Oh goodness, I've developed a habit of craving the Oso items on Taqueria El Crucero's menu.
As habits go this one is pretty safe. The green sauce packs a pretty good punch, but its nothing a splash of Coke won't settle.
Some of our users have experienced the Oso burrito. In fact, one of the first people to jump on board with WacoFork and begin writing reviews told me about the Oso. He insisted I show up at El Crucero and order an Oso with green sauce. It took some time, but I eventually took his suggestion and I'm glad I did.
Having just added a new Mexican food listing to our restaurant directory today — The Ranchito — I've been thinking about the plethora of taquerias and taco trucks and other assorted Mexican food restaurants we are fortunate to have in Waco.
(The smiling face of Kitok's, Kyung Brendemuehl, shows off a basket of Kitok's famous oriental fries before serving them to a table of happy patrons.)
I enjoyed a bit of a revelatory conversation during lunch with the UBC gang today at Kitok's.
During these lunches, it seems, I get to sort of play the Waco restaurant expert as new friends pepper me with questions whether this place is adding a location or that place is closing.
Today my friend Beth McCarty asked a bit of a loaded question.
"What is your favorite restaurant in town?" she asked. "Like if it was your last meal in town, where would you go?"
It's no secret, I enjoy watching sports at local eateries and watering holes.
Actually, it's one of my favorite things to do. "Do you want to watch the ball game at Shorty's Pizza Shack?" The answer is always "Yes." It doesn't matter if that ball game is women's soccer or little league baseball or college football. And the location could vary as well. The Dancing Bear, Salty Dog, George's, Hog Creek Ice House, etc.
Somehow, my friend Brian Patterson and I found our way to the conversation topic of monogamy among fish and birds and non-human mammals.
We were breakfasting at Cafe Homestead, but that's not what led us to the conversation. I would also like to point out that the conversation wasn't crass. I don't think we could have offended anyone at the surrounding tables, and I'm quite sure that no one was actually offended. The thing is, you can look up anything on the Internet and if you have a smart phone, you can do that while waiting on breakfast to arrive at the table.
So we reached the topic of monogamous animals and happened across a list called "Going Steady: 10 Animals More Monogamous Than Us." This is how we learned that black vultures will actually come together as a community and attack a vulture suspected of cheating.
And this piece of information, of course, stirred my imagination and led me to this potential vulture dialogue.
Could be the morning drive into the country. Could be the frequent coffee refills. Could be the exceptionally friendly service or the good old fashioned love of country.
It could be a combination of all of the above that make country diners a restaurant genre of their own. And within that genre, it's almost a given that breakfast will be done well.
How about a mid-week quiz?
Notice the picture of a bottle of Virgil's Root Beer accompanying this blog. I drank the contents of this bottle during lunch today. If root beer gets any better, I haven't tasted it. The bottle, which was dazzling in and of itself, promoted itself as "Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg" flavor.
Good call, Sparklefart, whoever you are.
In response to my query of Monday, Sparklefart responded by suggesting I try Lolita's breakfast and specifically endorsed the elefante burrito. Though I attempted to acquire Sparklefart's true identity, I was unable to do so. I don't even know if Sparklefart is a man or woman. But I trusted the recommendation anyway and indeed this morning consumed an elefante burrito at Lolita's.
I believe the person who offered the axiom "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" must have been a morning person. Or at least much more of a morning person than me.
I don't doubt the value of breakfast, nor the potential for deliciousness. It's just that I'm not the type to bounce out of bed at 6 a.m. and ponder whether I should have a bowl of cereal or full breakfast. Most of the time, in fact, by the time I've finished sleeping, watched a half hour of sports highlights, perused my usual assortment of Internet news, driven to Starbucks, sipped through a grande Americano, read a little more and then considered my agenda for the day, it's much closer to lunch time. The breakfast ship has sailed, if you know what I mean.
The Texas hill country does two things very well — deer and barbecue.
It's possible that the hill country does other things well, too. They play pretty good football in Goldthwaite, Brownwood and Richland Springs. I know people who like to hike at Enchanted Rock State Park.
