Steel Reality

August 5, 2017

Round Rock Donuts – World Famous?

Donut display. Note the Texas sized donuts – upper left.

What do you do when Waze is showing a nine minute bumper-to-bumper delay on the I-35 but the side streets are clear? Right, you take the side streets which is what I did yesterday and happened upon a Texas institution: Round Rock Donuts.

This almost century old establishment is known for its Round Rock donut, a medium density glazed that predates its closest cousin, the krispy kreme, by fourteen years. It also boasts the Texas donut which is, as you can guess, Texas sized for $6.99, the price of a dozen regular sized round rock donuts. I tasted the wee one, but was unimpressed. Even the plain cake donut, the standard by which all donut makers are measured by me, was just okay. I thought that redemption would be found in the eclair. I was wrong.

So is it worth the trip? Yep, but not for the donuts. Go for the employees, some of the nicest I’ve found in Texas. And when you go, be certain to look at the display offerings and note your favorites – you order at the register. Because I was uninitiated, I was totally unprepared when I got to the

View of the lobby.

front, but the cashier was kind enough to walk with me to the display, answer my questions, and take my order. This may seem like no big stretch, but because I was acting like, well, a kid in a donut shop, I was in full hyper mode and changed my order at least three times. Throughout it all, she was as pleasant as a Texas bluebonnet in spring.

Another thing as pleasant as those bluebonnets? Having my order brought out to me and finding, when I finally went to open the box on one of the waiting picnic tables out front, the box and the donuts both warm. The first one I tried was the applesauce donut. This one melted in my mouth and was all apple and cinnamon goodness – so good that I went back in and ordered a strawberry one as well. Unfortunately, the strawberry one, though flavored of strawberry, was also too sugary to be good. As for the applesauce cake donut, it was a bit lackluster later that day when cold and only slightly better when dunked in milk.

If you’re looking for the best donut in Texas, look elsewhere. If you’re looking for an authentically Texas experience, stop on by, put up your boots, and sample the applesauce cake donut, warm.

Leave a comment | tags: round rock | posted in Desserts, Texas

September 25, 2016

Lula Jane’s: A Taste of Grandma’s Love

By A. Gardner

View from Lula Jane’s front porch

There is a little place on Elm Street in Waco, Texas that bakes some of the best cookies, cakes, and cinnamon rolls north of the Brazos. For this west coast transplant, walking into Lula Jane’s was like walking into a local Mendocino eatery – fresh baked goods, locally harvested produce, and farm fresh eggs – all served with Texas hospitality.

Below is one of my many must-have recommendations – a slice of Lula Jane’s blueberry pie. The flakey crust’s buttery layers melted away to reveal the subtle sweet taste of ripe blueberries just warm enough to raise the bite to near perfection.

Lula Jane’s blueberry pie

My other favorite bit of pure perfection is found in the Lula Jane oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Each one I have had (and I have had many over the last thirteen months) is as delicious as the one before. Oatmeal texture sweetened by chocolate chips combine to create the perfect bite whether taken straight off the round or after a quick dunk in coffee. The consistent goodness combined with the homemade feel are indicative of owner Nancy Grayson’s philosophy, “We’re here to make people happy.”

Just walking into Lula Jane’s can make a person happy. Chatter of friends and smiles from staff and customers let a first timer know that this bakery is something special. Though

Nancy frosting a Chocolate ‘Dirty’ Cake while the Thursday Cake waits to the left for slicing and a baker works on fresh baked bread.

named after Nancy’s grandmother Lula Jane, the bakery recipes are all Nancy. Of her grandmother, she says, “She was a wonderful woman, but a terrible cook.” Summer days of sitting on her grandmother’s porch laughing and eating are the template to what she’s created at Lula Jane’s.

To create the southern sweets, she makes certain her team of bakers replicates her recipes with exactness and joy so that each bite of your favorite is as good as you remember whether those bites were taken from the same sweet or tasted months apart.

Elvis cake – so rich half came home.

However, when those rare Thursday cake delicacies are announced Wednesday afternoon on Lula Jane’s Facebook page, call quickly because they sell out faster than you can say Lula Jane’s. I was lucky enough to obtain a slice of Elvis cake – peanut butter, chocolate, and banana — and would have traded in my blue suede shoes for another piece, but I’ve been too slow for delights such as their Eclair Cake or their Lemon Cake or their recent Summertime Mojito Cake.

If you’re looking, instead, for a delicious home made lunch, Lula Jane’s is still the place to go. They serve one lunch special per day, the creation of chef Stacy Russell. Chef Russell creates each meal based on what is fresh for the week. Each creation is worth trying, especially if it comes with a biscuit. Have you ever had tomato pie? This Californian had her first slice from the Lula Jane kitchen and it was divine. Still, the meal I can’t wait to have again

Left to right: Polenta Ratatouille, Chocolate ‘Dirty’ Cake, and Key Lime Pie Thursday Cake.

is the polenta ratatouille pictured to the left. The creamy base was perfectly off- set by the seasoned garden fresh vegetables. Somewhere on the table is a fresh biscuit, definitely worth walking a mile for (so is that Key Lime Pie Thursday Cake). One item not worth the walk, the breakfast pie – order the oatmeal instead or enjoy a bacon cheddar scone while waiting for lunch. If you’d like a full dinner in a place that feels like home, I recommend trying one of Lula Jane’s new First Friday Dinners .

Though hard to achieve, even better than the food at Lula Jane’s is the sense of community created by the indelible force known as Nancy Grayson. She decided to make a positive change in Waco – first with Rapoport Academy and now with Lula Jane’s. You can find her hospitality Tues-Fri 7:30-3:00 and Saturday’s 8:00-3:00. Stop on in to say hi and enjoy a slice of that blueberry pie. Happy eating!

Leave a comment | posted in Everyday Eateries, Restaurant Reviews, Uncategorized, Waco, TX

June 26, 2013

Grouchy John’s Coffee — Great Coffee with a Smile

By A. Gardner

Don’t let the name deceive you, Grouchy John’s is anything but grouchy. Their baristas are friendly and inviting, their coffee delicious, and their store welcoming with its 80s eclectic style.

It’s noon on a Wednesday and almost every surface holds computers attached to a new breed of cyber worker or e-student. The walls are decorated with original art — from a portrait of Darth Vader under glass to a hand decorated skateboard to, my favorite, a massive clock of the Grouchy John’s logo, a disgruntled coffee cup à la the original Oscar the Grouch.

The coveted corner tables under the original art.

Grouchy John’s began a little over three years ago as a table at Las Vegas’s First Fridays. Two local boys, John Ynigues and JJ Wylie, manned the table and eventually purchased and modified a trailer, turning it into a mobile Grouchy John’s Coffee. Today they have their very own brick-and-mortar place at the corner of Maryland Parkway and Wigwam Avenue, complete with an interior loaded with computer plugs and a drive-thru for those in need of caffeine in a rush.

Their drinks include “The Jedi” (white chocolate and coconut), “The Shirley Temple of Doom” (a matcha green tea cherry smoothy) and the very first drink I ever tasted from Grouchy John’s, the “Evil Monkey” (chai, espresso, and banana syrup), made by co-owner JJ Wylie. If you like coffee, and are on the southeast side of town, you must come in. Even if you’re not on the southeast side of town, you should make a special trip — this place is worth the drive. When you come in for a coffee, be certain to ask for a loyalty card and to check in on Facebook or Twitter for the double stamp advantage. For a local place to relax and chat or to buckle down and work, you can’t beat Grouchy John’s.