The long awaited opening of Fuddruckers in northern Delaware is slated for Dec. 11.
Spokesperson Toni Niece said the restaurant is on track to hire a staff of 70. A new restaurant in Brandywine, Md., outside Washington, D.C. opened on Nov. 18.
Contrary to an advertisement in the 55 Hours section of the News Journal, the restaurant was not open as of Friday, Dec. 5. A sign on the door and website postings listed the restaurant as “coming soon.”
The restaurant is across from the Delaware Technical Community College Stanton Campus. The building formerly housed the island-theme restaurant Cheeseburger in Paradise.
Interest in the new location has been strong, with this story being the most viewed of the more than 4,400 posts on the DelawareBusinessDaily.Com website. The post has been frequently updated since Cheeseburger in Paradise suddenly closed in February.
Fuddruckers had its strongest growth in 1980s and 1990s. It has stayed with the formula of large hamburgers, freshly baked buns and milk shakes. Of late, the company has featured specialty hamburgers and “exotic ” burgers featuring elk, wild boar and buffalo.
Luby’s, the Texas cafeteria chain that acquired Fuddruckers out of bankruptcy a couple of years ago, has been working to build traffic and refresh the concept. Fuddruckers has fast food touches like no table service. It also offers hamburger condiments in a self-serve area. Shakes and bakery items are sold in a separate area.
In its home state of Texas, the company has opened twin restaurants with a Luby’s and a Fuddruckers.
Luby’s has also expanded the Fuddruckers concept outside the U.S., a strategy of many restaurant chains that have limited opportunities for expansion. Two locations have been opened in Italy and other nations outside the restaurant-saturated U.S.
Luby’s has about 180 company-owned and franchise restaurants. Over the years, Fuddruckers has closed many stores in the region, especially in the Baltimore-Washington area, but appears to be back swapping out Cheeseburger locations.
Cheeseburger in Paradise was a venture that at one time involved the well-known writer of the song of the same name – Jimmy Buffett. Buffett worked out an arrangement with the Outback Steakhouse chain, which operated the establishments for a time.
The concept did not thrive (there were complaints about food consistency here and elsewhere) and Luby’s eventually acquired the company. Buffett is no longer involved with Cheeseburger in Paradise and is focusing on his other businesses that range from blenders to beer.
Long-time residents may remember that the Stanton site was the longtime home Chi-Chi’s, a Mexican restaurant group that went out of business as family owned establishments ran rings around the chain. The brand lives on in a line of frozen food.
The building was later converted to a Cheeseburger in Paradise, with part of the structure housing a Dunkin Donuts.
That restaurant was disgusting. The Stone Balloon was cleaner!