Fuddrucker's

I have lived away from home long enough to have made peace with the fact that you cannot live a cultural moment 24/7. My heart belongs to America and for better or worse, so does my stomach. So, maybe you can forgive me for forsaking the lovely Egyptian cuisine in favor of visiting the newly opened Fuddrucker’s in Maadi Egypt. A friend of mine here had gone recently and said “it’s just like home”. It’s Thanksgiving weekend. I am missing my family (and food that I recognize on sight) more than you can possibly imagine. The other 3 S-Rs feel the same. So we pile in a rattletrap taxi and off we go…to Fuddruckers.

Pretty much, it is exactly like a Fuddrucker’s at home….mediocre food, weak-looking veggies on the bar, corny signs everywhere. There were a few attempts to Egyptianize it. For one thing, it had a cool kiddie “playland” with “Mambo Number 5” (a little bit of Monica in my life…a little bit of Jessica by my side, etc etc) on repeat and a couple of really gory violent video games. Also, I noted that Green Apple Fanta was on the drink bar where the Diet Coke should have been. Yes, there was table service (“and how are you too? Madame”) and the menu was in Arabic. Other than that, same old FuddFries, burgers, and (beef) hotdogs. For approximately 45 minutes, I was in heaven.