Tuckers Restaurants

of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Proud to be in our third generation of family ownership

The Tucker's Story

Our founder, Rudy Sang, was a cook in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Rudy served his country with pride, earning a Purple Heart when his destroyer was struck by a torpedo.

Chili was a favorite meal among the crew, and Tucker's original chili recipe came straight from the Navy Cook Book.

After the war, Rudy returned to his peacetime occupation as a meat cutter and in 1946, he opened his first restaurant at the corner of Ninth and Military in Fond du Lac. Then, in the mid-fifties, Rudy purchased property at the corner of 12th and Greenwood Streets and opened what would become known as the Greenwood Grill.

Tucker's signature item has always been our hamburgers, always prepared with fresh, high quality ground beef. Even today, many of our customers remember the slogan of the Greenwood Grill, "Seven hamburgers for a dollar," and over the years, business grew to the point where Rudy took on his daughter and son-in-law, Steve and Barbara Blagoue, as partners.

The Grill was a popular neighborhood restaurant and since it was just around the corner from Goodrich High School, it was a popular place with the students as well. In fact, Steve and Barbara's son, Steve, lays claim to being the youngest letter holder at Goodrich High, having been presented with a letter sweater as a gift from the students on his third birthday.

In 1963, Rudy and his partners opened "Tuckers Toofers," at the corner of South Main Street and Pioneer Road. The slogan then was "They're toofer 25," meaning two hamburgers for a quarter. The name "Tuckers" was chosen because it was the nickname of daughter Barbara, who as a child, had a hard time staying tucked in and always kicked her blankets off.

In 1966, Tuckers opened a second location on West Johnson Street and today the business is owned by Rudy's grandson, Steve, and his wife Kathy, who operate these same two restaurants.

During his first few years in business, Rudy made subtle changes to his chili recipe until he hit on the perfect flavor. Chili is now a big seller at Tuckers, where we use the very same recipe developed by Rudy over 50 years ago.

And of course, our hamburgers are still made fresh to order, using fresh high quality ground beef and the best ingredients, just like Rudy the meat cutter would have done it himself!