Last week we created a fair amount of buzz with the simple revelation that a big-name burger chain was looking at Waco for possible expansion.
So I figured I would begin this week with local burger joint news. Dave's Burger Barn in Lacy Lakeview is up and running again with a sparkling new expanded dining room, complete with a huge projection TV.
Dave's had been closed since around Thanksgiving, when owner Tim Quiroz decided to expand the popular neighborhood burger shack into something more fit for big crowds. He spent the last couple of weeks touching up around the new building and opened up again on Monday morning at 10:30.
If the first day back open was any indication, Quiroz got the crowd he was looking for.
I arrived a little after 11 and there was already a line of about half a dozen patrons. By the time I left at 11:30, excited Dave's customers were lining the inside of the restaurant waiting to order. Had it not been raining, it's possible the line would have gone outside and to the end of the parking lot.
Dave's signature feature is the Zipper Ripper Challenge. It goes like this: you have 12 minutes to finish a burger with five patties, five strips of bacon, five slices of cheese, a pound of fries and a drink. If you make it, your burger is free plus you earn a free T-shirt and your picture on the Wall of Fame. If you don't make it, you owe $16.99 and your picture goes on the Wall of Shame.
So of course, the new large dining room includes bigger versions of the Wall of Fame and Wall of Shame.
