When I saw James Talarico celebrating his historic Senate victory at Whataburger, I had to laugh, because God knows my friends Greg, Chantal and I certainly spent half our lives there while in college back in Tempe. (Oh, and what ever became of Lillian?!)
Talarico, who became the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Texas since 1988, stopped by the beloved burger chain in Austin early Wednesday morning, where he was joined by fellow election-night winner Gina Hinojosa, who had just unseated Governor Greg Abbott. The two toasted their victories with Whataburger's signature oversized orange-and-white drink cups as campaign staff and supporters packed the restaurant and passing motorists honked their horns.
Talarico even posted about the visit, writing: "First stop post-win: Whataburger."
There's no word on what he got, but the whole scene brought back memories of countless late nights spent at the fast-food favorite, where we apparently had nowhere better to be and never seemed to get tired of going.
Upon texting the now-iconic photo of the Texans to Greg, he had the same thought I did:
But did he order a Whatachicken? That's what I need to know!
"Counting our change at the back of the bus ... I don't have enough for the both of us."
