Why Plan B should be your Plan A. Plan B Burger Bar – Stamford, CT

When it comes to grabbing a burger you can go one of two ways…

Plan A:  your boring, ordinary, ship-em in/ship-em out burger  joint.

Plan B:  a beer and bourbon lover’s utopia, piled high with creative , delicious Certified Humane, fresh, never frozen burgers and sides in a sleek and swanky spot.

So, look.  Plan A is fine if you just want a plain ol’ burger stat and that’s it.  But, when you want more, you need to check out Plan B Burger Bar in Stamford.  They just opened August 4 on the right side of the outdoor food court (next to Barnes & Noble, across from California Pizza Kitchen) at Stamford Town Center Mall.

When you step in, you’re greeted by a chalkboard with a big list of American craft beers on draft.  We were tired from a long trip from the Hamptons where we celebrated our sixth anniversary in style so we gladly welcomed a nice and comfy table in the bar/lounge area.  As we sat, our waitress came by and told us about the beer, bourbon, and drink list.  We felt daring, so we went with an Ommegang Witte beer AND the Small Batch Threesome of bourbon for $14.   You can also order the Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Threesome for $10 or the Single Barrel Threesome at $12.

When the bartender got our order, he climbed up on the bar, took down the bourbon, and got our samples ready.  The cups came on a rectangular dish with the names of the bourbons written on a napkin for reference.  First was Kentucky Vintage, next was Hirsh Selection, then Four Roses.  Before you try your bourbon you’re supposed to put it by your mouth and smell it.  If you try to get the aromas through your nose though, you probably won’t be able to pick up all the scents because you’ll be overwhelmed.  You actually have to inhale it with your mouth instead. Yeah, we just learned this too! Then, when you are ready to taste, make sure to sip and savor.  Our biggest tips are to save most of the bourbon for pairings with your food and make sure to sip and savor.

Choosing the booze was easy, but picking our meal was pretty tough.  See, there are some pretty awesome sounding apps, sides, delicious devour-worthy big plates, great salads, and of course a crazy array of burgers.  Before we ordered, we said we’d have to come back at least 10 more times to try everything that caught our eyes.

Ok, let’s do this:

Jake’s Wayback Burgers Goes to the Way Back of Our List – Stamford, CT

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

Five Guys, Jake’s Wayback Burgers, Plan B Burger Bar Poised to Open in Stamford

Stamford loves its burgers, but soon it will be a burger party in the USA. Well, the CT anyway!  Yup, as if it wasn’t awesome enough to have the good burgers from Benny’s Fast Break (closed, now Bridge Street Wienery) and Lucky’s, and the killer burgers, fries and shakes from the recently opened Station Eats, Stamford has more burger deliciousness in store!

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

First off, we’re getting Five Guys Burgers and Fries at 1201 High Ridge Road right next to A&P Fresh.  One of the fun things about going here is breaking open piles and piles of roasted peanuts in the shell while you wait for your order.  And although they aren’t our favorite fries, they’re still pretty good and you sure do get a giant heaping of them and you can order them regular or Cajun style.  The burgers and dogs are pretty darn good, too making Five Guys a burger lover’s dream. In fact, they’re growing so fast that it’s hard to keep track. There are way over 1,000 stores with handfuls being added every month across America and Canada. It’s so popular that we’re a bit worried that the space is too small to accommodate the crowds and the parking lot already kinda sucks, but that all remains to be seen. Google says their average ratings of 3-4 stars, but we can’t wait to rate it for ourselves.  They are now open.

Jake’s Wayback Burgers

Next up is Jake’s Wayback Burgers at 324 Hope Street where a short-lived Chef Luis Express was. Right now there are 45 locations, so this will make 46.  Most of them are in the Northeast, with 10 just in Connecticut.  We’ve never eaten here, but the burgers are handmade and that definitely shows in the pics.  It’s not the hockey-puck shaped burger you get from other chains.  They also have hot dogs, milkshakes, sandwiches, salads, chicken, onion rings, and four kinds of fries.  Depending on where you eat, reviews are from 2 1/2 stars to 4 1/2 stars.  Hopefully the one here is closer to the 4 1/2 stars, especially because it’s 3 minutes from our house.  They are open now, 3/19!

Plan B Burger Bar

Finally, we’ve got Plan B Burger Bar.  This is the smallest chain of all three with four locations right now in Connecticut and five more on the way including Stamford.  You’ll be able to hit up this burger bar in the plaza at Stamford Town Center, specifically at 230 Tresser Blvd.  Of all the options available, Plan B Burger Bar seems the best and will be a hipper spot to be, just like Station Eats.  The burgers at Plan B Burger Bar are 100% natural with no junk inside plus the beef is certified humane.  Think gastropub, with lots of small plates, an amazing variety of burgers, and even some large plates.  More killer?  Plan B Burger Bar will have a killer beer selection as well as a bourbon selection to die for.  Average ratings are 4 to 4 1/2 out of 5 stars, definitely the most highly rated of all three, despite the kinda lame name, hehe. Plan B opens on August 4 at 2 pm.  Let the burger and beer parade begin!  Plan B is now open and here’s our review.

Have you been to any of these three upcoming spots?  What did you think?  Can you give advice about what to order?