Who doesn’t love burgers?
They’re synonymous when it comes to fast food chains and Fuddruckers caters to the
burger-loving customer.
This American casual franchise chain specializes in large burgers and the meat and buns are
prepared on site.
“The world’s greatest hamburgers” are served at the chain and if that claim doesn’t
persuade you enough to go visit the restaurant, hopefully, these top 10 untold truths of Fuddruckers
just might.
Things Fuddruckers got inspiration from
1979, the year when Michael Jackson released his first solo album, “Off the Wall,”
ESPN made its entrance on cable TV, the Sahara Desert witnessed snowfall for 30 minutes,
and founder Philip J. Romano from Dallas, Texas was scheming up his burger restaurant
“Freddie Fuddruckers.”
For those who are unfamiliar with the chain, you might be scratching your head, wondering
how the name came to be.
It turns out that the name was cooked up from a made up name called Fudpucker Airlines,
which has been apparently a joke among aviation geeks for many years.
Romano has had a pretty colorful life before he went along with the restaurant business.
Before thinking about the prospects of a restaurant, he used to run two karate schools, which he,
later on, decided to let go for Fuddruckers.
In order to give full commitment to the venture, he had to sacrifice the schools in the process.
This shows he wasn’t just another guy dreaming of the prospect of a fast food chain.
He could also throw in a few punches to show you that he meant business, whether in karate
or fast food.
If you’re new to the channel now is the time to use your karate skills and chop that
subscribe button and kick that bell to be a part of our notification squad.
Fill Your Belly at Fuddruckers
Fuddruckers isn’t far behind when it comes to celebrating Fat Tuesdays.
The chain hosts a challenge which demands the participants to indulge in a 3-pound burger.
Now the arduous journey to victory doesn’t just end there.
The burger comes with 1 pound of Fudds fries and a bottomless soda of your choice.
It’s not like you can take your quality time and shove all that food in every space
imaginable to come out at the top.
The clock is ticking, and you have to finish the meal in an hour or less.
So you must be thinking, what do you get for your munching exploits?
Well, there is a victory t-shirt, which you can wear with pride and two free meals that
come along with it.
If that wasn’t enough, you acquire the respect from your loved ones and friends that might
speak about your amazing digestion feats in hushed tones for years to come.
Although one does scratch a head or two in regards to the free meal prize, as who would
think of having another go especially after such a challenge, unless you are a mutant
or have superpowers.
In case you think you’re the chosen one, keep in mind that reservations are expected
24 hours before arrival time at participating locations.
Spooky Fuddruckers
With every order you make at a Fuddruckers, comes a ghost haunting your meal free of charge.
At least that’s what customers might be thinking, visiting the restaurant in Modesto,
California.
Before the restaurant was set up at the place, there used to be a Blockbuster sitting there.
Rumors were that battery powered toys would get activated by themselves, doors would open
and close, speakers would churn out spooky sounds and the lights would turn on and off.
For those who have speculated the cause of this paranormal activity, they come down to
the conclusion that the happenings are related to the death of a skater boy during the 1980s.
There were more paranormal activities during the Blockbuster days, but still, there are
a few bumps in the night at the restaurant as well.
For those whose curiosity gets the best of them, you can check it out and for those who
don’t want anything to do with ghosts tormenting them in their nightmares and real life, you
know who you are going to call.
Phil Romano, man with a Fuddruckers vision
Romano is not only affiliated with Fuddruckers.
He’s also moved to other ventures and has never stayed put.
There are about 25 plus restaurant concepts which the man has dabbled in including the
famous Macaroni Grill and Cozymel’s, to name a few.
When he was 50, he found out that he had malignant lymphoma at the side of his appendix and since
then he has had a dream to do things quickly because of the ailment.
Finding his passion in art besides opening popular restaurants, Romano makes abstract
paintings too.
Besides generating an estimated 1 billion dollars in annual sales from the restaurant
business, his paintings come with a hefty price tag and can go up to $26,000.
Besides that, Trinity Groves is also part of the realms which Romano has ventured into.
It is an incubator that cultivates restaurant concepts for millennials.
At nearly 80 years old now, it seems like there is still no stopping the man and judging
by his voracity to fully exploit his creative side, we just have to wait and watch as to
what he ‘cooks’ up next.
The Eatzi incident
The multi-millionaire businessman Phil Romano became part of a lawsuit made against him
by an assistant manager at Eatzi’s.
Ichel Cook sued Romano on grounds of him harassing her by grabbing her from behind at a managers
meeting.
It's not just her who made that claim - and the whole thing was caught on video as well,
complete with Romano laughing as he inappropriately harassed her.
The mother of two was suing Romano for $1,000,000.
His lawyers were backing him up, saying the case should be dropped, and defending Romano
in the process.
With the statement, Cook wanted to make a point that such incidents are unacceptable
and no one should face them or be in a similar situation as she was.
As of 2018, the high profile harassment case has been settled between both parties, coming
up with some sort of agreement, the details of which have not been disclosed.
The committed Fuddruckers employee
There are those kinds of employees that work because they want to earn money and survive
and then there are those who love what they do and in fact, they love their workplace
so much that they decide to stick around for years.
Like Fuddruckers employee Brian.
The man has been working at Bush River Rd.
Fuddruckers restaurant since 1987.
His autism is not his Achilles heel when it comes to working professionally and efficiently.
His job is to observe and inspect the place by making sure it’s clean.
Since his years of experience working at the restaurant, Brian has seen many changes happen
during the period.
Some of them have been a change in uniforms and an upgrade on the menu.
Apparently, Brian seems to approve of them as he considers the restaurant without them
as ‘boring.’
Now there’s no better person to trust than Brian when it comes to getting first-hand
information about what he thinks about the place.
Everyone who knows Brian has nothing but good things to say about his hard-working attitude.
For now, Brian is happy with the tips he gets and has no plans to retire.
That’s what we call true dedication and a positive attitude.
PETA vs Fuddruckers
Now we all love animals and watching random cat and dog videos and memes on lazy weekends
is second nature.
Hopefully, the people over at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) would
be doing the same.
So what does PETA have to do with a burger restaurant such as Fuddruckers?
In its quest to protect animals, PETA has evaluated various vegan-friendly chains across
the United States, grading them based on the availability of vegan items on the menu.
Where does Fuddruckers stand compared to other restaurants and chains?
For all its popularity among general customers, PETA does not seem to be a fan of it as the
organization gives grade C to the chain.
This is due to the lack of any vegan options and the vegetarian burger available cannot
be made vegan.
It also found out that the salad and dressings had animal-derived ingredients, which is another
reason for the C grade.
The chain has been advised to include vegan options and burgers on the menu.
Come on now Fuddruckers, all opinions on PETA aside, surely you could offer better vegetarian
and vegan options in the face of ever-increasing demand.
Time for a change at Fuddruckers
Old things, things that don’t work, are supposed to be removed and new things take
their place.
That’s what you’re thinking when you’re conflicted with throwing out your favorite
chair because its time has come and getting a new one is the way to go.
Fuddruckers in Reading, Massachusetts was doing the same thing back in 2015.
The franchise became part of a large-scale renovation, giving a new look to the 6,700
square foot family-oriented casual diner.
The prototype design at the time came complete with a reimagined interior and enhanced functionality.
The intention was to give it a more welcoming ambiance.
A furnished lounge area along with a view-through fireplace is accompanied by large flatscreens.
For all those who love their draft beer and are not just satisfied by wine alone, you
are in luck.
Thanks to the changes, beer too has made a spot on the Fuddrucker’s shelf.
Jim Boland, a restaurateur who owns the franchises throughout Massachusetts, has been so confident
with the renovations made that there were plans to roll out the designs to other locations
as well.
For those who don’t manage to grab a seat during rush hour, never fear.
Because of the upgrade, additional seats come with the design, an improved register technology,
and more options on the menu that includes all available Fuddruckers items.
Now that’s the spirit Fuddruckers could further promote, “out with the old, in with
the new.”
Not in all cases though.
Romano and the heart stent connection
We have already gone over Phil Romano’s fascination for not sitting in one spot and
always hopping around to invest in different fields.
We have already covered his varied interests, but another feather in his cap has to be his
investment to fund a heart stent.
When his lawyers and accountants became his arch nemesis on his move, he still went along
with the idea of delving into the medical sphere.
During his time after selling off Fuddruckers, he came across doctors who had invented the
Palmaz-Schatz coronary stent.
Putting in $250,000, the invention was sold to Johnson and Johnson and since then has
made $600 million for the three parties.
He disclosed this in one of the interviews with Fortune.com and also mentioned how he
himself ended up getting those stents for his own heart.
Now that’s good marketing.
It's not just Romano who saw the potential for investing in the device, as in 2010, Texas
too jumped on the occasion by investing $3 million in a Dallas based company formed by
Dr. Julio Palmaz, who created the stent.
The move was made to expand operations and add more employees.
The device has certainly been a game changer as the tube-shaped device helps supply blood
to the heart.
When we look at Romano’s resume over the years it has been pretty unpredictable as
he hasn’t particularly followed any set pattern when it comes to business.
The guy mentions in the interview that the true ingredients for a successful business
are responsibility, integrity, communication, and love of God, patriotism, and charity.
Sounds nice - too bad respect for Ichel Cook wasn’t part of the package.
Not all is smooth sailing for Romano, as one of his ventures, Barloni, which comprised
of high-end men’s clothing wasn’t a success compared to his other adventures.
There’s a new burger at Fuddruckers
If you thought you’ve tried everything on the menu of the world’s greatest hamburger
joint, there’s a new burger that has made an entrance recently.
Available only for a limited time, the Frito Pie Burger became part of the list of items
the restaurant has to offer.
A combination of seasoned 100 percent beef patty, complimented with cheddar cheese, Frito
corn chips, chili and even more cheese added to the mix.
It cannot be exactly considered healthy but hey one would give anything to check out this
badboy.
With fresh beef served along with all the delights stacked inside this bun, it’s worth
having to run it off on the treadmill later.
It is unfortunate that such inventions do have a limited run, but that does add to the
urgency of trying it out.
That’s strategic marketing for you.
In case you are wondering when it's going to disappear, December 5th is the day so you
better hurry up and if you thought a Fuddruckers was out of reach and you didn’t have access
to such burgerlicious delights, the chain has got you covered on that front as well.
Dubbed the Fuddtruck, Fuddruckers on wheels comes loaded and all you need to do is book
a catering package and you might get lucky and get hold of limited run burgers.
As their brochure succinctly says, “we bring the Fudd to you,” guess the chain is serious
when it comes to exposing their brand even more.
Wonder what will pop up next.
Fudd Airlines?
Till then we have to suffice with the “Fuddwheels.”
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Thanks to Ethan Merryman for suggesting this video.