My wife and I are moving to Waco next month and would like a list of places to eat.

I've been to Waco many times growing up as I have had family there, but haven't been there for an extended period of time to really check out anything other than the chain restaraunts.

Glad to know they already have a Double Daves, Freebirds, Wings-N-More (soon, right?, Raising Cane's and Rosa's Cafe.

Have had Poppa Rollo's and will be taking my wife soon after we move. Ate at the old Heitmiller's steakhouse and really enjoyed it, but most of the review's I have read online have said the food and the service has gone down since they have gone to a new location

Haven't tried Health Camp, but want to...same with Kim's if it has re-opened. What else have I left off that we should try?

[This message has been edited by State of Texas (edited 6/7/2013 6:52p).]

Try Rosatis pizza in Woodway. It's the only place in the area with real Chicago style deep dish. Get the Chicago Style "Monster"

http://myrosatis.com/mobile/menu/store/defaultMobile.asp?locationId=108





[This message has been edited by Captain Pablo (edited 6/7/2013 7:23p).]

Dave will take care of you when you go to Double Dave's.

We will be living in Robinson right near 35, so we will be right close to Hewitt. I'll be working for Connally ISD, so I'm also glad that if I have a kolache hankering, I will be close to West.

Baris on Valley Mills for Pizza. Blows rollos out of the water. Vitek's for the Gut Pak for Lunch. Cafe Cappuccino downtown across from the Courthouse for Breakfast. Crave in China Spring for lunch or dinner. Bush's Chicken for fried chicken, Cathay House on Wooded Acres for Chinese. Double R on Herring for Hamburgers. LaFiesta on Franklin for Mexican.

Where is the Wings-N-More supposed to be? I knew at one point and have forgotten

We like DiamondBack's for a higher end meal.

There is a Freebird's in Waco now, which is nice.

You gotta go get some BBQ at Jasper's on Elm Street. It's damn good right now.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Am curious about the oriental fries at Kitok's also. Are they just double fried?

Rosati's looks great and look forward to trying Baris as well...Rollo's is expensive and the wait's are long, but like I said, I'd like to take my wife there for sentimentality reasons.

Know all about Bush's Chicken and glad there is one nearby in Hewitt, but I will be frequenting Cane's a lot. Hope I strike a chord when I say, I miss the old Chicken Shack.

Cafe Cappuchino was mentioned for breakfast...any other good places for breakfast?

Never been to Vitek's, but have heard of their gut pack and want to try. My family prefers Uncle Dan's, but I'm open for anything, so I will try whatever ya'll suggest. Used to having either Tom's or C & J's in B/CS for BBQ.

And I hope I am wrong, but has Heitmiller's really gone that far south?

[This message has been edited by State of Texas (edited 6/8/2013 3:58p).]

George's. I like the Hewitt location better than the original, actually. I know it's a bar, but the food is good.

Elite Cafe is good too.

Fabulous place for breakfast is Egg & I...in the strip behind Outback....get the chicken cordon bleu..............chicken, ham, swiss with scrambled eggs and it was easily 2 meals!

Kitok's on 19th st. Korean and Burgers. Make sure you order the oriental Fries.

Lone Star Tavern in Belmead. I like it better than Heitmiller's Has a real dive feel to it.

Captain Billy Whizbangs. Great burgers.

Los Camales on Hewitt Dr. Go on a Sunday and try their mixed fajitas. Beef, chicken, sausage, shrimp and chorizo for 8.99

This thread is kind of funny. And note, I'm actually going to say something good about Waco (not something I normally do).

With respect to restaurants, Waco basically has everything you could possibly want. The options in Waco have grown tremendously over the past decade.

The historical challenge with Waco restaurants are that whenever somebody new comes to town (national/regional chain), they are flooded with business for the first few months until something else new opens. After that initial hurrah, people may never go back there. Which means that some restaurants come and go as the Waco market tries to figure them out and they try to figure out the Waco consumers.

Right now, I'd say that Waco has a pretty good equilibrium of good places to eat and just enough business for the restaurants to stay open.

I was at McAlister's in Hewitt after church last Sunday and I couldn't believe how busy that place was. But that's the place to go at the moment. 5 years ago it would have been the Mexican place (La Fiesta, I think) and 20 years ago, it would have been Luby's Cafeteria at Richland Mall. It could be something totally different next year.

BQ all that you have said is true BUT...Waco restaurant business is like fishing. The new place throws out top notch bait that first 90 days and then he catches so many fish he is overwhelmed and thinks "I am a genius and can now serve lower quality renderings and hire kids who can't get pants that fit and no one will be the wiser and I will clear more dough!"

Hewitt is like Sam Houston State when I went there. Thursday night is party night at Georges and Cantina Texas and that parking lot is a total jam. Cops can barely make it through because of parking on both sides of the driveways but no tickets get issued apparently!

Friday nights in the fall...forget going to Chick Fil A on Franklin because it handles all the football pre game rushes to Waco stadium. Don't go to breakfast on Saturday mornings because soccer and baseball/softball, peewee football families are out in force. NEVER EVER plan on eating out on Baylor graduation day!

Waco, as always, is totally predictable!

Having moved here recently from Seattle (before that, I was in Austin)... I miss the variety and quality of the Asian food out there (Thai, Korean, Chinese, Teriyaki, & Pho) as well as the Pacific seafood. I guess the tradeoff is better Mexican food & BBQ.

Agree with most of suggestions - would also add shorty's pizza near Baylor

Cupp's Drive-in has my all time favorite burger.

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I miss the variety and quality of the Asian food out there (Thai, Korean, Chinese, Teriyaki, & Pho) as well as the Pacific seafood. I guess the tradeoff is better Mexican food & BBQ.

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Go to Killeen. They got Asian food...

Korean - Korean Kitchen on VM is by far my favorite Bulgogi/Spicy Bulgogi. There also OMart, Koreana, and several others you could try.

Vietnamese - Chau's. Great sandwiches and vermacelli bowls. Down the sidewalk from OMart. There is another on Rancier. Pho Saigon is pretty good. There are 2 or 3 others.

Thai - there are about 6-8 places in Killeen. Which is best is a matter of opinion. Google them and try them out.

Japanese - haven't tried any. Janag81 knows of a good one, I think...

Chinese - don't know. Mostly buffet places, but there are some that are good off the menu.

Non-Asian ethnic:

Hawaiian - C&H in Killeen is good for lunch. Crowded, but they're fast. Brisket and pulled pork are my favorites, and the staple macaroni salad is very good...

Carribean - Royal Caribbean downtown is great. There are several out on 190 but I haven't tried them..










[This message has been edited by Captain Pablo (edited 6/11/2013 8:44a).]

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Never been to Vitek's, but have heard of their gut pack and want to try. My family prefers Uncle Dan's, but I'm open for anything, so I will try whatever ya'll suggest. Used to having either Tom's or C & J's in B/CS for BBQ.

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Vitek's is decent, as noted above Jasper's on Elm St. is good, but since it's in the heart of the hood, it's only open for lunch. Don't try to go there after dark. Dan's has been terrible. I had been stopping there to pick up dinner about once a week. After about 3 months of horrible brisket, I've started going twice the distance to Rudy's. Rudy's is very good for a chain, but it's a shame that it may be the best BBQ in Waco, considering how close some of the best BBQ places in Texas are to the Waco area.

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Agree with most of suggestions - would also add shorty's pizza near Baylor

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I've become a big fan of Shorty's. Pizza is really good, and I love the college vibe...Waco was really lacking a joint like that.

I know Dan, but his ribs are virtually uneatable. His sausage is literally Eckridge (or how ever you spell it). But typical Waco, people swear by it....and Lafiesta, too.

For burgers, I will second both Double R and Cupps. Amazing.

Double R on Herring will be off the beaten path for you, but man is it worth it. And since it's Waco, the Big Red on tap is an added bonus.

Some people swear by the burgers at Kitok as well, but since Double R is right down the road I'll probably never make it back to Kitok when I'm in town.

And as for Luby's at the mall--back in the 80's as a kid (if we were lucky) we went to PICADILLY'S cafeteria at either Richland Mall or Lake Air Mall (when it was still a "mall". Good stuff.

If you eat at Dubl R, eat in the "back" room, don't eat in the small front area or you'll smell like burgers the rest of the day.

Dave's Burger Barn in Lacy Lakeview is supposedly good but I haven't been there yet.

We went to Shorty's and it was SWARMING with Baylor twits and not good enough to put up with their plasticized giggling...dear Lord, it was painful!

You must've gone on Thursday night. Lunches are best at shortys...like I said its a college hangout...something waco was short on. If you go on a weekend night, it's kind of like going to the Chicken to eat on a weekend night

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I know Dan, but his ribs are virtually uneatable. His sausage is literally Eckridge (or how ever you spell it). But typical Waco, people swear by it...

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When I came down for my interview last year, I asked the girls working the front desk of my hotel about the best BBQ in town. They echoed what a fella on the plane told me: Uncle Dan's. So, I went. I was unimpressed. Granted it was better (by a long shot) than what I could find in Seattle, but I've had Muellers, Cele Store, Kreutz's, and more. The standard is high.

Rudy's baby backs and sausage are very good, imo.

The argument of "Best BBQ" will never be settled. It cant be. Yeah, there are places that are simply bad, but of "good" BBQ places, it's just opinion on which is best.

You just gotta try them out and see which ones you like. And then once you find you favorite, you go back a week later, and it may or may not be as good as it was when you decided it was your favorite.







[This message has been edited by Captain Pablo (edited 6/11/2013 8:42a).]

Uncle Dan's has been terrible the handful of times I have been. Count me as one of those who can't see how some Wacoans are so loyal to it.

One more I forgot...go get a Schmaltz's Sandwich. Like Scholtzky's, only better. Their bread is excellent....and they have good soups too.

When I was a kid in the 80's and 90's I thought Uncle Dan's was good too...but I had never had BBQ anywhere outside of Waco.

As an adult it is clear that either their quality has diminished greatly over the years or I just didn't know what good BBQ was until I left town.

Uncle Dan's always has had crappy sauce and like above, if you haven't ever had great BBQ, it's okay

Plenty of chains in Waco but here are some of the best more or less unique places:

Health Camp- pretty average except for shakes and malts. Wide selection and best in town.

Pappa Rollo on Valley Mills and Rosattis in Hewitt are best for pizza.

Chicken fried steaks, beer, games, etc. Both georges locations are good.

BBQ Viteks. Rudy's is a chain but consistent.

Burger and oriental fries Kitok's Oriental fries are potato strings, carrot strings and onion strings and broccoli fried in a light batter. Add soy sauce and its very good. Place has an interesting history.

Lots of Mexican food but El Conquistadors is very good.

There is currently an ag education conference being held at MCC and a dear friend from College Station invited us to supper with them tonight.

We ate at Heitmiller's first time I have been to the new location and both my husband and I think it has improved greatly since our last visit before they closed Elm Mott location. He had NY Strip with mushrooms and I completely enjoyed grilled chicken breast!

Next visit with our out of town kids we will take everyone there!

The one food that I've struggled to find anything we really liked has been Mexican. In College Station, we loved taquerias and even liked Papa Perez, but we haven't found anything that we really like. Taco Z is ok, El Conquistador is meh, Trujillo's was disappointing, and I struggled to finish my food at La Fiesta.

That being said, any Mexican recommendations are highly appreciated.

FWIW my family likes ninfas. But we like el con and la fiesta.