The Olive Branch — Restaurant in Waco

Let me just start by saying this—if The Olive Branch gets five stars from me today, it’s not because they dazzled me with their cinnamon sugar wizardry or blew my mind with an avant-garde avocado toast arrangement. No. This five-star rating rides on the back of one person: Tatiana. More on her in a second.

Let’s rewind.

I walked in thinking I might go full throttle—house-smoked brisket burrito, big breakfast energy, maybe even add some sweet on the side. But something told me to keep it lighter. And I’m glad I did. Because while the menu leans Texas-sized, my stomach was whispering minimalist gospel this morning.

The Order: • Avocado Toast – Smashed avocado layered on wheat toast, topped with sunny-side up eggs, marinated tomatoes, microgreens, and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. • Cinnamon Biscuit Bites – Fried biscuit chunks, cinnamon sugar, vanilla glaze. • Coffee – Straightforward, dark, and hot. • Orange Juice – A full glass, and then some.

Let’s talk flavor.

The avocado toast was clean, thoughtful, and well-balanced. The eggs were cooked just right, the yolks warm and golden. The tomatoes popped with acidity. The glaze added that sweet-tangy lift, and the microgreens? That’s where the dish showed some class. Nothing overcomplicated, just intentional. The kind of plate that lets your senses stretch slowly into the day.

Now, the cinnamon biscuit bites? Beautiful to look at. Honestly, they should hang this skillet on the wall as art. But one bite in, and I knew I was in trouble. It was like being hugged by a sugar-coated sumo wrestler. Way too much. Way too sweet. I expected a nibble situation—something like four to six bites. Instead, they brought out a cast iron cauldron of dessert. I ordered it, so that’s on me. But no human should face that much glaze without a support group.

The coffee hit the mark. Nothing fancy, no third-wave pretension—just a solid cup of comfort. I needed that balance after fighting the sugar avalanche. As for the juice—let’s just say I ordered a drink and got a whole orchard. Fresh, cold, good… and way more than I wanted. Waco does not play about portions.

Atmosphere? Rustic-meets-industrial. Spacious. Clean lines. Brick and wood. Soft lighting. TVs in the back if you need some casual noise. Plenty of elbow room, which is rare and welcome.

But none of that—none of it—would have stuck in my memory without Tatiana.

She didn’t just show up with a smile. She arrived. Introduced herself. Warm, polite, completely unforced. The kind of presence that makes you feel human again in a world full of transactional interactions. I’ve had $200 meals in big cities that didn’t come with service that kind. She didn’t hover, didn’t rush, just existed in that perfect sweet spot of attentiveness and space.

That’s why I’m giving five stars.

If Tatiana hadn’t been there? Four. Easy. The cinnamon bites alone would’ve knocked a star off. That’s not a breakfast item—that’s a wedding cake’s evil cousin. But Tatiana raised the curve. She was the curve.

So here it is:

The Olive Branch isn’t perfect. The portions are big enough to scare a lumberjack. The sweet options could use a tone-down. And Waco, as a whole, seems to believe every breakfast should feed a family of four. But if you’re lucky enough to get Tatiana as your server, that meal’s going to hit different. It’s going to feel like it matters.

And that’s...

My husband and I were very excited about trying a new place. After reading other reviews and looking at the menu, we decided to give The Olive Branch a try. It was a rather meh experience. We placed our order and then the waiting began. It seemed to take forever to get our food and once it arrived it was decidedly lack-luster.

I opted for the Cajun Pasta. The description made it seem amazing and anything that has the word "Cajun" in it almost seems to promise that it will be flavorful and delicious, with a hint of spice. What came was most definitely not flavorful. It was, in effect, BLAND. The chicken was dry and the pasta, though cooked well and coated in sauce, didn't seem to live up to the promise the dish seemed to imply was coming. Probably the highlight of the dish was the little piece of bread that came with it.

My husband got the TOB burger. While the burger was large and had lots of fresh looking ingredients on it (lettuce, tomato, pickles, etc.), the burger was also lacking in flavor. The egg that my husband added to it did improve the richness of the food, but shouldn't a burger already have some richness and flavor on its own? The high point of his meal was the french fries. Those, at least, were crispy and delicious.

We tried the house sausage and it was decent. Since my husband also makes sausage, we were both excited about trying something professionally made. After sampling it, we decided that his is superior, although what we were served was okay.

One of the things that struck me after looking at the menu we received versus the menu online, was the absence of some of the choices. There are more pasta dishes on the online menu and there were NO house specialties available on the paper menu from the restaurant. Part of that may be because we were there for lunch and they may have a limited selection then.

With all this being said, the service was good, although, once again, not great. Having ruminated on it for awhile, I think I will be good with not repeating a visit there. If you are looking for something delicious, look elsewhere. If you are looking for something overpriced and with meh food, this may be the...

Service with a scowl. The ONLY reason I'm giving them one star is because I've got to in order to write a review and you can't give any less. This place is TERRIBLE y'all. First off, you walk in and the place is adorable and you're met with an entire staff of scowls. I kid you not, literally every single employee working in that building was scowling the entire time. Like completely and inevitably miserable that they had to be there or address people. Fast forward, we order our drinks (2 waters and a coffee) and the coffee had excellent flavor but was barely room temperature where it's held in a carafe that doesn't keep anything warm. Now I start looking around because I want to purchase a bag and darn, they're out of the particular flavor I wanted. We order our food, my husband has the stuffed French toast of the day (bananas foster) and I order TOB Breakfast plate. Now, we both ordered our eggs over easy. My husband's came out perfect and mine came out what I would venture to describe as a smidge past RAW. I cut into my eggs and RAW whites run all over my plate. Freaking disgusting!! Not to mention everything else on my plate is cold, so it's apparently been sitting there for a while. Waitress asks if it's okay and I almost laughed when I told her no it absolutely isn't. She takes the plate back all the while smirking (closest thing to a smile we ever got) and returns with completely overcooked eggs and at this point I'm done. Raw eggs, overcooked eggs, rock hard non-homemade cold biscuit (at a bakery!!) that could've broke a plate glass window if launched and absolutely deplorable customer service.... No, I'm done I want to leave. I planned on checking out the baked goods and a different type of coffee, but nope they're not getting another dime of my money. HIRE A NEW COOK AND HAPPIER STAFF because this...