Wayback Burgers — Restaurant in Rocky Hill

Oh boy...where do I begin. First upon arrival the parking lot was absolutely empty. But I did not let that sour my view as the Westbrook location would also at times have an absolute dead empty parking lot.

I go inside with my wife and order 2 burgers, an order of cheese fries and 2 drinks. Total came to 3x.xx.

After ordering and payment is where I begin to notice issues..

Firstly, the drink machine for soft drinks was perfectly fine, however right next to it was the machine used for iced tea and other special drinks. It had 4 or 5 hoppers. All were empty, and the machine was turned off. Not the end of the world, but became the second red flag.

The next interesting thing noticed was the A/C unit on the wall, what you would call a ductless system was inoperable, so the entire restaurant was being cooled by a portable air conditioner, sitting in the middle of the floor behind where you would stand to order.

Next came the distinct smell of burgers being cooked on the grill, which normally you would take as a good sign, but when it wafts thru the entire restaurant, is when you begin to have concerns. The overhead vents should be removing that smoke..seemingly it isn't working or not turned on.

Then you hear the deep fryer bubbling very loudly, also intriguing.

Now moving on to the food. Watching the burger buns being removed from the packaging, the cook separates the 2 sides, then I notice he is picking at spots on the buns to remove something. Mold? Unsure.

We received this in pretty short order. The presentation...was wow. The cheese fries from Westbrook to here...my god. The fries here are barely warm, no salt, and tasteless. The cheese...or what you call cheese. Is really cheese whiz. Now that can be a good thing, if it had taste. But it doesn't and when you are used to Westbrook using shredded cheese, you get a bit used to that.

The burgers...well burnt, dry and very disappointing. And little to no taster. I honestly would have rather a McDonald's burger and fries.

Couple all of this together, with lots of clearly deferred maintenance of the building tells me they are not doing well financially, or the owners are trying to ride on the coat tails of the brand and cutting corners. Either way it is not where it should be and I will...

Went to this particular location twice around 2 pm about a week apart and had two completely different experiences. The first visit blew us away! The burgers we're hot and neatly put together. We had the cheeesy, the buffalo chicken sandwich and hubby did one of the build your own doubles. Also got the Ofries (such a great idea!) And milkshakes. Fries were hot, dipping sauces were good too. Only negative was there was no lettuce or tomato on the buffalo chicken but it was so good that we didn't mind. Definitely 5 star experience.

The second time was really dissapointing. Different people were working which goes to show how your experience depends on the staff. The burgers were so sloppy the inner wrapper just saturated with mayo and ketchup so the bun was all goopy on both. The fries were lukewarm. The kids grilled cheese was solidified. The buffalo chicken was still amazing and they remembered the lettuce and tomato. I feel a 2 star rating is being generous.

This may seem trivial but if I wanted food that is sloppy and barely warm I'd pull through a drive through and save $30.

For reference we are a family of 4 and spent $46 not including the milkshakes so it's kind of a big deal considering we could have a steak dinner instead.

This is a prime example of why company standards are so important. Consistency is key. We may try the Middletown location instead next time if we choose to...

Are you a fan of a grilled cheese? Of course, are you a fan of cheeseburgers? Right... I don't think you'd be reading this if you weren't. We'll folks, Wayback burgers has done something no other burger joint has. The has scoured the earth from the peaks of mountains to the deepest darkest depths of the oceans to find the perfect recipe to rape your tastebuds! That's right they have combined the juiciest, beefiest burgers with the cheesiest, most delectable grilled cheese to birth THE CHEESEY! I had a man approach me today for the sake of the review and ask me if you could only eat... I stopped him before he could said anything else and yelled THE CHEESEY!!!! I could eat a CHEESEY for breakfast, lunch and if my arteries make it to dinner, that too! Folks I am in love. So much so it almost feels like an affair. If you want to reach up into the clouds all the way into heaven and feel your way around and pull just a little slice of it back down to earth then I strongly encourage you to get to your nearest wayback and get your self THE CHEESEY! You won't regret it.... your doctor may. But you will not! Sincerely,...