One of my favorite craft beer pubs was celebrating its anniversary in the city of Waco.
8am, Local breakfast
George’s Restaurant Bar & Catering is a local mainstay for all three squares a day plus late-night, offering a complete southern menu and solid breakfast with Tex-Mex influences.
10am, Local mammoths and soda
In 2015, the Waco Mammoth National Monument was inducted into the National Park Service, which allowed for some significant protective upgrades for the site. With dozens of remains of Columbian mammoths and other contemporary Ice Age megafauna in a delicate semi-fossilized state, the site is now under environmental controls and National Park administration until funding and staffing allows for further professional excavation and study.
Also not far away is the Dr Pepper Museum & Free Enterprise Institute, the original manufacturing and bottling site for the regional Texas beverage (fountain sample from their own soda shop included with admission).
Noon, Local barbecue
The best bet for barbecue in Waco is Vitek’s Market (home of the legendary Gut Pakâ„¢), a prominent and easily accessible smokehouse located just off the highway not far from the university. However, crowds can be heavy and lines can be long, so a backup of similar quality would be the hole-in-the-wall Jasper’s BBQ just north of the Brazos River.
2pm, Local breweries
Waco has only two craft breweries located on opposite ends of the town. On the old traffic circle to the south is Bare Arms Brewing, and just north of the river is Brotherwell Brewing.
A third brewery, Waco Ale Company, opened downtown only weeks prior to this visit, but early reports are problematic and it was deliberately skipped. A better evaluation may be available after a few months of operation.
6pm, Local Vietnamese food
For what is easily one of the best restaurants in town, Clay Pot has been open and serving Waco’s only Vietnamese food for decades in the older, historic “downtown” district of town.
9pm, “The” local craft beer pub
Celebrating its 12th anniversary this weekend, The Dancing Bear Pub has been ground zero for Texas craft beer since it opened with its central location between Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin, and within walking distance of Baylor University. C48
City Forty-Eight 