By Skylla Mumana | Reporter
With finals around the corner and the entire Baylor population going into study mode, the grease pit is in overdrive trying to accommodate all of campus. With that said, if you’re wanting to skip the lines and grab a quick treat, Franklin Avenue Mac House has your back.
Franklin Avenue Mac House is a comfort food eatery that dishes out an incredible array of cheesy, decadent food options for the public to choose from. From macaroni and cheese to sandwich melts, soups, salads and more, this small shop gives out brain food at reasonable prices.
They also offer a variety of drinks to choose from, including Pop’s Lemonade, a popular lemonade company in the Waco area.
Currently, the restaurant is not doing inside seating. Instead, they set up QR codes on tables outside where you can order and they’ll bring it out to you. I took the liberty of calling ahead and asking what their three most popular food items are and ordered those.
The first thing I ordered was the pesto chicken melt. This item comes with smoked chicken, pesto, mozzarella and parmesan cheese and a balsamic reduction all wrapped up in a tomato basil tortilla.
When I ordered it, I assumed it would be a sandwich of some kind, so when my order came out and it was actually a wrap, I was pleasantly surprised. I personally love wraps, so this was right up my alley. The chicken was cooked perfectly, and the pesto wasn’t too overpowering. It had an insane cheese pull when I unwrapped it, and the tomato basil wrap was well toasted.
The whole situation reminded me of when I had a Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme for the first time — love at first bite. One thing that I didn’t like about it was that there was a good amount of grease on it when I opened it, but that wasn’t too surprising. Overall, it was gooey and delicious and had a good amount of chicken in it — the balance was definitely there. If I had to give this item a rating, I’d give it a solid 4/5.
The next thing I tried was the uncle Rico mac and cheese. This menu item comes in a 12oz cup and features brisket, horseradish-pecan cheddar and jalapenos. Honestly, I was skeptical. I didn’t think I’d like it at all because I don’t like horseradish. I could barely taste it, and when I did, it added a tangy element to the mac and cheese that I really enjoyed. The brisket in it was amazing. I honestly could have eaten the brisket by itself. The jalapenos added a nice kick to the mac and cheese, and the flavor came through nicely. It was a bit dense and a tad bit greasy, but overall I thought it was great. If I had to give this item a rating, I’d give it a 3.5/5.
The final thing I tried was the slim chicken mac and cheese. This menu item also comes out in a 12oz cup and features smoked chicken, shaved parmesan, lemon rosemary seasoning and garlic. Now, I love seasoning. In fact, I am arguably very passionate about seasoning food. However, there were a lot of bold flavors in this mac and cheese, and even more salt. There was enough salt on the chicken alone, but adding parmesan, a salty cheese, only brought up the salt content. I think the lemon rosemary seasoning was probably meant to help balance it out, but I could barely taste any of it in there. I think acidity was needed. Also, at times I just got a burst of garlic in my mouth which tasted good, but was also a bit strong. Overall, while I appreciate the flavors, it was a lot to take in. Too much, in fact. With that in mind, the highest I can give this item is a 2/5.
Overall, I definitely recommend this restaurant for a quick bite this finals season.
