The Torchy's sign in the picture with this blog is from our Waco location.
I wish I had a whole bunch of concrete information today, but I don't. I know a sign is up and I snooped around while construction was going on, learning that the inside is making significant progress toward being outfitted for the restaurant.
Today's news of Treff's closing has created mass mourning, at least on our social media outlets, because of the loss of the piano man.
Fret not.
The revamping of Austin Avenue keeps getting more interesting, perhaps even volatile.
The latest news came Monday afternoon when Johnson-Dillard Inc's Robert Johnson told me Treff's has closed. After 13 years as Treff's in that location (previously it was Six-Shooter Junction) the proliferation of bars in that area of Austin Ave., combined with Treff's management's need to focus its efforts on its San Marcos tavern, have resulted in another closing on one of Waco's key downtown streets.
Cafe Homestead continues its excellent tradition of seated dinners this month with a rib-eye dinner on Feb. 15.
The dinner will feature a 12-ounce rib-eye with the Homestead gristmill's jalapeño cheddar grits. That will be served after a blooming onion and before crème brûlée.
Last week I told you about speculation I've been hearing about Central Texas Marketplace. I had a couple of indirect sources suggesting a Twin Peaks and a Chick-fil-A were going in the Cabela's/Don Carlos sector of the massive Waco shopping center.
I have an update as I caught up with local Chick-fil-Ahuman resources director Paul Day at the Richland Mall location. He said nothing has been signed on a new Chick-fil-A location. The fast-food-chicken chain is aggressively seeking a third Waco location, but Day wasn't even sure if the Central Texas Marketplace location was a candidate.
Muddle opened Saturday.
I was sitting on the couch watching sports, feeling ambivalent about sitting on the couch watching sports on a Saturday night when I saw a Tweet from one of our WacoFork friends, who said she happened upon Muddle's soft opening. That exacerbated my ambivalence, but I eased my mind by telling myself I would write about the new cocktail bar's opening this week.
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 received confirmation today that Portofino will be opening a new restaurant on Austin Avenue across from the Hippodrome in the space formerly occupied by The Green Room.
Portofino patriarch Nick Colaku told me he's happy with his current location at Lake Shore Drive and 19th Street, near MCC, but he's been told that his lease will not be renewed as HEB has bought the property and intends to build a new store.
I received a heads up text from Blake Batson at Common Grounds today that made my day of blogging so much more interesting.
During the holiday break, Common Grounds made a couple of upgrades that should make a big impact for Waco's most established coffeehouse. CG added cold brew on tap and replaced its pastry cabinet with a marble countertop, making the entry feel more open.
It's Sunday morning and I'm alone in the Fiesta Bowl media work room.
The UCF defensive personnel is busy giving quotes to the media in another room here on the beautiful campus of the Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Arizona. Because I'm here to cover the actual game for my steady wire-service gig and in the meantime write about the scene here in Phoenix, I don't have a ton of interest in listening to the Knights players and coaches pontificate on how they might stop the most prolific offense in the nation (in case any WacoFork readers are unaware, Baylor leads the nation in total offense with more than 50 yards per game more than second-place Oregon).
