Wayback Burgers, previously known as Jake's Wayback Burgers, is an American fast casual restaurant chain based in Cheshire, Connecticut. Wayback serves typical hamburger restaurant foods such as hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, milkshakes and salads, and a variety of regional selections. Created in

Newark, Delaware Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 31,454. The University of Delaware is ...

, Wayback began expansion in the late 2000s; in 2013, it was announced that the chain was expanding internationally to an additional 28 countries, with locations in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and North Africa slated to open in early 2014. The second international agreement signed is with Argentina. As of October 2016, 133 locations were in operation worldwide.

History

The first Wayback Burgers location was opened in 1991 in Delaware under the name Jake's Hamburgers. Several more locations were opened, leading to the beginning of franchising in the early 2000s where the name was changed to Jake's Wayback Burgers in 2010. To date, the chain has expanded to 95 locations, with an additional 75 currently in development. They are spread throughout the United States, ranging from New England, New York, Florida, Texas, Ohio, and California. Wayback is similar to other 'better burger' brands such as Five Guys, Shake Shack, and Fuddruckers. The first location in the state of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

was opened in Wadsworth in June 2011. The first location in the state of

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

was opened in Evansville in March 2012. The 50th location was opened in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in July 2012. The first location in the state of

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

was opened in Salem in August 2012. The first location in the state of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

was opened in Spartanburg in January 2013. In August 2013, the first location in the state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

was opened in Waxahachie and the first location in the state of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

was opened in Woodbury. The first location in the state of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

was opened in Colorado Springs in November 2013. During the summer of 2014, the chain announced the drop of "Jake's" from the title to deter confusion with a smaller competitor in the southern United States. Many locations will keep existing signage with the name "Jake's" on storefronts, but all new franchises will be known as "Wayback Burgers". The first location in the state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

was opened in Savannah in January 2015. As part of a publicity stunt, Wayback offered milkshakes made with protein powder derived from crickets in June 2015 as part of a limited-time offer. As a bug-free alternative during the same promotional period, Wayback also offered a beef flavored shake that was garnished with a Slim Jim. The first location in the state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

was opened in Naperville in May 2016. In 2016, Wayback Burgers investigated the possibility of an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

but did not proceed further.

International expansion

The first location outside the United States was opened in

Palermo, Buenos Aires Palermo is a or neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located in the north of the city, near the Río de la Plata. It has a total land area of 17.4 km2 and a population of 249,016. It is the only within the administrative division ...

, in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in February 2015. Nine months later, the first location in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

was opened in Al Khobar in November 2015 on the other side of the planet. This was the second location to open outside the United States. The first location in the Southeast Asian country of

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

was opened in the Setia Kenangan area in Kiulap in May 2016, making this the third location outside the United States. In Europe, Wayback Burgers opened its first location in the city of

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, on December 1, 2018. In Japan, Wayback Burgers opened its first location in Omotesando,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, on March 22, 2022. The company has plans to open 60 more locations in Japan over the next 20 years.

References

External links

* {{authority control Restaurants in Connecticut Restaurant chains in the United States 1991 establishments in Delaware Restaurants established in 1991 Fast-food franchises Cheshire, Connecticut Fast casual restaurants Hamburger restaurants in the United States