Cafe Homestead

Hubby and I's first time back to the Cafe Homestead since their rebuild. I tried to make a reservation online, but nothing was available, so we decided to take our chances as a walk-up. We were able to get a table after an hour wait. The time went by fast since we walked across the way to do some shopping at the Barn and Gristmill.

The new Cafe is simply beautiful. All of the details were made by the local artisans. We were greeted by the sweetest server with a beautiful smile.

I had the chicken fried steak and Hubby the burger and fries. The food are all handmade and so good. We shared a peach cobbler a la mode with vanilla ice cream.

I have to say that the food and service at the Cafe Homestead is always consistently wonderful throughout the years. The prices have risen quite a lot in the last couple of years, but still worth a trip.

Coming from DFW, we chose Cafe Homestead as a central lunch spot for a few people from our company to gather for lunch with a work partner from Austin. It was a little confusing finding the restaurant at first since the GPS landed us a bit past the building and it's part of a larger development with cute shops (note to self: come back to visit those!).

The staff was incredibly very welcoming and patient when we arrived. I definitely recommend making a reservation since they seem like a pretty popular lunch and dinner spot. We showed up and had to wait maybe 15 minutes, but there is enough stuff to look at by the check-in counter and an exhibit upstairs to walk through and read. The place smelled very new, which made sense when we read that there had been a fire and the building had been renovated / rebuilt just this year. Beautiful place with a country-chic vibe.

On to the good stuff - the food! I am a sucker for chicken strips, ESPECIALLY when there is gravy involved. This place had both, so of course I had to get that. The chicken strips were some of the absolute most tender strips I have eaten, with a wonderfully light crispy batter and the gravy was amazing. I would definitely visit Waco again just to eat this again. My husband said his Veggie sandwich with chicken wasn't as good as my strips, but he also enjoyed it. For dessert, I ordered a cheesecake. "Nothing to phone home about", as they say, but it was good. Our colleague ordered the carrot cake which she said was delicious so I will be trying that next time. All that said - I have a list of places to see and things to do on our next trip to Waco (including eating here again!).

What a great little hidden gem near Waco! We went here for dinner and it did not disappoint. We came in with a reservation - seemed like a smart idea as there were lots of people milling around.
The building is gorgeous with lots of wood accents and beautiful furniture. They also sell a small amount of cooking and home related items in the front room.
Unbeknownst to us, we got a delicious brown bread served first with creamy butter. Bread was speckled with raisins and nuts - not for everyone - but I loved it.
We started with the pimiento cheese and corn fritters as appetizers. Highly recommend the corn fritters - the habanero honey sauce is to die for!
I enjoyed my quesadilla burger - mildly spicy with green chilies and very cheesy. Yum! If I went again I would sub the chips for fries or another side....though the chips were good, just not needed.
My companions got chicken dumpling pie and Cobb salad. Everything was spectacular.
We finished by sharing the peach cobbler a la mode. Delightfully sweet and so delish warmed up with cold vanilla ice cream on top.
I'd love to see decaffeinated teas available or other drinks without caffeine on the menu. The atmosphere was loud and lively but fun.

Updated with our valentines dinner items. Still extremely delicious. I was disappointed in my portion of steak however, people around me ordered the exact same thing and got almost twice as much steak as I did. I wish it were more consistent. But I'll reiterate that the food was DELICIOUS
, as always.

A great rebuilding of the restaurant. Service and food are the usual high expectations.
Fresh food grown locally.

First time here. Short wait time. Pretty much everything you see was made by the community. Menu has something for everyone. We started with the pimento cheese and crackers as well as the Corn fritters. Both were excellent. There was nothing left. Five in our party. The selections made were chicken salad sandwich, chicken, fried steak, the Reuben sandwich with the jalapeño sweet potato soup and the veggie sandwich. Portions were plentiful and there was not anything left. Extensive dessert menu. Can't go wrong with anything on the list.make plans to shop at the different stores once finished eating. Will definitely be back and highly recommend to anyone in the area.

On a whim we saw this place and decided to stop. What an absolute gem of a find. Tired of downtown Waco, this place is the cure. The staff were amazingly polite and my salad was enough for a king. My brother and I walked around the grounds and found a wood working shop, a forge where you can make dinner bells and such. The peaceful setting really made the day incredibly enjoyable. Don't walk, run to this place!

The ambiance here is lovely and it's an added bonus that there's the cute stores full of hand-crafted items right nearby. All the staff are folks from the community and super friendly. The service was stellar. Excellent fresh, homemade food options and pricing. The peach cobbler was best I've had. Highly recommend a visit!

We've been enjoying the community and the restaurant for over 15 years. So glad that they recovered from the devastating fire! The new building beautifully accommodates more customers and the food is still just as amazing as it ever was!! Love this place. True craftsmanship shines from the architecture to the plating and total food experience.

Service was great. This is always a family favorite. Our booth was a little dirty but I'm sure it was because of the busy lunch time. We will always stop here when we are in town.