Wish Maine Had Fuddruckers? There Used to Be One in Ellsworth

When people throughout New England are prompted on what burger chain they'd like to see more of in the region, Fuddruckers is one of the most prominent answers. The Texas-based chain bills itself as having the "world's greatest hamburgers". For those in Maine longing for a Fuddruckers location to open in the state, well, there already was one. And unfortunately, it didn't work out.

Back in 2015, Fuddruckers opened its first location in Maine as part of a complex along Route 1a in Ellsworth. The franchisee was a well-known businessman in the area who thought pairing a Fuddruckers location with a Tradewinds convenience store would be a winning concept for vacationers on their way to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

Unfortunately, it just didn't work out. According to the Ellsworth American, Fuddruckers closed just three years after it initially opened. The business cited rising costs as the primary reason for the closure. For many tourists who traveled to the area from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, the abrupt Fuddruckers closure caught them by surprise.

Perhaps the Fuddruckers location not working out in Ellsworth was a sign of things to come. In 2011, Fuddruckers was one of the hottest new chains in the country, boasting more than 200 locations in North America. By 2021, there were only 88 remaining, with most of those planning to close before a new buyer for the franchise came forward. The future of the Fuddruckers remains unclear.

Fuddruckers' claim to fame remains that their burger meat in ground in-house and that their buns are baked on-site. There are still two remaining Fuddruckers in New England, located in Saugus and Reading, Massachusetts.