The second Chicagoland location for Wayback Burgers held its ribbon cutting in Darien on Saturday.
The fast-casual chain is not nearly as ubiquitous as other burger chains, but it also prides itself on offering handmade fare to order in a slower-paced environment reminiscent of a 1960s burger joint — complete with thick milkshakes, fries and a black and white checkerboard décor.
Julie Stack, who owns the franchise location with her husband, John, said the couple has spent the last few years planning for the opening though the pandemic put the plan on hold. The couple did a soft opening in late November and since then, she said the restaurant has been building steam through word-of-mouth and, now, through advertisements.
Stack said they liked the Darien area for its thriving community and its easy access to commuter traffic.
“It is very diverse; the demographics are amazing here,” Stack said. “We’re in between the interstates and were right near so many towns. It seems to be the corridor people come to for their foods, their dry cleaning and all that. The strip mall gave me a feeling when I saw it.”
John Stack said he landed on Wayback after researching a variety of restaurants. He said he liked that the company was among the faster-growing chains and he was impressed with the service at the Oak Brook Terrace location.
John Stack said his kids visited that restaurant to pick up a to-go order, but they failed to get his food and the owner personally called him. He was pleasantly shocked, he said.
“The owner called me on my cellphone and he said it Wayne from Oak Brook Terrace,” John Stack said. “It’s never happened where they call you and they took it off the bill.”
Besides the burgers, fries and shakes, the restaurant also offers chicken sandwiches, tenders, cheesesteaks, salads and garden and impossible burgers. But the biggest seller is the classic burger.
“The classic, that’s the thing,” Stack said. “My husband has this T-shirt and it says, I’m not getting older, I’m becoming a classic. And their burger is the classic. It’s a double patty. It’s very juicy. We smash them and they’re very lean.”
The Stack’s Darien restaurant is actually located next door to a dry cleaner service at 2425 75th St. and while neighbors include several fast-food restaurants, Wayback is notable for a lack of a drive through — an intentional omission in a desire to get customers to come in and take a break. It also allowed architects room to create patio seating, which Stack hopes will be popular as the weather warms up.
“It’s their philosophy,” Stack said of the private company. “They’re about community. It’s made to order. And it’s fresh, so it’s retro. You go back in time and you kind of calm down.”
With so much else going on, Stack said it’s the sort of place she hopes will help people, at least through dinner or lunch.
“We need it,” she said of Wayback’s slower pace. “We all need it right now.”
Along a side wall, the restaurant offers a few motivational slogans, including one about respecting everyone. The sign is more than feel good pablum, she said.
“It’s everything that I feel,” Stack said.
This is the first restaurant for her and her husband and, so far, it’s been a hit. While Stack said Saturday’s ribbon — cutting event was packed and at time frantic — with deeply discounted burgers, a musician and giveaways — the event was a popular with the grill averaging some 20 patties at any given time. But, she said, most customers were patient.
“Luckily, we’re tough and when they know we’re new,” Stack said of the diners. “My husband can do anything.”
It’s not just her husband behind the counter. She also works there, as do the couple’s children and some of their friends. All told, they’ve got a staff of 16 people.
So far, Stack said most of the restaurant’s clients are placing online orders for pickup, she said she’s hopeful the dining room will begin to return to normal as mask mandates are lifted and the state begins to return to normal.
– Original Credit: Julie Stack
On Sunday, the pace was a bit slower, though the staff — including John and Julie — were both busy tending to customers. The customers who showed up, some of whom had never been to a Wayback, were thrilled.
Maureen McGovern, in the area from Riverside en route to buy a home stopped to buy a sandwich from the new Wayback. She’d never visited a location.
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“I had the cheesesteak it was delicious,” McGovern said. But, she added, she’d return. “Oh, I’ll be back. I’ll be way back.”
Then another customer stopped in, a regular — well, since they opened a couple of months ago — named Diana Georgen. She keeps coming back.
“The service the variety of options,” she said is what she loves. “Everything is a cooked fresh And, there are a lot of options.”
She’s not running out of ideas.
“It looks like the milkshakes look good, so that’s on my list,” Georgen said.
Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.