What used to be a Fudruckers in Salisbury is now what's known as "U-Turn Burgers."
Another business bit the dust in the City, showing the economy sucks and things are only getting worse.
We've watched Bonanza chains also close all around the area and as you can see from the parking lot in the photo above during the dinner rush hour, there's NO RUSH to get in! Tia's Mexican Restaurant also closed not that long ago as well.
Hey, who knows, now that The Tilghman Times gets to read it here first, maybe NOW you'll see it in their paper tomorrow or a few days later?
I'm told the owners were tired of paying the franchise fee so they dropped Fudruckers and reopened under a new name.
31 comments:
I believe U-Turn is still owned by the same people, just no longer Fuddruckers. I'm sure it was a business decision to get out of paying royalty fees to the Fudds franchise which probably weren't cheap. The food prices are now cheaper, the food is better than when fudds. Give them a chance, we'll see how things work out.
Small businesses,mom and pop blue collar workers, single moms, all are stretched.I don't know if it is so, but I heard the health dept. laid many off.Elected officials want to throw us a bone to save this economy, but they refuse to stop wasting OUR money.
No I will NOT give them a chance, not in a million years. I LOVED fuddruckers....where did it go? What happened?
Thanks for the info Joe. Hate to see another place close. My kids love this place but not sure what to think of it now. Will have to see for myself.
joe, you would think that this is something that the local "paper" would put on their "news updates." NOPE. Thanks to you we know what's going on in town here. THE DAILY TIMES IS GOING DOWN. GANNETT IS GOING DOWN!!!!!!!!
hate to say it joe.. but your always the one that has the news before someone else.. but this is little late news. its been there for almost 2 wks now.
If it's two weeks old, so be it. However, I didn't see YOU making any comments on the Blog or The Daily Times about it in the Grapevine and so forth.
Sometimes those Anti Albero Bloggers are simply impossible to please. Oh well, send me your address so I can send you a subscription fee.
We used to love going to this Fuddruckers but in the past two years, the quality of the food has been slowly going downhill, they've offered less options, they got rid of the beer and wine, most of the condiments and when we were there about 3 weeks ago, they'd gotten rid of the onion rings--which were the main reason we went there because they had the best onion rings. I'm sorry to say, unless I hear someone I trust say that the food is fabulous, we won't be visiting. The steady decline in quality over the past years doesn't inspire me with much hope.
~Angie
I went there on Friday night, and would like to offer my little review.
First of all, it is still operated by the same folks who had Fudd's. That being said, this will be a somewhat mixed review.
We went in with an open mind, and ordered the staple item: ¼ pound burger combo, with Cheese.
The ordering and pick-up procedures are exactly the same. You wait in line, order and pay, then wait for them to call you over the PA system to pick up your order. Our order took them about 5 minutes to have ready to eat.
The burgers were very good. They still use fresh (not frozen) patties, cooked to order. They only have one size: ¼ pound. If you want a larger one, order a double. I used to enjoy the 1/3 pound size when they were Fudd's.
The buns resembled el-cheap-o buns you could get at Wal*Mart. We were a bit disappointed with those, since they used to be fresh baked on site.
The fries were good, at least to me. They resembled what you would normally get at Wendy's except slightly better. My wife would have preferred the potato wedgies that they used to have.
I would prefer a nice baked potato, but they have not had those available for some time, even under the Fudd's name. The removal of this one item from the menu is one reason why I visited there on a less frequent basis.
Gone are the milkshakes too, a disappointment for me. I would have preferred one instead of a high-fructose corn syrup laden soft drink.
There was not much selection for desserts, either. IF you wanted a novelty item like an ice cream sandwich you are in luck. Gone are the fresh baked cookies.
The decor and furniture have not changed at all. The tables and chairs were old, and wobbly. While I still appreciate the nostalgia wall decor, they could have at least fixed those tables and chairs to be a bit more sturdy. We had to change tables before starting due to them being too loose for my liking.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed in the limited offerings on the menu, and the stripped-down appearance of the inside. Things like the melted cheddar dispenser were missing, and real metal flatware, if you wanted to use a fork or spoon.
I probably will go there again in a month or 2, if they are still open for business. After what I have experienced, I doubt they will last much longer than that, unless some changes are made.
I don't believe that restaurant closings such as Bonanza have anything to do with the condition of the economy. They closed because of poor management, pure and simple.
The last time I went there, I such problems dealing with the staff, and their attitude of indifference towards me the paying customer, I said it would be long time before I would return there again. I get much better service at Golden Corral.
Take a look around. Places like Olive Garden, Outback, Chicago Uno Grill, and the like are packed around dinnertime. You have to wait 20-30 minutes just to get a table. The economy is not bad, those places are far more expensive than Bonanza or Fudd's were.
There are other factors at work here that cause several places to prosper while other places close.
Fuddruckers has two d's. Dee Deee Deeeeeee.
Anonymous 8:36,
With all due respect, IF they could have stayed in business while still being able to afford the franchise fees, they would have done so. Instead, they are fighting to stay alive with no cars in their parking lot during a dinner rush hour and IMO it's only a matter of time. My hat is tipped to them for making every attempt they can to make this thing work but unless they're willing to reinvest into their own business and even perhaps bake their own buns, they're not going to survive.
The economy has everything to do with staying afloat. Granted, there's a large population of retired citizens here, so many restaurants stay alive. The younger generation ones like Uno's and so forth will suffer the most. I could be wrong in this statement but they're saying 1 in every 4 homes is heading into foreclosure. Stop covering your eyes and just look at the Classified section of the paper and see just how many are folding.
I truly wish these people the very best and I too will make an attempt to go there this week and help them. However, I will also rate them and if they're no good and they have cheap buns, they're toast.
Well, from a watrees that worked there the reason the QUALITY of food is going down or was going down was this
Fuddruckers requires on site fresh hamburgers. The size of the burgers were great. The OWNER manager was reported for going to Sams and buying frozen patties and serviing them to everyone. So it was not the franchise that went down hill it was the owner, that being the case if it is the same owner, how can it be better? He has no rules governing what he does.
You want a REAL hamburger joint, Salisbury needs a FIVE Guys, best, best burger joint around.
You have to try one, to believe me, but once you try one, nothing tastes the same.
We went to Fudd's 2 weeks ago and were not impressed. Regardless of the name, I won't go back.
Did anyone happen to mention that the prices were lower? Its not Fuddruckers and if you are going in there expecting it to be you are going to the wrong place. I have been to U-turn and had a good experience the food was hot, fresh and not to mention cheap. I went in with my family of four and ate for 20 bucks!
You also ate a lot less! They only serve a 1/4 pound burger and the sides are next to nothing as well, so we're told.
Give me a HUGE burger and charge me $10.00, I don't care. Does anybody remember Flaky Jakes back in the day, (LOL) in Ocean City? The monster 1 pound burger! Do you think ANYONE gave a sh!t what it cost?
When I had my restaurant in Crofton, that's one of the things we were known for. A huge burger, cheap! We always used fresh ground beef and we ordered custom buns from H&H Bakery. It was the bomb!
Don't bother going there. The food is TERRIBLE!!!
What's that restaurant that's right next door? Oh yeah. Can you say Mickey D's? Pretty tough to compete with Ronald McDonald no matter how you cut corners.
joe would you please call the owner of the business and ask them why they choose to get rid of the fuddruckers name.... you seriously have no idea why they did what they did....but instead of finding out the reasons you you post your own dam opinions instead of the truth.
you also eat a lot less but most ppl unlike your fat ass dont need all that food... 1/4 burger and fries is more than a filling meal for majority of ppl.... if you can eat that then your probably over weight....and before anyone replies back i can eat that and more look and i am not overweight go to the dictionary and look at what the word overweight means and then look at yourself again
anon 9:16 why should we believe anything you say you cant even spell waitress right haha
Why do people insist on spending good money at restaurants that do nothing but reheat frozen, shipped in food. We have a few gem in the local area Old West Steakhouse, Fratellis, City Bistro, FLavors of Italy, Delmar Pizza, La Tolteca and Market Street Inn to name a few. The prices are in line with the francises and all of the money stays in the local economy---no francise fees to pay.
Riverrat
If they HAVE to add another franchise restaurant in Salisbury lets hope it is a Cici's Pizza.I thought it was stupid to tear down a good place like Friendlys to build yet another McDonalds next door to Fudds
blutoj, you are right. We have a CiCi's where I live, and it is JAMMED all the time. Big variety and all you can eat. My hubby and I ate there for 12 bucks, but then again, sales tax in VA is only 5%.
Red Robin is another good burger franchise. Better than Fudd's in my opinion.
Hey Joe...What resturant in Crofton did you own? I used to live up that way.
The family went to Fudd's about a year and a half ago, a relative suggested it, wasn't impressed and never went back. Nothing but fast food quality, not much on service either. Might as well just sell that crap out of a vending machine and bypass the personal service and labor costs.
If I wanted to go to that much trouble of getting a damn over priced burger I'd cook it myself and save 3/4 of the dough and have enough for another meal.
I'm with riverrat, go to a locally owned eatery where the money stays here in our own community. Let the
franchise CEO's eat shit.
Most of them are only here until their tax break is over!
1. we need an olive garden
2. U-turn burgers suck. I went in thinking it was Fuds... not anymore. I ordered a double combo. The food items all came from sam's club. 1/8 lb patties, cheapo buns, orida crinkle cut fries. Paper cups for drinks, and burgers NOT cooked to order.
Fuds was all about a gourmet burger, not "here's your burger". This is no where near the same place.
Would not recommend nor return.
there is a olive garden next to red lobster
Kinda funny that 4 days after joe posted this, The Daily Slimes decided to get up there and report on it...
u turn burgers is a horrible place to go not only is the food half the size that it use to be and the prices are not that much lower if you really look at it and compare to the portion size you are getting but the managers are also so annoying I was in there about a week ago trying to enjoy my meal when I had this big goofy guy i guess it was a manager who looked like he had down syndrome come over pull up a chair and start trying to convince me how great the place was hey let me make up my own mind pal and get out of my face while I am eating the food is nothing great service is non existent there is nothing to set them apart from any other burger place on the strip I would rather save my money and go to some where like chilis if I wanted to sit and have a nice thick burger and relax or hardees if I was on the go you may be paying less for the food but now I see why
and I have also heard that they treat the employees like crap which is another reason why I will eat else where from now on
Just so you know the Bonanzas that keep leaving are not gone. They are actually still buffet restaurants and from what I hear are actually improving their food quality. They are no longer part of the Bonanza franchise because one of the owners sold it behind the other owners back while he was in Japan. When he came back he tried to buy back the franchise but couldn't. So he decided to keep the restaurants, change the name, and improve the quality of the food.
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