Downtown Reclaims a Waco Original

After 70 years of grocery dormancy (from the Waco Tornado), the reopening of a Waco icon and protected national historic landmark building is underway! A brand new Texas grocery is setting its roots into what was masterfully architected in 1950 to be the city’s first HEB in the bullseye of Waco’s city center. Grocers from family-owned neighborhood stores nearby in Austin have teamed up with locals, as well as regional Cadence Bank and urban developer Anthem Group to revive what was once the “finest” of all 53 HEB locations at the time with “the tallest of any grocery sign in the state.” As originally acclaimed by Harold E. Butt, “there is not a store in the State of Texas superior to this one,” and nationally “there are no more than one or two that can be compared with it in size, beauty, efficiency, and completeness.”
 
As a true classic, and future-forward food hub, it’s now being named for where provisions and farming all began, in the Garden – and for the people that bring it to life, in the City. GARDEN CITY® Grocery is where you’ll find some of the freshest farm-to-market goods from the Heart of Texas, bringing the joy of food right to your home & family!
 
At Garden City, we believe truly good food is the spice of life, and that we should reduce additives to “not mess it up.” We care about cultivation and farming practices, and believe the food choices we all make impact the vitality of our own bodies, and over time, the health of our families and cities. We champion locals, regenerative farming, and high-quality standards, allowing for exciting first-to-market products. Our in-house kitchen is seed-oil free, so you can know you are consuming clean sustenance over substitutes.
 
Rather than the “bigger is better” box-store overwhelm, or high prices for super-niche products, Garden City provides affordable and quality essentials easily accessible to all. Enjoy nostalgic terrazzo floors with natural light pouring in through atrium windows and breeze-blocks, where you can daily peruse our meat market, or exclusive wines from shop neighbor Mayfield Selections, and our in-store “Refresh Bar,” a fresh take on the original ice cream fountain on the same site, offering a variety of fresh-squeezed juices, kombucha on draft, smoothies and local coffees. Focused on “less is more,” seasonality, “food you can trust,” and long-range cost-partnering with nearby farms and ranches ensures more folks can simply “eat well” and afford what we call a higher nutritional value per dollar.
 
In designing this flagship marketplace, there’s solar roofing to help offset long-range costs, and other innovations, like our signature greenhouse garden. Here try our living edible greens, or perhaps take a coffee-break, or make a moment with your kids with house-made ice cream cones on a hot summer day. We’ll also host meet-the-farmer days, school field trips & offer scratch-cooking classes for the re-emerging DIY home-health sector, such as baking fresh sourdough from grinding nutrient-dense wheat berry.
 
Saving time is prime, with easy in & out parking planned surrounding the Grocery, including dedicated 10’ish minute “Grab ‘N Gro” frontage spaces, where you can skip the concrete hike of megastores, when just needing to pop-by for basics or chef-made meals-to-share. Strategically located off major arterials in Waco’s epicenter, it’s a quick 15-minute drive from nearly all of Greater Waco, including only 1 mile from Baylor, while also supporting the elimination of a long-standing 2-mile wide USDA food dessert.
 
The Garden City development has received resounding local support from City Management, as well as councilman Darius Ewing and the Mayor, and is currently under City of Waco construction permit, passing inspections. Plans include 10 efficiency Garden Loft apartments, complete with glass-block windows and skylights for urban gardening. Select high-vis pocket retail spaces for those seeking a fresh downtown presence, from 1000-5000sf, are also coming available for application, boasting glass garage shop doors & retro portico to honor the early architectural design. Yes Waco, by this spring/summer, your very own landmark 1950’s grocery block is re-emerging better than ever, to reclaim good food & great times ahead!
 
Garden City will be offering full-time careers with benefits soon, for hospitality professionals who are passionate about this mission!  If you have experience as a butcher, or in produce, floral or store management let us know. Quality local farms, merchants, or unique commercial tenants are encouraged to connect here at gardencitywaco.com!