RESTAURANT REVIEW: FUDDRUCKERS Agreat burger is sure to be a pleaser for all ages. No fuss. No elaborate dishes with sauces you can't even recognize or exotic foods you have to beg your family to try. Just a plain old mouth-watering burger. One of the most popular and most frequented hamburger joints here in Jeddah is – you guessed – Fuddruckers! We visited Fuddruckers, closely examined their menu, sampled the food, and asked plenty of questions to give you a detailed guide of the healthiest choices and best bargains they offer. Most restaurant personnel and menus tempt you to order appetizers, and Fuddruckers is no exception. However, the health disadvantage is that the portions served are actually as large as a main course. If you order an appetizer, followed by a salad and main course, you will end up over eating. I think the word “appetizer” should be changed into “appetizer turn off” because after eating it you barely have any appetite left for your more important meal. The problem lies in the high fat and calorie content of the so-called “appetizers”. Looking more closely at the list of appetizers on the Fuddruckers menu, I found that more than half of them are too oily. Take for example these starters that are all deep fried: Buffalo Chicken Wings, Lemon and Pepper Shrimp, Mozzarella Cheese Sticks, Blazing Chicken Concord, and Chili Cheese Fries. Regular consumption of high fat foods is a culprit of many health problems, including: obesity, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, heart disease, cancer, and stroke. Our advice is to skip the appetizers all together and go straight to the salads and burgers. Not only are the appetizers unhealthy, but they are also over-priced. Is a dish of eight crunchy, breaded mozzarella sticks really worth SR34? I cannot pinpoint exactly when the prices of restaurant foods started to sky rocket. I wonder if customers could change this trend in rising prices by consistently voicing their opinions, filling out the suggestions forms, and contacting management. Next are the salads. Unfortunately, even the salads are quite high in calories and a bit expensive at Fuddruckers. There are four varieties of Caesar salad: regular Caesar salad, Caesar with grilled chicken breast, Caesar with grilled beef strips, and Caesar with sautéed shrimp from SR22-43. As for the nutritional information on Caesar salads, just one tablespoon of Caesar dressing contains 55 calories and five grams of fat. The healthier option is a house or garden salad. An out of the ordinary salad is the Southwest Taco Salad, that would be best to share since it is fairly high in calories as well. This salad of mixed lettuce and either beef or chicken strips (grilled) is served in a crispy taco shell and topped with scrumptious dips like Pico de Gallo, guacamole, sour cream, and balsamic onion relish. To add crunch and flavor to this special salad, they throw in tri-colored hard tortilla chips. It costs SR36 and is rather generous, so a family of four can share this salad. Go easy on the starters and salads so you can save room for the main course. Although they serve several platters such as steaks, sandwiches, wraps, chicken, and fish dishes, it would be a big mistake to go to Fuddruckers and order anything other than a burger. As our waiter who served us, Ariel Alban, said, “We guarantee that our burgers and steaks are made from fresh, top quality Angus beef that is certified to be 100 percent halal. I have been working with the company for 11 years, and they are very strict on cleanliness, freshness, and a high quality of food.” You can choose from a range of eight different burgers, each with a unique flavor. You may like a spicy or a barbecue burger, or a mushroom and Swiss cheese burger, or a burger with smoked beef strips, or extra cheese, or a veggie burger. Better yet is that you can create your own burger. This allows you to control the size of your burger and the amount of fat it contains. Although red meat has saturated fat, if you do not pile too many fatty condiments on top, a grilled beef burger can comprise an acceptable meal, nutrition-wise, once in a while. As for the size, you can pick a one-third or half or three-quarters of a pound for the beef patty. Always opt for the smallest portion as it is surely filling enough and will meet almost half of an adult's protein requirement for the day. The one-third pound beef burger provides 35 grams of protein, and an average male needs no more than 70 grams of protein per day. To create your own healthy burger, avoid the mayonnaise and cheddar cheese dip as condiments and instead use ketchup and mustard. You can fill up tasty items from the topping bar, such as: fresh tomato and onion slices, lettuce, dill pickles, jalapeno peppers, and relish. Again, stay away from the items at the topping bar that are full of mayonnaise: coleslaw, potato salad, and Russian salad. The burger buns are absolutely heavenly since they are freshly baked from scratch at the restaurant every day. The bread is golden and flaky on the outside but white and soft on the inside. We saw racks of fresh hot buns brought straight out of the oven while we were there. Be sure to tell your waiter that you do not want butter on your hamburger buns or else the bread will be served drenched with butter. The bread is tasty enough as is; you do not need any artery-clogging fats to enhance the taste! Another fat trap I would like to warn you about is that the side order of mashed potatoes is smothered in a creamy, fat-laden sauce. If you order the mashed potatoes, request them without the white sauce on top. The one-third pound burger that you put together yourself costs SR29 and the one-third pounders that they make with their different flavors cost SR37. Whichever selection you go for, you are bound to fall in love with your burger. It is cooked to perfection over open flames, and the savory taste of grilled meat will linger in your mouth way after you finish your last bite. It is no wonder why Fuddruckers is Jeddah's favorite hamburger restaurant. The final word is that if you carefully navigate through the menu, Fuddruckers can be a fun, great tasting, and nutritionally-sound place to dine. The simplest burger is the healthiest one to eat. Enjoy your burger but avoid the fries. The Fuddruckers we went to at Roshan Mall was clean, busy but not crowded, the service was immaculate, and the waiters were extremely friendly. They have a Kiddie Menu and kids get a cookie and either milk or orange juice with their meals. Fuddruckers here is an American franchise owned by a local Saudi businessman to give us a new and relaxing dining experience. My message to our young teens who love everything American is to adopt the positive American lifestyle habits and not just the food, such as: not littering, being punctual, getting organized, using your time wisely, reading more, working hard and planning for your future. But you should block the negative aspects of American culture. There is no harm in eating burgers and wearing jeans, but you should never lose sense of who you are and where you came from.
