Baylor Athletics
Baylor Bears · McLane Stadium
The Waco Playbook
The only Power 4 stadium you can pull up to by boat. A downtown that finally gives you a reason to stay ashore.
45,140 fans. Opened 2014 on the banks of the Brazos. Dr Pepper was invented four blocks away in 1885.
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Eat
Milo All Day
Barbacoa mac and cheese and a margarita on Milo's marble bar, Franklin Avenue dusk through the windows
Chef Corey McEntyre's flagship, opened 2018 — Texas farms, Southern swagger, house biscuits, serious cocktails. Featured by Eater Dallas and Southern Living, and the table locals send visiting friends to first.
Reservations: Resy — book ahead for game weekends; closed Tuesdays
Vitek's BBQ
A Gut Pak in its boat on Vitek's counter — Fritos buried under chopped brisket, sausage, cheese, and jalapeños
Since 1915, four generations of the same family, and home of the Gut Pak — the Fritos-brisket-sausage boat that is Baylor game day in a to-go box. They sell them at the tailgate lots too, but the Speight Avenue original is the pilgrimage.
Reservations: Walk-in — counter service
Magnolia Table
The butter flight and biscuits on a Magnolia Table spread, morning light in the restored Elite Café room
The Gaines' 2018 restoration of the old Elite Café building on the Waco Traffic Circle — and whatever the crowds say, the kitchen holds up. Breakfast and lunch daily, dinner Thursday through Saturday.
Reservations: OpenTable only, released 30 days out; walk-ins wait on the lawn
The Butcher's Cellar
A wagyu ribeye and thousand-layer potatoes under low light at The Butcher's Cellar, the butcher case glowing behind
Waco's destination steak room, out in Woodway — Akaushi and Australian wagyu butchered in-house, run by chefs Alejandro Najar and Alyssa Osinga. The drive out Highway 6 is the point: this is the special-occasion dinner locals guard.
Reservations: Toast — book ahead; closed Sundays
George's Restaurant
A Big O fishbowl sweating next to chicken-fried steak and eggs at George's, the morning regulars at the Table of Knowledge
Since 1930, doors at 6:30 AM Monday through Saturday — the heritage breakfast institution and the pregame institution in one building. On game day, their Party Zone tent across from McLane is the only beer within sight of the stadium.
Reservations: Toast Tables online, or join the waitlist; the counter is walk-in
Helberg Barbecue
The brisket smashburger and tallow fries on butcher paper at Helberg, smokers working behind the rebuilt dining room
Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ, 2025 — the hard signal. Phillip Helberg's family operation burned in 2023 and rebuilt bigger, and the fifteen-minute drive out Highway 6 is now Waco's version of a pilgrimage.
Reservations: Walk-in — the line is the reservation, and they sell out
Kitok Restaurant
A Liplocker burger and a pile of Oriental Fries on Kitok's counter, the half-Korean half-diner menu board above
A Korean-American diner since the 1970s, founded by Kitok Miller, who came to Waco from Korea as a military bride. Half the menu is bulgogi and kimchi, half is burgers, and the Oriental Fries are the single most Waco-specific side dish in existence.
Reservations: Walk-in; phone orders for pickup
Red Herring Restaurant & Bar
The raw bar tower and a martini at Red Herring, piano-in-the-round glowing in the 1920s jazz-room light
Corey McEntyre's second act, opened 2023 in Hotel Herringbone — Waco's first raw bar, a chef's table, a piano-in-the-round, and 1920s-jazz-room energy. The city's post-game splurge, open till 11 on Saturdays.
Reservations: Resy — book ahead on game weekends
Tony DeMaria's Bar-B-Que
Broth-simmered, oak-smoked brisket with white bread and gravy at Tony DeMaria's, the Elm Avenue room a century deep
The DeMaria family — Sicilian immigrants — has sold meat on Elm Avenue since 1902 and barbecue since 1946, and the broth-then-smoke brisket method hasn't changed since the 1950s. Fourth-generation Blake DeMaria runs it now: 120 years of one family on the same street.
Reservations: Walk-in — morning hours only, and it sells out
Health Camp
A flat-top cheeseburger, onion rings, and a butterscotch shake under Health Camp's 1949 neon on the Traffic Circle
Burgers and malts on the Waco Traffic Circle since 1949 — the ironic name, the neon, the flat-top burgers made in front of you, and the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives stamp to prove the point.
Reservations: Walk-in only — counter and drive-through
Cafe Homestead
Chicken-fried steak and seasonal pie on a handmade wooden table at Cafe Homestead, farm fields out the window
The farm-to-table restaurant of the Homestead Heritage craft community north of town — ingredients from their own fields, furniture from their own woodshop. Worth the fifteen-minute drive for the chicken-fried steak alone.
Reservations: SevenRooms for dinner; lunch is the easier walk-in
Jasper's BBQ
Chopped beef, sausage, and gravy on butcher paper at Jasper's, the 1919 room worn smooth around it
East Waco since 1919 — old-school chopped beef, sausage, and gravy, no frills, cash discount, sells out by early afternoon. One of the last rooms of its kind in Texas, on the stadium side of the river.
Reservations: Walk-in only — go before it sells out
Also worth knowing, no reservation required: Terry Black's brought its Austin smoker show to town with late hours and a walk-through pit line — excellent brisket, though the story is Austin's, not Waco's. Dubl-R on Herring Ave griddles fresh-ground old-fashioned burgers at lunch, Union Hall downtown is the food-hall fallback when the group can't agree, and Opals Oysters is the room to watch — if its early acclaim holds, expect it in a future edition.
Drink
Cricket's Draft House & Grill
A frozen Jack and Coke and nachos on Cricket's balcony rail at sunset, the tap wall crowded inside
Photo source: @cricketswaco
The Baylor game-day institution — 100-plus taps, arcade games, a westward balcony for sunsets, and 10 AM Saturday doors that make it the early-kick anchor. Nachos and a frozen Jack and Coke after the game is a Waco tradition.
Big, loud, green-and-gold on game day; the balcony is the seat worth claiming.
Reservations: Walk-in — doors at 10 AM on Saturdays
Trojan Cork & Keg
A fishbowl with too many straws on Trojan's bar, jello shots passing overhead in the packed room
Photo source: @trojanswaco
Same building as Cricket's, half the size, twice the chaos — fishbowls, jello shots, and an early-2000s playlist. The one-two punch with Cricket's is built into the architecture.
Packed, sticky-floored, gloriously unserious; the night-kick pregame room.
Reservations: Walk-in
The Brazos Landing
Fried oysters and a cocktail on The Brazos Landing's riverfront patio, McLane Stadium across the water
The closest full bar-and-grill to McLane — riverfront patio, cocktails, and fried oysters with the stadium in sight across the water. Longtime visitors knew this room as Buzzard Billy's; after thirty years the owners renamed it for the historic landing that stood on the same spot. Same water, same kitchen family, new sign.
Riverfront patio energy; the last stop before the bridge on game day.
Reservations: Book a table on their site; the patio is walk-in
Scruffy Murphy's
Scruffy Murphy's dance floor at full Friday throttle, the patio crowd spilling toward Speight Avenue
The Baylor college bar — karaoke nights, a packed dance floor, a DJ, a big patio, and lines after midnight. It is loud, sweaty, and 21-going-on-19, and that is exactly the assignment. Fair warning: on the big weekends it gets crowded enough that the crowd is the whole experience.
Full college throttle — DJ up, line out the door after midnight.
Reservations: Walk-in — line after midnight
Balcones Distilling
A neat pour of Balcones '1' on the tasting-room bar, copper stills and 1923 fire-station brick behind
The reason whisky people know Waco exists — Texas single malt that beats Scotland in international blind tastings, distilled in a 1923 fire station downtown. Tasting room pours, cocktails, and tours that sell out weeks ahead.
Copper stills and fire-station brick; reverent but not stuffy.
Reservations: Walk-in flights; distillery tours run Thursday–Saturday and sell out weeks ahead — book via the visit page
One Day Bar
The Kentucky Blues on One Day Bar's counter, fire pits glowing on the patio through the doorway
A speakeasy-styled cocktail room with seasonal menus, house-made everything, and fire pits on the patio — the serious-cocktail slot in a town that didn't have one five years ago.
Low light, slow burn; the patio fire pits argue against ever leaving.
Reservations: Walk-in; the patio turns over fast
Melody Ranch
Two-steppers under neon at Melody Ranch, the biggest dance floor in Central Texas rolling on a Saturday night
The largest dance hall in Central Texas — 1,350 capacity, pouring and two-stepping since 1972, with live country every Saturday night. Boots optional; the two-step is not, once the floor pulls you in.
Wood floor, neon beer signs, a multi-generation Texas crowd; 18 and up.
Reservations: Walk-in — 18 and up, Thursday through Saturday
Southern Roots Brewing Co.
A honey lager and a specialty pizza on Southern Roots' long tables, brew tanks visible past the garage doors
Wacoan Best Brewery 2025 — a downtown brewpub with the honey lager the whole town defaults to and a pizza program with a genuine local following. Eleven blocks of downtown between here and the game-day shuttle.
Garage doors up, long tables, families early and beer people late.
Reservations: Walk-in; private-party booking via the site
Pivovar Taproom
A hladinka-poured Czech pilsner with its thick foam cap on Pivovar's beer-hall table, schnitzel alongside
Czech pilsner brewed in-house under the hotel and poured Prague-style — the West, TX kolache-belt heritage story in a glass, one block from the Silos.
Beer-hall long tables and copper kettles; Silos crowds by day, beer people by night.
Reservations: Reserve via their site; the beer hall is walk-in
Truelove Bar
Pool tables and neon inside Truelove, karaoke mid-song and the heated back patio glowing through the door
The downtown dive — pool tables, karaoke, punk shows, a heated back patio, murals in the bathrooms, and an Afroman show in its past. Two bars inside; bigger than it looks, friendlier than it looks.
Karaoke bleeding through brick walls; a band may or may not be loading in.
Reservations: Walk-in — closed Mondays
Common Grounds
A Cowboy Coffee on the porch rail at Common Grounds, the backyard stage and string lights waiting behind the house
The Baylor coffee institution — a converted campus-adjacent house pouring espresso since the mid-'90s, with a backyard stage that has quietly become one of Texas's best small touring rooms.
Porch-and-backyard energy; students all day, string lights and live music at night.
Reservations: Counter service; show tickets via their calendar
Waco brews deeper than one lineup can hold: Brotherwell Brewing works community-first beers in East Waco, and Bare Arms — the city's oldest brewery — pours out on Franklin. Inside Hotel Herringbone, Lucky Buck's took Wacoan Best Rooftop 2025 and Songbird handles the wine. All worth a stop if the night runs long.
Waco After Dark
Waco's after-dark scene is compact and better than advertised — a restored downtown theater, two outdoor stages, and a honky-tonk that predates everything Magnolia touched. Dated fall shows land as the venue calendars post; these are the year-round rooms to build a night around.
Waco Hippodrome Theatre (724 Austin Ave)
Downtown's grand old room — a 1914 vaudeville house, restored, now running first-run movies, Texas country and legacy acts, and a steady program of touring stand-up (Felipe Esparza and the Whose Live Anyway? crew both came through this year). The rooftop bar upstairs makes it a full night in one building. This is the comedy anchor — schedule at wacohippodrometheatre.com.
Waco Hippodrome Theatre
Jim Brickman — Piano Sensation & a Little Bit of Christmas
Home-game weekend · Texas Tech at Baylor
The piano hitmaker plays the Hippodrome the night of the Texas Tech home finale — the mellow landing after a cold-weather kickoff, two blocks from the Austin Avenue bars.
Common Grounds Backyard
The coffee institution's backyard has become one of the best small touring stages in Texas — nationally touring indie, folk, and roots acts under string lights, steps from campus, roughly 650 capacity. Shows run Thursday through Saturday during the semester. Schedule at commongroundstx.com.
The Backyard Bar Stage and Grill (511 S 8th St)
Waco's mid-size outdoor room — Texas country headliners, fire pits, corn hole, and picnic-table sprawl a short walk from the Silos. Wacoan Best Live Music Venue 2025. Schedule at backyardwaco.com.
Melody Ranch
The 1972 honky-tonk on Robinson Drive — the largest dance hall in Central Texas, 1,350 strong on a good Saturday, live country every Saturday night and a wood floor that does not care who won the game. Thursday through Saturday, 18 and up.
Extraco Events Center
Heart O' Texas Fair & Rodeo — closing weekend
Home-game weekend · TCU at Baylor
The century-old fair's final weekend collides head-on with the TCU game — rodeo, midway, and nightly concerts at the Extraco Events Center on Bosque Blvd. Traffic doubles; so does the fun per square mile. Details at hotfair.com.
Friday Night Music & Comedy
On a game Friday, the bars carry the night:
- Truelove — karaoke most nights, and the room that books punk and local bands downtown.
- Cricket's — live music on its calendar, taps on either side of it.
- The Backyard is the biggest Friday bet for a booked act — check the calendar above.
- The Hippodrome posts its comedy slate weeks out and is the best structured Friday-night ticket in town.
- Melody Ranch covers the boot-scoot slot Thursday through Saturday.
Baylor's improv and sketch groups also perform on campus during the semester — check the university's student-activities calendar for game-weekend shows.
Festivals
- Silobration — Magnolia's annual late-October festival at the Silos draws headline acts and tens of thousands of visitors. It lands between home dates most years, but if your trip overlaps it, book the hotel the day you book the ticket.
- Brazos Nights — the city's free concert series at Indian Spring Park runs spring into summer, with the Fourth on the Brazos finale staged at Touchdown Alley. Worth knowing if you're back for a summer visit.
Tailgate
The Central Tailgate Scene
Location
Touchdown Alley, on the southeast side of McLane across the Basin Bridge — built on the actual turf salvaged from Floyd Casey Stadium, so the party literally stands on the old ground. Free entry, big screens, radio row, family-scale energy.
Gates Open
Touchdown Alley opens three hours before kickoff and closes about 30 minutes before. Stadium gates open roughly 90 minutes out. Streets around McLane start closing four hours before kick.
What It Is
A riverfront tailgate with a split personality: the family festival on the old turf, the tents and RVs in Brazos Parking across MLK Jr. Blvd, and the sailgate fleet rafting up in the Baylor Basin below the stands. Nobody else in the Power 4 does the water part.
How It Works
Know the geography of the beer: Baylor's campus is dry — no alcohol sold or permitted, Touchdown Alley included, and none sold inside McLane either. The pressure valve is George's Party Zone, the tent George's Restaurant runs in the Brazos Parking lots, where adult beverages are permitted. That tent, the sailgate rafts, and the downtown bars across the river are where the drinking happens. Plan accordingly.
What to Expect
Green and gold everywhere, a fanbase famously willing to hand a visitor a plate, the Gut Pak stand doing brisk business in the lots, and — before kickoff — freshmen in gold jerseys massing for the sprint. Baylor crowds are among the most welcoming in the conference; wear the other team's colors and you'll still leave with a recommendation list.
Pro Tip
The walk from downtown over the Washington Avenue bridge and up through East Waco is the best pregame approach in the Big 12 that nobody tells you about — fifteen minutes, river views, and you skip every car in McLennan County.
Sailgating — The Baylor Basin
The signature. Boats raft up in the Baylor Basin directly below the stadium; reserved slips sell out early, but tie-down areas take arrivals, and a no-wake zone runs from Waco Drive to the stadium. If you can befriend anyone with a pontoon, do it — arriving at a Power 4 game by water is a bucket-list item hiding in plain sight. No boat? Walk down to the Basin rail post-game and watch the fleet light up after a win.
Notable Tailgate Traditions
The Bear Walk
Two hours before kickoff at the South Plaza, between Gates D and A — the buses roll up, the band plays, and fans form the corridor as the team walks in. The RG3 statue watches from the plaza; pay respects to the Heisman that built the stadium.
The Baylor Line
Before kickoff, freshmen in gold jerseys sprint onto the field through the tunnels and form the human corridor the team runs through, then take their seats behind the visiting bench. It dates to 1970 and it's the single best free spectacle in the Big 12. Be in your seat thirty minutes early — do not be in the concourse line when this happens.
The Ritual Clock
Touchdown Alley at kickoff-minus-3:00. Bear Walk at minus-2:00. Inside by minus-0:30 for the Line. Build the day backward from those three beats and the rest sorts itself.
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Pro Tip
McLane is compact — 45,140 — so the dates that matter move fast: Texas Tech (Nov 21), the home finale against the reigning Big 12 champions and the hottest ticket on the slate; TCU (Oct 17), the most-played rivalry in Texas meeting for the 122nd time; and Iowa State (Nov 7), which doubles as Homecoming — the oldest collegiate homecoming in the country, parade and all. Buy all three early. Two calendar traps for out-of-towners: the season opener against Auburn is in Atlanta, not Waco, and the Big 12 Championship is up I-35 in Arlington. Tickets are mobile-only — load them into your phone wallet before you cross the bridge.
Hotels
AC Hotel Waco Downtown
Downtown / Mary Ave$$$1.0 mi to McLane Stadium20 min walk · shuttle from Heritage Square two blocks away
The newest full-service build downtown — pool deck with fireplaces, the sharpest service reputation in the city, three blocks from the Austin Avenue bars.
Or book direct for loyalty points →
AC Hotel Waco's pool deck at dusk, fireplaces lit, the ALICO tower glowing over downtown behind
Hilton Waco
Riverfront / Convention Center$$$0.3 mi to McLane Stadium8 min walk over the Washington Ave bridge
The proximity king — riverfront, the closest full-service bed to McLane. Mid-renovation into fall 2026: rooms refreshed first, lobby work last. Book eyes-open.
113 S University Parks Dr, Waco, TX 76701
Or book direct for loyalty points →
Hilton Waco's riverfront face at golden hour, the Washington Avenue bridge and McLane Stadium across the Brazos
Hotel 1928
Downtown / Washington Ave$$$$0.9 mi to McLane Stadium18 min walk · 4 min Uber
The Gaines' restoration of the 1928 Grand Karem Shrine — coal-cellar library, rooftop terrace, brasserie below. The building is the real thing. Books out first.
701 Washington Ave, Waco, TX 76701
Or book direct for loyalty points →
Hotel 1928's restored Grand Karem Shrine facade at dusk, rooftop terrace lights above Washington Avenue
Hotel Herringbone
Downtown / S 4th St$$$1.1 mi to McLane Stadium22 min walk · 5 min Uber
A 2023 courtyard boutique with Red Herring downstairs, Songbird wine bar in the courtyard, and Lucky Buck's on the roof. Rooms near the rooftop run loud late.
Hotel Herringbone's shipping-container courtyard under string lights, Lucky Buck's rooftop glowing above
Pivovar Hotel
Silos District / S 8th St$$$1.4 mi to McLane Stadium6 min Uber · shuttle from Heritage Square
A Czech-style brewery hotel a block from the Silos — taproom and beer hall downstairs, beer-spa soaks upstairs, a nod to the kolache belt twenty minutes up I-35.
Or book direct for loyalty points →
Pivovar's beer hall from the hotel stair — copper brew kettles, long tables, Czech pilsner pours with the thick foam cap
Hotel Indigo Waco - Baylor
Campus side / Clay Ave$$0.9 mi to McLane Stadium18 min walk via the Umphrey Pedestrian Bridge
The campus-side play — under a mile to McLane on the stadium side of downtown, walkable to the Umphrey Bridge. Train-track noise is the known quirk; pack earplugs.
Or book direct for loyalty points →
Hotel Indigo Waco at blue hour, Baylor campus lights beyond and the Umphrey Bridge arcing over the Brazos
Neighborhoods
Downtown / Austin Avenue Corridor
0.7-1.2 miles from McLane Stadium
The spine of the trip. Austin Avenue and the Mary Ave block hold the bar corridor — Cricket's, Trojan Cork & Keg, Truelove, One Day Bar — with the Hippodrome's 1914 marquee in the middle and the ALICO tower watching over all of it. Hotel 1928, the AC, and Southern Roots fill in the blocks, and Dichotomy pours 6 AM espresso on Austin for the early risers. On game day the downtown shuttle leaves from Heritage Square at 3rd and Austin, which means you can base here, drink here, and never touch your car.
Areas
Austin Ave from 4th to 11th; Mary Ave at 2nd-3rd; Franklin Ave for Milo and Truelove.
Best For
The Friday night arc, post-game celebration, car-free game days via the Heritage Square shuttle.
Pro Tip
Cricket's and Trojan share a building. Start with taps and nachos at one, finish with a fishbowl at the other, and you've done the whole block without going outside.
The Silos District
~1.4 miles from McLane Stadium
Magnolia Market's gravity well — the Gaines' silos, Silos Baking Co., the food trucks, and 30,000 visitors on a good Saturday. The honest read: it's a Friday-afternoon stop, not a game-day one. Pivovar sits a block away and is the district's best reason to linger past sunset, with The Backyard's stage a short walk south.
Areas
6th & Webster around the silos; S 8th St for Pivovar and The Backyard.
Best For
Friday afternoon with the family, kolache-adjacent Czech beer, cupcakes before the crowds.
Pro Tip
The Silos Baking Co. line moves fastest before 10 AM. Grab the cupcakes, skip the midday crush entirely, and give the reclaimed hour to Balcones.
East Waco / Elm Avenue
0.5-0.8 miles from McLane Stadium
The stadium's actual neighborhood, and the most interesting story in Waco right now. Elm Avenue was the Black business district's main street for a century — Jasper's has smoked here since 1919, the DeMaria family has sold meat on this street since 1902, Brotherwell brews here now, and the blocks between the river and the stadium are filling back in. Walking from downtown to McLane over the bridge and up Elm is the best pregame walk in the Big 12 that nobody tells you about.
Areas
Elm Ave from MLK Jr. Blvd to Clifton St; the Brazos riverfront east bank.
Best For
Pre-game barbecue that sells out by 2, the stadium side of the river, the walk itself.
Pro Tip
Jasper's is Tuesday-Saturday, 10 to 2, cash discount. On a home Saturday, go at 10:30 or accept that the brisket decides for you.
Campus / Speight Avenue
1.5-2 miles from McLane Stadium
Baylor's daily-life strip. George's and Vitek's anchor Speight — breakfast, Big Os, and Gut Paks within three blocks of each other — with Common Grounds' backyard stage and Scruffy Murphy's holding down the student end. The Bear Habitat (live black bears, on campus since 1917) is a five-minute detour that everyone should take once.
Areas
Speight Ave from 12th to 19th; S 8th St for Common Grounds; Bagby Ave.
Best For
The heritage breakfast, the Gut Pak pilgrimage, seeing actual live bears before watching metaphorical ones.
Pro Tip
George's opens at 6:30 AM. On an 11 AM kick: breakfast at 8, Bear Habitat at 9:30, across the Umphrey Bridge by 10:15 — you'll beat every car in McLennan County.
Woodway / Highway 6 (drive-out)
15-20 minutes from McLane Stadium
The drive-out tier, and it earns the gas. Helberg Barbecue put this stretch on the Texas Monthly map in 2025, The Butcher's Cellar is out here doing wagyu and thousand-layer potatoes, and the Friday-lunch run to Helberg is Waco's version of the Archibald's pilgrimage.
Areas
Hwy 6 at Woodway Dr; Bosque Blvd as the route back through town (Health Camp's Circle sits on Valley Mills).
Best For
Friday lunch worth planning around, a splurge dinner away from the downtown crowds.
Pro Tip
Hit Helberg on Friday, not Saturday — game-day demand plus a sell-out kitchen means home Saturdays go through the good stuff fast.
Sample Itinerary
Night Before the Game (Friday)
12:30 PM — Lunch: The Drive-Out
Drive the fifteen minutes out Highway 6 to Helberg Barbecue in Woodway. Texas Monthly put it in the state's Top 50 in 2025, the family rebuilt it from a fire to get there, and the brisket smashburger with tallow fries is the best first bite of a Waco weekend. The detour is the point.
3:00 PM — Check in
Drop the bags at the AC Hotel Waco Downtown and don't touch the car again until Sunday — the Heritage Square game-day shuttle is two blocks away, and everything else on this page is a walk.
4:30 PM — The Afternoon Move
The Silos if you must, Balcones Distilling if you're smart — the 1923 fire station on 11th pours the Texas single malt that embarrassed Scotland in blind tastings. Book the tour ahead; stay for a cocktail after.
7:30 PM — Dinner
- The Play: Milo All Day on Franklin — Corey McEntyre's flagship, where Waco's farm-to-table conversation started. Biscuits, barbacoa mac, a margarita with actual intent.
- Splurge: Red Herring — the raw bar and the piano room, if you'd rather spend big Friday and keep Saturday loose.
- Easy Move: Southern Roots Brewing Co. — honey lager and a specialty pizza, zero friction, eleven blocks of downtown to walk it off.
9:30 PM — After Dinner
- Cocktails: One Day Bar — the speakeasy-lit room where the Kentucky Blues arrives like a thesis statement.
- Beer: Pivovar Taproom — a hladinka-poured Czech pilsner under the hotel, thick foam cap and all.
- Music: Common Grounds — during the semester the backyard stage runs touring acts under string lights, steps from campus.
- Wild Card: Three rooms, three temperatures, all inside a fifteen-minute walk — the street names are the volume knob. One Day Bar on Columbus is the slow-burn opener, fire pits arguing against departure. Truelove on Franklin is the second gear — pool tables, karaoke bleeding through brick walls, a heated back patio where a punk band may or may not be loading in. And Scruffy Murphy's down on Speight is the send: the Baylor college bar at full Friday throttle, DJ up, line out the door after midnight, absolutely nothing subtle about it.
Pro Tip
Late kickoff Saturday? Flip the splurge — book Red Herring for Friday and keep Saturday night loose for the downtown bars and the dance hall.
Game Day (Saturday)
Everything Saturday hangs off kickoff, not the clock. Kickoff windows announce roughly two weeks out — count backward from your actual kick. The fixed anchors: Touchdown Alley at minus-3:00, the Bear Walk at minus-2:00, the Baylor Line at minus-0:30.
7 hours before kickoff — Breakfast
- Iconic: George's — doors at 6:30 since 1930, chicken-fried steak at the Table of Knowledge. Yes, some regulars order a Big O with breakfast. When in Waco.
- The Circle: Magnolia Table — 7 AM doors beat the tourist wave by two hours; the butter flight is worth the detour.
- Late kick only: Milo All Day brunch from 10 — the breakfast sando is the civilized option when the game's at 7.
5 hours before kickoff — Campus
Cross to campus, pay respects at the Bear Habitat — live black bears, on campus since 1917 — walk Fountain Mall, and read the Immortal Ten memorial, Baylor's deepest tradition. It's a five-minute detour everyone should take once.
4 hours before kickoff — Explore East Waco
Over the Brazos and up Elm Avenue — the historic Black business district's main street, where Jasper's has smoked since 1919 and Tony DeMaria's has fed the street since 1946; the blocks between the river and the stadium are filling back in. If the timing works, an early Gut Pak run to Vitek's on Speight before the game-day line forms (they sell them at the lots too, but the original is the move).
2.5 hours before kickoff — Game Day Bar Stops
- Cricket's Draft House — doors at 10 AM on Saturdays, the early-kick anchor. A fishbowl next door at Trojan if it's an evening game.
- The Brazos Landing — the last full bar before the stadium, fried oysters on the patio with McLane in view.
- The walk itself — Washington Avenue bridge, Elm Avenue, the stadium rising over the river. Fifteen minutes, zero traffic.
2 hours before kickoff — The Bear Walk
South Plaza, between Gates D and A, as the buses arrive. The Waco equivalent of the Walk of Champions, with the RG3 statue presiding.
1 hour before kickoff — Touchdown Alley or the Party Zone
On the old Floyd Casey turf: big screens, radio row, family-scale — and dry, like all of campus. Hold your spot at George's Party Zone across MLK instead if the assignment is a beer within sight of the stadium.
30 minutes before kickoff — The Baylor Line
Be in your seat. Freshmen in gold, sprinting the tunnels, forming the corridor the team runs through. It's the best thirty seconds in the Big 12 that isn't a play.
Post-Game
If you have time for only ONE thing post-game
Walk down to the Basin rail and watch the sailgate boats light up after a win. No other stadium in America gives you this.
Immediate Post-Game (next 90 minutes)
- If Baylor won: Cricket's for the frozen Jack and Coke — the post-game ritual — before the shuttle crowd catches up.
- If Baylor lost: One Day Bar — fire pits, a serious drink, and a patio built for perspective.
Dinner 2-3 hours post-game
- Splurge: Red Herring at Hotel Herringbone, open till 11 on Saturdays — raw bar, piano-in-the-round, a 1920s room that feels imported from a bigger city and somehow isn't. Reserve ahead on game weekends.
- Easy Move: Southern Roots — pizza and the honey lager till 11, no reservation required.
Late Night
Truelove till 2, Scruffy Murphy's if the night wants a dance floor — or drive the ten minutes to Melody Ranch, where the biggest dance hall in Central Texas two-steps till 2 and does not care who won.
Sunday — Send-Off
Down-shift. Common Grounds, the Baylor coffee institution since the mid-'90s — a Cowboy Coffee in the backyard where the stage stood loud twelve hours ago, one last look across the river at McLane, and the drive home. George's is closed Sundays; Magnolia Table too. The town sleeps in. You should have. If the drive home runs through lunch, Helberg opens at 10 on Sundays — brisket for the road.
Logistics
Getting to Waco
- ACT (Waco Regional): 10 minutes from downtown — American Eagle connects through DFW. Small, painless, and closer than any Power 4 airport has a right to be.
- DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth): ~95 miles, 1.5-1.75 hours straight down I-35. The full-schedule option, and the default for most visiting fans.
- AUS (Austin): ~100 miles, about 1.5 hours up I-35. Flights are often cheaper; the drive is a coin flip with Dallas.
- DAL (Dallas Love Field): ~90 miles — the Southwest play, similar drive to DFW.
Driving to McLane
- McLane sits directly off I-35 on the east bank of the Brazos — take the University Parks Dr or MLK Jr. Blvd exits.
- Streets around the stadium close four hours before kickoff. If you're driving in on game day, arrive before the closures or park downtown and ride the shuttle.
- I-35 through Waco carries permanent construction karma — pad 20 minutes onto any game-day arrival from Dallas or Austin.
Parking Strategy
- Don't, if you're staying downtown — the shuttle and the bridge walk cover the weekend, and the car stays parked at the hotel.
- Brazos Parking on MLK Jr. Blvd is the tailgate-proper lot — tents, RVs, and George's Party Zone. Passes sell in advance through Baylor Athletics and go early for TCU and Homecoming.
- Downtown lots + the free shuttle — 1,800 spaces downtown feed the Heritage Square pickup. Park once, ride, repeat.
Stadium Entry
- Capacity: 45,140 — compact, steep, and loud for its size, with the open south end framing the river.
- Gates open: roughly 90 minutes before kickoff.
- Bag policy: clear bag no larger than 12" x 6" x 12" (or a one-gallon resealable bag), plus small clutches up to 4.5" x 6.5". No backpacks.
- No alcohol inside: Baylor is one of the last dry programs in the Power 4 — nothing is sold in the stadium, so the Party Zone stop is the last call.
- Mobile tickets only: load them into your phone wallet before you reach the gate — a screenshot won't scan.
Game Day Shuttles
- The free downtown shuttle picks up at Heritage Square (3rd & Austin) starting three hours before kickoff and runs until an hour after the game, dropping at the stadium's northwest corner.
- From campus, the Umphrey Pedestrian Bridge walk is faster than any vehicle in the last hour before kick.
- Rideshare surges hard post-game — walk back over the bridge toward downtown and call the car from the far side of the river.
Traditions Worth Knowing
- The Baylor Line — freshmen in gold jerseys sprint the field before kickoff and form the team's tunnel corridor, then sit behind the visiting bench. Since 1970.
- The Bear Walk — the team's arrival walk at the South Plaza, two hours out, between Gates D and A.
- "Sic 'em, Bears" — the claw-hand chant; you'll have it involuntarily memorized by halftime.
- The RG3 statue — Robert Griffin III's 2011 Heisman made the stadium possible; his statue holds the South Plaza.
- The Bear Habitat — live black bears on campus since 1917, a five-minute detour from Fountain Mall.
- Dr Pepper — invented at a Waco drugstore in 1885; the museum's soda fountain downtown pours the float that ends arguments.
Field Notes
- ✓ Weather by month — September in Waco runs 95-100°F and the early kicks are survival exercises; October is the reward; November evenings drop to the 40s and 50s. Pack for the month, not for "Texas."
- ✓ Reservations are non-negotiable — Magnolia Table releases OpenTable slots 30 days out, Red Herring fills first on game weekends, and The Butcher's Cellar books its Saturday wagyu early. Lock dinner before flights.
- ✓ Carry some cash — Jasper's runs a cash discount, and the tailgate-lot Gut Pak stand moves faster with bills.
- ✓ Know the dry-campus map — no alcohol on campus or inside McLane. The beer lives at George's Party Zone in Brazos Parking, on the sailgate rafts, and across the river downtown. Plan the day around the geography.
- ✓ The signature food and drink to try — a half Gut Pak at Vitek's (the full one defeats grown men), a Big O at George's because an 18-oz fishbowl is Waco's stemware, and a nightcap pour of Balcones Texas Single Malt four blocks from where Dr Pepper was invented. Three orders, three boxes checked.
- ✓ The shuttle beats every parking plan — free from Heritage Square at 3rd & Austin, three hours before kick until an hour after. Base downtown and the car stays parked all weekend.
- ✓ Hidden gem — Kitok's Oriental Fries: shredded-vegetable fritter-fries from a Korean-American diner that's fed Waco since the 1970s. Nothing else like them anywhere.
- ✓ Don't skip the Dr Pepper Museum — the 1885 origin story downtown, and the soda-fountain float is the correct non-alcoholic ritual of the weekend.
- ✓ The one must-do this trip — be in your seat thirty minutes before kickoff for the Baylor Line. Gold jerseys, a full sprint, and the best free spectacle in the Big 12.
- ✓ You've got this — Waco is one walkable downtown, one free shuttle, and one river between you and the stadium. Cross the bridge on foot, say yes to the plate a stranger offers, and the weekend runs itself.
FAQ
What's the food we have to try in Waco?
The Gut Pak at Vitek's — the 1915 Fritos-and-brisket icon — plus a Dr Pepper float where it was invented in 1885. For dinner, Milo All Day's barbacoa mac and Helberg's Texas Monthly-ranked brisket smashburger carry the modern era.
Where should I stay for a Baylor game?
Downtown. AC Hotel Waco Downtown is the anchor; Hotel 1928 and Hotel Herringbone are the story stays. Everything connects to McLane by the free Heritage Square shuttle or a 15-minute walk over the bridge.
What is sailgating?
Baylor's signature: fans boat up the Brazos and raft in the Baylor Basin beside McLane Stadium. Reserved slips sell out, but tie-down areas take arrivals. It's the only Power 4 tailgate on water.
Can I drink at the tailgate?
Not on campus — Baylor is dry, including Touchdown Alley, and no alcohol is sold inside McLane. George's Party Zone tent in Brazos Parking, the sailgate boats, and the downtown bars carry the pregame.
What's the one splurge dinner?
Red Herring at Hotel Herringbone — raw bar, chef's table, live piano, open till 11 on Saturdays. Book ahead on game weekends. The Butcher's Cellar in Woodway is the wagyu alternative worth the drive.
Is Magnolia worth it on a game weekend?
Friday morning, yes — Silos Baking Co. before 10 AM, then out. Saturday, no; 30,000 tourists and a home crowd don't share a district well. If your dates land on Magnolia's Silobration festival, book rooms the day you book tickets.
How do I get to McLane Stadium?
Walk the Umphrey Pedestrian Bridge from campus, ride the free downtown shuttle from Heritage Square (3rd & Austin, starting three hours pre-kick), or park at Brazos Parking. Streets close four hours out.
Where do Baylor students actually go out?
Scruffy Murphy's on Speight for the full college-bar experience, Cricket's and Trojan Cork & Keg downtown, Truelove for karaoke and pool. Common Grounds is the daytime campus institution.
What should I bring home?
A bottle of Balcones Texas Single Malt from the distillery on 11th — the whisky that put Waco on the world map — and a Dr Pepper float memory from the museum's soda fountain.
Got a Spot We Missed?
Waco locals: if there's a place you'd send your visiting cousin that we didn't include, we want it. Send us your pick and we'll get on the ground to verify before the next edition.
Last updated: July 2026. Validated against 2025-2026 Texas Monthly, Eater Dallas, the Waco Tribune-Herald, Wacoan Best of Waco, Baylor Athletics, and venue Instagram sources. Hours, menus, and ticket availability change — confirm before you go.
Sic 'em.