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Fat Ho Burgers
11th and Ross
Waco Texas




So this is one of the newest restaurants to hit the Waco scene, and has made the news several times but not for its food, but instead of its name. I don’t mind the name, but apparently a lot of people are uptight about it. My main thought on the name is that if you are going to have such a name you have to have food to back it up… other wise what’s the point? A name will carry you so far, without good food you’ll fail.

Because of all the publicity they have been packed since day one, my father and I went today around 12:00pm and there was a line out the door. I really wanted to give them a try so we stayed, while waiting in line some people decided to leave cause the wait was sooo long. In the long haul the line stayed long, it actually got even longer after we placed our order and sat down. While in line a couple of Waco celebs showed up for lunch… Cowboy and Lucky… oh ya. Channel 10 news also showed up to film some of the staff and the patrons. I think the news crew just got in the way, going back into the kitchen and slowing down the cooks… not exactly the smartest thing to do when you got a steady line out the door. If I was the owner I would’ve told them to stay out of the kitchen while so busy and then when slowed down maybe let them in and make sure they were a hair net….

During our wait I also noticed a few flaws in the place. For one, the seating inside was bad, they could’ve easily utilized their space better and placed more tables inside and they probably could’ve even places some out side. Second, they didn’t have a menu anywhere in sight, even though there is plenty of wall space and even a big space right above the counter that would’ve been great for a menu. This would’ve greatly expedited the ordering of people, rather than having to wait to get up front and read the menu there. Third, I noticed that the lady taking the orders wrote every single thing out… when short hand should’ve been used and would’ve also expedited service. I know they are new, but the person who opened up this place should put a lot more thought into this place, and maybe gotten some outside help from people who’ve been in the business. Hopefully she will realize this and be able to make some much needed changes soon.

After about 20-30 minutes we finally made it to the counter to look over the menu and place our order. They have a fairly vast menu; burgers, burritos, short ribs, soul food, some Mexican food, chicken, breakfast, nachos, kids meals and even a $1 menu… and some of the names of the items were pretty funny. It seems to be quite a lot of stuff for such a new and small place, but hey if it works let it be…. Im just not sure how well it works. I order their “Supa Fly Ho w/bacon & cheese” for $4.25 and a side of fries for a $1. So after about 15-20 minutes our burgers came out. We got them to go, so I didn’t really look at them till I got home. Once I got home I opened the box and noticed three immediate things- 1. the fries were similar to Ore-Ida and pretty small serving. 2. the burger meat looked way over cooked. 3. The toppings on the burger were very small and they left off my bacon! NEVER FORGET THE BACON!!!

Now the big moment, the very first bite. Well the meat was a cheap frozen pattie and was way over cooked, very dry and chewy. The veggies were what you’d expect, simple lettuce and pickles and onions… I skipped on the tomatoes...but as I mentioned they really shorted you on these things. The cheese is your run of the mill. The bun was slightly buttered and toasted. They fries were unevenly cooked, some were slightly raw, some were over cooked and some right in between. To be brutally honest, the burger strongly reminded me of McDonalds... but worse…. that’s the first thing that popped into my head with the first bite… “Tastes like a dry McDonalds burger.”. So I was over whelming unimpressed.

I will definitely go back one day to try some of the other things on their menu, like the meatloaf, chicken fried steak and short ribs. But would I recommend them for the burgers? NO, no I wouldn’t. Least not right now. Maybe once it slows down there and the hype is all gone, the cooks can work cooking the burgers properly and maybe getting in some better patties. The place needs a lot of work, but Ill give them a little leeway since they are new. If they fix the problems I mentioned earlier and work on making their burgers better they could really be a successful place…. but if these changes don’t happen, I don’t see them sticking around for a long time. You just cant call your self a burger joint, have shitty burgers and expect to stay in business, just not how the world works.

So If you want to wait 45 minutes and dish out a few bucks for a burger that is very similar to mickey d's… give it a shot. But Id suggest to wait for the hype to calm down or try some thing else on the menu.

So ya, final words: Give Fat Ho’s a chance to work on their cooking and menu before diving into their burgers. They need some trained cooks, a smaller (concentrated) menu, and some improved products... and they'd be pretty well set.