Elite Cafe

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it the respect it's due. Somewhere along the line, every great Texas road-trip story starts with somebody who showed up and decided to stay — and the Elite Cafe in Waco is exactly that kind of story. The first Elite Cafe opened in downtown Waco in 1919, and just a year later, in 1920, the Colias family — Greek immigrants, every one of them — acquired it and made it their own.

Now, that right there is already a story worth telling. But the Colias brothers weren't done. Come 1941, they opened this Elite Cafe out on what locals called The Circle — a traffic hub that Waco had built on its suburban edge back in the early 1930s.

Picture it: the city growing outward, a new hub of movement and commerce, and right there at the center of all that coming and going, the Colias brothers planted their flag. The building they put up didn't just blend into the landscape — it announced itself. Distinctive Spanish Colonial style, the kind of architecture that was popular across the Southwest, and one of the best remaining regional examples of mid-20th century roadside design you'll find anywhere.

Waco recognized it. Travelers recognized it. Time, it turns out, recognized it too.

Some landmarks are made by proclamation. This one was made by showing up in 1919, and just never leaving.

What the marker says

The first Elite cafe opened in downtown Waco in 1919 and was acquired by the Greek immigrant Colias family in 1920. The Colias brothers opened this Elite cafe in 1941 on "The Circle," a traffic hub built on Waco's suburban edge in the early 1930's. A highly recognized local landmark, and one of the best remaining regional examples of mid-20th century roadside architecture, the building exhibits a distincitve Spanish Colonial style popular in the southwest.