Who would’ve thought I’d ever use the phrase “the lovely Waco, TX” without a trace of sarcasm?? Not this moi. When my friend bitterly complained to me about her plight of moving to this godforsaken town midway between our beloved Austin and the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex, I empathized completely and promised to visit her in her sad new hometown – a true testament to the strength of our friendship. Because perhaps you’ve heard of Waco? E.g. in the context of The Waco Seige or The Waco Horror. Or maybe on a lighter note, as being the birthplace of Dr. Pepper, Texas’ favorite soda.
During my two weekend visits we went to:
- Torchy’s Tacos
- Alpha & Omega Mediterranean Grill & Bakery
- Bru Coffee Bar
- Magnolia Silos
- Common Ground Coffee
- Silo Baking Co
- Xristo’s Cafe
- Lula Jane’s
Read all about ’em…
Torchy’s Tacos
I drove up from Austin in the late afternoon and we set about finding a suitable place for dinner (which she assured me there were none). In the area we were in there were a lot of chain options, but one of them was Torchy’s Tacos – which is a totally acceptable option IF there is no Tacodeli around. The only thing stronger than your Longhorn vs Aggie identification as a Texan is where you fall in the Tacodeli vs Torchy’s camp. You can guess where I stand on Tacodeli (aka the BEST TACOS EVA!!!). Did that help?
Where was I? Oh that’s right, Torchy’s is a totally legit option and I was impressed to see Waco had one amidst all the other chain options such as Applebee’s and Fuddruckers.
Alpha & Omega Mediterranean Grill & Bakery
For lunch the next day, my friend took me to Alpha & Omega Mediterranean Grill & Bakery a greek restaurant and coffee shop with a super cool warehouse, brick-wall vibe and super fresh & tasty options. It was amazing and I was totally impressed. She swore to me this was the only semi-decent place in town though.
BRU Coffee
Next we needed our afternoon caffeine fix, so she took me to Bru Coffee. Oh wait, hold up. That would be BRÛ Artisan Coffee Works. Let me give you a minute to let that sink in. An accent circumflex. “Artisan”. “Coffee Works”. Not enough hipster for ya? It’s a coffee stand built inside a vintage freight elevator. Ummm…wait, what? It doesn’t get ANY hipper than that. By any town’s standards. It was at this point that I started to be a bit more dubious about her claims that Waco was as boring of a place as we’d previously assumed…
Magnolia Silos
My suspicions were confirmed when we arrived at The Magnolia Silos. So apparently while I was living overseas and out of the American HGTV scene, this couple Chip & Joanna Gaines from a show called Fixer Upper opened a massive, beautiful shopping complex in their hometown of Waco, TX, thus putting Waco squarely on the ‘cool town’ map and firmly establishing it as a legitimate tourist destination. You may very well be aware of that and that’s what you think of now when you think of Waco and not the Siege & Horror incidents of the past? But if you’ve been living on the other side of the world like I have, that’s the deal.
It is a huge community space with the flagship Magnolia Market, a large play area, communal seating, food trucks, and of course, shipping containers. Because like I said. Waco is definitively hip.
Common Grounds Coffee (CG Container)
And was there an artisinal coffee shop in one of those shipping containers? You betcha. Common Grounds has an outpost here suitably referred to as the CG Container. Despite already having my afternoon coffee, I couldn’t resist getting a Hot Rod – a drip coffee with skim milk and their “secret sauce”. Which I can only assume is crack cocaine. And you know what that coffee went really well with?
Silos Baking Co
Cupcakes. Of course! Didn’t you know that this adorable, trendy mecca would have an artisinal cupcake bakery? Of course you did, you smart cookie, you. Remember how I said this is a big tourist destination now? Well the line was out the door – and this apparently was short. It often goes down the block. And the woman who greeted us and gave us our order form was telling us about how she sees people from ALL over who come to TX specifically to come to Waco and The Silos.
Xristo’s Cafe
What’s one of the trendiest food things happening besides coffee shops? No, not poke, but good guess. I haven’t looked yet, but I have to assume you can get that in Waco, too. No, I’m referring to food trucks. What’s that? I already covered that at Magnolia Silos? Yeah, I thought so too, but there is yet another food truck stand in Waco. This one by the lovely Cameron Park, so you can get your food and have a lovely picnic like we did. Inspired by the delicious greek meal I had at Alpha & Omega I chose Xristo’s Cafe from amongst the options and was very pleased with my selection.
Lula Jane’s
Ok, by now I’m sure that you are convinced as I was that Waco is a lovely little town (well…”town” compared to the Texas mega-cities of Houston & Dallas). But I’ll throw this adorable little cafe in for good measure. Lula Jane’s is just open for breakfast & lunch. They have a selection of baked goods available for purchase, but other than that the menu is just the one daily special written on the chalkboard and when it’s out it’s out. Adorable. So get there early.
Oh and I didn’t get to go there (yet), but Homestead Heritage looks awesome too and you should definitely check it out. I plan to on the next time I get the privilege of visiting Waco!