Texas - Food along I-35, Waco and West

Opening this thread so that people can make recommendations for those making the drive south on I-35 to Austin.

At Waco, two places I would go back to:

The Elite Circle Grill. Exit 333A if headed south (I think). Turn east, and make the circle around a circle drive. As you are nearly completing the circle and headed back in the direction of the Interstate, you will see it on your right. It's a very old and unprepossessing-looking place. I got the chicken fried steak, which I understand they are famous for, and it was one of the best I have ever had. Chicken-fried steak preparations can vary, thick, thin, and still be excellent. This was pounded thin and had crisp coating. Another person at our table ordered an old-fashioned lettuce wedge as a salad, but it was surprisingly interesting, had various unexpected toppings. I understand they have an "Elvis" sandwich, maybe fried, maybe with peanut butter somewhere in it. No interest in ordering that, thanks. :D But I plan to try this place again sometime. Probably it will take at least an hour, so only if you have time.

Health Camp, next to it (2601 Circle Road, Waco), is very good for old-fashioned hamburgers. I don't know why they call it "Health Camp" but I like their food! They also appear to specialize in milk shakes, a lot of flavors of these. Plan on a long wait, as the hamburgers are cooked from scratch and the place is crowded. If you think that the Elite Grill is unpretentious, then you're really going to think this hamburger place--I really don't want to call it a "shack," as it is larger and cleaner than that--is. But good. It also will take time, though I assume not an hour, unless unusually crowded.

And for those of you interested in kolaches--Czech out West, Texas, north of Waco. The Czech Stop is off the freeway on the east side (so easier to get to if you are leaving Austin and going north), exit 353. The parking lot is crowded, both from kolache customers and from people buying gasoline, but things move fairly fast. The kolaches are the draw inside the shop, though they sell other items too. These might not be as authentic as Czech kolaches, but they are the best I've had in the U.S. Besides, the Czech Republic is a long way to go for kolaches--and, frankly, these are bigger than the ones I have had in the Czech Republic.

If your BBQ fix can't wait until you get to Austin, two excellent choices en route are Michna's in Waco and Miller's in Belton (just south of Temple).

Michna's:
http://bbqcateringrestwaco.com/
http://fcg-bbq.blogspot.com/2008/11/michnas-bbq.html

Miller's Smokehouse:
http://www.wildmillers.com/
http://fcg-bbq.blogspot.com/2012/03/millers-smokehouse.html

+1 on the Czech Stop!!

Exit #315 off of I-35, south of Waco and take TX 7 East to Marlin. Then when you get there, turn around and go back to I-35 'cause ain't nowheres in Marlin I would recommend goin ta eat. :p

Dave's Burger Barn in Waco is one of my favorite burger joints. Be sure and try the zipper ripper challenge - it's a cheeseburger with 5 patties, 5 slices of bacon, and all sorts of fixins. If you finish that and a serving of tatertots or french fries in under 12 minutes, you get the meal for free.

600 Patricia St.
Waco, Texas 76705

http://davesburgerbarn.com

Bush's Chicken

These might not be as authentic as Czech kolaches, but they are the best I've had in the U.S. Besides, the Czech Republic is a long way to go for kolaches--and, frankly, these are bigger than the ones I have had in the Czech Republic.

It's been a while since I've been to West, but the ones a co-worker brings to work are smaller than the ones I bought in Prague. And since Czech is my first language I'd like to think I can ask how to get the best ones :D At least in Prague. There used to be two Czech restaurants in West, but that's at least 25 years ago, so who knows ..... (ya, I know, Google is my friend).

EmailKid

It's been a while since I've been to West, but the ones a co-worker brings to work are smaller than the ones I bought in Prague. And since Czech is my first language I'd like to think I can ask how to get the best ones :D At least in Prague. There used to be two Czech restaurants in West, but that's at least 25 years ago, so who knows ..... (ya, I know, Google is my friend).

EmailKid

DH and I should have had you along on our last trip to the Czech Republic!

My data points in the Czech Republic for kolaches are exactly two, one bought in the main train station at Prague and the other visually, ah, checked out but not bought, and both were smaller and flat. I have had--once--a home-baked prune kolache in the U.S. made by an elderly lady who grew up in the Czech Republic. Her kolaches were the same size as those in West.

I found a good guide to kolache bakeries in Texas in general and in West in particular. Years ago we stopped at downtown West and bought kolaches at--if memory is correct--the Village Bakery. They were our favorites. However--if memory again is correct--on one or two tries we made, there were signs posted that the place was closed. That was years ago. However, a few weeks ago, when I was driving through again, on the Interstate, I saw a billboard, I think, for Village Bakery again, or at least some indication that it was open. So I don't know if it has always been open or might have closed and reopened or what. I can't find anything on Internet re same.

The advantage of the Czech Stop is primarily convenience. My memory from way back (and that's strictly FWIW) is that the Village Bakery was very slightly better but that both were very good. There are evidently four places currently, per the ff link. I have been to three, two on the list and another one, which I don't think is on the list--though can't be sure unless I check street locations, which is too much trouble. Anyhow, the fifth name, if it is that, seemed to have kolaches that were too sweet and soft. We like our kolaces a bit more solid and with not so much sugar, and prefer cottage cheese, prune, poppyseed and occasionally apricot--considered to be the more "authentic," at least from generations back, when those were the ingredients more readily obtainable, is that correct?

My kolache-enjoying days are over. I buy them mostly for others now. The one just off the Interstate has far more business, probably because of location, than I recall the Village Bakery ever having, but I would think that the difference in quality, if any, would be marginal. Anyone not in a hurry might find it of interest to czech (wince) out both. I had thought the sign must have been in error, but now that I have checked on the Internet and found that it is evidently open, I'll drive the extra blocks to downtown West again and check (wince again) the Village Bakery.

Two restaurants, Sulak's , now closed, and Czech-American Restaurant downtown. I see that TripAdvisor lists two more, but I don't know anything about them. The Czech-American Restaurant is evidently still open [I had thought it was closed, am correcting that info] with link following ( It was closed when DH and I last tried to dine there, but evidently it was not permanently closed. Per link following, it is closed on Sundays and open part of day on Tuesdays, evidently.) The following link is given only if someone just wanted to stop at downtown West.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:kPj0U5HZqjEJ:kwtx.cbs10deals.com/promo/restaurant/45535_45535_CzechAmericanMenu.pdf+%22Czech-American+restaurant%22+west+tx&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESh4MqdP2gP_E8ckE3lZvvhLwmjOepSAhtjVZQz_ BV86n_yysAIOV12sMwQHvBH8qgc6OPinQgSko2pahYQ0TGAV0g 3kwYgHPbldfpAKHiXOQkyleMr9bhGr_A72lh05FHetwdW2&sig=AHIEtbThCK-tnBlySHja6PeZvLAg_h5UMg

Sulak's is closed, however.

At Sulak's, I think I had sauerkraut salad once, years ago, and that's not anything like so labor-intensive, and my hope had been to save myself some cooking time. :D I think at Czech-American Restaurantt, the one time we had lunch there, I got their salad bar--standard quality for a small town, IMO--and maybe stuffed cabbage, IIRC, as maybe the closest thing I could find to something of Old World interest.

Using cookbooks with Czech recipes, I like to cook sauerkraut, the sort thickened with a roux and flavored with caraway seeds and with bacon, and I also cook bread dumplings, all served with pork roast. (No kolaces, however, as those are too much work.) I wish I knew of a restaurant that served homemade dumplings with gravy and sauerkraut and roast pork.

Anyhow, the Internet link for kolaches:
http://www.texasmonthly.com/1998-11-01/webextra.php

And--almost forgot--dobre den, dobre rano (or however it is spelled), etc.

DOH! I see that the article above is 1998. I did Google last night for Village Bakery and found some hits, but I didn't check the dates of publication. I did see a highway advertisement for it, however, a few weeks ago, probably in the form of a billboard. If anyone is in downtown West, maybe they could let the rest of us know if it is still open? I am not going to assume either way unless I have actually seen it open recently, which I haven't.

DH and I should have had you along on our last trip to the Czech Republic!

Always happy to help out, and anyone who wants to pay my expenses from Texas can have a guide in Czech Republic and Slovakia with a two week notice :D

My data points in the Czech Republic for kolaches are exactly two, one bought in the main train station at Prague and the other visually.

Ah, there's your problem right there. Need to buy them at the bakery shop @:-)

Although the sandwitch I bought at the Prague train station was quite delicious :)

And--almost forgot--dobre den, dobre rano (or however it is spelled), etc.

Dobrý den, Dobré ráno to you too.

GREAT Czech restaurant (http://www.praguerestaurant.com/)in Toronto if you're up that way. Well, actually in Scarborough, a suburb of Toronto, Ontario.

Totally OT, but when searching for above restaurant stumbled across Praha Restaurant (http://puravidaguide.com/costa-rica/praha-restaurant-escazu/) in Costa Rica of all places :confused: Then again, a few years ago found a Czech restaurant in downtown San Jose, though they actually did serve Czech food by a Czech chef in Costa Rica. Their Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/prahalounge)page.

Um, that would be the new one in Escazu, not the one downtown which closed shortly after opening. As did the one I stumbled across in Thailand :eek:

EmailKid

Having grown up in the Czech Belt of Texas (and only 15 miles from "West Station", not "West" to old timers, but moved from Thorp(?) Springs to the site of a rail station named for the District Super, Mr. West), married into a family, the Hrabals, of Moravian origin, regularly attending family reunions at the SPJST hall, Cottonwood, East of West Station, and even been elevated to President of the family reunion society, and having dined on kolaches (US Eng. Sp?) both bakery and homemade for 70+ years, I consider that few, even native Czechs, are better equipped to comment than I.....

1. The current Texas predilection for baked dough stuffed with sausage, cheese, ham, little 'West Specials" and calling them kolaches is a heretical aberration. The may be good to eat, but are not kolaches. Nor, because of their sweet dough, do they go well with Pivo (beer), required for foods made with cheese and cured meats.

2. As God is my witness, I'd drive a while for a classic (but now rare) poppy seed filled kolache, not to be eaten when the potential for a drug test looms, for that much poppy seed will cause you to ring the gong for opiates. Of course, prune may be the standard of the art, for there must have been plenty of plum trees in Bohemia and Moravia (but not many pineapple plants). I abjure the cream cheese (or cc+fruit) varieties as cultural lapses, about like having John Wayne carry a Mauser Broomhandle instead of a Colt SAA.

3. In the Czech Republic:

(a) It's not as warm as in the Brazos Valley, so the Kolache dough does not rise as much.

(b) Pre-packaged kolaches, like Hostess cupcakes, are not the real deal. How we have avoided them in the US, whilst the Czechs allow their production and sale is evidentiary of how far they have declined from the heroic eras of the past. My wife's distant cousin, the noted Czech author, Hrabal, would not have let a pre-packaged kolache pass his lips, and the US cadet branch of the Hrabals hold that same perspective. Many still make their own. Georgie Soukup's pickles are beyond divine, but her kolaches are clouds upon which angels rest.

(c) Based on a random, non-scientific survey, the bakery kolaches in Olomouc (Moravia) and surrounding towns seemed better than those of Prague.

(d) On the other hand, no matter the brand, the "young and fresh" (the beer wagons must come several times a day and on Sunday) draught beers of the Czech Republic are overall beyond compare, immeasurably better than the kegs of Old Milwaukee favored at Cottonwood hall, SPJST. Were I young and wanting the collegiate experience, the Palacky University in Olomouc looked to be a fun and friendly place with a healthy culture and plenty of humble student cafes in which draught beer is widely available (and age and ID seem not to be a problem).

All the Czech you'll need to succeed in West Station (where there's still a newspaper partly in Czech) is the greeting, "Yaksi mas'? (or spelling thereabouts). In the Czech Republic, all schooled since 1989 seem to manage workable English. Seems that they underwent some sort of second language switch along about that date. Traveling there, one develops a sort of subliminal perception that they "like" 'Merkins better than do most other Europeans (Well, for many, as with the Italians of Naples, they have cousins in the US.), and perhaps (at least to me) seem to be more "like" USAians than are other Europeans, or at least far less likely to play the "Can you top this?" game of cultural attainments.

But all in all, it's hard to beat the kolaches from several establishments in West Station, and the convenience of the Czech Stop (other than the traffic jam in the parking lot) remains a plus. Rumor has it, after the lamented closing of the ancient and hallowed Nemecek's Market, that the Slovaceks of Metropolitan Snook, down past the College Station airport, are opening a market in West Station to sell their meats and sausages, keeping IH35 alive as heavily traveled culinary trail.

P.S. Nor should one miss stopping for a sandwich at Vitek's on Speight in Waco, accessible from theIH35 17th/18th st. exit. No really BBQ, but a good sandwich in the midst of casual and friendly ambiance.

Nemecek is now closed? We used to buy Czech-style frankfurters, whatever they were called, there, etc., and put them into an ice chest for transportation.

We had always meant to go back there someday.

Nemecek's. Closed. :(

Flying through the decades and the dynamics of cultural change (although much expanded) and amazingly able to fill multiple roles, "George's", Speight and Circle Rd, 2 blocks from the 17th/18th St exit, IH35. In the 1940s, known as "Harry B's" (owner dropped last name, Burmeister, due to anti-German sentiments during WWII), then George's ever since, now with an enclosed ACed deck (smoking) and a party room across the street. Parking lots full on busy nights, and the fire marshall doesn't attempt to count the crowd.

1. A classic "highway cafe" with a lengthy menu of standards, burgers, chicken fried, hamburger steaks, etc., etc., and even liver & onions. The food's better than in yesteryear, and "Crazy Wings", small pieces of chicken breast sandwiching cheese and jalapeno, bacon wrapped and fried are a trademark offering.

2. A collegiate hangout in sight of Baylor. if you're an old man with a hankering for young girls in tight shorts....(even the waitresses, a mostly comely lot).

3. Family friendly dining, reasonable prices, kids welcome in the big dining room, although nowhere are noted calories, grams of fat or other such elitist folderol/fooferaw. Nor is it quiet....

4. Catering to old timers and the neighborhood, an old style counter bar, home of the "Big O", a big frozen goblet of cold draught beer.

George's will never climb high on TripAdvisor or Zagat, but it remains an enjoyable link with forgotten eras and the joys of youth.

kolaches (US Eng. Sp?) both bakery and homemade for 70+ years, I consider that few, even native Czechs, are better equipped to comment than I.....

Seems to be the common spelling in Texas.

1. The current Texas predilection for baked dough stuffed with sausage, cheese, ham, little 'West Specials" and calling them kolaches is a heretical aberration. The may be good to eat, but are not kolaches.

Agreed, there are no meats in the koláč (actually koláček) in Czech Republic.

3. In the Czech Republic:

(b) Pre-packaged kolaches, like Hostess cupcakes, are not the real deal.

Agreed again.

(c) Based on a random, non-scientific survey, the bakery kolaches in Olomouc (Moravia) and surrounding towns seemed better than those of Prague.

Sadly didn't make it to Olomouc

All the Czech you'll need to succeed in West Station (where there's still a newspaper partly in Czech) is the greeting, "Yaksi mas'? (or spelling thereabouts).

"Jak se máš" loosely pronounced as Yakse maash (where the A is actually pronounced like the A in DART {Dallas Area Rapid Transit} only it's a longer sound).

I've seen (though not recently) bumper stickers with JAKSEMAS, JAKSE MAS, and a few Jak Se Máš - I own the latter, but never attached it to my vehicle.

In the Czech Republic, all schooled since 1989 seem to manage workable English. Seems that they underwent some sort of second language switch along about that date.

Granted I spoke 99% Czech when visiting, but while English seems to be the new language to learn, even among young people it's not spoken by a lot of people outside of tourist places in my experience (judging by tourists trying to communicate).

EmailKid

[snip] Sadly didn't make it to Olomouc



"Jak se máš" loosely pronounced as Yakse maash (where the A is actually pronounced like the A in DART {Dallas Area Rapid Transit} only it's a longer sound).


EmailKid

DH and I took the train through Olomouc on our last trip to the Czech Republic. I don't recall if we got off the train at Olomouc or just tried to see the town from the distance, but if we did get off the train, we would have just stayed in a hotel near the train station overnight, our customary procedure. The impression I have, vague, is of almost ineffable beauty, the same impression for all of the Czech Republic. I do recall wanting to go to the university but didn't. Someday--though we are no longer able to sprint up and down the train station stairs and down the tracks the way we used to do.

I had always thought Jak se mate. Is that incorrect? I have a book on Czech grammar somewhere and tried to pick up some of the basics once but went cross-eyed. German endings are difficult enough for me. But I like both languages so much. Enjoy listening to the sound of Czech in the movie Kolya. It sounds so much different in the movie, with the cadence--I mean this factually, just trying to ID the accent--"whiny," if you listen to the sound track, and that is totally, totally different from the Czech I actually heard over there. The language I heard could be quite gutteral. I worked and worked trying to get that "r" with the crown--tilde? I've forgotten--over it, in theory a German-style "ch" combined with a rolling "r," maybe--anyhow, enjoyed listening to it.

On TMOliver's comments that the Czechs seem to like Americans--reasonably well, at least--I agree. (I don't know if they liked us so much as that they were preoccupied with dodging us :D ) but we were always treated with courtesy. Learning dekaju (bear with me, I am writing from memory, maybe dekaji or whatever) and prosim helped cope, that and pointing. We went several times. [ETA: "hacek," not "tilde," of course--memory finally kicked in. "Hacek" also has a diacritical.)

I just wish, per earlier post, for Czech restaurants, though some of it is a difficult sell, I suppose. Roast duck, jaternice/eternice. Especially the latter. :D (No, I don't like it either--yecch!)

I had always thought Jak se mate. Is that incorrect?

Jak se máte is the formal, what I posted is informal and what all Tex-Czechs have ever said to me. If you speak Spanish or any of many other languages you'll understand - como esta / como estas.

Enjoy listening to the sound of Czech in the movie Kolya. It sounds so much different in the movie, with the cadence--I mean this factually, just trying to ID the accent--"whiny," if you listen to the sound track, and that is totally, totally different from the Czech I actually heard over there.

Actually .... ya, the pace of the movie is much slower than real life, that's part of it. Also, IIRC Kolya's mother was Russian or Ukrainian, so there was that other language there as well, though you may not have been aware of it with the subtitles. What little Russian I knew didn't help even when they spoke deliberately, so had to read the subtitles then.

I just wish, per earlier post, for Czech restaurants, though some of it is a difficult sell, I suppose. Roast duck, jaternice/eternice. Especially the latter. :D (No, I don't like it either--yecch!)

Yes, roast duck, yum, which is why I can never eat Peking duck (tried, just can't do it). But THE typical dish is Vepřo knedlo zelo (http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Cesk%C3%A1_kuchyn%C4%9B) (shortened for veprove, knedliky and kyselé zelí) with a really crappy picture at top right. Google image search brings up some better pictures and much saliva for me :eek:

Also, there are other beers besides Plzeň (Pilsner), and of course the REAL Budweiser comes from Budweis, Czech Republic (Budejovice), sold in Canada and now US as Czechvar.

EmailKid

Yes, roast duck, yum, which is why I can never eat Peking duck (tried, just can't do it). But THE typical dish is


Also, there are other beers besides [B]Plzeň (Pilsner), and of course the REAL Budweiser comes from Budweis, Czech Republic (Budejovice), sold in Canada and now US as Czechvar.

EmailKid

Most of our dining out in our ten day visit (even in Prague) was in small "neighborhood" restaurants (plus one "turistic", downstairs in the symphony/opera hall in Prague, a bit overdone). While I didn't find most of the food memorable, it was generally satisfying, and certainly not far removed from what one encounters in the "Central European Midwestern US Ethnic Belt", likely to keep us, the elderly, and families with kids happy.

It's hard to beat, however, the roast duck! Then there was the shredded cucumber salad, oft encountered, a little sweet, but a great side dish.

As for the beer, I stuck to draught, and small cafes and bars seem to carry almost exclusively products of one of the several breweries. No matter the style/type/brewery, most often "Pilsner", I was in hog heaven, late morning, lunch, midafternoon and dinner.

Sadly, there seem to no longer be any "Czech" restaurants in the style of the old Beseda's in West Station.