Fuddruckers is a burger staple in Texas for as long as I can remember, where they've always claimed to have the "World's Greatest Hamburger". Fudduckers combines burgers with great atmosphere that is unequal to most any other burger joint I've been to. They pride themselves in their meat and quality and it shows in their burgers. With locations across America, you should be able to find one near you. Let's see how it ranks.
I ordered the standard Fuddruckers burger, 1/2 lb patty, with cheddar cheese. The difference here than most other places is that I build the rest of the burger myself. This is good and bad. Whereas, I can build the burger precisely to my liking, it's a bit of annoying to do this yourself. I tend to prefer to have my burger ready to go instead of fumbling with tongs to pile up the toppings. The meat is fresh and not frozen, and beautifully cooked. And the Cheddar cheese was nicely melted.
Fuddruckers options for veggies is pretty big. Iceberg lettuce, shredded and whole. Onions, sweet diced and red rings. Two types of pickles (assuming sweet and dill), along with a number of other options. The lettuce was fresh and crisp and the red rings gave it a great crunch. Another great thing about these burgers is that Fuddruckers bakes their own buns. They are soft and delicious. I will admit though, it appears they bake their buns to fit their 1lb burger, which means for my 1/2 lb burger the bun was huge. Only got a little meat when taking my first bite.
The fries are hard to judge. They are wedge cut fries and difficult to decipher if they are fresh or not. Honestly, I've had fries that tasted the same coming out of a bag from the freezer section of the grocery store. Wedges are difficult to fully cook though without making them soggy, which makes me believe these weren't fresh.
4 out of 5
Fuddruckers makes a delicious burger. With fresh meat and veggies, and the fresh made bun, you are going to be hard pressed to find a better burger. Where Fuddruckers really falls short though is the price. Fuddruckers burgers are nearly $8 without fries. Standard meal with me and a kid's meal for my son rung up ~$22. That's crazy. It's a great burger but when you can go to Mooyah's and get one just as good (if not better) for close to half the price, it's hard to justify a great score.
I guess you are paying for their atmosphere more than anything. It's much better place if you want to relax with friends and family and not have to worry about fast-food/noisy atmosphere. Oh, they also have one of the most awesome drink fountain I've come across. Check it out.
