Crickets Bar And Grill

mdunman

Texas

4.05/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

This is the best stop in Waco. Great beer selection with a huge wall to look at all the options. They also have sampler trays to test out a variety. TV's, pool tables, shuffle board, darts and plenty of other things to keep you busy, except all of this comes with an extra price tag on it. The chicken, burgers and fries are really good, but are a bit more expensive than some other places. You pay a good bit here, but you can get a really good night out of it. And finding a good place to hang out in Waco isn't exactly an easy thing to do.

02-05-2011 01:43:54 | More by mdunman

TomTown

Texas

4.06/5  rDev +0.7%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.75 | food: 3 | $

Pretty cool place to hang out with a crowd. Kinda loud in the evenings and especially on the weekends but all in all a good bar with a wide tap selection. Most stuff is pretty run of the mill but they get a few rarities every now and again and tend to focus more on Texas breweries which I definitely appreciate. Food is what you would expect from Chili's or similar. One definite plus is that it opens earlier than the Bear if you want to meet a group for lunch on the weekdays.

05-12-2013 00:45:51 | More by TomTown

texasclimber

Texas

3.43/5  rDev -14.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 2.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $

though they may have the LARGEST beer selection in Waco, they are nowhere near being dubbed the best place to have a pint in town (that honor is far and away reserved for the dancing bear). their tap selection is impressive however most of the taps are either old (and taste old, and not the good kind of aged old) or empty. their selection doesn't change very much and whenever it does they arn't beers that you would want to go out of your way to try. the service is average probably because the turn around time here is like weeks, there seemed to be a new batch of wait staff (that truly didn't know anything about beer) every time i went in. the food is pretty good pub fare, they make a KILLER monte cristo. pool tables and darts make it a great place for groups but not the best for quality beer.

05-12-2011 01:37:35 | More by texasclimber

Viper78

Texas

4.78/5  rDev +18.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

I am what you might call a regular at Cricket's. A proud member of their Mug Club. So understand right from the start that I really like this place. There have been some recent changes to the place and the types of beers they get in since the last review. They have a new food menu which is great and has a little of everything. They have boosted the size of their burgers back to their old 1/2 lb size and they have done away with frozen bag fries and have started making fresh hand-cut fries which come liberally seasoned with a course sea salt and cracked pepper blend. I would call them some of the best fries in Waco. Cricket's has started a 5lb burger challenge call the Super Pit Challenge. Featuring a insane version of their Pit Burger a 1 lb stunner with 1/2 lb beef patty, 1/2 lb of their BBQ pulled pork, coleslaw, grilled onions, pickles, and melted sharp cheddar. It pairs great with any of the 3-4 IPA's they have on hand at any given time. Which brings us to the Beer. In the last year they have really stepped up in the Beer department. With the manager in charge of Beer ordering making a major effort to get in fresh seasonals and top micro brews from around the state and the country. They have 107 taps and I would say around 35 of them rotated based on season and availability. Of the remaining taps 7 are the usual domestics, 20 are imports, 30 are Texas Micros, and 15 are the big craft brewers. The managers have a pretty good rapport with the regulars and are always keeping them updated about new Beers, asking what the customers would like to get in, and what their plans are for the upcoming year. A couple things they are doing is updating their gift shop with a new Beer centered apparel line and at least 4-6 themed beer tastings a year. If you are in Waco or just travelling I-35 through Texas and you like Beer then Cricket's is a must stop in Waco.

01-05-2010 23:51:20 | More by Viper78

CLBizzle

Texas

3.48/5  rDev -13.6%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 2.5 | $$

They have a wonderful tradition called the "Mug Club" At every years end, around December but no solid dates; they manufacture about 150, 24 ounce clay mugs. You purchase the mug for a year and you get discounted prices on Mondays and a lager draft on other days. At the end of the club year you get to keep the mug and take it home with you. It is a really cool thing to do if you're new to the Waco area and plan on sticking around for a while. I didn't join this year, because I didn't feel I was going to stick around, I wish I would have gone with my gut. Supply goes fast so jump on it! A great place with good prices it has a little bit of everything. Upper stairs balcony, pool and shuffle board tables, good food, oh yeah and a hundred beers on tab. A must try if you're passing through Waco.

06-21-2009 23:24:36 | More by CLBizzle

Bagman007

Texas

4.3/5  rDev +6.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$$

I visited Waco for a weekend and went here a couple of times. My friend had talked about this place quite a bit, so I had pretty high expectations for this price. This is a pretty big place. Long bar with tons of taps. Lots of pool tables in the back, a dining area, tvs, and a balcony upstairs. Good atmosphere, but it kinda feels too much like a restaurant. Other than that it was great. Not too crowded when we went on a Friday night and the service was good. Awesome place, will definitely go back again if I am in Waco.

12-14-2008 21:52:40 | More by Bagman007

Norica

Massachusetts

4.14/5  rDev +2.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Being a native Bostonian (A F&*^%in' Yankee to my in laws) I love that their is a bar like this deep in the HOT. The selection at this place is great and I haven't had a bad beer yet in terms of quality. It can get crowded with nearby Baylor (who says Baptists don't drink?) students on the certain nights I've been there but the layout is great and I've never waited long for a brew. If you're ever in the area stop by you won't be disappointed. Was surprised to see 2 DFH on draft here. Bonus points for shuffleboard tables.

05-05-2006 23:42:32 | More by Norica

BeerAngel

Texas

4/5  rDev -0.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

All I can say really for Waco, TX is "wow!". A nice find thanks to beerfly and business travel. This is a very large building and on a Thursday night, it was pretty easy for the four of us to find a place at the bar. Looking at the lovely vision of a lot of taps. This time of year, I wasn't sure if it would be there, but I asked, and lo and behold, Live Oak Hefe was there! As well as other Live Oak offerings and alot of Real Ale's stuff too. Too many to name though, but as mentioned in another review, nothing really too hard to find. One of the college guys behind the bar and knew a little bit about the beers...but another girl waited on me on my third hefe and put a lemon wedge on the lip of the glass. Crap! Anyways it was a nice experience and I'm glad it exists in a town that is in need of it. Thumbs up! Cheers!

04-07-2006 21:59:46 | More by BeerAngel

EPICAC

Massachusetts

4.28/5  rDev +6.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 3.5 | $

As a native of Waco now living in Boston I feel that Cricket's should be reviewed on a relative scale.

The atmosphere is often hit or miss, and I typically find that this has to do with the time of year that I visit (typically holidays). When it's crowded with Baylor kids on weekend the atmosphere isn't great, it can be hard to get to the bar, and hard to communicate due to the noise level. On weeknights or some weekends when it isn't as crowded the atmosphere is much better, there's plenty of room, the noise is fairly low and it's not terribly smoky.

The last few times I've been back in town things have improved. They run out of beer a lot less frequently, though it is sometimes past its prime, and it's served overchilled.

Service is again variable, but my last few visits have been great (with the exception of New Year's Eve). There's a male bartender who's on top of the selection. He's partial to people who order some of the better beers, and will make recommendations and give out samples. In general most of the other bartenders are reasonably knowledgable about the selection, and friendly.

In general the beer selection is pretty good. There's a lot of variety, but also a lot of crap. However, given the average customer I can't fault them for carrying so much mass market crap. There is usually a pretty good selection of Texas Micros on tap, and I can usually find a few brews that I can't get in Boston. One of the best improvements I've seen lately is the addition of seasonal beers to the tap. These aren't on the menu, but there's usually a board by the entrance with a list of 5-10 seasonals. If you want to go out for good beer in Waco Cricket's kicks the shit out of every other option handily.

The food is pretty standard, but the cheese fries can really hit the spot.

01-18-2006 00:40:08 | More by EPICAC

HardTarget

Texas

4.25/5  rDev +5.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4 | $$

Toto, we're not in Waco anymore... but wait, we ARE in Waco!
As others have said, a beer oasis in harsh desert of BMC. Impressive tap wall that holds such gems as Live Oak Hefe and Real Ale Devil's Backbone. Yes, like most other places that try to carry over 100 beers, they were out of a few things that we wanted to try (out of Spaten Bock hurt) but had an impressive collection of Oktoberfest beers to sample. Also not surprising with so many tap lines, some of the beers were past their prime, but only about a quarter of those we tried (and our group went for the off the beaten track beers) had quality issues.
For a Saturday night, the place had a very nice atmosphere. Lots of college kids but no one being obnoxious, lots of room, pool tables, video games, large TVs, heavy on wood and brick. We got pretty good service, our waitress showed up at most of the right times, had a pretty good knowledge of beer (her recommendation was NB's 1554). We ate, I had the pizza, which was ok, not outstanding but pretty good, the black pepper encrusted burger got a good review. Prices were about right.
Just being able to sit down in Waco and order a pitcher of Live Oak Hefe, *sniff*, it kinda gets you right here. Maybe there is hope for the beer culture in Texas. If you're going to Waco, stay at the Hilton and walk across the street to Crickets.

10-02-2005 16:43:58 | More by HardTarget