Anyone who witnessed me walking through the Hillcrest Hospital parking lot, headed for the labor and delivery waiting room with a camera in my hands might have thought something like, "Oh, it's an expectant father readying to take photos of his new baby."
They would have been wrong. I take pictures of food.
(This is, mostly, an actual email received by WacoFork. It has been slightly altered in order to make it a better blog. The restaurant information is completely accurate.)
Dear WacoFork,
My husband and I live in Austin and my parents are in Dallas. We're going to be meeting in Waco for Thanksgiving dinner this year. I was hoping you might have some insight into which restaurants will be open for Thanksgiving dinner. We're trying to avoid the chains, but I'm not sure what other options are out there. Must have alcohol! :-)
Thanks,
Pilgrim
I didn't have to spend much time at Flavor Fest to taste what it was all about.
In fact it took me just 15 minutes to eat a delicious rice and pork dish from Cafe Viejo San Juan, pasta and a frank from Metro, an egg roll from Pho Cafe Saigon, chicken and dumplings from Uncle Bubba's, chips and salsa from Ninfa's, chips and salsa from Food For Thought, fajitas from Tres and peanut butter frozen yogurt from Oso's Oh So Good Yogurt. I might have consumed even more than this. It all happened so fast.
Jimmy John's strategy for taking over a big chunk of the area sandwich game will soon move into phase 2.
A quick stop by the Hewitt shopping center currently anchored by Rosati's on Monday revealed several different crews at diligent work preparing the new Jimmy John's store to open. It appeared electricians were readying the drive thru menu, while Jimmy John's staff members were meeting inside.
Oh yeah, here's the important thing: a sign in the window announced that the Hewitt Jimmy John's store will open November 15, which is a week from today.
Something grabbed my attention last week. Something I think has the potential to be both a good bit of fun and a pretty good deal as well.
On Tuesday night, Power 108FM is launching an event called Flavor Fest at the Waco Convention Center. This is the first one and the local radio station has more than 40 restaurants signed up for booths from which they will provide event-goers with samples of food.
I used to be a football purist.
Maybe I still am. But, as recently noted, I'm broken up with sports and in no hurry to get back together.
I used to say, "give me football and you can keep all the marching bands and homecoming queens and parades and cheerleaders and everything else besides the actual football."
However, since I'm broken up with sports at the moment and have no desire to watch sports as a fan or spectator, I'm really looking forward to Baylor homecoming this weekend. (Upon editing of this blog, I realized this sounds like a knock on the Baylor football team. It's not. I'm just more open to hoopla and pageantry than usual).
The Castillo family has an idea that might be just enough of a twist to work
At 5 this evening, the restaurant formerly known as La Fiesta in Hewitt will officially become Cantina Texas — a sort of fusion restaurant that marries Tex-Mex staples with foodie culture. They're calling it "new Texas comfort food" and it includes things like chicken and dumplings, street tacos and a Lone Star Philly Cheesesteak.
In theory, Cantina Texas will continue to attract La Fiesta's loyal customers, while capturing a new audience that has been seeking its straight Mexican food and Tex-Mex elsewhere.
I ate a cheeseburger at lunch today.
This is not news or even interesting. Where I ate the cheeseburger might be slightly more interesting, but still not astonishingly so. However, my revelation about the cheeseburger just might resonate with some people.
Ever wonder what this blog is about? Is it a food blog? Is it restaurant news? What is he trying to do? Well, let me clarify.
I reserve the right to write about anything in this blog that relates in any way to dining out in Waco, and that includes writing about people whom I enjoy bumping into whenever I'm out and about.
Two of the people at the top of that list — actually, up to five people — are Brett and Emily Mills and family. Along with being friendly and fun, Brett and Emily combine their wealth of musical talent with an enterprising and unapologetic approach to Christian ministry.
I feel like a proud parent today, and not just because my wife and I are having our 3rd child within the next 2 weeks. Today is a great day in WacoFork nation. Today is the day we can finally announce that the long-awaited WacoFork iPhone app is available for download in the App Store!
