Jake’s Wayback Burgers Opens in Stamford

Whenever a new place that is dedicated to hamburgers opens in my ‘hood I just cannot resist the magnetic field that pulls me to give it a try; and I could not resist when Jake’s Wayback Burgers opened in Stamford. 

I arrived early enough to avoid the lunch-rush and ensure that the staff could focus on my order. True to my first-visit tradition, I ordered a cheeseburger (a little over 3 ounces of meat) with bacon and grilled onions ($3.19), a small order of French fries ($1.99) and a small (listed on the menu as 12 ounces) chocolate shake ($2.89). Each item is made to order so I watched as the hamburger hit the grill, the fries plunged into the fryer and the shake whipped in the mixer.  

The Jake’s single patty is hand formed on-premises and grilled in the manner of 5-Guys, i.e. well done. The meat itself is good and the hand-forming allows for a nice texture and I enjoyed the bun. Unfortunately the toppings are mediocre.  The melted cheese adds little flavor, two ultra-thin slices of bacon are lost with no additional flavor and the grilled onions are diced (a la McDonald’s) instead of long strands and are more raw than grilled. I would suggest ordering a hamburger (maybe a double with cheese) and avoid the other toppings that I ordered.

The French fries are basic skin-on frozen, nothing special but decent enough for a side. The chocolate shake is still a work in progress as the cashier (super nice guy) mentioned to me. They are modifying the recipe to balance the syrup with the Blue Bunny vanilla ice cream. Mine was served in an 8 ounce cup (versus 12 on the menu) and was very under-sweetened. With this being its 47th location, I would have thought the syrup-ice cream ratio was locked and loaded. 

Probably the aspect that our readers should be aware of is the price of the items, since they are difficult to find on the website menu. The cost of my single bacon-cheeseburger, small fries and a small 6-8 ounce shake was over $9, which makes it a less-expensive alternative for people who enjoy 5-Guys if they would like a shake with their hamburger and fries.

 Jake’s Wayback Burgers 324 Hope Street, Stamford.