Cory and I had one of those experiences on Monday night that, as proprietors of a restaurant-guide website, we wish we could bottle up and sell to other entrepreneurs. We were able to enjoy a restaurant preview of a restaurant that is generating quite a bit of buzz in town while visiting with both users of our website and people in the restaurant business who are excited to be in our town.
Honestly, the two hours we spent at Smashburger went by too fast.
We're obviously talking about the big Thursday night Baylor vs. Oklahoma game in today's Pizza and a Football Argument. Because of camera and time constraints, it's a little blurry, but since we ain't pretty, that actually makes it better. We also substituted Crucero breakfast tacos for pizza this week. Watch it.
Let's say you're going to be cooking Thanksgiving dinner and you're looking for some inspiration.
You can stop looking. Just make a reservation for the Cafe Homestead Autumn Harvest dinner set for Nov. 16 with seatings at 5 and 7. Find the menu and the reservation button here.
Not sure what this says about me as a person, but whenever I'm having a truly fantastic week, I feel a small twinge of dread that the fun will soon be over and the hangover will be unmerciful. Does that make me paranoid or an awful cynic or does everyone feel that way sometimes?
I suppose I should explain why it's a great week. It's Halloween, duh. But it's also the red-hot middle of football season. The weather has settled down (I'll take a little rain as long as we know 100-degree days are behind us for a while). However, the main reason I'm floating on Cloud 9 this week is that my friend Becky Murphy's book "I'd Rather be Short" was released on Tuesday. I attended the book release and signing at BookPeople in Austin on Tuesday night, and I attended the after party at The Tiniest Bar in Texas and the after-after party at Taco Cabana.
I think I might have overdone it last week by giving away so many of the Smashburger Preview spots in one fell swoop.
Now there are precious few remaining.
My friends Tye Barrett, Cory Webb and I grabbed some pizza from Papa John's and talked about Big 12 football. We mention in the video that we think if Baylor scores 60 or more points, then you can get 50 percent off a Papa John's order. As it turns out, any Baylor football win will apparently get you half off. Anyway, enjoy this video blog.
Hewitt has the bases loaded when it comes to dining choices.
Fast food on first, mid-range casual dining on second, and upscale on third. If your buddy or significant other asks "Where you wanna eat dinner?" you've got at least one choice for every mood.
Two big announcements:
1) Smashburger is set to open Nov. 6.
My friends Tye Barrett, Jacob Robinson and I grabbed some pizza from Shorty's Pizza Shack and talked about Big 12 football. Watch it.
Smashburger told us this week they're getting close to opening their Waco store. Regional manager Brad Brown said it will probably be Nov. 6, though that date isn't set in stone yet.
Brown also showed me around the restaurant today as it nears finishing-touches stage. Right now the coolest feature is the window peering in on the kitchen. That should give it a diner-burger feel that's just one more perk to an exciting burger restaurant opening on Valley Mills.
