My Surprisingly Delightful Meal At Cafe Homestead in Waco
I didn’t know what to expect when I pulled into Homestead Heritage in Waco, TX one summer afternoon. I had been driving north of Waco on small two-lane roads for several miles, and the area felt secluded and sacred. Cicadas were chirping, the hot sun was shining, and I was on my way to a dinner reservation at Homestead Café.
I had tried to swing by earlier in the day for lunch, thinking that getting a table at 11:30 am on a Thursday would be no problem at all. I was shocked that there was an hour and a half wait time on a weekday at lunch. “What is this place?”
If you haven’t heard of it, Cafe Homestead is a restaurant located at Homestead Heritage which is an “agrarian and craft-based intentional Christian community” in Waco, Texas.
It's the homestead site where multiple families live and work, but the shops, general store, and cafe are open to the public. Visitors can shop for handmade items from the pottery store, hand-sewn quilts, and locally-made food like bread, cheese, and pasture-raised meat.
And…there’s a restaurant on site called Cafe Homestead. It’s continually ranked one of the best restaurants in Waco.
The original Cafe Homestead burned down in a fire in December 2022, just days before Christmas. The community rallied and built a new building just a few months later.
It’s an absolutely stunning, modern space with vaulted ceilings, a gift shop, and two different dining wings. (Only one of them was open when I visited.) There are all sorts of personalized touches, like stained glass chandeliers that were made by the Homestead community, handmade wooden chairs, and hand-woven upholstery on the benches.
The big front porch is kind of giving “Cracker Barrel” but in a handmade way.
I was seated at my table and greeted by my server, Jessica, a cheery young woman who was dressed in the same way as all the other women at the restaurant: a floor-length skirt, loose blouse, and hair pulled back in a low, tight bun. She offered me a beverage from the menu of non-alcoholic offerings (iced tea, Dr. Pepper, water) and gave me a run-down of the menu.
Knowing that a lot of the ingredients are grown or raised on-site, I was surprised at the number of menu items! There were a LOT of things I wanted to order. And it definitely didn’t help that I couldn’t stop eating the complimentary bread that was brought to the table. It was a warm, gooey-soft mini loaf of rye bread with pumpkin seeds and raisins, served with a big pat of soft salted butter. I told myself to just eat one of the mini slices so I would be hungry for dinner, but 3 slices of bread later I realized I had eaten half of the loaf. SO GOOD.
For my dinner entree, I picked the smoked chicken enchiladas. The chicken is raised and smoked on-site, and honestly, these enchiladas rivaled the best I’ve had at any Tex-Mex restaurant in Texas. The refried black beans and rice on the side were a simple compliment to the main event of smoked chicken enchiladas, which were packed with flavor.
I heard from multiple sources that you absolutely can’t skip dessert here, and I was delighted by the options on the dessert menu. (A note that may or may not be true: I’ve found that restaurants that don’t serve alcohol often have an exceptionally large dessert menu. Anyone else? I’m not complaining!)
I ordered the homemade berry cobbler, and OH MY YUM. It was soft and warm with that perfect Texas blueberry flavor. The top was a bit caramelized and crunchy, and the fluffy interior melted the vanilla ice cream to a rich, creamy puddle. I ate until I was stuffed and then kept eating a few more bites.
The professionalism of this restaurant, to be honest, surprised me. I’m not sure if it’s because the ingredients are raised and grown on site and the cooks and servers are all Homestead community members, but I somewhat expected this to feel like a “homemade” project. It’s kind of like when you hope for the Broadway production but actually end up watching a middle school musical. But Homestead Cafe actually did give the full restaurant experience, and I was blown away.
The new restaurant building, completed in 2023, is stunning. It was such a lovely dining experience. Granted, I did find that the soft classical renditions of early 2000s Christian worship music was making me feel a bit like I was in a Hobby Lobby store, but other than that, the entire experience was lovely. My server was kind and helpful. She had tasted everything on the menu and could provide suggestions when I needed them.
Seeing as Homestead Heritage is a non-alcoholic Christian community, they’ve made the decision to abstain from beer and wine and also keep it off their menu. Totally fine, of course, but it makes me think of this more as a great lunch restaurant than a dinner destination. That’s just my personal opinion, as I know there are many people who live N/A lifestyle for various reasons and wouldn’t miss the glass of wine with dinner at all .But it’s just something to keep in mind in case you’re thinking of this place for a date night dinner or a celebratory dinner out.
And that’s my Homestead Cafe experience in Waco! Pleasantly delicious and professional, and a restaurant I plan to visit again.
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