Red Herring Is The Best Fine Dining Restaurant in Downtown Waco

By Kelsey Kennedy | July 24, 2024

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I remember going to Waco back in the 90s with my family, and the dining options were fast food drive-thru or a few random old school diners. Fast forward to today, and there are some FANTASTIC restaurants in Waco, including a few really great fine dining options. My personal pick in downtown Waco when you want a fancy meal? Red Herring.

Red Herring is the fine dining restaurant inside the new luxury boutique Hotel Herringbone. This small Downtown Waco hotel is made up mostly of shipping containers, stacked and painted a stark modern black.

And while rooms in the hotel are a bit pricey (but ooh-so-pretty! Just check out those rooms and their cool Art Deco design), you don't need to be an overnight guest at the hotel to make a dining reservation at Red Herring.

However, you might want to wander through the hotel before you eat. It's home to 3 eateries, including one of the best rooftop bars in Waco overlooking the Magnolia Silos.

Red Herring Restaurant in Waco

Red Herring Restaurant & Bar defines its cuisine as coastal Mediterranean fine dining, but you can think of those terms loosely. Yes, there's definitely an emphasis on seafood, and a lot of the food and side dishes have Mediterranean flavors, but if you're not a big fan of fish or tzatziki, you're still going to find a lot of things to enjoy on this diverse menu.

Start with oysters on the half shell and a craft cocktail. The fresh pasta, locally-sourced meat, and seasonal seafood is going to absolutely "wow" you. I'm telling you that there's really nothing quite like this place in all of Downtown Waco!

The design is, in a word, striking. You'll walk in an immediately be gravitated toward the octagonal bar near the front windows. Plan on arriving a bit early to enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail at the bar. The bartenders are so friendly and talented, and this truly is one of the prettiest craft cocktail bars in all of Waco.

When you make your dinner reservation, you'll have the option to sit in the bar/lounge area, or in take main dining room. The dining room is home to a grand piano, which is sometimes being played by a hired professional and sometimes it's just sitting there looking, well, grand.

Grand Piano at Red Herring

Main dining room at Red Herring Restaurant & Bar

When I'm dining solo I love to sit in the lounge/bar area where I can chat with people and take up less space at a smaller table, and so I requested a table there. It was absolutely gorgeous!

I love the exposed brick walls, the leather benches, and the Great Gatsby-esque emerald upholstered chairs.

Prices at Red Herring are surprisingly reasonable, considering this is a fine dining restaurant with excellent decor, service, and food.

I started with the sourdough focaccia with whipped olive oil butter (absolutely luxurious) and then fell madly in love with...

...the confit potatoes. When I tell you these were the best potatoes of my life, I'm not exaggerating.

They were cooked to an absolute perfect crisp so that the little bits of potato skin crackled, yet the inside was melt-in-your-mouth creamy. The Sicilian pesto was that little kick of Mediterranean flair that they needed, and the garlic impulsion was basically a fluffy cloud of heaven.

Yes. All of this joy was found in a simple plate of potatoes. It was that good!

The chicken thigh skewer was the protein I needed after indulging in a plate of potatoes. They were seasoned with a Mediterranean flavor and served with a tangy herbed yogurt marinade and house pickle.

I enjoyed them and they were exactly what I was promised, but next time I'm going to indulge in the hangar steak.

Or perhaps I'll sit at the raw bar and have a chef's table experience where I can watch them shuck oysters and prepare seafood.

There are so many dining experiences one can enjoy at Red Herring, from a large celebratory meal to a solo drink at the cocktail bar to a happy hour of raw oysters and a glass of white wine. Regardless of the occasion, the next time you're in downtown Waco and looking for a phenomenal fancy restaurant, be sure to book a table at Red Herring.