Whataburger plans first SWFL location in south Fort Myers

Whataburger is bringing its first Southwest Florida location to south Fort Myers, with the Texas burger chain set to open in fall of next year in a vacant restaurant space on South Cleveland Avenue.

The vacant restaurant at 12916 S. Cleveland Ave., next to Mission BBQ, has seen a long line of tenants and plenty of firsts. Some, like Boston Market, lasted for years, while others, such as the most recent Aussie Grill, closed after nearly a year.

Jason Amar, owner of BJA Properties II LLC, which owns the property, said he hoped the new tenant would bring success back to the site.

Now in its 75th year of operations, Whataburger is known for being open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 364 days a year; it’s closed on Christmas Day.

Amar said he has a nondisclosure agreement with his new tenant, so he could not comment about Whataburger, other than acknowledging what’s in the public record.

Whataburger filed a development order with Lee County, according to public records. The order states: “Conversion of existing Aussie Grill restaurant to a Whataburger restaurant. Paving is to be repaired and seal coated. Repainting of parking stripes and other pavement markings. Increase of green islands and new curbs and nosing at existing curbed islands. Drive-thru ramp addition at new Tormax door on existing drive-thru window lane.”

Renovations will begin in spring 2026.

Illinois-based development company Sevan filed the development order and has a history of working with Whataburger.

The burger chain has 47 locations in Florida, with most of them clustered along the northern third of the state. Jacksonville has nine locations, Pensacola has eight, and Tallahassee has five. Whataburger officials said an Estero location is being planned for late 2026.

Texas has 766 of the chain’s more than 1,100 locations.

The first one, according to the chain’s website, opened Aug. 8, 1950, when Harmon Dobson launched the brand on Ayers Street in Corpus Christi, Texas.

“It’s amazing,” Amar said of landing a new tenant. “I hate empty buildings. That building should have been rented out instantaneously after Aussie Grill closed. We had two other tenants that were looking at it.

“This is the third one.”

Amar’s family has owned the building since the 1980s. A concept called Jose’s Taco House had just closed when the Amar family bought it.

Woody’s Barbecue, the original Rib City, Boston Chicken and then Boston Market and Aussie Grill followed.

Amar said Boston Market tried returning to the site after closing there February 2020.

“The company that bought Boston Market thought it was still an active location,” Amar said. “And we were already in negotiations with Aussie Grill at that point in time. And they tried to come back.”

The new tenant will move into a building that already had been gutted and fixed, Amar said.

Aussie Grill by Outback, a quick-service restaurant concept owned by Outback Steakhouse, opened there February 2022 but closed about a year later. Aussie Grill since shifted to a ghost kitchen concept and no longer has any standalone restaurants.

“Aussie Grill replaced everything in the whole building,” Amar said. “The HVAC systems, the roof, everything. They spent over a million dollars on that building.”

Sevan will be converting five other former Aussie Grill buildings to new Whataburger locations in Bradenton, Brandon, Tampa, Lutz and Orlando, said Wendy Hall, a project manager who handles permitting with Sevan.

“We started permitting last week,” Hall said of the south Fort Myers location, with renovations to follow soon and an opening projected for early 2026.