Fuddrucker's

I noticed a thread in the "Lunch" section so I thought I'd start one here.
What do you think of this place? I love the decor (the one in my town has old gas station stuff--like signs and old pumps--scattered about inside).

BUT....I got violently sick not once, but twice, on their burgers. Their hot dogs seem okay but I don't know what was wrong with their burger meat.
Has anyone had similar experiences here?

Fuddrucker's is OK in my book; I won't go out of the way for it but if we're out and about at mealtime we'll sometimes stop because the kids like it, and the variety of toppings is nice. They cook burgers more done than I'd prefer but that's the way it is these days.

I did suffer some distress in the lower gastrointestinal tract after eating there once but as it happened within 30 minutes of finishing the burger I can't say for sure that it was the cause.

Brad

I was the architect for the first Fuddrucker's opened in Minneapolis/St. Paul back in the mid 80's when they started expanding out of Texas. Back then they butchered a side of beef on site in full view and ground everything into their hamburgers with the exception of 12 steak sandwiches. The hamburgers were exceptionally great back then. I haven't eaten a hamburger in 13 years so would have no idea what they are like today. Then menu was very basic and simple back then. Two sizes of hamburgers and the steak sandwiches along with the fresh baked on premise buns and dessert cookies. That and the long neck beers you drank waiting in line.

I last ate at a Fuddpucker's around 5 years ago in Tallahassee, the nearest one to me. Didn't get sick but it certainally wasn't what I remembered from years earlier. The massive condiment bar seemed like a E. coli) lawsuit waiting to happen, not to mention the obvious waste at the end of the day. There was a Popeye's next door and it was busy as hades. Lesson learned.

quote:

Originally posted by Davydd

I was the architect for the first Fuddrucker's opened in Minneapolis/St. Paul back in the mid 80's when they started expanding out of Texas. Back then they butchered a side of beef on site in full view and ground everything into their hamburgers with the exception of 12 steak sandwiches. The hamburgers were exceptionally great back then. I haven't eaten a hamburger in 13 years so would have no idea what they are like today. Then menu was very basic and simple back then. Two sizes of hamburgers and the steak sandwiches along with the fresh baked on premise buns and dessert cookies. That and the long neck beers you drank waiting in line.

That one was the same as the Fudds' that they had in Winnipeg. It used to be good too- their fries weren't my favorite though. It closed up about 12 years ago.

My opinion of the one in Knoxville is very very good. Every thing is cooked to order. You have to wait a few minutes for the burger but it is very hot and good when you get it. The bread is freshed baked and you can watch it being baked along with their other goodies.

Their condiment bar is outstanding and very well presented. I large selection of three types of hot melted cheese and all the veggies of any salad bar with the exception that they are very pretty.

They may not be the same everywhere but their lunch crowded is packed.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

quote:

Originally posted by Adjudicator

I last ate at a Fuddpucker's around 5 years ago in Tallahassee, the nearest one to me. Didn't get sick but it certainally wasn't what I remembered from years earlier. The massive condiment bar seemed like a law suit waiting to happen, not to mention the obvious waste at the end of the day. There was a Popeye's next door and it was busy as hades. Lesson learned.

There is a Fuddruckers up the road, about 3 miles from me. but have to admit, not having been there, since my girls were still at home.

I am curious as to your comments on the condiment bar, seemingly like a law suit waiting, and the "waste"? Just wondering.

When we dined there, it was fresh cooked burgers, and all the fixings to go with the burgers. Not gourmet, but a decent value. Has it changed?

In short, yes, it has changed. In the late seventies, in Houston, I recall Fuddrucker/s as a revelation in burger technology. I remember the butchers, behind the glass, hacking up carcasses for the ground beef, the whole side, not just the "lesser" cuts. They had boxes of fresh tomatoes, being sliced as needed. The melted cheese glop was exactly as it is today. (I don't have rose-colored glasses, merely 20-20 hindsight!)

Having helped my late grandfather butcher many a steer, I can say without reservation that watching someone "hacking up carcasses for the ground beef " is not a sight I would care for while eating a burger. I'll stick with the ball game, thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Poverty Pete

In short, yes, it has changed. In the late seventies, in Houston, I recall Fuddrucker/s as a revelation in burger technology. I remember the butchers, behind the glass, hacking up carcasses for the ground beef, the whole side, not just the "lesser" cuts. They had boxes of fresh tomatoes, being sliced as needed. The melted cheese glop was exactly as it is today. (I don't have rose-colored glasses, merely 20-20 hindsight!)

I forgot about their horrible cheese sauce!! I love cheese and hated the fact that they used that glop.

I think the Fuddruckers here died out because it was just too expensive. It would be about $50 for a family of four to eat there (12years ago).

I imagine the new health code restrictions on the cooking of hamburger meat would have really hurt their concept.

I eat there when I go to foxwoods casino, and it's pretty good. A little above average burger, ok fries. tastes better when i'm winning at blackjack though.

Next time you go try there fresh baked dinner rolls if they still have them. They are great.

I always meant to try the one in the Transportation Building in downtown Boston, but with so many good, less-expensive, local things around and Chinatown around the corner I never got around to it.

I guess it's my fault they went out of business.

I never have eaten at any.I remember about the meat counter business with the meat because I think back in highschool my sister ate there once with some friends.The meat display turned her off.
She likes a good burger now and then,but doesn't want to see it butchered.
I'm getting so I prefer to make my own at home with ground hamburger meat or ground chuck I buy from the grocery store.It's more juicy and has a pretty good flavour and I can season it to my tastes.

Last time I ate at one was in Columbia, SC and wasn't overly impressed. It was good but not great. Didn't like the goopy cheese to make your burger into a cheeseburger but it was no real big deal. I would eat at another if my hotel was beside it but that's about it.

When they first opened a Fuddruckers here my wife and I tried it. The medium rare hamburgers came out very, very well done and the condiment tables -- they had three or four of them -- were absolutely filthy. We never went back.

I would never go to this restaurant because I detest the name!

Expensive by my standards except for the lunch specials. Recently spent about $15-18 for 2 quarter pound dogs, 2 fries and 2 soft drinks. I do like their dogs but don't care much for the burgers.

Not a big fan. It always SEEMS better than it IS. I've never been actively ill after eating there, but the one near us looks like an E. coli experiment about to burst...
ALWAYS full of the most annoying kids. I know it's a family restaurant, but it seems like Fuddrucker's has actively recruited the most annoying people around to eat there.
Great concept, could be executed better, IMHO.

Real good ostrich burger at the store in Bridgewater, N.J.
The Bear

I have eaten at a couple of Fudruckers here in the Boston area and enjoyed it. The person who has the franchise seems to have an active hand on the business and it shows.
They have recently opened a new location in a furniture store {Jordans} that was formally a Johnnie Rockets and as I understand it's doing very well there also. Chow Jim

I live less than half a mile from a Fuddrucker's, and I hadn't been in there for well over a year. Today, I had a real hankerin' for a burger and very little time, so I went in.

I had forgotten how good their buns are(although the woman standing in front of me in line had better...). And, it's about the only place I can remember around here that actually cooks a burger less than well-done. The guy asked me how I wanted it cooked, I said medium, and it actually came out medium!

Not a bad lunch, and as I recall, they make great shakes and malts.