They split their wieners here!
Let’s just get down to business, no messing around. I mean burgers are serious business, no? Jake’s Wayback Burgers opened up on Monday at their newest location, 324 Hope Street in Stamford. So, after taking a nice walk on Thursday, we figured we had earned a nice meal, so we hit up Jake’s. What? An hour walk doesn’t burn 1,000 calories? Psh, whatever.
Kristien wants crayons, but her excellent shading works, too. That art degree sure did pay off! ;)
Parking is a little tight here, but there is also some street parking if you can’t deal. But then again, it was pretty packed from people wanting to try out the new spot in town and will likely not be as jammed in a few weeks.
When we walked in we thought the decor had a fun 50s vibe, back when burger joints were hip places to hang. Hungry and about to faint, we drooled over the menu: hand-made burgers, hand-dipped milkshakes, hot dogs, chicken, sides, sandwiches, and salads. We ordered a Junior Burger, Junior Cheeseburger, Chili Dog, Onion Rings, French Fries, Chocolate Banana Shake, and a Chocolate Strawberry Shake. Here’s what we thought:
Burgers
My Junior Burger, surrounded with a host of onion rings
You can just say “Everything,” and you’ll be given ketchup, mustard, pickles, raw onions, lettuce, and tomato on your burger. Some other free extras are mayonnaise, grilled onions, jalapeños, relish, and sweet peppers. Bacon, mushroom, and chili are 70 cents more each…not bad. My burger was ordered with everything except the mustard with relish and jalapeño, too. Kristien had hers the typical way: everything, no mustard, add mayo, extra pickles. The bun wasn’t too thick at all which was good, but the patty was super thin, mushy and dry…reminiscent of McDonald’s. The burgers seemed to almost be fried because of the way the patty looked and how greasy it was, though we were told by the owner that they were grilled. The toppings helped to make the flavor decent enough to eat, but the patty by itself was just blah.
Onion Rings and Fries
The onion rings had way more breading than we like, but were crispy and large. The fries had some skin on them and were a little crispy but not ideal, plus they were luke-warm when they got to us which was disappointing. The fries were better than Fives Guys‘, though.
Chili Dog
The chili had lots of flavor and spice. They served the wiener split, and piled the divide with jalapeños. It was a decent hot dog, but we prefer the hot dogs at Station Eats and even Dairy Inn. And don’t get us started on how much we love Super Duper Weenie!
Milkshakes
Decent thickness for the Chocolate-Banana milkshake...yeah.
Kristien had the Chocolate Strawberry Milkshake, which had a very strong strawberry flavor. It was served at a medium thickness, a bit thinner than mine. My shake was Chocolate Banana and it had a very subtle banana flavor. The thickness was right on and wasn’t too hard to drink. I liked this shake, but Kristien prefers it thicker though she did like the flavor.
Overall Thoughts
Although Jake’s can be found all over the Northeast and is expanding month after month, we feel they could be skipped over in favor of other burger spots. If you want a slightly better burger than McDonald’s or another fast food option, this is a good spot. You can eat here, take your order home, you can call your order ahead, or even order online. But, if you want a great burger, check out Station Eats in New Canaan and Stamford, Beach Burger in Norwalk, and Plan B Burger Bar later this year instead.
Jake’s Wayback Burgers
Noms: 2.75
Cost: $$
Address: 324 Hope Street
Stamford, CT
Phone: (203) 961-8700
Fax: (203) 961-9722
Site: http://www.waybackburgers.com
Dan and Kristien Del Ferraro
OmNomCT 
If you were not a baby, you would have ordered a real burger. Why order a junior burger?
I get my Jacks burger as followed: 3 patties, cheese, sautéed onions, hot peppers and mayonnaise. Try that, then write a review. And a real burger is supposed to be dripping grease, its grilled beef what do you think happens? Its a great alternative to every fast food joint. You probably enjoy black angus burgers you weirdo!!
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Whatever size, we don’t plan to ever come back. We know burgers and have had a ton of them, so it it’s clear to us that these burgers are just not up to par. Look at their reviews, Mitchell. Urbanspoon.com has them at about a 30% like rating from users. Their other ratings from Yelp and other sites isn’t great, either.
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It’s totally cool if you like it that way, just not our style at all.
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Tried Jake’s Wayback tonight for the first time. Thought your review was pretty spot on. Only a few people dining in so it wasn’t busy and parking was fine. My order was taken right away. Went with onion rings, Carolina Jake burger (burger of the month), and a Chocolate Coconut milkshake (shake of the month) which I was very excited for. Got my order to go. They had a a tv so was able to watch the start of the Yanks game. Food was ready in a decent amount of time and was still hot when I got home. Was not a fan of the onion rings. I had a few in the car on the way home. Very thick and bready. Were not crispy at all. Not my style. The burger had lots of flavor due to the amount of toppings on it. The meat itself reminded me McDonalds, probably a step up though. Chili had good flavor, I personally would have liked a little more heat. I like the idea of cole slaw on the burger. Went well with the chili and onion. I was pretty impressed with the shake. Not too thick, not too thin. Definitely had a strong coconut flavor and not so much chocolate. I was ok with that. Held up well on the ride home. Complimented the meal well. Overall, I’d probably only eat there again if I was in the area. If I want a burger, it’s not going to be my destination. I’m a huge fan of Five Guys. I still need to try Station Eats.
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Thanks Joe, we felt like we were pretty fair and we see that you had many of the same observations that we did. So, only a matter of time for you, Joe, to hit up Five Guys in Stamford, huh? You must try out Station Eats, though. Great milkshakes and great burgers. They make fun shakes and burgers of the month, too. Let us know when you try. :)
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Liked the onion rings. Thought the burgers were lacking any flavor. Thought the shakes tasted artificial. Watched the manager lock the door 10 minutes before the posted close time and turn away 4 different potential clients. Will not return to Jakes Wayback.
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Yeah, the onion rings were good, agree about the burgers, think you are right about the shakes, too. As for the closing, I was at Station Eats in New Canaan a minute before it closed but they still served me a nice burger and fries. Ah, isn’t that great? :)
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I tried Jake’s in Stratford and was HIGHLY disappointed. The food was in one word, awful. For ‘fast’ burgers, we like 5 Guys. But, our favorite burger spot in CT is still Goldburgers in Newington. I know it’s a long drive from Stamford, but it’s worth the drive. Creative, delicious, fresh and the best sweet potato fries and onion rings I’ve had to date. If you go, try the Hot Nerd, that’s my favorite! http://goldburgers.com/
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Goldburgers, huh? We’ve got to try that…especially anything called the Hot Nerd. How awesome is that dish? :) We do like the burgers at 5 Guys more, yes, without a doubt. :) Excited to try out Plan B and try more burgers as the weather gets nicer.
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Its really no suprise that Jake’s burger isn’t going to compete with Station Eats, Plan B or Beach Burger, its a different market. The thing I like about Jake’s is they have the healthy options of grilled chicken, veggie burgers and turkey burgers, all of which I’ve had and are quite good. My favorite thing to get there is grilled chicken with sauteed onions and BBQ sauce. Their homemade chips are good too, although I usually get a side salad. Five Guys as a comparison doesn’t have any of those healthier options. Anyway, keep up the great work!
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Yeah Rob, you’re right. They are very different kind of burger joints. We did hear amazing things about their chips, though. Maybe a revisit just for those would be in order! :)
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They will not be the “competition” for Station Eats, but so much burger coming to Stamford, i think i can hold out for better. Good review and not something i disagree with.
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Thanks Whitemist. It’s actually harder to write out a negative post, but we tried to balance it with the things that we liked.
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was very underwhelmed – also dont expect your online order to be ready… or picked up and read at all…
they have about a dozen teenagers working – i saw one poor kid on fries actually doing his job – the rest of them just stood around talking as people waited, and waited for food.
will not be going again
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Yeah, we didn’t go in expecting much and it was confirmed when we ate. They are still just a week or so into service, but the food just was so so. We don’t have a reason to go back, either.
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When we went, the kids were working hard, though. There was a young guy manning the milkshakes and he was really into his job. He worked hard, delivered the milkshakes, then went back to his job. Cashiers were good. The fries, like we said, did arrive to us just luke-warm though, so something went wrong there.
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Hmm… I suspected parking would be an issue. It’s an odd location.
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Yeah, it’s very narrow and they have diagonal spots…but people can’t park. They don’t park diagonally, they park however they like. So, that leads to major annoyance. :)
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