I have a collection of items floating around in my WacoFork consciousness. My reporter instinct tells me to keep them in the back of my mind until I can fully flesh them out. But my post-modern, media-age evolving sense of what a blog can do tells me to spitfire a bunch of items to both inform you, dear reader, and try to collect some leads.
So here it goes. Feel free to comment or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any insights or if you just want to chastise me for being a bad reporter.
- We reported last week that Freebirds has penciled in Sept. 11 as its opening day, but there's still a chance that date could inch forward.
- Along with Freebirds, Quaker Steak & Lube and possibly Vibrante Cafe & Shoppe will/could open during the second full week of September.
- The local Jimmy John's empire is getting ready to expand again with a Bellmead store next door to Starbucks.
- Samurai Steakhouse, regarded by me and possibly others, as the gold standard for local hibachi is closed for the time being. A social media item this week suggested that there was a health code violation in the mix. Now, a health code violation sounds bad. But bear in mind that many a decent eatery has been tripped up by the health inspector and come back to thrive. Can Samurai Steakhouse regain its place? It's definitely a different landscape than 20 years ago when Samurai was the only hibachi game in town, so I have my doubts.
- I received an email regarding a Wise Guys Pizza coming to town and have started looking for more info on this. Haven't found anything other than it looks like this is a Killeen-based chain. So maybe they're looking to get in on the red-hot Waco market. My source said it was coming to North Valley Mills Drive, where it seems like new restaurants are springing up like mushrooms after a rain.
That's all for now. Let me hear some noise, WacoFork land.
