Last week, a friend pointed out that the new building under construction next door to Zoes Kitchen on Valley Mills Drive is going to be a Chili’s.
“Woohoo!” I said, sarcastically.
I mean, I like Chili’s. It’s as good a place as any to have a good conversation with friends and eat chips and queso. It’s just not exciting, especially in the current Waco restaurant landscape.
But then I remembered a simpler time here in our humble burg when the opening of Chili’s was exciting.
In case anyone is unaware, I grew up in Waco. I’ve lived here since 1980 with a gap between 1996 and 2003 when I went to college in Lubbock, then worked in Fort Worth. So I’ve been able to see how Waco has evolved and probably most closely observed how that affected the dining options.
So, for your edification and amusement, I present a brief and inexact history of restaurants coming to Waco.
Happy 2016, WacoFork friends.
If the last couple of years are an indication, this should be another calendar full of new arrivals as Waco continues to level up.
Back in November I saw Milo Local Provisions, one of the local food trucks, make a mention of their next Farm to Market dinner, I purchased a ticket and awaited information. Not knowing exactly how their system worked, notifying you of the location the day prior, I had a little unease but upon arrival it all melted away into a carefree environment that was one of new friends and many conversations.
My family loves to drive around Waco every Christmas and see all of the great Christmas light displays around town. Last year we started a tradition called "Jammy Cocoa Christmas" where we all put on our pajamas, hop in the car, get some hot chocolate from Starbucks, and drive around town hitting our favorite spots. Last night was our 2nd annual Jammy Cocoa Christmas, and here is the list of spots we hit along with a couple of other spots we didn't hit list night.
Last week, we posted on our Facebook page an impromptu video that local mom, singer/songwritter Emily Mills created which was posted by her friend. At the time, that video had hit about 43,000 views, and it has since reached over 200,000 views. Given that video's popularity, Emily, along with her husband Brett and friends Kylie Higgins and Kelly Tetens, decided to have a little fun with it and record a full-length, more professional version of the video and post it to YouTube.
Cafe Homestead will be having their first large scale Farm to Table dinner in some time now on Saturday, Dec 19th with two sittings, 5:30PM and 7:30PM. The menu looks to be quite enticing with a starter of French Onion Soup, followed up by a Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette, a main cource of Roast Beef Tenderloin with cranberry shallot glaze and sides of Roasted Red Peppers, Grilled Parmesan Broccoli. This will all be completed with a Pear Spice Cake. Reservations should be made by calling Cafe Homestead, cost is $68/plate(tax and gratuity not included).
There's no denying it. HGTV's "Fixer Upper" is a hit show, and Waco is the star of the show. Ok, maybe Chip and Joanna Gaines are the stars, but Waco is a huge part of the show. People everywhere are talking about it. BuzzFeed recently posted a list of 49 Thoughts You Have Every Time You Watch HGTV's "Fixer Upper." People are flocking to Waco from all over the country to shop at the new Magnolia silos. With Waco's new-found stardom, most people in town are talking about the show that is making Waco the envy of HGTV fans everywhere. Here are 20 things that people from Waco say about "Fixer Upper."
The last year has brought about selection of burger joints that have come to the west side of I-35. I had the idea for this in the form of a comedic decision tree on how to pick which to select for your day, but it grew far too large to fit in a viable web display format online. Since we were too large to do the decision tree, I will instead go at this from a rundown of all the options and provide you with breakdown of each, as I see them from my view and try to zoom out and see from others as well. While I am not a normal consumer of fast foods, I have recently ventured to try each of these in the last month or so to give them each a fair shake and refresh my view on them.
The best thing about being known around town as a restaurant blogger is that, every now and then, someone will say, “Hey, come by and eat something.”
On Sunday night, I had stopped in at The Dancing Bear Pub to meet up with a friend in town when bartender Jeremy Mercer introduced me to Crazy Horse Grill chef Nabor Leal. They wanted me to try something from the truck at that time, but I had already hit my calorie number for the day. (If you’re suggesting that I was about to go over anyway because I was at the pub and obviously going to drink beer, well, I have a simple retort. I don’t include beverages in my calorie count.) But I promised to return later in the week.
I have to admit I was hesitant about going to the Magnolia Silos for lunch today, but I've been craving Club Sandwich for a couple of weeks, and the silos are their new home base. If I can avoid crowds, I typically do, which is why the silos are last on my list of places to go for lunch. Well, at least the were last on my list until today.
