Waco is one step closer to having a dine-in movie theater.
This is something people have wondered about, spread rumors about, fantasized about, etc., for years. Anyone from here who has ventured to Alamo Drafthouse in Austin has likely asked the question "would this work in Waco?"
Just a quick heads up to everyone tuned into the local arts scene: the Waco Independent Media Expo begins Wednesday evening with film and continues Thursday with music.
The Dancing Bear Pub will host the film portion of the event. Doors open at 6 Wednesday evening and the films are set to roll about 7. Featured in the event with be "Watch the Skies" by Ben Davis and "Dawn" by Joshua David Matthews.
Fans of Peter Piper Pizza and those looking forward to the new location will have to wait a few more days. A stop by this morning, with the understanding that today was the grand opening of the New Road Peter Piper, revealed construction crews still working.
Inside a manager told me it will be next week before the new family pizza joint is ready to go.
For months now, I've been hearing that Firehouse Subs wants to come to Waco, but until last week I didn't have any concrete information to dispense.
Now I have a little. Firehouse is seeking/negotiating for a location in Waco, according to sources in the sandwich chain's communication and guest services departments.
Terrance Ganaway is one of four running backs on the St. Louis Rams depth chart, he was a vital member of the Baylor Bears' 2011 Alamo Bowl champion football team, and his newest team is the sandwich-making crew at the downtown Jimmy John's.
I was driving around, running Friday-afternoon errands and listening to the Dallas sports radio greatness of The Hardline when the guys on that show were talking about this story. I dropped what I was doing and rushed over to Jimmy John's in order to confirm this, which I was able to do with the manager on duty.
[ UPTDATE (10:30 a.m., Friday): Had conversations with Rusty Fenton and David Weaver of The Rusty Taco this morning. Both said the taco chain is definitely trying to get to Waco but hasn't settled on a location yet. I'm confident there will be more news on this coming in the next couple of weeks. ]
We're hearing rumblings of a third restaurant going into the new shopping center anchored by Aldi on Valley Mills Drive. The WacoFork wire brought me this one last week as my friend Tanner Freeman had a connection at Kelly Realtors, where the owners of the new restaurant dropped off some menus.
Downtown continues to up its game. To that end, pretty soon one Franklin building will include door-to-door-to-door nightlife options.
I spoke with True Love owner Jacqulyn Blair, whom I bumped into in Austin on Thursday night, and she told me they're set to relocate in the space formerly occupied by Nelson's. So that building will include Barnett's Pub, Al Miraj Mediterranean Grill and Hookah Bar and True Love.
For the sake of helping you be proactive about Valentine's plans, I'm going to go ahead and roll out this blog, but be advised that I'll be updating it. It should be an evolving list of Thursday-night date possibilities.
If you know of anything we should include, send it to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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.
I have to confess that I might have done some trespassing today. I had no reason to believe I wasn't allowed to drive onto and park in the Aldi parking lot. There were other cars parked there. But before I left, I had the feeling that at least one person didn't want me there.
Anyway, I left.
