Review: Jake's Wayback Burgers - Torrington, CT

Sign on the road.

On Friday, a new burger joint opened in town 10 minutes up the highway in the next town over. It's called "Jake's Wayback Burgers". Apparently they have been around for a while...but this is the first local franchise of the chain. Being that Torrington has some pretty boring (in my opinion) chain dining options...this place is a welcome breath of fresh air. They operate in the vein of Five Guys (which up until 2 months ago I'd never had either) with fresh-cooked burgers that are definitely higher caliber than the standard crap found at McDonald's and the like.

Web banner for the burgers I got

I had been nagging the boyfriend for us to try the place last weekend, but between me having to work & stuff like that, I ended up going today and picking up some food  to take home.

Line was back to the door.

When you walk in, the place is definitely reminiscent of Five Guys...minus the 50 pound sacks of potatoes and boxes of peanuts everywhere...(and the ensuing peanut allergy warning stickers). It was 12:30 on a Wednesday afternoon and I found the place to be a complete zoo...like Saturday afternoon at Five Guys caliber crowd. I supposed it was to be expected considering they've been open a whole five days. You line up...order your stuff...sit down and wait for your name to be called. For people who were dining in, they seemed to be bringing the food to your table, but I just sat at a bar type counter along the window facing the packed parking lot and waited for my name to be called since I was taking our grub home. I ordered a crunchy peppercorn burger for both the boyfriend and myself...the second I saw it had potato chips on the burger, I knew I would be getting it for the boy at least...he's one of those people who insists on putting chips on his sandwiches to give them crunch. I also got a regular (which was the largest size) fry and chili cheese fries for us to split. The total came to $17 and change...and that didn't include drinks. Obviously more than, say, Burger King up the road, but again, expected.

Milkshake making: not a 2 person job

Crunchy Peppercorn Burger

While I was waiting for our food, the boyfriend called me. His dad had been reading people's impromptu reviews about the place on the local newspaper's website and I guess a lot of people complained about the wait -- some people having to wait upwards of 45 minutes. After that, I had an FML moment. The place couldn't be more packed, and I, who jumps to the worst conclusions about EVERYTHING EVER, immediately thought I'd be stuck there that long as well. I was just starting to get mildly impatient, especially since 3 people who ordered after me had received their food) when they called my name. I'd say it was fifteen minutes...maybe twenty. Not spectacular, but I had time to observe the way the workers were operating while I sat there. Being that the place had only been open 5 days, they were pretty harried and disorganized...and basically tripping over each other. When I go again in a few weeks probably, I anticipate that problem to be improved, since I would hope they'll have gotten their game down and figured out what works and what doesn't.

Overall, it was a decent service experience. I didn't expect sparkling service, just as nobody really should within the first 3 weeks someplace is open. I headed home and was grateful I had a 5 minute jaunt down Route 8 and another 5 up the hill. The food smelled awesome. As soon as I got home, we dug in. The food was not exactly optimal temp, but if we ate there, I'm sure that wouldn't have been a problem, so I can't penalize them for that. The burgers were juicy and delicious, not quite as "OMG WTFRIGGINAMAZING" as I found Five Guys to be when I first had it, but still awesome in their own right. I only got ketchup and grilled onions on them...they were apparently out of pickles. Definitely not a bad thing though because it allowed you to taste the burger for what it was and not have it masked by all sorts of extra crap. I'm not convinced I tasted the peppercorn sauce, but the burger was still delish. The boyfriend suggested I get bacon on them next time...and I certainly will. The regular fries, I thought were nothing to write home about. They were just kind of meh Wendy's-esque (Before Wendy's recently revamped their fries) french fries. They were crisp enough and weren't overly salted, which was excellent...I just didn't find them to be particularly amazing. However, the chili cheese fries...which were the regular fries topped with chili and cheese were delicious. My only regret, the portion should have been a bit bigger...I think I paid almost $4 for them...and I think the regular-sized fry (which was the largest they had) had more fries. Oh well, I bought them to split anyway.

Overall, I think Jake's is an excellent addition to the Torrington area...in a pinch it will replace Five Guys when we don't feel like driving to Avon, Plainville, or Brookfield, and it certainly is not the same old same old we have in an over-saturated fast food scene around here. Once they figure out how to run the place like a well-oiled machine, they'll be fine.