OK, I'm back from my golf trip and back from Big 12 Media Days in Dallas and I'm ready to get back into the realm of new restaurants in Waco.

The first item on the agenda today was lunch at the new Outlaw's BBQ, which opened on Thursday at 8th and LaSalle. My friend Wes Kitten, who provided the photo for this blog, texted me last week to tell me Outlaw's had opened. I usually like to be in town when these things happen, but the way things are shaping up, if I wait until there aren't any openings to take a vacation, it could be a while before I have a vacation. So I can live with this one.

Here's the 12th installment of Tuesday Trivia, which we'll be running all summer.

What a coincidence! I happen to be typing the 12th installment while at Big 12 Media Days. I thought about asking you to name Waco athletes who have played a sport at each Big 12 school. If you want to do that anyway, we might have a special prize for you. Anyway, we've been tying trivia to new music releases since that happens on Tuesdays, so you would have some framework for my question's origin. We'll continue that today.

Folks can say what they want about Waco. I'm not sure what all that is these days, but I tell you what you can't say about Waco now or pretty much anytime I've lived here (and that includes a lot of years).

You can't say nothing ever happens here.

Here's the 11th installment of Tuesday Trivia, which we'll be running all summer.

We've been tying trivia to new music releases since that happens on Tuesdays, so you would have some framework for my question's origin. But this week the pickings are a little slim, so we're going to tie it to the opening of the way-overexposed movie R.I.P.D. The soundtrack includes a song from one of the movie's stars, Jeff Bridges,  so we think it still kind of counts as a music question.

A Quest For Brisket, by Sarah Picken

Recently, my friend Monica, from back home in Chicago flew into Texas and we embarked on a 1,700 mile road trip through West Texas visiting Big Bend, Marfa, and Balmorhea Springs among other places. While I was excited to show her the beauty that is West Texas, I was also thrilled to introduce her to Texas food staples.  I couldn’t wait until the tail end of our trip when we would be able to indulge in some of my favorite Tex-Mex and barbecue joints in the Central Texas area.

So much for breezing through the middle of July, waiting for the hot summer to go by and keeping a low profile. There are new things happening on the Waco restaurant scene almost daily, so there's work to be done.

In the last three weeks we've had no fewer than seven news items to report, including new restaurants in Outlaw BBQ and Fuzzy's Taco Shop, In-N-Out getting a step closer to Waco and Mama Fu's opening its doors. There's more today as the WacoFork wire alerted us to Nizza Pizza preparing to open a Waco location.

The cool part about this WacoFork gig for me is that I feel obligated to get around the state and try restaurants that either might be headed our way or just demand to be written about in this space.

To that end, since my sister, Calley Durant, had a baby in Fort Worth on Tuesday, I NEEDED to drive up to Cowtown a day early in order to refamiliarize myself with Fuzzy's Taco Shop. I'm pleased to report that I dined on tasty crawfish and shredded beef tacos (pictured), which along with an iced tea cost just $5 and change.

Here's the 10th installment of Tuesday Trivia, which we'll be running all summer.

We're tying trivia to new music releases since that happens on Tuesdays, so you'll have some framework for my question's origin. Actually, today's question has a little bit to do with a new book release, but you get the idea. I've been trying pretty hard to form the questions in such a way that the answer can't just be Googled. Earlier this week, good WacoFork friend Sarah Picken told me they are growing more difficult to Google, so I'll take that as a sign that I'm succeeding.

Mama Fu's is open!

It's the first in a series of restaurant opening which will take place during the next few months in the Aldi shopping center on Valley Mills Drive. Smashburger will be next, probably in September

Last week, I made a list of new things coming to our town that have my attention. I left something off the list because I was unsure of its status.

The Lone Mammoth was that thing. I'm relieved to tell you it's still on the way.