Wayback Burgers' original location shuttered by health inspectors
Wayback Burgers was planning to close its original location on Ogletown Road in Newark, but the health inspectors beat them to it.
On Thursday, inspectors from the division of Public Health issued a cease and desist immediately closing the restaurant, which has been a staple in Newark since 1991.
Andrea Wojcik, a spokeswoman for the Division of Public Health, said the agency inspected the restaurant on Feb. 1 in response to a late January complaint of overflowing dumpster trash. The inspectors returned on Feb. 16 to see if the trash issue was resolved and discovered additional violations, including a leaking hand washing sink with no hot water and food storage equipment that did not have the appropriate cold temperatures, according to a DPH report. Inspectors immediately shut the restaurant down.
"Because of those two violations identified, our staff issued the closure notice there," Wojcik said.
The Ogletown road location will not reopen, said Gillian Plummer, vice president of marketing for Wayback Burgers. She said the restaurant was scheduled to be permanently shuttered some time after a celebration of the location's 26th anniversary on Feb. 26. With DPH closing it earlier than expected, Plummer said Wayback Burgers decided not to reopen it for an extra week and a half.
"We had plans to close it anyway, so either way it was going to be over," she said.
Plummer said Wayback Burgers' restaurants are franchises and that the chain, now headquartered in Chesire, Connecticut, had asked the owner to address the problems, but he had failed to do so. She did not address the specific violations, referring to them only as "mechanical issues."
Some of the employees at the Ogletown restaurant were hired by the owner of the Wayback franchise at 250 S. Main St. in downtown Newark, Plummer said. However, she was unsure exactly how many employees had been hired. The Main Street restaurant is owned by a different owner than the property on Ogletown Road.
The Ogletown restaurant was slated for closure because Wayback Burgers is changing the design of its restaurant and its look had become outdated, according to Plummer. Wayback Burgers is planning to launch its redesign in Newark, but at a brand new location.
"We are coming out this year with a whole new look and feel and we are going to unveil our greater restaurant design in the Newark market," Plummer said. "After 26 years, it was time to close the doors to that restaurant and give rebirth to the brand in the hometown where we originated later this year."
Plummer said the company is scouting sites for the new restaurant.
"We are actively exploring any real estate opportunities that will showcase our rebranded look and feel," she said.
Since the original Wayback Burgers location will not reopen, the owner, who was not identified, will not face penalties for the health code violations. Restaurants closed by the DPH typically don't face fines, only incurring costs when they attempt to fix issues.
"If they are not going to reopen, there is no threat to the public's health," Wojcik said. "If they open in a new location, they will have inspections in that new location. In either case, the public's protected."
Wayback Burgers operates 120 locations in 27 states, including nine in Delaware. The company's nternational markets include Argentina, Brunei and Saudi Arabia with plans to open restaurants in 34 countries in 2017. Nigeria, India and Pakistan are among the new markets targeted by the casual restaurant chain.
In 2016, Wayback Burgers explored the possibility of launching an initial public offering, but did not move forward with the plans. The IPO was to fund Wayback Burgers' expansion into nontraditional venues such as sports stadiums, naval bases and Wal-Marts. Wayback Burgers has already opened locations at Citizens Bank Park and the Wells Fargo Center, two Philadelphia sports stadiums.
Contact Jeff Mordock at (302) 324-2786, on Twitter @JeffMordockTNJ or jmordock@delawareonline.com.