Coastal-Mediterranean fare & cocktails in grand surroundings


























"This Mediterranean restaurant serving shared plates is under the auspices of executive chef Corey McEntyre (also owner of Milo’s) and chef de cuisine Joel Garza, formerly at Uchi and St. Philip in Austin. Red Herring is also home to the city’s first chef’s table and seafood bar, which serves oysters and crudo. Order plates like sourdough focaccia (made fresh daily), pork belly skewers, risotto carbonara, and duck two ways, which is cooked for 10 hours and served partly grilled and partly with harissa sauce. Find a pianist playing live in the center of the room most evenings." - Amy McCarthy


"I consider this hands-down the coolest restaurant in Waco: a shared-plates Mediterranean spot next to the shipping-container Hotel Herringbone with an excellent raw bar offering crudo, oysters, and sushi. The menu is designed for picking and choosing, with servers who help curate the meal; it has a fun, communal vibe that works great for large parties, and a grand piano in the center where performers take turns nightly, which makes lingering at the bar for cocktails after dinner a particularly enjoyable experience." - Courtney E. Smith

"When I popped down to Waco to research the Eater Dallas travel guide, I was surprised by the level of excellence in the food and service at Red Herring. There were many great dishes, but perhaps the most remarkable was a squid ink bucatini with red shrimp, octopus, and chorizo: the pasta was big and luxurious, the seafood played off it nicely and matched the texture, and the chorizo — a milder variety — served as a wild card that added flavor and a complementary texture; all those bread crumbs and chives pushed the dish over the top into heavenly." - Courtney E. Smith

"I noticed Red Herring in Downtown is now doing lunch daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m." - Farley Elliott

"I learned she made her name in the Twin Ports by hosting popular pop-ups inside the Red Herring Lounge, where those events helped build her local following." - Joy Summers