Well, as usual, the Cafe Homestead monthly dinner menu is out and there's something on it that absolutely piques my interest.
Here's the thing about Cafe Homestead's dinners: they're usually in the $40-$50 range, which means there are two ways to look at it. One way is to think that it's expensive. But I think that's short-sighted. I think if you commit to spending a little more than usual on a dinner, then your expectations for that dinner are raised. And I think you can raise your expectations for this thing and those expectations will be surpassed.
Move over, New York, downtown Waco has arrived.
As of this week we have a hot dog cart, making it easy for downtown folks to get a quick lunch on the go. George Gaylord opened his hot dog cart, G&K Hot Dogs, on Monday at the corner of Austin Avenue and 7th Street.
After a fair amount of speculation on Facebook this week about the new building going up behind Whataburger near Baylor (7th and Cleveland to be exact), I checked into it and have a little information to pass along.
Sorry, no specific restaurant names yet. But there is at least one new restaurant going into the building. A conversation with The Reid Company, the company leasing the space, revealed that one restaurant is almost set to go there, though they're not disclosing the name quite yet. They also have space for another restaurant in the building, but no takers yet.
Wouldn't it be cool (and potentially quite profitable) to have a little food stand next to the new Baylor football stadium? Somewhere right on the way for fans to stop by or congregate on football Saturdays and potentially patronize on non-football days as well, just because they want to be near the newness.
I've heard a few people ponder and fantasize about that possibility since the plans for the new stadium were announced. Whether it's a food truck, some sort of food boat or a brick-and-mortar establishment, it's something interesting to daydream about in the idle hours. For local restaurateurs and entrepreneurs, it's probably more than a fantasy.
I have to admit that I've been sitting at basketball games the last couple of weeks unable to resist checking out the Cooking Channel TV College Eats Bracket Battle. It's pretty exciting to see our Vitek's Gut Pak knocking off food dishes from around the country.
In case you're just catching up, in the first round the Gut Pak dominated the N.C. State Mimi's Sausage Dip, then the Gut Pak held off the Duke Greek Devil Gyro in the Sweet 16.
UPDATE: The Best College Eats Elite 8 has started and the Gut Pak is indeed matched up against the Papa Del's Stuffed Pizza. Go here to vote for the Gut Pak. Go here to vote for Papa Del's Stuffed Pizza.
We didn't really know what to expect when this tournament began.
We felt like we had a chance, but we've only seen the opponent on paper. We had no idea what they might bring to the table and how strong their fan support might be. But we got into that first game and realized we had a chance in this thing, at least in the opening round.
I have some difficult news for you, Styrofoam cups. Please step into my office and take a seat.
Common Grounds is moving in a different direction. Your services will no longer be required. As painful as this must be to hear, you have become outdated and you obviously don't have the ability to blend in to the environment.
Oh, man, this is really coold and we're a part of it.
CookingChannelTV.com is putting on a "Best College Eats" Bracket Battle and featuring 32 dishes from college town restaurants. Vitek's Gut Pak made the field.
I know that every time I write about the Cafe Homestead special dinners in this space, I make it read as if it's going to be the meal to end all meals. I promise I'm not inflating my opinion for promotional purposes.
It's just that every time I see the menu, my reaction ranges from "Mmmm, that sounds promising" to "Oh my gosh, I have to eat that." So I honestly hope that I'm not desensitizing the audience here when I rave about this month's Cafe Homestead special evening meal.
When Jimmy John's came to Waco a little less than two years ago, the word on the street was that the sandwich chain wanted to open four stores in town within four years.
It appears they're well ahead of schedule.
