A nostalgia-inducing image of an abandoned Burger King restaurant has gone viral. Back in April, Jonathon Pruitt took a picture of a long-closed Burger King in a Delaware mall, untouched by time. The internet is now just marveling at his discovery.
This Burger King location was actually operational until 2009, according to the mall’s general manager. But it seems this location never updated to the chain’s more current styles. So the parquet flooring, angular wall adornments, and pastel-topped tables and chairs give off major 1980s and 1990s vibes.
“It’s unbelievable how a random photo I posted 2 months ago on a local Facebook page goes viral all over the internet,” Pruitt said. [He’s since deleted his account.]
Pruitt is an HVAC technician who was working at the Concord Mall in Wilmington, Delaware. The “vintage” Burger King was discovered behind a wall with an unlabeled door. “I was walking through the mall, the door was opened,” he said. “The owners told me about it, but they would never let anybody in there.”
“Though we aren’t able to confirm details regarding this location, we have verified that the gloriously retro design and décor lines up closely with Burger King restaurants operating in the 1980s and 1990s and this is in fact a former Burger King restaurant,” a representative for the chain said in a statement to Nexstar.
“We have a wall built up, as most common malls do, and there’s a door to it and everything else,” current general manager of the Concord Mall Tom Dahlke said. “It’s not like it’s buried. We’re hoping to lease it.”
Meaning the mall is well aware of the restaurant. But with it being hidden and off limits to the public, it has created a time capsule of fast food and mall culture of the previous decade.
