I received word Tuesday afternoon from my friends Brett Jameson and Alina Mikos that their project Dichotomy Coffee and Spirits is ready to take the next step as they have found their location.
Dichotomy, which has been serving coffee at the Waco Downtown Farmers Market to rave reviews, now has space at 508 Austin Avenue. That's in the middle of the block between 5th Street Icehouse and Bank of America.
Since we last reported on Freebirds' grand opening in Waco, the party has crept one day closer. Freebirds has now officially set its opening day for Sept. 10.
Freebirds district manager Jamie Williams confirmed that it's a done deal. So let the countdown begin. As of this hour, Freebirds will open in 311 hours (13 days minus 1 hour).
The next wave of exciting new dining developments in our town begins this week as Taqueria El Crucero and Common Grounds will roll out their partnership in the form of a Crucero taco truck on location at Common Grounds.
As of Saturday, Crucero fans will be able to buy and eat their favorite breakfast tacos and burritos at Common Grounds. The truck will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and during special events.
I have a collection of items floating around in my WacoFork consciousness. My reporter instinct tells me to keep them in the back of my mind until I can fully flesh them out. But my post-modern, media-age evolving sense of what a blog can do tells me to spitfire a bunch of items to both inform you, dear reader, and try to collect some leads.
So here it goes. Feel free to comment or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any insights or if you just want to chastise me for being a bad reporter.
Lunch at Cafe Homestead is always a good idea. This is true for anyone in town or anyone visiting our town, but it's especially true for me as a restaurant blogger.
Because Cafe Homestead consistently offers new and enticing events and specials, like the Caribbean Farm to Table dinner coming up Sept. 1. Manager Derek Varejcka told me today that they're still looking to fill seats for the event, which will have 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. seatings. For more information and to make reservations, click here.
The Quaker Steak & Lube team has been spinning its wheels, revving up for an eventful first month (okay, I'll stop using car puns).
Seriously, though, I'm impressed by the plans in place to make the new restaurant party central for watching a ball game or just enjoying dinner. In case you're wondering, Quaker Steak & Lube is the new restaurant going up at Legends Crossing near Hillcrest Hospital and they're set to open on the evening of Sept. 12.
Ever wondered why Waco doesn't have more garage-themed restaurants? Yeah, me neither. But it's cool that we have a brand new one with another brand new one on the way.
Jake's Texas Tea House opened last week. Owners Jake and Karen Black told me they wanted a soft opening. Not sure if they were being coy, but I kept hearing buzz about Jake's last week. I suppose playing hard-to-get is always a good idea.
I spoke with Freebirds regional manager Jamie Williams, who told me the World Burrito will be here even sooner than they planned.
Williams said the new target opening date is Sept. 11. When I spoke with him a few weeks ago, he was thinking it would be the following week, but apparently everything is ahead of schedule. So those of you wanting to camp out for the opening should probably start making plans. It's less than a month away.
In the midst of all the newness coming to town in the form of burrito chains, sports bars and groceries, something interesting is going to sneak in to the Valley Mills Drive shopping center anchored by Fuddruckers and Carino's.
I stopped by the space formerly occupied by Honeybee Ham where I visited with Rebecca Mann and Robin Jeep, who are part of the team opening Cafe Vibrante. This European bistro will also sell olive oil and balsamic vinegar kept in fustis and then poured into Cafe Vibrante's own bottles, specially labeled for each customer.
I don't know if the Cafe Homestead folks intended to celebrate Usain Bolt's fantastic victory in the Olympic 100-meter dash on Sunday, but it kind of seems that way.
Just in time to party with Jamaica, Cafe Homestead announced its next Farm to Table Dinner will be a Caribbean feast on September 1. Once again, they've scheduled two seatings and cost for this dinner will be $47 per patron.
