Rene’s Restaurant & Bakery — Restaurant in Waco

The Hungry Man at Rene’s: A Morning Worth Waking For

There’s a quiet kind of honesty to breakfast at Rene’s Restaurant in Waco. It’s not trying to impress you — it’s trying to feed you. The booths are royal-blue and wooden, the tile floors shine like they’ve been mopped just after sunrise, and the walls hum with the gentle rhythm of a place that knows its regulars by heart. The coffee comes quick, black, and hot — not artisanal, not single-origin, just dependable and steady, like an old friend who doesn’t talk much but always shows up.

The Hungry Man plate arrives with a certain gravity — the kind that makes conversation stop for a second. Two eggs over medium, a golden-seared pork chop glistening with its own juices, a modest pile of potatoes cut thick enough to hold their softness, and a spread of creamy beans holding down the side of the plate. There’s a rhythm to it — protein, starch, salt, and heart. Everything feels intentional in its simplicity.

The pork chop steals the first glance. It’s got that perfect edge — crisp and browned where the pan kissed it hardest, yet still tender when the knife glides through. The flavor walks that fine Texas line between smoky and pure — no heavy marinade, no gimmick, just salt, pepper, and time. You can taste the care of a short-order cook who’s cooked a thousand breakfasts and still respects each one. It’s juicy enough to need a tortilla, and that’s where the next miracle happens.

Those homemade flour tortillas are soft-folded, still warm, with that faint aroma of toasted flour and a whisper of butter. They don’t compete with the food — they complete it. Tear one in half, scoop a little of the beans and egg, add a sliver of pork, and you’ve basically written your own love letter to the morning. The tortilla wraps the whole meal in a kind of grace — it’s the unspoken backbone of Tex-Mex breakfast.

The beans deserve their own paragraph. They’re creamy, not watery — that slow-cooked texture that tells you someone started them long before you woke up. The flavor is gentle, earthy, maybe even nostalgic. They blend effortlessly with the yolk from those over-medium eggs — that moment when the yolk breaks and runs into the beans feels like the sunrise of the plate itself.

Then there are the potatoes — perfectly golden, each one a miniature landscape of crisp edges and soft interiors. The cut is key here: thick enough to give you a bite, but not so large they lose the fry. They taste like patience. A little salt, maybe a touch of pepper, but mostly just balance — that sweet spot between breakfast and comfort food.

By the time you sip the last of your refilled coffee — now a little cooler, still serviceable — the place feels like home. The staff moves with the rhythm of people who care. Smiles aren’t forced. Cups are topped off before they’re empty. The tables gleam. The flow is calm. There’s a quiet pride in the service — the kind that reminds you this isn’t a franchise; it’s a family.

Rene’s doesn’t need to reinvent breakfast. It just needs to keep doing what it’s doing — pouring hot coffee, frying eggs right, crisping pork to that perfect shimmer, and reminding every traveler who passes through that a good morning isn’t something you buy; it’s something you’re served by people who love...

I loved it. Meal fit for a king in my opinion. I bought a sack of their homade tortias and some dessert type items at the cash register before I left. The waitress was on her game. Gave me everything I could have wanted to accommodate my meal. I had bean and cheese nachos, which I had been craving nachos for a while. The nachos were my appetizer, my main course was fish and I don't know what kind and honestly I didn't care. There were two large to extra large fillets with crinkle cut fries(crispy and delicious, and some shredded iceberg lettuce with chopped tomatoes on top. Then a coke and a water I brought. Loved the spicy sauces the waitress brought to me and I have to say she did a great job. Hope to visit again.

Thank you...

Usually my go to for breakfast burritos but it seems they charge you whatever they want to. The prices are never consistent. Me and my son ate here bout 3 weeks ago and he gets same thing, eggs, potatoes and bacon. That's it. His burrito when we ate in was $6. I've paid $5.61 for a large burritos with eggs bacon potatoes and cheese. Go to drive thru other day, order same burrito, eggs potatoes and bacon. She charged me $7.80? The sign on wall even says large burritos $5. But they attempted to draw a 6 over the 5 but you can't really see the 6. And it says you get 1 meat plus 2 ingredients. His meat is bacon, ingredients are eggs and potatoes so whyyyy did she charge me $8 for a burrito with 3 ingredients that I...