Whataburger coming to Lavonia

By MJ Kneiser/WLHR

Construction will soon get underway in Lavonia for a new Whataburger fast food restaurant.

At the Lavonia City Council meeting last week, City Manager Charles Cawthon announced the fast food restaurant’s plan to start construction near the I-85 southbound onramp off of Highway 17.

Cawthon said Monday that city officials and representatives from Whataburger had been in discussions while the company searched for a site for the planned restaurant over the past several months.

He said, “It’s been some months in the making. We’ve been communicating with them for a good little while. They’ve been looking for sites and they finally settled on one. Luckily, it was already in the City, had all the utilities there, and was already zoned correctly. It had the kind of exposure they needed, so they went ahead and pulled the trigger.”

Whataburger’s Lavonia location will be across from the Dunkin’ and DQ locations at the I-85 southbound interchange. 

On Monday, Cawthon said crews were on the property getting ready to begin work.

He said, “They already have their site plan approved and they’re starting on the work today. They’re trying to be open before too much further into 2024. So, they’re going to move it fairly quickly.”

The new Lavonia store is part of Texas-based Whataburger’s overall expansion plan into Georgia that include an company-announced 50+ locations in the state over the next several years.