The Incredible Rise And Disastrous Fall Of Fuddruckers
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- Today on Weird History Food we are talking Fuddruckers. Whether founded by a mysterious character named 'Dudley P. Fudpucker', or the more likely guy known as 'Phil Romano' (also founder of Roman's Macaroni Grill!), Fuddruckers was born in 1979, and has lived a storied history of growth, near death experience, and a rebirth - all the while making what they argued is 'The World's Best Burgers'. Have you ever eating at a Fuddruckerss? Where was it? And what burger did YOU order?
#Fuddruckers #burger #weirdhistoryfood
One time my grandma said “We should go to that place with the good burgers, I think it was called RuddFuckers”. I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard in my life.
Fuddruckers had really delicious burgers. I used to take my kids there in the 90s and we loved being able to choose our own toppings. The quality was consistent and it boasted a quieter ambience compared to fast food chains. The prices were higher but well worth the added expense. I'm happy to see someone has saved the chain. I hope he can build Fuddruckers to the level of deliciousness it once was.
Same. The taste of the beef was insanely good back then.
Couldn't disagree more - only place I've ever gotten food poisoning, the one near me was AWFUL in every way.
Funny enough I went to one yesterday, Concord Ca, first time I'd be there in 26 years. Back then Zany Brainy was next door.
Growing up my mom would take me quite often, we loved it.
Then when i was 15-16 i remeber taking my gf at the time there, just us at times, with her family once, and a few times my mom, her and I.
pretty much through the 2000's
one day it just up and vanished and havent had em since
We got other places like fuddruckers.
Hwy 55,50's snack bar, jukebox diner,fenderz drive in.
I can't see the name Fuddruckers without thinking of the movie Idiocracy.
same, i just watched idiocracy again a week ago. Its better than ever.
after Idiocracy that's what we called it till ours closed
Exactly.
Haha yep. That's what we called the one where I lived, and that tie in made us go try it one day. I'm glad we did cuz it was amazing.
I literally thought the same thing. That is the ONLY reason I clicked on this video. I have never even eaten there. Lol!
I loved Fuddruckers. They made fresh bread, offered great quality burgers, alternative proteins like ostrich and bison, build my own burger, their fries were great. I never understood with the explosion of high-end burgers restaurants that Fuddruckers who already did this in the 80’s didn’t take advantage of the trend.
Getting sold about a dozen times probably destroyed their focus.
Fuddruckers was the only place to get free cheese sauce for fries, and they offered Boylan soda on tap. It was my favorite eatery. It depresses me to know my local restaurant is now a shooting range, but it's better then an abandoned building.
Honestly I wish the northeastern part of the US still had its own franchise or anything worth talking about remotely.. Friendly's was becoming terrible in food, service and cleanliness during the mid 2010s and is now going absolutely bankrupt. There's nothing really centric to NJ except some okayish local spots. At least y'alls turn into a shooting range, ours turn into abandoned buildings that nobody buys or just get demolished.
@@redline1916try Bahama breeze!
Perhaps they could combine the shooting range and Fuddruckers; you go in and shoot at various animals, whatever you kill, they turn into a hamburger?
Or a sketchers
or a spirit of Halloween
An absolute travesty. My all time favorite chain restaurant. Their burgers are simply sublime…
Were 😢
@@Imfromtheportlandorarea Still are
@@jllucci true a little I watched the video
The one by me had exotic meats like ostrich and bison and stuff - anyone else ever get down w these
A bit dramatic 😅
When my kids were little, they couldn't say "Fuddruckers" so they would ask to go to "Fun Wreckers."
lol we taught our little brother to call it FudFuckers 😂
That's so cute :D
I couldn’t say ship or truck without sounding like I was saying shi* or *uck. My parents told me to say big car and big boat instead.
Lol we were lil shits and called it ruddfuckers when we went as kids 😂😂😂😂
If they could say fun wreckers there is no reason, speaking as a linguist, that they should not have been able to say Fuddruckers.
Something you did not cover… I grew up near the original location, and we often dined there in the mid-1980s. One really interesting "feature" of the place was that they had a heavily refrigerated butcher shop with a glass wall so that you could watch them work. You could watch them cut your meat, grind it, and cook it through the glass wall. The kitchen also had a glass wall. (Sort of like Waffle House, but you can't shoot spitballs at the cooks.) This was only extant for the first few years, maybe up to about 1984. I think after that the City of San Antonio took umbrage with that practice, or perhaps people disliked it. I remember this one butcher came to the glass and had me shout my name to him. He found my ticket, walked over and cut the piece of meat off the full side of beef that was hanging there, ground it, then sent it over to the kitchen to be cooked. I witnessed part of an animal become my meal. It was actually a little weird. The fixings bar was fantastic, and the buns were interesting and very tasty. I was sad when the local Fudd's closed here in Mississippi where I currently live. It was paired with a Luby's Cafeteria, which also closed when they went out of business. Luby's was a San Antonio icon, one of the best cafeterias I have ever visited. I always went to the old Fredricksburg Road location when I visited my mom in SA. Fun trivia for your Weird History Food guys: the character Luanne Platter on King of the Hill was named for the Luby's "Luanne Platter", which was a full dinner platter with a half-sized main entree. Luanne was Luby's mascot. On KOTH they would eat at a fictionalized version of the restaurant called Luly's. I loved that show, boy, I'll tell you whut…
I used to go to one in Phoenix, and they had the same butcher shop and visible kitchen. It spoke to their confidence in their quality that they would let you see everything.
Someday soon you will watch Tesla bots do that and scratching their butts while wearing sanitary plastic gloves. :)
I remember that! It seemed like you could choose how you wanted the burger cooked also. Like, medium rare, well, etc.
I'd be totally down for this. That sounds like pure quality. I've never been to this place, and always assumed (because of the name) that it was a joke or a club or something, lol
Grew up in Houston in the 70's going to Luby's after church. And as a young adult going to FR's. I remember the meat counter/ butcher shop set up being at several locations back then as well.
Finally saw my first Fuddruckers in 2023 when I went to Omaha, NE. I was excited to finally get to try it, got to the front door only to see a sign in the door saying they had closed down in 2021 and the location was abandoned. As i walked back to my car 2 others pulled into the parking lot thinking it must have reopened since I was parked there.
at 72nd and dodge? I ate there many times.
@@krazi77 yep
Oh man that's a shame. They were pretty good, or at least kid me liked them..
I don't know why but this make me a little depressed.
I used to live near that one and drove past it all the time. Never got around to eating there, though. My main impression of it was "that place has a weird name, but still a better name than "Smashburger"...
You could’ve thrown in when Fuddruckers won the best green chili cheeseburger in all of New Mexico at the New Mexico state fair… I still laugh about that
Short version of the video: "Founder sold the chain to a corporate restaurant entity". It has happened many times before and after, and usually means the demise of a formerly great brand.
Based on their website, there's actually only 48 locations still open in the US, in 19 states.
11:02 Out of the 55 locations across the US: 6 are currently Temporarily Closed, and one is in Puerto Rico
This past February, I went to a Luby's with a Fuddruckers attached to it.
I hope they add locations in New York. I feel left out
There's still one in Myrtle Beach, SC.
The one in Puerto Rico us a few minutes away from my house and is really a good burger restaurant
Concord, CA location is still open and really good.
I'd love nothing more than to see this chain return to its former glory. I saw an interview with the Black Titan fellow a year or so back and I've been rooting for him ever since. My kids always love Fuddruckers, especially their cookies that came after the burgers.
Pause. I'm at 2:08 so it happened right before this. Five Guys literally puts your food into an unmarked brown paper bag. I have never seen a single plate or piece of silverware while inside of a Five Guys. What?
I got to admit this is a place with one of the best burgers I ate and was a routine visit for me on weekends. With been able to costumize your hamburger easily from the salad bar it was one of the main reason.
Was sad when the one I would go to often closed down sadly.
There are two Fuddruckers in Canada. One in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and one in Regina, Saskatchewan. I have many good memories of hanging out there on the weekends with friends.
Fuddruckers in Regina sounds wild
I live in Regina and our location is always bumping! Love going there!
Fuddruckarate is such a fun word to say. Like Kinnoppanokke.
Just don't Spoonerize it.
@@ferociousgumby He said, fuddruckerly?
On the Jamie Foxx Show they had a fictional version of Fuddruckers called Floodpuckers. Instead of a sit-down restaurant like the real Fuddruckers, it was just a low-quality drive-thru joint. I never been to Fuddruckers but I always got a kick out of that.
I always remembered seeing the produce bar and thinking that was coolest thing ever when I was younger.
Paul Rudd must have gotten antsy stepping into that place....
Unless he was into that sort of thing.
I miss this place a lot. Good burgers, good shakes, endless options. There hasn't been a burger place to fill the gap since the local one shut down over 10 years ago, I just hope they expand back out to my area some day.
I went to one in Houston not long before it closed. They didn't have many items on the menu and no soda, the staff said there were issues getting the vendors paid. A few weeks later they had warm sodas in cans.
My daughter's elementary school always had fundraisers at Fuddrucker's back in the day and I was always glad to go support the school because they had good food. No locations near me now.☹
I'll always remember Fuddruckers, because when my friends and I went to the first one to open in the DFW area, as a teenager in the late 80s, it was the first time in my life I'd ever experienced my jaw cramping from how wide I had to open my mouth to try to take a bite out of their massive burgers.
The fuddruckers in Houston literally just permanently closed today.
No the City Center/ Town and Country location. Shows open and as boots on the ground they are busy 7 days a week.
Damm. I wanted to eat there. Willowbrook mall?
@@texasscifi3431 town & country location is open
@@texasscifi3431 Town & Country location is open. I just came from there.
The one by memorial mall and another in webster are still open. Sofaking useless facts here.
Maaaaaaaannnnn Fuddruckers had and maybe still had phenomenal burgers. They were my go to burger joint when they were local. Honestly McDonalds, Burger King and Wendys had NOTHING on the quality of their food and the choice of creating your own burger was just icing on the cake, I hope they make a miraculous comeback
My parents took us to Fuddruckers all the time when I was little. The best burgers and that cheese sauce was no joke. We were so sad when it closed.😢 But we had the best times there!
The cheese sauce was heaven. I drowned my burger and fries in it.
Fuddrucker's is still thriving in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada). The same location has been operating for at least 30 years - my mom managed it in the 90s. It's an extremely popular dining spot here!!
Nothing else to do there
I was a frequent visitor and loved it every time. No other burger place today really compares at all.
I’m a San Antonio native. Fudruckers was always a staple for my family. The elementary school I went to even gave out vouchers for free burgers during school fundraisers
Where's the Idiocracy reference?
I was disappointed, but it isn’t 2505 yet, so maybe they just don’t know.
I came in hoping to see Buttfuckers. Very disappointed.
I went to a Starbucks and asked for a handjob. Now I’m banned and on a list. I was told Idiocracy was a documentary 🤷♂️
BxttFxckers 🎉
"And from then on everyone thought of Fuddruckers as B*********s, which was funny but caused them to go out of business."
Fuddruckers’ only location in Canada is in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It’s a great place. There’s also an arcade with ticket prizes, a batting cage, a rock-climbing wall, and a miniature golf course right in the same lot. The breakfast menu is to die for.
There's one in Regina as well, but sadly it's no where near as good as Saskatoon's
What’s interesting is this location has always been extremely busy. It’s been successful for decades. So it’s odd to hear how poorly the franchise has done overall.
I went home to Virginia last Christmas and took my wife and kids to Fuddruckers for a great burger. The place was terribly run down and the toppings bar was unimpressive. The restaurant was barely hanging on at a great location.
What part of Virginia? I grew up in northern VA and my family always went to a Fuddrucker's in Herndon. The food was so good and I remember how much I loved the hot dog. The building was so cool - there were three levels! The main level had the most tables, plus the counter and the toppings bar and all that, but there was an upstairs and a downstairs (almost like a basement) with seating too. For awhile the upstairs was the smoking section, but eventually most restaurants started to ban smoking so I remember finally getting to sit upstairs when I was older (my parents weren't smokers so obviously never wanted to sit up there when it was the smoking section). It makes me sad to think that this Fuddrucker's that I grew up going to is probably either already closed or on it's on its last leg!
@@hannahroberts673 I grew up in Woodbridge. A few years ago one opened in an old Cheeseburger in Paradise. The owner kept a lot of the cheeseburger in paradise stuff (like bamboo looking booths) which just didn’t fit with fudruckers.
Idiocracy also showed the fall of Fuddruckers.
The one in Saskatoon Saskatchewan is still bussin! Has mini golf, Ruckers, and a good vibe. Fun place!
I've been there! Will definitely go again if I'm ever in Saskatoon again.
Dammit! This Edmontonian missed it last time I was in town which was in 2022 for the Aqua show at Credit Union Centre... WHERE IS IT in S-TOWN anyway???
@@stickynorth 2910 8 St E, Saskatoon
The name alone is just... so fun. LOL there was a location in DC that used to be pretty popular but unfortunately, it was one of the ones that were shut down. It would be great to see them back in the area; Fuddruckers is a personal favorite.
I miss Fuddruckers
Pwhahaha 🤣 this video won me over soon as they did the "Fuddruck-arate" joke the delivery was smooth and well done. Thank you for making me smile
Honestly, I don't see a death of this brand in the near future. Any spot that makes good, honest, quality food would find itself a way to stay open and this is true to most spots of this chain. Hopefully it bounces back
Me too. I miss having a Fuddruckers within driving distance here in the Twin Cities. Closest one is in fricking MICHIGAN!
Cost too high now
I worked for these guys in 2005. They treated their employees terribly, constantly played mind games with you, and after a few months, tried to get you to quit, just so they wouldn't have to pay unemployment.
Naturally, when a company does this, word gets around and eventually they couldn't get people to keep it going. Today, the location I worked at is now an independent taco restaurant. Hopefully, these new guys recognize that restaurants still have human employees for a reason.
They have have 2 here in Jersey, when I get the chance I always try to take that drive and take anyone willing to go. Still a great place with quality food.
Fuddruckers was good, but hasn't been good for quite awhile, at least 15 years. My last encounter with Fuddruckers, the food was so-so, and the customer service appalling. While there, we I had to deal with three dads who were letting all their young progeny run around the restaurant, even walk up to other people's tables and ask for fries. "They're just kids!" When we complained to the manager on duty, we were told, "What do you expect me to do about it?" Never been back.
I litterly had a huge spat in a Orlando FL Fudds 🥤 A mgr was a complete b**** over milkshakes.
Happens to all chains eventually once they start franchising, you can't keep the same quality everywhere without having actualy skin in the game and own the places. Actually, you can't even keep the same quality control at all once you become a chain.
But seriously, what is the manager supposed to do in that situation? Those dads were terrible but they were paying customers too, and it’s not like you can grab the kids or call the cops. People are just awful.
2:32 it looks like hes holding a knife
I love Fuddruckers and I think they should definitely have a comeback! I think if they had more advertising in the way that you can make a burger anyway you want while making it affordable for the family to go it would be perfect!
I havent been to a Fuddruckers for a long time. Maybe my entire adult life! Technically there is one fairly close, but going from MD to VA is kinda a pain in the butt because of the Potomac River.
I do want to make the journey, though.
I freaking LOVE "Fuddruckers"...and those burgers are LEGIT because YOU'RE the one that makes it!!!
Used to go here to eat the most delicious Salmon burgers back in the late 90s
I worked at a Fuddruckers in the early 00s and it was inside an indoor go kart track called Andretti's, never got tired of their burgers and if you've never had ostrich it's actually really good
I go to the one in Sevierville Tennessee when I am down that way. burgers are still awesome and brings back fond memories of visiting them in Houston Texas in the 1980’s
I loved Fuddruckers, there was one down the street from the studio I used to work at.
I remember my buddy making fun of me for putting nacho cheese on my burger and fries until he tried it for himself.
Ostrich and Bison burgers at Fuddruckers were fantastic.
Hey! That's me in the beginning clip from the Fuddruckers commercial looking "confused"!
Seriously?
@@KS-PNW LOL, yep, about 17 seconds in. I made it into a Weird History vid! My life is complete. :)
@@seanjudge that's kinda cool. Congrats on being part of history lol 👍
7:07 DID THIS GUY REALLY SAID *COLUMBIA* ??
My first ever Fuddrucking happened at Broadway in San Antonio. Sadly, that was by far the best Fudds I've ever been to, and it's closed.
English is not my first language, and my family has never been the type to it out, so when I was younger I sincerely thought they sold dog food. There was a store where my mom and I would always go to buy school supplies, and I would see people go in and out and I always wonder why they enjoyed eating dog food. I guess I got it confused with the brand Pedigree. I think I randomly asked my sister ones what it was, and she said it was a burger shop. I asked if we could go and everyone in my family said no. When I was able to finally drive, it was too late because it had already closed down and left my area entirely.
When I was in Middle School my Boys and Girls club gave out these bookmarks with a burger on it with a Hole Punch and if you read 10 books you could take the bookmark to Fuddruckers and get a free burger. I read 50+ books that year.
Hi Mr Narrator ❤
The thing is Fuddruckers is really tasty. I kind of think of it like a “Chili’s but burgers” out location in Utah closed, hoping it will come back. They also had food challenges like a pound burger, plate of fries, and a shake. If you did it the meal was free. I did it one time when I was maybe 18; so about 20 years ago. No way my old a** could do it now.
But it was delicious.
I’m in UT. The Sandy location closed a long time ago. My husband and I used to go on dates there in the early 2000s. We’d get the $10 sampler plate and he’d always get the Bison burger. Good times 😄
I loved Fuddruckers. Their burgers were exactly the kind that I enjoy. Nowadays, it's just copy/paste smashburger joints charging $12 for two patties thinner than a pencil. Was Fuddruckers more expensive than a fast food burger? Yes. Was it much, MUCH better than a fast food burger? Unquestionably. You could order a burger as big or small as you wanted AND have it cooked to temp AND pick your own toppings, putting as much or little of each as you preferred.
Unfortunately, the general public tends to go only 2 ways these days - either spending a small fortune at upscale restaurants or pinching pennies and going to fast food chains for miserable patties of mystery meat served with lukewarm fries. The "pay a little more for better quality/service" businesses are being largely ignored, which is a real shame as I find that to be the sweet spot for satisfaction.
Thanks for interesting and valuable information video as always
I was a baker for Fuddrucker's (Athens, GA) in the 90's, great job. The bread was delicious, served fresh every day. We also sold loaves of bread. The hambugers were large and very fresh tasting. Great wings, that were baked and then fried on demand. As a bonus we had a Mortal Kombat arcade game that got probably 10% of my paycheck.
I wanna know what the connection is to Flakey Jake's from the east coast. I grew up in Indiana and we had a burger joint called Flakey Jake's, and when I moved out west as an adult, the first time I walked into a FuddRucker's, I thought I was back in Flakey Jake's. Nearly identical.
I grew up in (and still live in) Indiana and I remember Flakey Jake's but don't remember ever seeing one much less eating at one. There was a Fuddruckers about 30 miles from me though
@@Eric-Indiana I never heard of FuddRuckers until I moved out west in '07. I've been to the two north of Dallas several times, and they were almost identical to my memories of the Flakey Jake's that was in Indianapolis when I was a kid. We went to Flakey a LOT cuz we all loved the cheese fries.
Honestly I wonder how many places riffed on this idea. I grew up in Louisville KY with a place called WW Cousins and it sounds exactly like Fuddruckers
@@CorbyCave I probably just don't remember seeing a Flakey Jake's because I was definitely not that far from Indianapolis as a kid...and now. (Columbus as a kid and for a while now again as an adult). I probably saw one or two but never ate there so I don't remember. The Fuddruckers I knew and remember was a long Highway 31 in the Greenwood/Southport stretch of the area. It went under, became a shoe store, burnt down and a brand new building was built on the same footprint. Even though it's a different building if in the area and go that way every once in a while I'll look over and remember. 😀
@@CorbyCave I also read up on both restaurants a little after posting here and it seems they sued each other because the restaurants were so similar...🧐😂
One of my favorite burger places in the 90's. Building your own burger was always fun and exciting.
3:52 Tom and Jerry won seven Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film!
Ate at Fuddruckers back in the early 90's for the first time. I loved the place. Could order the size and done-ness. And you put on the dressings. As much or as little as you want. I just think they lost focus over time. If they just stuck to burgers, they'd still be around.
Puerto Rico is NOT another country. Puerto Rico is a US territory.
I remember there was fuddruckers close to where I live, but when checked back a few years it appeared that the location was sadly closed down, which definitely conveyed to me the state of restaurant
2:07 Valley Girl is such an amazing movie!
I remember when Fuddrucker's came to Maine in 2015. It was the first location north of Boston at the time. A few people I worked with and myself decided to try it one day for lunch and they had some good burgers. I only stopped in there twice over the few years it was open. Both visits were a good experience. It's a shame that the place would only last 3 years and would close in 2018. Their reasons for closing were that business was seasonal with the tourist traffic running through town as well as rising labor and overall business costs.
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FUDDRUCKED is the best label on any RUclips thumb anywhere.
9:51 That "What A Burger" shown is the (shut down) one in Colonial Heights VA. Completely different brand and chain from Whataburger. The real one is not allowed to operate in Virginia or North Carolina because both claim they had the name first. I only know of two What A Burgers, one in Chester and one in Prince George. Sad that we don't have access to the real thing.
Texas Whataburgers are on point. I’ve tried the one in yulee, Florida and it’s always disappointing
The one near me was really solid. I liked the buns and how they cooked the burgers medium by request.
I used to eat at FuddRuckers between 2001 and 2007. I used to call it ‘Las Hamburguesas de a Cinco’ (Spanish for ‘The Five Dollar Burgers’). As you’d probably guess, around 2007 was when the burgers were no longer priced at ‘Cinco’, & the quality went down, but I remember quite vividly, the taste of the seeded bun, the taste of the burger meat, the topping/condiment bar, the little arcade that was in it, the TVs always that showed sports, the ‘Rock Star’ decor on the walls, etc., I would go there exclusively during the evening hours. The burger buns in particular had a unique feel; crispy on the outside, & soft on inside, nice and buttery and held up very well. I have yet to find a burger joint in my area that has them like that in 2024.
Who remembers finishing their meal and turning in their receipt for a free dessert? The snickerdoodles cookies were the best! And as I got older after school I would get a hefty 1/2 pound bison burger. I hope they keep expanding under new owner ship. One of my favorite burger joints!
I had a Fuddruckers right outside my door. My treat for the week would be to get an order of fries to go, & then load it up with as many toppings that the lid could take.
I went to a Fuddruckers once. We were a party of 8 or 10, visiting a local attraction, and stopped there for lunch in the mid 1980s. That was the all-time worst meal (not just burger) that I've ever had in any restaurant. None of us, as I recall it, could get past the first bite of the burger. They gagged us. We promptly walked out or the restaurant, never to return.
i grew up going to one here in Miami, Florida. its still nice to see that they're open, great memories were created there. i love fuddruckers
Thank you for this! There's one 45 mins away, taking the fam today.
I love going to my local Fuddruckers still. One of the only places around that will actually make a rare burger
Went there once when i was a kid in the mid-eighties with my mother and brother. Bunch of high school kids were "working" behind the counter, but were just clowning around making alot of noise. Cost more than twice as much as In-N-Out Burger and not as good. None of us ever went back and that location closed down faster than you can say "Buh-buy".
I used to work at Fuddruckers in Northridge, CA which is a suburb of Los Angeles. This was back in 1985. I was nineteen. I lasted for only a week. It was a shitty gig.
I ended up getting fired and it was one of the worst jobs that I've ever had! I never worked in a restaurant again! Thank God.
Oh yeah, and the food was highly mediocre. I ate there maybe once and never went back.
It would be really cool to take my kids to Fuddruckers today. At 11 and 13 they'd both really enjoy it. It's a shame it's gone in our town--I always liked it.
I worked at Fuddruckers in the early 90s up here in Canada, was a fun place to work. I love the fact that you can take your burger to a salad bar style section and load it down with whatever "fixuns" you want. You definitely pay a premium price for it, but I've never had a bad burger there. That same restaurant is still here where i am in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan as of now, not sure if thats the 1 Canadian location you mentioned. I was sure there were more up here. Now i wanna go again after this.
As a person with the last name Rudd, I always got a kick out of seeing this place.
My favorite thing about this chain is the unlimited cheese sauce you can put on *everything*. The one I went to before it closed also had those classic ruby red plastic cups you'd see in an old school Pizza Hut, as well as a bunch of vintage arcade machines. It was basically the Pizza Hut of burgers.
We had a Fuddy's for a whole year, I think. But the sudden influx of almost every box chain under the sun to our town killed it, as well as every other box chain. Never understood the thinking that went behind that whole economic blunderbuss
The best burger I ever had was a double mushroom swiss 1/2 lb from Fuddruckers in 2006. I had just gotten out of boot camp and went to celebrate with my mom. She was always around 110lbs max, with Multiple Sclerosis and never ate much, but she ate an entire 1/2 lb burger from there and all the fries. Might have been the best meal I ever had.
Sadly, both Fuddrucker's in our area closed. Watching this made me hungry for their burgers and homemade buns. We would drive 25 miles just to get one.
I live in Ireland but I visit America maybe once or twice a year. The last time I heard of Fuddruckers was during a trip to Orlando 10 years back. Family went to Festival Bay Mall where there was one and I was distinctly underwhelmed. We went because my kids are coeliac and we wanted gluten free buns so I was happy this place did them. But the restaurant was shabby, the prices were high and there was literally nothing about the experience that made me want to go back. I completely understand why they may have tanked. We visited Orlando several more times and know Festival Bay got closed and reopened but this burger joint was long gone. And I'm not surprised.
I remember as a kid in the 90s wanting to go so badly, and we finally went and of course I couldn't even finish eating the burger!
There used to be one in OKC at Western and I-240 that I remember eating at several times as a kid. I remember enjoying it, but it closed while I was still a kid. I also remember occasionally eating at one while traveling around the country. The last of these if I remember correctly was in Myrtle Beach, SC in 2002. Around that same time, a new location opened up in Tulsa on 71st St just off Highway 169. This was in an area I usually frequent once a year, so a few years back I stopped in for lunch before leaving town. I remember thinking it wasn't quite as good as I remembered Fuddrucker's being. That location in Tulsa has since closed.
I love Fudds. The buns alone were reason enough to go there. The burgers were even better. And then add all the cheese sauce you want?! I'm really disappointed there aren't any near me anymore in Minnesota.
The Fuddruckers I used to frequent was the best. But later on down the line, something happened. The owners or managers of the franchise acted like they didn't care. And that's when I noticed a drop off from previous years.
I'm so happy at one point we have 4 in our area. Now we just have one...and I'm there all the time. Shout out to Reading, MA!
Decades ago my Fuddruckers had a butcher dept on site and I was able to buy fresh cow bones for the dogs.
I always use Fuddrucker’s as a business example. People
Always think that your product has to be the best in your category. Fuddrucker’s has better quality than McDonald’s but McDonalds cleans house with an inferior product.
The end began when they stopped selling the wurst. Lord those were amazing. Their burger is also the best with that liquid cheese. I wish we had one here. I'd go every month.
I guess the original founder of Fuddruckers only goal was to give the world a better hamburger, since he sold the franchise relatively quickly. But it's nice to hear the restaurant have a happy ending by being purchased by someone who had a passion for Fuddruckers.
We used to go there a lot. The one nearest to us closed back in 2010, and is now a place called Three Corners Grill, which is actually pretty good, but not at all like Fuddruckers.
Would definitely go again if they ever return to the area.