I only eat a few burgers per year at this phase of my life. I grew up with ground beef as really the only animal protein served in our household regularly. My dad simply didn't eat any others, and he had no tolerance for the smell of seafood, so, for dinner, we had basically vegetarian food and ground beef in many forms - yes, lots of casseroles. Lunchtime deli meats like bologna, summer cookout hotdogs, and occasional pepperoni on pizza basically rounded out my meat exposure until I went to college. Fast forward to when I first moved to San Francisco post-grad school, and I ran a dining club where every Tuesday night we celebrated "B-night", which was usually going to get burgers (sometimes, burritos, it was SF after all). I ate a lot of burgers in those years. I think I OD'ed on them, and really just stopped ever seeking out burgers for quite a few years. I've recovered from that era, but I still don't eat them very regularly.
"Wayback symbolizes the inner “rebel,” who might not eat their veggies, but holds the door for grandma EVERY TIME. Slightly irreverent towards those who don’t understand, but always reminded. Wayback is honest and straightforward, reflecting our guests: hardworking people who want simple, uncomplicated things. Coming here is a treat. It’s a place for everyone to feel comfortable, and no one is excluded. It feels revived – young and fresh with a nod to how things were “back in the day” but with a twist."
Anyway. This is a review about a burger chain, Wayback Burger. I was unfamiliar with the brand until I moved to New York, but I do like their charming brand mentality. They have about 150 locations in the US, so I'm a bit surprised I had never encountered one before.
I didn't seek them out for a burger, given the above, although that is clearly their main product. They also have chicken, garden burgers and Impossible burgers, hot dogs, salads, and a decent line up of fried sides (not just fries, but cheese curds, fried pickles, tots, and onion rings). I wasn't there for any of that though, I was there for dessert of course. And a freebie. Ah yes, now this is more on brand!
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| Interior. |
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| Interior. |
Hand Dipped Milkshakes.
Shakes are available in one size only. In addition to the standard vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry options, they also do more premium selections like brownie, banana cream pie, or Oreo cookie, with actual brownies, fresh bananas and Nilla wafers, etc mixed in. They use Blue Bunny ice cream, so at least real ice cream and not shake mix, but, Blue Bunny is relatively average/not premium ice cream to begin with (as I've reviewed before).
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| Vanilla Shake. $6.99. |
I visited on National Vanilla Milkshake day, where they were giving out free shakes. Vanilla only. So, that is what I got.
This really was a decent milkshake. It was not fast food style, where it comes out of a soft serve-eque machine. This was real scooped ice cream and milk, blended. It was nicely thick, a bit watery around the sides, and had reasonable flavor. A bit boring overall, but, exactly what you'd expect from a basic vanilla shake. Far better than any fast food one, not on par with a real ice cream shop just because Blue Bunny isn't that great of ice cream to begin with.
3/5, acceptable, but not something I'd go running back for.
