl!ss from Community Brewing can be found in liquor stores. These drinks typically do not have alcohol — only THC, usually 10 mg or less. But Patrick has been threatening a new law to ban the prod- ucts for months. “Retailers exploited the agriculture law to sell life-threatening, unregulated forms of THC to the public and made them easily ac- cessible,” Patrick said in a statement. “These stores not only sold to adults, but they tar- geted Texas children and exposed them to dangerous levels of THC. Since 2023, thou- sands of stores selling hazardous THC prod- ucts have popped up in communities across the state, and many sell products, including beverages, that have three to four times the THC content which might be found in mari- juana purchased from a drug dealer.” Last year, we spoke to Jeromy Sherman at Bayou City Hemp, which produces Howdy Seltzer. Sherman told us he wel- comes regulation because transparency is crucial for attracting new customers. He, too, sticks to low-milligram drinks. “That’s the game we’re playing. That’s the right way,” he said. Jamie Fulton, a brewer and co-founder of Community Beer Co., said he welcomes leg- islation that supports fair regulation and taxation, but he wishes the legislators would use common sense when approaching this topic so that Texans can make their own de- cisions on the products they consume re- sponsibly. “They need to understand that there are responsible, professional and experi- enced manufacturers in this space [who are] setting the standards above and be- yond the regulatory requirements set forth by the state,” Fulton said in an email to the Observer. But Senate Bill 3 would ban all forms of THC. Fulton said Community Beers’s delta-9 THC beverages are low-dose products, with 10 milligrams or less per serving, and are sold only to those 21 years old or older. Community has a full chain-of-custody documentation from reliable hemp suppli- ers and tests every batch of THC drinks through an independent, third-party lab. Aa code on each can lets customers review lab results for the specific beverage and canning date. Fulton also emphasizes that many people buy THC drinks as a substitute for alcohol to avoid hangovers or for therapeutic use, say- ing the products improve their sleep cycle and quality of life. “Removing low-dose THC options from the market, that many consider a much safer alternative to alcohol and other drugs, would be an unfortunate step backward for Texas residents,” Fulton says. The upcoming legislative session will convene Jan. 14. City of Ate from p11 Christopher Durbin Power House THC Lemon Lime seltzer from Martin House Brewing would be off the table. Pledge your support of local journalism and get cool perks by becoming a member.
