Two more restaurant arrivals recently came to my attention, one through the good old WacoFork wire and the other as a result of trying to get confirmation on the first one.
Last week, I got an email from one of our WacoFork friends telling me a Don Carlos manager had heard Chick-Fil-A was planning to build a second free standing restaurant in town, this one at Central Texas Marketplace near Cabela's and Don Carlos. So I decided to have lunch at Don Carlos to investigate for myself. I received word that Twin Peaks is going in next door to Don Carlos and a Chick-Fil-A on the other side, closer to Logan's Road House.
I spoke with a manager and found out the info was coming through Don Carlos' radio connections (Power 108 has a weekly Party on the Patio at Don Carlos), which apparently have connections with Central Texas Marketplace management. That's a bit convoluted, I realize. I was told by another Don Carlos employee that Cabela's management routinely dines at the Mexican food restaurant and they've been told Chick-Fil-A is on its way.
All of this is extremely tentative as far as I can tell. I'm efforting confirmation on both restaurants, but this is where this kind of thing starts.
We'll keep you posted. In the meantime ...
Simone's carrying on tradition
We knew The Grillin' Station was no more on 19th Street, but somehow it escaped my attention that another restaurant had taken over the space.
Today I spoke with the new restaurateur in the location, Bobby Touchstone, whose place is called Simone's BBQ and More. Touchstone said he took over the place in May and opened in August. I didn't notice it until last week, which is an indication that I haven't driven down 19th street too often recently.
It also speaks to the oddly isolated nature of this area of town. And that's not just because I haven't been over there. Billy Bob's hung on to that location for years before calling it a day and closing. The Grillin' Station took over for maybe a year stint and then left and now Simone's is giving it a go.
Dubl-R and Kitok's have established a reputation and regulars in this area of town and they do steady business. But it seems a new spot would have to be really good to attract an audience.
Speaking of ...
Last week I mentioned that the travel restaurant website Roadfood.com picked El Pollo Regio as one of its Austin dives. Except it's a chain and I pointed out that we have one in Waco. Turns out that's past tense. We had one in Waco. It's some sort of a loan or check cashing place now.
No idea how long Pollo Regio has been gone, but it speaks to the shakiness of business in this area. That's another probably decent restaurant taken down by a slow part of town.
One more bite: Sam's on The Square has gone dark. I peeked in the window on Monday and there are no tables or chairs. Two people were walking around inside and there was a City of Waco truck outside with the word "inspection" printed on the door. So there's one more item we're watching.
