In a rather surprising move, Fuddruckers, which claims to serve guests the World's Greatest Hamburgers®, announced Monday that it will in the coming months open ten new locations in malls nationwide. The leases, all in Brookfield Properties owned malls, include two in metro Atlanta: Cumberland Mall in Atlanta and Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody. Most of the units will be what the company referred to as "non-traditional locations," and will open within the respective mall's food courts. According to the release, the company plans to "begin buildouts in the second quarter of the year with new location openings expected in the months following."
Nicholas Perkins, who controls Black Titan Enterprises and Black Titan Franchise Systems, LLC, said of the agreement: "We are excited to partner with Brookfield Properties, expanding our geographic footprint across the country and making Fuddruckers accessible to an even greater number of guests."
Perkins added, "We are continually working to innovate and extend customer choice, especially for healthy options that customers crave. As such, we recently announced new plant-based offerings, which will be available at our new locations." The addition of plant-based options is a departure from the brand's previous emphasis on meats (can you imagine Arby's offering plant-based meats?) where, in addition to fresh-never- frozen beef, the company also features Fudds Exotics which include Buffalo, Elk, Ostrich, or Domestic Wagyu Kobe.
Metro Atlanta was once home to a dozen or so Fuddruckers, many of which were close to, but not in, area malls including those near Perimeter Mall in Dunwoody, Cumberland Mall in Atlanta, North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Town Center at Cobb in Kennesaw, Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth, and Northlake Mall in Tucker, among others.
On the "non-traditional" side, Fuddruckers also previously operated mini-restaurants within the former Home Depot at Lindbergh Plaza where The Dump is today, and within the former Andretti Indoor Karting & Games in Roswell, which in 2021 "moved" to Buford.
Fuddruckers closed its Rome location on Riverside Parkway near State Mutual Stadium where the Rome Braves play, in March 2020.
Currently, Fuddruckers has just two locations in Georgia, each located within TA Travel Centers in Commerce and in Savannah.
The other new mall-based Fuddruckers are planned for North Carolina, California, Texas and Alabama, where the company will open in Hoover's Riverchase Galleria. The release also indicated that in addition to the company's five mall-based locations planned for Texas, four "ghost kitchen" units are also coming to the Lone Star State including one that will open within a "Kitchen United" outpost in a Houston area Kroger store.
Are you excited for the return of Fuddruckers to metro Atlanta? What is your favorite quick serve burger joint? Who do you think offers the best plant-based burger in metro Atlanta?
Please share your thoughts below.