The Fuddrucker's restaurant in Marietta has closed. The restaurant, at 3000 Windy Hill Road in The Terrace at Windy Hill, is situated just off Powers Ferry Road, close to the Wildwood office park as well as SunTrust [Truist] Park. Local sources tell ToNeTo Atlanta that the restaurant opened in the early to mid 80s and was one of the first locations in metro Atlanta.
The restaurant emailed members of their "Fudds Club" early Thursday morning informing them of the closure.
"It is with great regret that we must inform you that our Fuddruckers Windy Hill [3000 Windy Hill Road Marietta, GA 30067] location is closed."
The approximately 9,000 square foot restaurant in Marietta is actively being marketed for lease with the hope that another restaurant operator will see value in the size and location of the space. There are reportedly at least two restaurants that have shown interest in the space but no leases have been signed.
Based in Houston, Texas and owned by Luby's, Inc., Fuddrucker's was founded in 1979 by Philip J. Romano. Serial restaurateur Romano is credited with the creation of more than a dozen restaurant concepts of which Fuddrucker's, Romano's Macaroni Grill and EatZi's are likely his most well known. Like EatZi's and Macaroni Grill, Fuddrucker's, too, was once quite popular in metro Atlanta, but has significantly reduced its local presence over the past several years.
ToNeTo Atlanta reported in March that the roughly 5,600 square foot Fuddrucker's restaurant near Town Center at Cobb in Kennesaw was being marketed for lease. The offering indicates that the restaurant is likely to close no later than August 31, but potentially as soon as July 31, at the culmination of their current lease.
In the 90s, Fuddrucker's, which proudly proclaims to be the home of the "World's Greatest Hamburgers," was quite popular, but the introduction of "better burger" concepts like Burger 21, BurgerFi, Farm Burger, Grindhouse Killer Burgers and Cheeseburger Bobby's, among others, put increasing pressure to more established but less innovative concepts.
Following the closure of the Marietta and Kennesaw locations, Fuddrucker's will have just four locations left in Georgia: on North Point Parkway in Alpharetta and on Riverside Parkway in Rome near State Mutual Stadium, home of the Rome Braves. The company also operates a pair of restaurants within TA Travel Centers in Commerce and Richmond Hill, near Savannah.
Previous Atlanta area Fuddrucker's restaurants were on Merchants Way just off Satellite Boulevard in Duluth where Nak Won Sweet Rice Cafe is now, Perimeter Center Parkway in Dunwoody, which was demolished to make way for the huge new State Farm campus, Scenic Highway in Snellville where McDonald's built a new location, and LaVista Road near Northlake Mall in Tucker which is now a branch of CenterState Bank. The Dunwoody, Tucker and Snellville restaurants closed in 2010 following a voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by the company following a change in ownership that saw Luby's, Inc. take control of the business.
Fuddrucker's also previously operated mini-restaurants within the former Home Depot at Lindbergh Plaza where The Dump is today, and within Andretti Indoor Karting & Games in Roswell.
Elsewhere in Georgia the chain also previously had locations on Whitesville Road in Columbus as well as on Ogeechee Road and West Broughton Street in Savannah, among others.
Are you sad to see yet another Fuddrucker's close? What is your favorite Fuddrucker's memory? What would you like to see open in place of the former Fuddrucker's in Marietta?
Please share your thoughts below