Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you wander into what you think is a new-ish establishment with the intent of writing an article that you think is probably a week or so later than you needed to do it and, instead, it happens to be the first day that establishment is open.
That happened today at Marco's Pizza, which opened on Monday in the Woodway shopping center that also includes Leal's in the space formerly occupied by Gerik's. Not only that, I learned a few things from the knowledgeable and friendly staff.
Only yesterday, I brought the discussion of fancy cocktails in Waco to the table.
Today I have more news on that front. I heard through the WacoFork wire about a new place under construction on Austin Avenue across the street from the Hippodrome. I've started the process of checking it out. As of this afternoon, I'm still waiting to speak with the proprietor, but wanted to spill what I know. It's going to be called Muddle: a cocktail craftery.
Dichotomy opened on Monday of last week making coffee, cocktails and creating a conversation.
I was, I suppose intentionally, late to the party announcing this development here on the One More Bite blog. For one thing, I had too much on my plate Thanksgiving week. For another, waiting a week allowed me to soak up lots of opinion about Dichotomy.
I just received a press release titled "Torchy's Tacos Treks North and to West Texas."
Here's the key paragraph:
What does "home of the jumbo shrimp" mean?
That's the part of the sign at the new Waco Drive restaurant which caught my eye. Does it mean the restaurant — Sam's Southern Eatery — opening on Thursday is the originator of jumbo shrimp? That seems almost impossible. Does it mean Sam's intends to reinvent the way we think about jumbo shrimp? Does it mean they will serve the largest shrimp known to man, redefining the term "jumbo?"
I guess we'll have to wait and see. As stated, Sam's opens on Thursday, or so I was told by staffers preparing the inside of the restaurant. Sam's is located in the spot most recently occupied by Cancun and Adriana & Janette's before that. It's apparently fried seafood, po'-boys and other Southern-style food.
Including jumbo shrimp.
Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers
Waco Tribune-Herald business columnist Mike Copeland reported on Sunday that Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers will anchor the new shopping center going up at Mars and Hewitt Drive.
I recently dined at a Freddy's in Cedar Park. Good chili dog. Good frozen custard I would imagine but didn't dive into that. In some respects it's similar to Smashburger, which recently opened on Valley Mills.
One more bite: Come out to The Dancing Bear Pub tonight at 7 p.m. for our favorite author/illustrator Becky Murphy's "I'd Rather be Short" party. Barnes & Noble will be there with copies of "I'd Rather be Short" for purchase ($14, cash only). The deal is this: buy a copy of the book at the event and you can put a beer on my tab.
Quick-hit blog today, but it has a pretty picture, which might actually be worth more than 1,000 words, an opinion and a promised update.
The picture is of the press box/alumni side of the new Baylor Stadium. The athletic media relations office offered a media tour of the stadium and I jumped on board. Word from the project managers was that everything is on schedule. Lots of phrases like "structural steel erection" and "dried in" which I didn't quite understand, but managed not to giggle at while TV cameras were pointed in my general direction. I think "dried in" means that pretty soon the work will reach the point that it could not be delayed by rainy weather.
Thanks to our friend, Alison Pruett, for digging this up and bringing it to our attention.
Torchy's reached out for a Waco manager via Craigslist. Alison found that and retweeted it, mentioning us and Torchy's in the tweet. Torchy's Twitter handle then confirmed it and mentioned Alison and us.
Let's say you're going to be cooking Thanksgiving dinner and you're looking for some inspiration.
You can stop looking. Just make a reservation for the Cafe Homestead Autumn Harvest dinner set for Nov. 16 with seatings at 5 and 7. Find the menu and the reservation button here.
Two big announcements:
1) Smashburger is set to open Nov. 6.
Smashburger told us this week they're getting close to opening their Waco store. Regional manager Brad Brown said it will probably be Nov. 6, though that date isn't set in stone yet.
Brown also showed me around the restaurant today as it nears finishing-touches stage. Right now the coolest feature is the window peering in on the kitchen. That should give it a diner-burger feel that's just one more perk to an exciting burger restaurant opening on Valley Mills.
