Whataburger Is Not Coming Back to Nashville After All

NASHVILLE - After a recent job posting that provided a slight glimmer of hope that Texas-based burger chain Whataburger might be making a re-entry into the Nashville market, those dreams have now been dashed, for the time being, with the following statement from Whataburger’s reps: “Whataburger is always looking for expansion opportunities, but we currently do not have plans for a restaurant in Nashville. This job posting was made to attract candidates to apply to our existing locations in the southeast." [Tennessean/EaterWire]

DOWNTOWN - A few new details are out regarding the Levon Wallace-helmed restaurant slated for the currently under construction 21C Museum Hotel on Second Ave. N. It now has a name, Gray & Dudley, an homage to its previous tenant, and the “menu will be largely communal....with a variety of influences ‘inspired by the Mediterranean, regions of France and Italy and [Wallace’s] own West Coast roots[.]’” Also worth noting is that Shane Batchelor, the former director of operations at Strategic Hospitality, has been named food and beverage director for the restaurant. [Nashville Scene]

NASHVILLE - Popular local confectionery Cupcake Collection is in expansion mode again, this time headed out of state to owner Mignon Francois’ hometown of New Orleans. She tells the NBJ that her goal is to help her sisters open Cupcake Collection’s first franchise store in New Orleans by November of this year. [Nashville Business Journal]