Here's what we know: Smashburger and Mama Fu's are coming to the new shopping center that's under construction on Valley Mills Drive diagonally across the Valley Mills-Wooded Acres intersection from McDonald's and Chipotle.

Here's what we've heard: According to Smashburger regional manager Brad Brown, the shell for the building that will be Smashburger is slated to be finished around February 1. If that's the case, it will probably take the company six to eight weeks to outfit the space and train its staff, putting the opening of the new burger restaurant possibly at the end of March or early April.

Earlier this year, Brown said he hoped to have a Waco restaurant open by the end of 2012. We've seen it before, though, that construction projects happen on their own time. Patience is a virtue. For the record, I'm excited about the arrival of Smashburger, whenever that will be.

Here's what we're still trying to figure out: I made a trip to a Mama Fu's in Georgetown this week, sort of a scouting mission. The staff there said the Mama Fu's rumor mill had the Waco restaurant's opening being moved up from December. Moved up? I asked, thinking certainly they had mixed up the verbiage, saying "moved up" when the meant "moved back." But the Mama Fu's staff member reasserted that he meant moved up and the restaurant could open in November.

Given my conversation with Brown, I again think that Mama Fu's opening has actually been moved back from December.

One more bite: We'll have more info on Mama Fu's, including a semi review of a my trip to the restaurant in Georgetown coming next week.

Vitek's Gut Pak Shak on Franklin is open as of today.

This is big news for barbecue fans, especially those whose jobs require them to frequently run errands around town. It's difficult to imagine a more wonderfully convenient development.

We did brunch about as well as it could be done on a Monday at the new restaurant The Egg and I, which opened on Monday.

I guess, ideally, brunch is a meal best served on a lazy and perhaps even groggy Saturday or Sunday. Monday brunch is the territory of the food or restaurant blogger. So I had Eggs Benedict in order to properly engage with The Egg and I for the first time.

I stopped by the Egg and I on Wednesday and it appears they're ready to begin serving breakfast, brunch and lunch. It's a good thing because their opening day is Monday. The Egg and I hours will be 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Honestly, when I first learned this place would be coming soon, I was a little underwhelmed, perhaps because it came in the middle of a big batch of new restaurant news. But I've since heard good buzz about it from people who have dined at The Egg and I in Austin and/or Tyler.

We received word a little while ago that Waco's Olive Garden was chosen as one of 20 of the Italian chain's restaurants across the country to participate in a pilot remodel. The updates were finished last week and commemorated with a ribbon cutting.

It took us until Wednesday, but we checked it out, courtesy of a $30 gift card from Olive Garden.

I'm working on new restaurant news, but for the first time in a while I've hit a bit of a wall when it comes to recon. It happens I suppose.

So in place of restaurant news today, I thought I would take a quick look at this year so far and all the newness that has come our way. And just to make the process a little more fun, I propose that you, WacoFork reader, comment with your top 5 list of new restaurants to hit Waco so far this year.

What's the proper way to celebrate Columbus Day? Is not getting mail or going to the bank enough? Or is there a certain type of food a person should eat?

I considered Italian food and then perhaps Indian food, but ultimately skipped the whole thing and made good on a couple of WacoFork prizes.

If there are any foodies in Waco that don't know about or haven't been to Gourmet Gallery and Crav, then those folks really need to evaluate their self-label. Or perhaps they just need to go to Gourmet Gallery and get hip to our town's most specialized cooking shop.

The best option would be to attend one of Gourmet Gallery's cooking classes, which they offer on a regular basis — like eight in the next month! There's a free one tomorrow as they'll hold a holiday appetizer demonstration and sampling. Click here for the complete schedule.

The next Cafe Homestead Farm to Table is coming up quick. It will be October 13 (a week from Saturday) with one seating this time at 6:30. It's a German theme and will feature beef rouladen.

We've said it before and we'll say it again, the Cafe Homestead Farm to Table Dinner is a treat. There's no better way to enjoy a meal in our town, the region and perhaps even the entire state. If you've been to a Cafe Homestead dinner, you know what I'm talking about and if you haven't been yet, you should seriously consider it.

Another new restaurant plans to open in the next month in the downtown area, this one aiming to revitalize a section of our town along with pulling delicious baked goods out of the oven.

Lula Jane's will be a bakery and coffee shop on Elm Street, just a block off of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. I spoke with proprietor Nancy Grayson and her assistant John Sterchi about the project this morning. They're looking to open at the end of this month or early November and hope to create a relaxed dining-in environment.