Take a look inside an abandoned 1990s Burger King store frozen in time after being left untouched in a Delaware mall<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
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Twitter LinkedIn icon The word “in”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
LinkedIn Fliboard icon A stylized letter F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Flipboard Facebook Icon The letter F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Facebook Email icon An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Email Link icon An image of a chain link. It symobilizes a website link url.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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- A former Burger King restaurant in a Delaware mall gives a glimpse into what dining at the chain was like in the 1990s.<\/li>\n\n\n \n\n
- Its decor includes patterned wallpaper, a pastel blue and pink color scheme, and framed pictures.<\/li>\n\n\n \n\n
- Take a look inside the retro restaurant.<\/li>\n\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n
‘Time capsule’ Burger King found fully intact behind a wall at a Delaware mall<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2022-06\/found-burger-king-2x1-bn-220630-a69378.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nThe web has been abuzz with photos of a fully intact Burger King that looks transported straight from the ’80s yet is still standing today, untouched by time or renovation. This vintage BK, located in the Concord Mall in Wilmington, Delaware, has been closed since 2009, and the space appears unchanged since it first opened in the late ’80s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2022-06\/found-burger-king-bn-220630-ca6c04.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nTrash cans still ask long-gone patrons to “get your trash in here some way” in the fast food giant\u2019s signature font and the space still appears to have its original parquet flooring, patterned wallpaper and ’80s-style wall d\u00e9cor. The shuttered restaurant is truly a liminal space on overdrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
As to what brought the internet\u2019s attention to this piece of culinary history, a snapshot of the space originally taken by local Jonathan Pruitt on April 11 was posted on a local Delaware-area Facebook page where, according to Pruitt, it was mildly appreciated on a local level before it went big time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t think anything of it,\u201d said Jonathan Pruitt in a phone call with TODAY Food. \u201cBut then, Tuesday morning, people started telling me it was circulating on the internet and now? I don\u2019t know!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Pruitt, who works in commercial and industrial HVAC systems at the mall and elsewhere, said he\u2019s completely shocked by the attention his photograph has gotten across the internet and now, the world. He said he started receiving texts and phone calls about the image making its way around the internet starting on Tuesday, June 28, when his photo was posted on Reddit, where it received more than 52,000 upvotes, and also on Twitter, where the picture quickly went viral, garnering 23,698 retweets and over 185,000 likes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy Twitter account is all about retro gaming and nostalgic 80s and 90s content,\u201d user @RealJezebelley told TODAY via Twitter direct message regarding their viral tweet, adding that photo clearly resonated with an aging millennial base on Twitter. \u201cMany of us elder millennials are turning or have just turned 40. Seeing things from our childhood sparks joy particularly as we move on in years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Clearly, the image has sparked feelings of nostalgia in viewers both states away and even within state lines. Later in the Twitter thread, a former employee of the mall posted a video they took of the space, remarking that it was used as a storage space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
“Lmao that was literally my storage room back in 2019,” they tweeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was working at a food service kiosk,\u201d user @loserskwaddd told TODAY via Twitter direct message. \u201cIt felt pretty eerie. Just kinda stuck in time. Very quiet compared to out in the mall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
When reached for comment, a Burger King spokesperson shared the following statement with TODAY:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cThough we aren\u2019t able to confirm details regarding this location, we have verified that the gloriously retro design and d\u00e9cor lines up closely with Burger King restaurants operating in the 1980\u2019s and 1990\u2019s and this is in fact a former Burger King restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Because of all of the attention Pruitt\u2019s photographs have received, a local Delaware politician provided a deeper look into the space on Facebook Live along with the general manager of the mall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cMany people in our county and in our state have extraordinary childhood memories from that mall. That mall is in a very different place now than it was then,\u201d New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer told TODAY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Viewers of the clip will see Meyer pick up a bag of fries sitting on one of the tables. He said he and his staff munched on them as they walked through the space \u2014 but don\u2019t worry, it was picked up from an open Burger King on the way to this particular space. Potentially decades-old fast food discoveries aside, Meyer appreciates the interest that this restaurant relic is getting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think one reason it’s so attractive to so many people is that it\u2019s a memory,\u201d Meyer said. \u201cThe design might be outdated, and many people might not think that it\u2019s beautiful, but it represents a time when retail was a little more human. People gathered together without fear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would love to see it turned into a retro space. I\u2019m sure people would eat it up,\u201d added the mall\u2019s general manager, Tom Dahlke, who also told TODAY that the store opened in 1987, which means parts of that space are as old as \u201cDirty Dancing\u201d and \u201cThe Princess Bride.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
As for what may happen to the space now that it has gotten so much attention, the empty-bellied burger joint\u2019s future remains unclear. Dahlke said there are no serious offers for the space yet, even with all the attention, so anyone whose dream it is to open a vintage-style burger joint seemingly pulled from an episode of \u201cStranger Things\u201d should pick up the phone posthaste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just thought it looked really neat,\u201d said Pruitt, mentioning that his first job was at a Burger King in the ’90s, though not at this particular location. \u201cI knew it was there. But the door was never opened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Well, to end on quite an understatement: Now it has been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
EDITOR’S NOTE<\/strong> (July 1, 2022 at 12:52 p.m. ET): This story has been updated with a statement from Burger King.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Washington, D.C. native Joseph Lamour is a lover of food: its past, its present and the science behind it. With food, you can bring opposites together to form a truly marvelous combination, and he strives to take that sentiment to heart in all that he does.<\/p>\n\n\n]]><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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