A new restaurant at 3710 Main Street in Bridgeport is serving burgers and pizza out of the same kitchen, and it's the first of its kind in Connecticut. The location pairs Wayback Burgers with Molte Pizze, combining classic-style burgers, shakes and fresh-made pizza under a single co-branded roof, with the spot celebrating its grand opening after a soft launch in late July.
Hubspoke Brands, which owns Wayback Burgers, Molte Pizze and several other emerging concepts, announced the official opening of the co-branded location on Monday, July 27, according to QSR Magazine. The Bridgeport restaurant marks the first co-branded Wayback Burgers and Molte Pizze location to open in the state, the outlet reported. As The Connecticut Scoop first reported, the restaurant is open Sunday through Thursday from 10:30am to midnight, and Friday and Saturday from 10:30am to 1am.
Two Menus, One Kitchen
Wayback Burgers, described as a fast-growing burger restaurant chain, rounds out its menu with hot dogs, wings, chicken sandwiches, salads, sandwiches, bowls, fries, onion rings and milkshakes, per the same Connecticut Scoop report. Molte Pizze, whose name translates to “many pizzas,” contributes tavern, New York and Detroit-style pies, all handcrafted and made fresh to order.
Molte Pizze's own website emphasizes that hands-on approach, noting the company hand-tosses and prepares all its pizzas with homemade dough, with everything made to order, according to Molte Pizze. A separate report from WTNH describes the brand's pizza styles as New York, Detroit and Neapolitan, offering a slightly different lineup than the tavern-style description that ran elsewhere.
The Hubspoke Brands Playbook
The Bridgeport pairing is part of a larger strategy from Hubspoke Brands, which is expanding a multi-concept franchising platform built around fast-casual restaurant brands, according to Franchise Times. Wayback Burgers itself is operated by Wallingford-based Jake's Franchising, which is in the process of rebranding as Wayback Franchising, per a report from Hartford Business Journal. Hubspoke Brands is also launching five additional restaurant concepts beyond Wayback and Molte Pizze: Pane & Mozz, Citta Pasta, Uncle Willie's Smokehouse and Taculto, according to the same Hartford Business Journal reporting.
Much of that testing happens at Hubspoke Kitchen, a micro food hall concept from Hubspoke Brands that has served as an incubator for the company's emerging concepts. The Wallingford hub, located at 206 Main St., has no customer seating, according to WTNH's earlier report — instead, orders are placed online or in person for pickup. Molte Pizze currently has just a single standalone location inside that Wallingford food hall, separate from the new Bridgeport spot.
More Co-Branded Locations on the Way
Bridgeport won't be the only place to find the Wayback-Molte Pizze combination. A second location pairing the two brands is planned for a shopping center redevelopment in Orange, Connecticut, Hartford Business Journal reported. A franchisee in Emerson, New Jersey, is also planning to combine Wayback and Molte Pizze at a location outside the state, according to the same report.
The expansion comes as Wayback Burgers has grown into a sizable national chain — the brand generated an estimated $181 million in revenue in 2024, according to foodservice tracker Technomic Inc., as cited by Hartford Business Journal, and had grown to 182 global locations under chain leadership, per Franchise Times. Locally, reports differ on exactly how many Wayback Burgers locations operate in Connecticut: Hartford Business Journal reported that 10 franchisees own 20 locations in the state, while The Connecticut Scoop's original report put the figure at 22 locations. Hubspoke Brands has not resolved the discrepancy publicly.
For now, Bridgeport diners have a new option combining two growing fast-casual concepts in one storefront, with company plans suggesting more co-branded locations could follow as Hubspoke Brands continues rolling out its stable of restaurant concepts across the region.
