Urkel Would Love It

Texas Cheese House
102 E. Center Street
Lorena, TX 76655
http://www.texascheesehouse.com/index.html
254-655-4217
Mon - Fri: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sat: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sun: 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm



So I learned about this place off the Waco Win Board, and it sounded really interesting. They are a local eatery and store down in Lorena Texas right off I-35. They make and sell their own cheese, as well as other local cheese manufactures. “Texas Cheese House is dedicated to the principle that excellent cheese is manufactured in Texas.” They also carry local honey (local honey comb is great for allergies), Wiseman House Chocolates, other sweets, oils, and meats from Troy Texas.

They really have a nice selection of items to buy and a nice little menu to choose from. They have your basic grilled cheese to a sirloin sandwich or pizza fold-over. All really fairly priced… most are all below $5. I ordered the Beef Sirloin with Blue, which is Beef sirloin, Veldhuizen’s Bosque Blue Cheese, and South Texas Mesquite Bar-B-Q Sauce in a ¼ baguette loaf. My father ordered their Grilled Club sandwich, which is turkey, ham, Boyaca cheese, bacon and sauce.

So we ordered our food, and while waiting for our food I scanned the store and what all they had. Im sure I could’ve spent $100 real easy in there on cheeses, meats and other stuff they had. So our food and tea arrives, looks delicious… real simple, sandwiches and tortilla chips (jesses of course).

Before we get to the food, lets talk about the tea. The tea is served unsweet, and to sweeten it you got a couple choices- Splenda, pure sugar and “Kelly’s Delight Liquid Sugar”. That last one is a sweetener made locally in Eddy Texas. Its really cool stuff, it sweetens the tea and doesn’t leave all the graininess that you get when you try to mix regular sugar in cold tea. Love it.

Now I try my sandwich. It looks really good, fresh bread, plenty of meat and cheese (can deff smell the cheese) and some sauce. First bite and I really regret ordering a wheat bun, was too overwhelming… that’s my mistake. The meat was nice and tender, good flavor, Im betting it was some of the local beef that they had for sale. The sauce was nice and sweet, went well with the beef and cheese. The cheese was great, had a strong smell and deff strong aroma. Ive never really been a fan of the aroma of Blue cheese (reminds me of ass), but I like the flavor (deff not ass)… kinda weird I know. Could tell the cheese was fresh by the flavor and aroma, was really good. My dad really enjoyed his Club, he’d never had Boyaca cheese before, and said he had to get used to the flavor… but really enjoyed it.

Before we left I decided to purchase one of their goat cheeses for me, the Peach Chipotle, and I picked up some of the white chocolate fudge with pecans for my mom. I haven’t tried it yet, but I am highly anticipating it, and will post my thoughts on it once I dive in.

Overall I had a really nice experience, great food, great service, nice town and customers. Cant wait to go again, well worth the 15 minute drive… which is really nothing compared to the trips Ive taken so far. If you love cheese and small towns, you’ve got to give this place a try.

Affordable Fine Dining in the 254

CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED

Garretts @ 725
725 Austin Avenue, Waco, TX 76706
(254) 752-8700
Tues - Thurs: 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Fri - Sat: 5:00 pm - 12:00 am



Some people say being at the bar all the time is a waste of time and never pays off. But I have to disagree; I meet all kinds of cool people from the city and out of town. Recently I met the Rebekah, the manager of a new local Fine Dining Restaurant- Garrett’s @ 725. It was a slow night at the bar, just a few of us there drinking and having a good time. A Couple walks in and sits at the bar besides me, and we get to talking about food and that I write a blog; next thing I know she is inviting me to come try the place out and spread the word about them (if I enjoyed it, of course).

Couple days later, after I got off work & cleaned up, I pop in one night around 6ish. Rebekah greeted me at the door and informed me that they were completely booked except for table and the bar…. So I decided I’d sit at the bar to leave the last table free and get to know the wait staff some. Once seated they handed me the wine list and main menu, then went on to explain the wine list and what the “daily wines” are. Which consist of wines from the past business of that address (Greene Room Grille), that they are trying to move out.

So for starters I order a glass of Mark West Pinot Noir and looked the menu up and down. I decide to skip the appetizer/salad/soup and save room for the main course and dessert- and that sure was hard, cause they all look amazing. They have a pretty decent menu with a nice selection of apps, soups (soups of the day), salads, and real nice choice of Entrees- pork, beef, poultry, fish and pastas, along with great complimenting sides. After plenty of mind battling I decided on the Crispy Duck Break, sweet potato smashed and sautéed mix veggies… plated with a Fig-Bourbon demi glaze. I usually always get duck at a fine dining restaurant for a couple reasons; 1. It’s a great poultry and can be very tender if cooked properly. 2. It can be tough to cook in the wrong hands, so it shows the skill of the chefs. 3. Why not a steak? Cause I can cook a steak on my own like there is no tomorrow.

So while waiting for my food, which actually didn’t take very long, I talked with the bartender and Rebekah about the new place and how its been going since they’ve been open (3ish weeks). Both of them were very nice and informative about the place. Apparently they’ve been fairly busy the past couple weeks and people have really enjoyed it.

My food arrives and it looks and smells just amazing. The hardest part was deciding what to try first. I went for the sweet potatoes first…. They were most excellent. The best mashed sweet potatoes Ive ever had. They were fresh, had great texture and flavor with a hint of heat that just made them pop. That heat they added just made them, and it wasn’t overwhelming, was just awesome. The sautéed veggies were nicely cooked & tender with good round flavor. Last but not at all the least, I dive into the Duck. Before even tasting it, I check out the doneness of the meat and the crust. The meat was nice and pink with a hint of red, just the way I like it and there was a nice crust on the sides. The first bite I take is just how it should be. Juicy, tender, non-greasy and great flavor. I’ve had duck at several fine dining places and I’ve gotten it dry, I’ve gotten it greasy, and I’ve gotten it chewy cause of too much fat. The is some of the best duck I’ve ever had. Dip the duck in the demi glaze and its even more awesome, the fig-bourbon demi glazed was just great. You could deff taste the figs and bourbon. To top it off, they put a few fried slices of bacon or pancetta on the plate with the glaze. You snag a piece of that with the glaze and the duck… equals most excellent.

Now time for dessert. I talked it over with the bartender about what he would choose to eat and recommended, he decided on the Bread pudding with cranberries and lemon sauce. I love me some homemade bread pudding, so I had to go with that. They also had “Death By Chocolate” and Crème brulee, but I’m not the biggest chocolate fan and I make some killer crème brulee, so no need to splurge on that. What they brought out looked almost nothing like what I expected. Two decently sized cubes of bread puddin’ topped with a cranberry syrup, fresh cranberries, all sitting on top of a lemon curd sauce. The BP was fresh, moist and flavorful…. Combined with the cranberries and lemon sauce it was most excellent. This set up of bread pudding is something Ive never had before and it was delicious.

While dining they have a live piano player (not too loud not too quiet) adding a real nice touch. The owner Mr. Garrett popped in, and he made the rounds talking to all the people that had showed up to eat up some of his delicious food. Talked about what he was aiming for by opening this place up, what I do in my spare time and work, and that he went to school with my Chef- Executive Chef Mark Schneider (who is now head of the culinary department at TSTC). Mr. Garrett is a real nice guy and loves what he is doing. Their goal for this place, is to introduce a fine dining experience at affordable prices.

Over all I had a really great experience. The atmosphere of the restaurant was great, with the staff, the live music and the rest of the patrons there. I also believe they really hit their goal at great dining experience at an affordable price. For what I had, it roughly came out to $40... Which for this quality of food and atmosphere is a most excellent deal. So if you want to switch it up from Olive Garden, Fugi and Cheddar's and really want a great dining experience, check out Garrets. (be sure to call ahead and tell’em DavieG sent ya)