Created by Mission Waco to help revitalize an old North Waco neighborhood, the cafe has become the hot spot for lunch specials and their famous World Cup Burger. In fact, you better go early to be sure you can get a seat. The good news is they just doubled their space with a wonderful gallery of Fair Trade items for sale and room for large groups or events. Opening from 7:00-2:00 for food and until 5:00 for great specialty drinks, WiFi and shopping. it has also become a popular breakfast site, especially on Saturday. The cafe is also located next to the 200-seat Jubilee Theatre where groups can have programs with meals in the World Cup. Food costs are very reasonable and the service is good!
World Cup Café is a local joint that has been around for nearly 5 years. I had never really heard of them until I saw their advertisement on Wacoboard.com. They opened around the same time I headed off to college at TAMUG. They work with Mission Waco and apparently TSTC to help train students from the culinary department (something I noticed both times I went in, as I knew both chefs); which is great deal I think, since it isn’t always easy to find a good job right away in the food industry.
I’ve eaten there twice now; once for lunch and once for breakfast. For lunch I chowed down on their “World Cup Burger” and some sweet potato fries. For Breakfast I chowed down on the Colcord and some French toast.
The first time was lunch, they had a decent crowd. I sat at a side booth and glanced over their menu. They have burgers, sandwiches, chicken fried steak, melts, specials for the day, a kids menu, even a light and healthy section and plenty of side items. I ordered their World Cup Burger, which they claim is their customers #1 choice. The burger consists of a seasoned 8oz patty, American cheese, pico be gallo, mustard/mayo all between grilled parmesan sourdough bread and one side of your choosing (I chose the sweet potato fries). The fries are above average run of the the mill sweet potato waffle fries; sweet, nice and crispy with good sweet potato flavor. Now the burger… that was something to be reckoned with. The cheese was nice and gooey, the pico was fresh and flavorful, the meat was nicely cooked with slightly crunchy edges… and the bun was just awesome- great cheesy parmesan flavor, nice and crunchy… a great bun indeed. Altogether, it’s probably one of the best specialty burgers I’ve ever eaten and I can see why it is a local favorite. When you take a bite you get a hit of the crunchy parmesan, then you move down into the soft and gooey cheese all melted into the pico which carries a little kick of its own.
I usually almost always order pancakes when I go out to eat for breakfast, cause I love my own French toast and waffles too much to eat others…. But today I decided to venture out and try some one else’s. For the breakfast I ordered the Colcord, which consists of; 2 eggs cooked to order (I ordered mine poached, runny), hash browns, toast/biscuit, and you can add a meat for a little extra. I decided not to add any meat to stay one budget. But I did order some French toast to go with it… it’s a carb kinda day. I ended up with a full plate; The eggs were cooked just perfectly, nice and runny so I can sop it up with the hash browns and toast. The hash browns were pretty good, not as crunchy as I usually like them… but they still had a good texture and great flavor. They went real well with the eggs and a little bit of ketchup… just a touch. The regular toast was nice and toasty, wasn’t burnt nor really dry, throw a little hash browns or eggs whites on it, was delicious. The French toast was really good; 2 full slices of Texas toast, battered up and fried, sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with syrup on the side. It was good to eat with just the powdered sugar, it was good with the syrup, but it was best with the egg yolks and a tad of syrup. Near the end of my meal, I wasn’t sure what I was going have as my last bite… so I made it a little of everything- hash browns topped on the French toast and soaked up what was left of the egg yolk…. Was one last delicious bite.
The atmosphere is pretty nice; the customers are all generally pleasant; the manager is very nice and courteous, and most of the customers seem to be regulars and like to chat it up with everyone, even the cooks. The only downside to this is if it gets busy, it seems the employees get kinda caught up in the moment (if that makes sense)… -- the first time I went it took a while to get my check and my to-go order for my pop; cause they seemed more focused on chatting. But even I get caught up sometimes at my job, and get a tad behind, but not very often. It comes with the territory of the business. So, besides that one time wait, I’ve had two very good experiences while dining in at World Cup Café, and suggest you give them a try… and Ill will be going back soon to try some of their daily specials and to snag another one of their World Cup Burgers.
-Oh and apparently they have plenty of coffees to choose from. Obviously I am not a coffee drinker, can barely stand the aroma of it.
I recently celebrated a birthday and decided to visit somewhere new for my birthday lunch. I decided upon WCC because they close at 2pm everyday and I rarely go out for lunch. But this place is a must! I'm embarrassed to say my own 80something grandmother has been frequenting this little joint since it opened and always talks about their burgers. The small cafe is owned and operated by Mission Waco so of course your want to support this great non-profit. Their speciality is the World Cup Burger that has cheese and a special sauce all on our toasted sourdough bun. Oh my goodness so tasty!!! The metly cheese and sauce just mixes together so well in your mouth, it's hard to put it down so you can enjoy their fries. My grandmother likes the sweet potato fries while I prefer the normal potato ones. I will warn you though that they don't have a soda fountain, so its a bottle and that means no refills. Overall, I definitely recommend you visit this place. And yes, I think it's the Best Burger in Waco!
Not only can you get good greasy spoon diner food and breakfast here, but you help fund Mission Waco. Good vegetarian options, lots of comfort food, and free trade shopping for a cause.
