Best Burritos in Town

Lolitas Restaurante
1911 Franklin Ave
Waco, TX 76701
254-755-8008


One of the best breakfast & lunch joints in Texas. I’ve been eating here for as long as I can remember. The place is owned and run by Jerry & Lolly Bergstad; but as of recently due to health reasons, it is mostly Lolly & their oldest son that you’ll be seeing there. Whenever you go in, you should definitely say hi to them, they are great people. They have been a part of Waco's restaurant scene for decades, and I hope they stay around for decades more.

Gerry is German descent and I believe from North Dakota, where Lolly is Hispanic… so go figure. They serve authentic Mexican food and burritos for lunch and breakfast, with a menu and pricing that can’t be beat. My favorite thing to get there is their breakfast burritos; their Bacon, egg, cheese and potato and their chorizo, egg, and potato. There are also plenty of items I haven’t had a chance to try yet like their enchiladas, menudo, barbacoa, and their guisada. But today I am gonna talk about my usual breakfast.

This morning I called in a pick-up order of; 2 Bacon, egg, potato, and cheese burritos, 2 chorizo, egg, potato and cheese, and a slice of their cake. All of this cost me $10.99 on the dot. That isn’t bad for 4 freshly made burritos and homemade cake. A lot better than that crap you get from a chain burrito place that moved here a while back, that gives you more filler than anything else. Quality is more important than quantity… and if you think about it, about 3 of Lolita’s burritos is equal to the size of the other others place and come to be about the same price. If you wanna get a giant burrito you can always grab one of their "Elephante", which is a 10inch burrito filled with; sausage, bacon, beans, egg, potato and cheese...and what a deal.

The chorizo burritos are great; they are tender, have great flavor that balance well with whatever you throw in there with it. If you don’t know what chorizo is, don’t look it up until after you’ve downed one of these babies. The potatoes carry their own with the . The eggs are freshly cooked and aren’t over cooked like many places I’ve been. No single ingredient really pops alone, but when they morph together; it is perfect harmony. The B/E/P/C burritos are my favorite; I get these more often than anything else. The eggs are tender and flavorful, perfectly cooked. The Potatoes are tender with no real seasoning, but the way they cook them adds some major flavor. The cheese is warm, gooey and awesome. They don’t use American cheddar or Velveeta or any of that crap. It looks like they use a white cheddar or pepper jack. The bacon is my best part; perfectly crispy, never chewy, cooked in its own deliciously great fat/grease. LOVE IT.

The tortillas are delicious and soft with great flavor. I usually hate flour tortillas, but these don’t have the over powering flour flavor that many do. Oh and did I mention it seems that they seem to cook just about all their foods in good ole fashion Lard… the flavor and pop definitely show that with each bite. Their freshly made pico and house salsa are also most excellent. My dad always orders a bunch of pico, and I always snag their salsa. The salsa has a great bite, I could pretty much drink the stuf... okay so I have... like I did this morning. -Dont judge me-

Last but not least their desserts; cookies and cake. When I was younger I used to always get a slice of their pink frosting cake with my burrito. Today was the first time Ive eaten a slice in probably 4 years… insane I know…. But it tasted just as awesome as it did from when I was a kid. Slightly crumbly, moist, mild cinnamon flavor, great smooth vanilla frosting and some sprinkles for crunch; Some great cake. My parent’s favorite dessert to snag there is their sugar cookies. These babies melt in your mouth delicious. Baked fresh with plenty of butter or lard; which lends to the smooth and melty texture of the cookies. To bite in them, they have a slight crunch… then dissolve away to a sugary sweetness, with just a slight “bite.”

If you haven’t tried this little joint out yet, you definitely need to. I’m sure you will greatly enjoy whatever you order from them to chow down on. I have yet to get a bad order from them and love the atmosphere when I dine in. They open up pretty early in the morning and close around 2 every day, but they are close on Mondays..

I do have one little peeve though; If you decide you wanna go through the drive through… please call in your order. Many people will go through the DT and place their order at the window. These orders are made to order… not pre-made… so the drive through can be very slow. My recommendation is, if you want some grub to go; call ahead, then go inside. Will be much faster and much appreciated by the Jerry and Lolly. Jerry used to actually have a sign that requested people to call ahead their orders, but people kept tearing it down. Apparently dialing 7 numbers and giving your order is too difficult for most. My dad always joked around saying he “would stand outside the window and program Lolitas number into everyone’s cell phone.”

254-755-8008

Texas Flavor

Heitmiller Steak House
4509 N. IH 35, Ext. 339
Lacy Lakeview, Texas
(254) 867-1400
http://www.heitmillersteakhouse.com/

So after a week of having fellow employees telling me that I need to try Heitmillers, a place Ive driven by probably 100 times, and I didn’t even know it existed. They are a locally owned and operated steak, who has been in Waco for decades, and only changed hands of ownership once. Apparently they are well known for their selection and cooking of steaks, as well as their giant chicken fried steaks.

On my first day off, my father and I decided we go try it out. He had been to the original one, but not this new one. Apparently they used to be hole in the wall with great food; but due to expanding the highway and the government had right of way or whatever it was called, they had to close the old one and relocate. Turned out to be a great deal for them it seems; they got a great location right off I-35 and right between 3 Local Colleges (TSTC, MCC and Baylor), and their new place is just huge and max out. Big enough for over a 100 people, huge ole cast chandeliers, frosted windows, even a big ole gift shop. The only big down side to the size of the place was the acoustics; not exactly nice on the ears… really messed with my dad hearing aids.

As we walk in I notice to the side, a sign with the daily specials- CFS or CFC with corn or green beans and mashed potatoes. Which is perfect, cause I wanted to snag one of those. I almost will never order a steak at a restaurant… only on very special occasions and only if I know the chef… cause I can cook a steak like there is no tomorrow. Since there are two of us we split it up; I get the CFC and my dad gets the CFS. I order mine with corn and loaded mashed potatoes, he orders green beans and regular mashed potatoes.

While waiting for our food, we chill and talk about politics and football. Notice a few movers and shakers of Waco are enjoying a lunch there, together. Blow bubbles in our chocolate milk. Check out the cute waitresses. You know, the usual stuff.

Our food comes, looking delicious and all… couldn’t really smell it, the place is really well ventilated. The first thing I notice is the size of my dad chicken fried steak… it is about the size of a football. My chicken fried chicken is only half the size, weirdly enough it looks like a pre-made frozen one. I try my CFC; it is fork tender, juicy, good flavor and the batter is nice, flavorful and crunchy. It was a pretty decent chicken fried chicken, but not the best Ive ever had. Next I tried the corn, which, just by looking I could tell it wasn’t fresh corn… even tasted like canned corn…. Which was really disappointing, too many places used canned over fresh or frozen. Then I snag a bite of my dad’s chicken fried steak; fork tender, good flavor, very nice batter. Definitely one of the best CFS I have eaten. Last but not least, the loaded mashed potatoes- gravy, bacon, cheese, chives; The mashed potatoes were made from scratch, they alone had really good flavor and mashed texture. What was odd though was the use of freshly chopped chives, but they used canned bacon bits…. Kind of a downer. But Bacon is Bacon…. Except to-bacon and tur-bacon.

Over all I had a really nice experience and enjoyed the food, and will be going back to try some other items on their menu…including the Calf fries. Who knows I just might even snag a steak; as I do recall they have a ½ a CFS with a Steak deal. So ya, if you are ever down in the MCC/ TSTS area or are heading to/from Dallas or maybe you just want a giant CFS or Steak… go ahead and give Heitmiller a try. I doubt you will be disappointed.

for once my co-workers were right ;)

Definitely Not Hippie Food

Beatnix Burger Barn & Cafe
1700 Colcord
Waco, Texas
254-235-9555
Mon. - Sat.: 11:30am - 3:30pm
Fri. & Sat. Nights: 1:00 am to 4:00 am
http://www.beatnixcoffee.com/home

Earlier today I saw a picture posted by Wacoboard.com of a burger from Beatnix Café & Burgers. Id never eaten at Beatnix before, just the burger joint that was there before them. So I decided I would go snag lunch from Beatnix today… this is that story… dunh dunh dunh…

The place isn’t very hard to find, its right off 18th street and Colcord, and with its wildly colored Graffiti it sticks right out. I pulled around and parked in the back, as I got out of my car I could smell the delicious grease from the flattop and fryers. Always a good sign.

As you walk in you here 70’s rock in the background and are hit with the aroma of fried goodness. They weren’t real busy, only 4 other people in there… which was kinda nice not having to deal with a line. I’m greeted by the owners and while chatting, I glance over the menu. They have burgers, different types of cheese steaks, vegan meals, plenty of sides, coffee stuff and plenty of other items. I go with their Bacon, Egg and Cheese Burger- crispy bacon, American cheese, fried egg, pickles, lettuce and mayo on a toasted bun. Sounds Most Excellent, Right! I also get a side of their sweet potato fries and a sweet tea.

While waiting for my food, I look over the menu to see what all I missed out on and what I will get next time- The Texas Cheese Steak. I also notice that they are open on Friday and Saturday nights from 1am-4am, to serve food coming from the bars and whatnot. I know what I’m doing next time I go out for heavy drinking with my friends… Beatnix for French Toast and burgers. I talked to Benn for a bit, while my food was prepping. About how they were slammed with a line out the door last Friday and the register broke down, so he had to use a calculator to make change. Two of the guys enjoying a burger there, were the two first guys to every come to Beatnix’s mid-night opening.

My burger and fries arrive, open faced so you can see all the awesomeness. Lets start with the sweet potato fries first: they were steaming hot, crispy and sweet, seemed like they might’ve had a layer of brown sugar on them. I liked them a lot better that the Ore-Ida style sweet potato fries so many places serve. If you like sweet potatoes, definitely need to order yourself a batch of these babies.

The burger: Nicely toasted bun. The bacon; perfectly cooked, crispy, hot, Smokey and flavorful. The pickles and lettuce were nice, crispy and fresh tasting. The cheese was melted, warm, gooeyness. The meat was nicely cooked, hot, juicy and great flavor which had taken on extra smokeyish greaseyish awesome flavor from the greatly seasoned flattop- almost indescribable awesomeness. All coming together to make one most excellent burger, a mini orgasm in the mouth. OH yes, I went there, a mini orgasm.

While eating my burger, Benn asked me how my burger was, I replied that I “really liked it” he replied with a totally hippie “sweeeeet.” Haha Damn Hippies….. just kidding ;)

Definitely one of the best burger joints in town, and will most definitely be going back there soon. Great people, good atmosphere, and great food… and apparently BYOB. If you haven’t been here yet, make a date in your calendar, and check them out- whether it be for lunch, a Fri/Sat night, or one of their live music/poetry nights. There is just so much to this place.

Tell’em DavieG sent ya.