Just in time for the holidays, Honeybaked Express has opened in Central Texas Marketplace.
Driving to my favorite morning bagel-and-coffee location, I noticed the sign for the first time and immediately wondered if this was the reincarnation of the Honeybaked Ham store that formerly operated from the Valley Mills Drive shopping center anchored by Fuddruckers and Carino's. While manager Chirsty Ortiz said she worked for many years at Honeybaked Ham, Honeybaked Express is a new store with its base and ownership in Fort Worth.
I have to say I'm excited about this weekend, mostly because of the potential to enjoy good music in our town.
We ain't Austin, I reckon. But we can still get down on the odd occasion, right? To that end, I'm planning on having my ears in the range of live music both Friday and Saturday night.
If you follow us on Twitter, you might have noticed we helped Clay Pot announce a promotion they're holding from now until the end of the year.
Just in time for Christmas, the Vietnamese restaurant is offering a free $5 gift certificate with the purchase of a $25 gift certificate OR $5 off a $25 gift certificate. That sounds like a great Christmas gift idea, even if you give it to yourself.
Haven't actually tried it yet, but I've been hearing quite a bit about the new Waco restaurant that specializes in chicken wings and Kool-Aid through the WacoFork wire.
First someone told me they had seen the sign and, obviously, been intrigued by the fact that the Wing Factory advertises that it serves Kool-Aid. I have to admit that my first attempt to find it failed. I drove around the Waco Drive/Interstate 35 area but didn't hit it.
I suppose that if one function of this space is to tell you about new restaurants on the way, then another is to let you know what to expect from those new restaurants. I can do that today.
Having returned from Thanksgiving, I dined at WiseGuys on Monday night. It opened last week just before the holiday and I had a preview. But the preview didn't give me an absolutely clear picture of WiseGuys.
UPDATE: WiseGuys is opening today at 5 p.m. and WILL be open on Black Friday. Co-owner Bill Nychay told us this afternoon that they received the green light from the powers that be. ... "It was the crazies thing," Nychay said. "He came in and said 'you've got this, this and this and here's your certificate of occupancy.' So we'll be open later today."
[ from earlier Wednesday ] I've been keeping a keen eye on WiseGuys, the Chicago-style eatery coming very soon to the Westview Village Shopping Center at Valley Mills and Waco Drive. They tentatively planned to open this week and even had local crooner Bruce Carbonara scheduled to serenade the opening-day diners.
As of this morning, though, it looks like the opening will happen early next week instead of the Black Friday debut they were hoping to host. (again, I kept these two paragraphs in the blog to demonstrate the serendipitous nature of WiseGuys opening up for business this weekend)
We've got the scoop on something that's going to be fun and definitely worthwhile coming in early 2013. We hope you'll be as excited about the potential of Restaurant Week as we are.
It sounds like something that we're up to — and to be honest it's something we wish we had thought of — but we can't take credit for it. That goes to Big Brothers Big Sisters of McLennan County and specifically BBBS's Summer Aletky, who has been turning the wheels on this project.
Duing the holidays, we get some queries asking our advice about where people meeting in Waco should dine or, in general, restaurants that are going to be open on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
I've learned to check with hotels that have nice restaurants. Chances are they will have guests and therefore open restaurants and even special meals. Beyond that, look to the joints that seem to never close (IHOP, Denny's, etc.).
A local group called the TU Hope Crew is throwing a party complete with live music, dancing, games for kids, food, beverage and an auction Sunday afternoon and evening at Hog Creek Ice House.
Elephants Band is set to bring the funk, R&B and classic rock hits while the Brett Hendrix Band will offer Texas country for the party which is slated for 4-8 p.m.
I just got word that Cafe Homestead has just a couple seats left for Saturday's Thanksgiving Farm to Table Dinner — as in two with a little room to add a seat or two. So if you were hoping to attend and dine but were procrastinating, well, stop procrastinating and pick up the phone.
To make reservations or for more information, call 254-754-9604 or click here.
