World Cup Cafe and Fair Trade Market — Restaurant in Waco

World Cup Café: A Neighborhood Spot with Heart, but Does the Food Match the Vibe?

At World Cup Café in Waco, Texas, the warmth of the service and the mission-driven atmosphere set the tone. It’s the kind of place where the staff smiles, where Chef Mike himself makes the rounds to check in on customers, and where the café’s deeper purpose—supporting the youth—gives you a feel-good reason to linger a little longer over your coffee.

The Order: Colcord Plate & A Side of High Expectations

I opted for the Colcord, a breakfast plate with eggs, potatoes, and a choice of toast, pancake, or biscuit. To round things out, I added sausage and a cup of coffee. Oh, and I couldn’t resist buying a World Cup Café coffee mug—because if the coffee is great, I like to take a piece of the experience home with me.

The Food: Close, but Not Quite There

There’s an art to breakfast—something about the way simple ingredients can either be elevated or fall flat. Unfortunately, the food here lands somewhere in the middle. • The Potatoes: Breakfast potatoes should strike a balance between crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a good hit of seasoning to wake up the taste buds. These? More on the dry and underwhelming side. Not terrible, just not the kind of potatoes you crave long after the meal. • The Pancakes: Pancakes should be light, fluffy, and golden-brown, offering a buttery melt-in-your-mouth experience. These were just okay. Edible, but I didn’t feel compelled to finish them. • The Eggs & Sausage: Hard to mess up eggs, and they were cooked just fine. The sausage was standard diner fare—no surprises there.

The Coffee: The Real Star of the Show

What saved the experience? The coffee cup. Not just the coffee itself (which was good), but the cup design—thick, sturdy, with a well-shaped lip that made each sip comforting. This is how you know a place takes its coffee seriously. I bought one for $13, and that was the best part of my meal.

The Service: A+ for Hospitality, C- for the Bill

Service here was genuinely excellent. Friendly, engaging, and welcoming—the kind of place that makes you want to support it.

But here’s where things took a turn: After leaving, I realized my total didn’t add up. I was overcharged by about $10, which isn’t a deal-breaker, but it’s something to be mindful of. Always ask for a receipt.

Final Verdict: Would I Go Back?

Yes, but with adjusted expectations. I wouldn’t go for the food alone, but I’d absolutely return for the coffee, the vibe, and the hospitality. The World Cup Café has a strong community feel, and I respect their mission. If they tighten up their breakfast execution, they could be an all-time great.

Final Score:(4/5) • Service: (5/5) • Coffee & Mug: (5/5) • Food: (3/5) • Pricing Accuracy: (2/5)

Would I recommend it? For the experience, yes. For the food? Maybe—just temper your...

Honestly, I've always loved this place. There's a sense of intimacy to the location while still giving me the anonymity I need as an introvert. I enjoy the humanity of it, and you know what I mean if you've ever been there. The sitting area is small, and open, with lots of tables and booths to sit at as well as seats along the bar. There is extra seating in the back where the shop is. The food and drinks are wonderful. I love ordering the matcha frap, tho I do ask them to add extra matcha, since it's a bit milky for my taste. The drinks are all good, every single one I've tried. I would say, don't get too creative with your drink order: if they dont have what you want, order it somewhere else. My friend had a bad experience with that which almost made us stop coming here. I'm glad we still go here, tho: the food is amazing and I like the staff so much. A lot of them will ask about how my life is going and remember lots of details about what I've been going through, and all around going above and beyond being friendly and helpful. My go-to meal involves the chicken salad, but order it early or they might run out. It's that good, and everyone knows it. As for the shop, I love it so much. So many options to buy tons and tons of fair trade items. I love getting gifts there like jewelry and scarves, and gifting them to people who I know like making a difference in the world. It's hard to find gifts sometimes, since I always want to honor the wishes of people who dont want to contribute to unfair wages and unsustainable craftsmanship. So the shop at world cup is one of my favorite options. I hope you give it a try: it's not perfect, but their mission is beautiful, their products are lovely, most of the staff is amazing, and their food is absolutely wonderful. Try the matcha....

I've been to the restaurant 10+ times. After talking to my wife, we decided to leave a review. The food is very tasty. But the service is very variable, most of the time somewhat poor. We have had two experiences that left us not really wanting to visit the restaurant anymore, except for maybe take out. The first one, we waited 45 minutes for my food with my wife and my one year-old during my 1-hour lunch break. The second one, it was just poor service, we waited 7-10 minutes to actually try to place an order, so I went to the counter to place it (which the waiter did not seem to like). We did not get a chair for our baby offered so we had to ask for one. Also we waited on the food for about 15 minutes. When it was time to leave, I waited in the front counter to pay for several minutes while two waitresses were not busy. They were not short-handed nor busy, the front staff and kitchen staff were sharing videos/pictures on their cell phones and one of them was having a drink behind the counter. One person from the kitchen came to the front several times. I actually watched my food sit on the counter for about 10 minutes before it was served.

My wife and I like to support small business, and we'll continue to do that. For this restaurant, we probably will order food 15 minutes ahead of time and pick it up to go, and if not ready we will just not take it. That is if we come back. On a side note, if you have plenty of time to spare, do not have children, and want a relaxed environment, you may not notice or care about the service problems. As a paying customer with a family and not enough time to spend, you may not have a good experience.

I hope the restaurant owners read this review and pay more attention to the skills the employees are using while running...