Copperas Cove Whataburger brings home bronze from WhataGames in Houston
By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
Out of a field of more than 850 teams in a company that spans 13 states, Copperas Cove Whataburger 1044 was one of 16 teams competing at the annual WhataGames in Houston last weekend.
Copperas Cove 1044 took home the bronze overall in the restaurant competition, with team members receiving a $1,000 cash prize out of more than $200,000 in prizes and awards to be distributed by the company.
Liza Wells leads the local Whataburger store in Copperas Cove, which has 81 employees.
The competition actually began last summer, with teams studying Whataburger hospitality, procedures and culture, mastering rapid drive-thru service and building high team morale.
Then, the teams were narrowed to the top 16 finalists to compete in Houston.
Other medal winners include Houston’s 472 store, which took gold; and Mansfield 1016, taking the silver.
Members of the first-place winning team each take home $5,000 cash, and second-place team winners pocket $2,500 each. Smaller cash prizes are awarded to every Whataburger Family Member working in winning restaurants.
The other teams included stores in Brenham, Edna, El Paso, Greensville, Houston (263 and 472), Kingsville, La Grange, Lubbock, Mansfield, Portland, San Antonio (710 and 1026), and Socorro, Texas, along with one out-of-state team from the Whataburger in Crestview, Florida.
In addition to the Restaurant Champions, Whataburger’s MSC (Maintenance Services Company), also competed regionally.
WhataGames had a two-year hiatus prior to the 2022 competition, and first began in 1996 as a training exercise for operations during the annual Whataburger Convention, which hosts Whataburger corporate and regional representatives, franchisees, suppliers, and their guests.