Fox Business Clips Sep 18, 2026
With John Eucalitto, CEO of Wayback Burgers
Wayback Burgers has been selling burgers for 35 years and franchising since 2009, and John Eucalitto said the chain has raised its unit count and its volumes every year it has franchised.
The chains he is measured against cook ahead and hold the product warm. His pitch is the opposite of that, and it is the reason he gives for charging more than McDonald's.
"It's not held in a warming tray and everything made fresh."
Eucalitto runs the chain, negotiates the beef supply that sets what franchisees pay, and decides which brands those franchisees get to add. He appeared with a tray of burgers and a pizza in the studio.
The full segment is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 6 takeaways that matter.
Key Takeaways
The chain has been in business 35 years and has franchised since 2009, adding units and volume every year
The product claim is process, not recipe: a fresh proprietary blend and nothing held in a warming tray
Most of the burgers sold are doubles, and the host put the price of one between $8.99 and $11.99
Smash burgers have stopped being a premium-segment product, on his reading, and are now everywhere
Beef is bought forward, with the next negotiation about 40 days out, so franchisees can be told what is coming
The pizza brand exists because franchisees already run three or four brands each
1. The Better Burger Pitch
The host opened by asking what puts Wayback Burgers in the better-burger category rather than in fast food. Eucalitto answered on process.
Nothing is cooked ahead and held
It's not held in a warming tray and everything made fresh.
John Eucalitto
He described a fresh proprietary blend that the chain has used for its whole life, and said the patty is soft enough that it comes apart when you pick it up.
The chain's age is part of the claim
We've been in business for 35 years.
John Eucalitto
2. What a Double Costs
Price came next, and the guest's first answer was that it depends on the part of the country. The host pushed for a number and named $8.99 in the South, then put the range at $8.99 to $11.99. Those figures are the show's, read at the guest rather than given by him.
What Eucalitto did supply is what a customer actually orders.
The standard order is two patties
Most of our burgers are double, double smash burgers.
John Eucalitto
Asked about the total bill, he said the menu is priced so an average person can eat a double and be done for the day, and that sides are charged separately.
Above McDonald's, below the rest of the segment
Everything is à la carte. More than McDonald's, less than competitors.
John Eucalitto
3. Smash Goes Mainstream
The host asked how much of the market the better-burger category now takes. The answer to that question is garbled in the caption and is left out here. What survives is Eucalitto's view of where the cooking style has spread.
The technique is no longer a premium signal
Everyone is getting smashed burgers, not just better burger or the premier burger.
John Eucalitto
The host admitted he was out of touch on the method and described it back as taking a ball of beef and pressing it down.
4. Franchising Since 2009
Asked whether the chain is expanding, Eucalitto gave the franchising history as the answer.
Units and volume have risen every year
We started franchising in 2009 and every year we have increased the number of units
John Eucalitto
He said the chain is "ready for the next cycle" and that "the next few years have been all about chicken," which is where he put the attention going forward rather than on more beef.
5. Locking In Beef Costs
The host raised input costs against margins. Eucalitto said he has a supply partner and that the next round of negotiations starts in about 40 days, a year ahead of the period it covers.
Buying forward is a service to franchisees
We can communicate that to the franchisees.
John Eucalitto
The move either way is about a dollar
It is up a dollar and down a dollar.
John Eucalitto
The point of buying a year out, he said, is to see what the future is going to bring and pass that visibility down to the operators who have to set their own budgets.
6. Why Add a Pizza Brand
The host asked the obvious question of a burger chain launching pizza. The answer was about the franchisee, not the customer.
The operators asked for a second brand
Over the years we've seen our franchisees, become multi-branded franchisees.
John Eucalitto
One franchisee holds the pizza concept, another a taco concept, and by his count operators are running three or four brands and using business consultants around them. The segment was billed around the launch of the chain's pizza brand, Molte Pizze.
Bonus Insights
The last two minutes were a pizza-style tutorial in the studio, and the caption labels for it are unreliable enough that the individual lines are not attributed here. The exchange covered New York style against Detroit style: a higher temperature and a thicker crust for one, a deep-dish pan for the other, brick cheese that is imported for the Detroit version, and a very thin crust option as well. The host, who said he had a lot to learn about pizza, asked whether the pie on the table was good enough for Dave Portnoy, whose pizza reviews are the reference point the question assumed.
The host also asked twice to touch the food and was told someone else was going to eat it.
Eucalitto's bottom line is that Wayback Burgers grows by selling more brands to the franchisees it already has, and defends its price against McDonald's on a cooking process rather than on a recipe.
Products, Companies & Tools Mentioned
Wayback Burgers (35 years old, franchising since 2009, growing units and volume every year on his account, and now adding a pizza brand for its multi-brand operators)
McDonald's (The reference point he prices above, with the rest of the better-burger segment priced above him)
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