- Fuddruckers on Wendover Avenue, Greensboro, NC
Ken and Kathi Review: Fuddruckers on Wendover Avenue - Greensboro, NCThe Scoop on FuddRuckers
Fudd's offers good old-fashioned hamburgers, hot-dogs, ice-cream, and milkshakes mixed up
with some "new" offerings like ostrich or salmon burgers. What would make them "The Best" burger joint in our opinion is the toppings bar - you can fix up your burger any way you like with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onions, cheese, etc. If you're health-minded, you can go "lite" with one of their fabulous salads, or if you want to die an early but tasty death from coronary artery disease, load on the liquid pump cheese and mayo.We hate to say this about what used to be our favorite place to hang out, but we hardly eat here any more. At one point, Fuddruckers was most definitely a "family" restaurant, but unless you're raising kids in a gang, it's not any more. The kids who hang out there now are ugly, and I don't mean that they need a plastic surgeon's attention. (Even Miss Manners might say they need a trip to the woodshed) The new management installed new video games that are violent, vulgar, racist, and aimed toward training up young rapists and car thieves. The first time we experienced it, my teenage son suggested that we leave, mid-meal…just leave our burgers and GO! We immediately brought it to the attention of the manager on duty, who apologized but said she could do nothing about it. "It's what the senior management wants", she said. We visited again the other day, and believe it or not, they've added more games.
This is the sort of place where you stand in line, order your food, and then go collect it at the counter when it's ready. Very informal. We've become friendly with several of the staffpeople there - because it's "almost" a fast food place, it's a good place for college kids to work and there's a lot of turnover. However, they're pretty good kids. Most of them are smiling, willing to work with our special needs, and a good advertisement for the restaurant! If you decide to go, get Chevy to take your order - she'll make sure everything is JUST right. One thing we can
say is that the crew works hard to keep the place clean, and they've always had a great health rating.
One of the reasons we started eating at Fudd's is that back when Eric was the manager, we wandered in one day, asked to speak with him, and explained the dilemma of celiac
disease. He said, "Never heard of it, but I bet we can feed you. Let me talk to my grill people." He came back in a few minutes and said, "Go and eat!" They made us plain burgers and fries (extra fries, since we couldn't get cookies) and showed us how to wrap the burgers up in
lettuce. Brilliant! And until recently we've eaten here a lot because he was willing to help us take the time to sort out our allergies. (Eric, if you ever read this - you're missed!! Get in touch with us and let us know how you are!!) When the new management came, we had some sticky moments - they didn't want to give us extra fries, they didn't understand that "no spice" means "not even a LITTLE bit", and we had to tell them these things about a dozen times - but eventually they "got it" — I think we're on our third set of managers, actually, and things
are pretty stable now.
Unfortunately, I can't call Fudd's an "accessible" restaurant. They have ropes set up to make a "queue" for order-taking when you first go through the doors (which by the way are a little
heavy for someone with limited upper-body strength) - a person in a wheelchair cannot get through these queue-lines. If you do the logical thing, and cut around them through the bar area, the folks who are making their meals up feel that you're invading their space (you are) - and then the people who are going through the queue feel like you are cutting in line (it certainly appears that you are!) - surely there must be a better solution. Also, I've fallen TWICE at Fudd's - once with injury; I sprained my ankle. (Actually that day I had been feeling fairly good and didn't have my cane -this was long before I 'graduated' to the chair-). In going through the line to order my food, I accidentally stepped on the edge of one of the posts that hold the chains and signs that hold the queue, and down I went. Eric, the manager on duty, was great - got me ice, rummaged around and found a cane that had been in lost and found, offered to get me to the emergency room (I declined; due to my medical condition I sprain often). It should be noted that even after this, and even though other people have had mishaps with these posts (we've seen it happen!!) Fudd's has never done anything about these queue posts.
The other time there was a problem, I was using my cane, the floor was wet and the cane slipped. Fortunately I caught myself before I ended up all the way down - that would have involved serious injury. I don't think that people realize that the tiniest bit of liquid on a hard surface can be deadly for people who lean on a cane. That time, it wasn't the store's fault (I think it was a spilled drink, or drips from hands in the bathroom - it was a long time ago) - however, that floor gets SO slippery I'm surprised that more falls don't happen. The tables are too low for a power-wheelchair user. However the table issue is a universal problem. Unfortunately, arrangement of the restaurant is such that it's hard to get around in a wheelchair. I imagine in order to make it better, they'd have to lose a few tables - they'll probably not be willing to do that. Last time we went, we sat out in the "front" room - which faces Wendover - it's farthest from the counter, and so there's less people seated there. It makes it easier to get around.
Summary:
Until the management of Fuddruckers decides they no longer want money from aspiring gang members, we've decided not to eat there. It's just not an enjoyable experience to eat in a place that should be rated "M" for "Mature" (or is that "I" for "Immature"? We're just not sure).
We simply cannot recommend this restaurant to anyone until they take these games out.
That doesn't negate the fact that their food is fabulous, though - and if you find yourself having a Fudd's Fix, the Greensboro location does offer a take-out menu - they'll even bring it to your
car so that you don't have to step foot inside the restaurant. When you call, be sure to tell the manager why.
June 2006 Update - They've been through about six new managers and a new menu since I wrote the above. And they still have many of the same problems. Their accessibility/safety concerns have improved somewhat but not fully. The new menu has some rather good selections on it, though they have occasionally run out of food and thought it acceptable to run to Costco and purchase substitutes for things like French Fries … er… um….
GROSS!
And of course - they still have the gang games. Which is the chief complaint I have.
