Over the past forty years, Kitok Restaurant has gone from a humble diner to a local institution, known for its blend of American and Korean fare. But when it first opened in 1975, owner Kitok Moore stuck to diner classics and hesitated calling her restaurant Kitok. During the first several months of business, she kept up the signage from the previous tenant, The Burger Factory. But as the restaurant gained a reputation for delicious food and friendly service, Moore gradually began introducing Korean dishes to the menu. Today, Kitok Restaurant is beloved for both its Korean and American dishes, including the customer-favorite combo—the Lip Locker with cheese and oriental fries—developed in the restaurant’s kitchen.
Robert and Kitok Moore met in South Korea, where Robert was stationed after the Korean War. They began dating in 1962, and three years later married at the military base in Pusan, South Korea. Soon after, they returned to America, where they settled in Waco in 1973. Robert retired from the military and began work as a data processing manager for First National Bank of Central Texas. Meanwhile, Kitok began work at the Marathon Battery factory.
Kitok became interested in opening a small hamburger restaurant, and an opportunity arose in 1975, when she saw a newspaper listing advertising that The Burger Factory was available for rent. She had saved several thousand dollars and invested it into leasing the property. For the first several months Kitok focused on cleaning and repairing the restaurant, which at the time included one small room with a bar and a kitchen one-third of its current size.
Word of mouth helped grow the business, and the restaurant soon had several regular customers—including reporters from the Waco Tribune-Herald, who wrote positive reviews about their dining experience. Soon Kitok Restaurant had regulars, and one day, one of them suggested that adding a more unique dish to the menu alongside the classic diner options might make the restaurant more competitive. That idea helped spur the creation of the beloved oriental fries—a take on vegetable tempura with shredded potatoes, carrots, onions, and parsley, deep-fried in a crispy batter.
Business continued to do well, and soon Kitok’s husband Robert quit his job to work at the restaurant full time. Robert managed the front of the restaurant, while Kitok and two other Korean American women worked in the kitchen. In 1978, the Moores changed the name of the restaurant to Kitok. Spurred on by their success, Korean-inspired dishes were gradually added to the menu. The first was a spicy potato and chicken soup in a clear broth, followed later by bulgogi—thin slices of chicken or beef marinated in soy sauce, green onions, sesame seeds, and other spices. Kitok’s bulgogi became a customer favorite, outselling the previously popular chicken-fried steak. By the time the restaurant changed ownership in 2001, fifteen Korean dishes had been added to the menu.
Throughout its history, Kitok Restaurant has been owned and operated by Korean American women. Min Ja Chung purchased the restaurant from Kitok and Robert Moore and ran it until 2007, when she sold the business to her sister, Kyung Brendemuehl. Chung and Brendemuehl both kept the dining atmosphere and menu consistent with what Moore had established. In January 2018, Brendemuehl sold Kitok to Kyong Dehnert, who had initially wanted to purchase the restaurant from Chung in 2007. Unable to acquire Kitok at the time, Dehnert purchased the Burger Boy in Gatesville in 2008. Following a similar model to Kitok Restaurant, Dehnert added Korean options to the Burger Boy’s menu—though she did not attempt to recreate iconic Kitok dishes, including the oriental fries.
What began as a small burger joint has evolved over time into a unique fusion restaurant, offering American, Korean, and mash-up dishes. This unique menu, shaped by customers through the years, has been Kitok Restaurant’s key selling point. Its food, coupled with its familiar, friendly atmosphere that has remained unchanged since opening, has kept customers coming back for more—and bringing their family and friends.
]]>As one of the first churches built west of Eighth Street, Austin Avenue United Methodist Church has been a center of spiritual growth and community outreach for over one hundred years.
Having decided that the congregation at Waco’s Fifth Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South (now First United Methodist Church) had grown too large, its members petitioned the denominational conference for a church plant. Recognizing the aforementioned need, the quarterly conference approved the establishment of Austin Avenue Methodist Church on December 31, 1900. Dr. John R. Nelson, the incumbent pastor at Fifth Street, took the lead in organizing the new church.
To house the new church, the building committee purchased three lots on the southwest corner of Twelfth Street and Austin Avenue and commissioned architect Charles Bowman to build the sanctuary for $25,000. The main auditorium seated six hundred. The church building also included a special auditorium for Sunday school classes, a pastor’s study, a choir room, and a ladies’ parlor complete with a dining room and kitchen. The first service in the new sanctuary took place on April 13, 1902, despite the fact the stained glass windows had not yet arrived.
As the church grew alongside prosperous downtown Waco in the early twentieth century, church leaders decided a larger property was needed. After much fundraising, church leaders purchased two pieces of land at Thirteenth Street and Austin Avenue and hired architect R. H. Hunt to construct a two-story structure inspired by gothic architecture at a cost of $350,000. The new sanctuary was completed in 1925.
On Saturday, November 13, 1954, tragedy struck Austin Avenue Methodist Church in the form of a terrible fire. Though firemen fought to save the sanctuary, the blaze consumed the worship space and its roof collapsed. The adjacent educational building was spared from the flames but suffered extensive water damage. Shaken but undeterred by the disaster, the congregation assembled the next day at the Twenty-Fifth Street Theater to worship and hear a sermon titled “Fortunate People” by incumbent Pastor Dr. G. Alfred Brown.
Austin Avenue Methodist Church’s sanctuary and educational building reopened to congregants on March 11, 1956. The rebuilt worship space featured aesthetic improvements such as walnut paneling, wall-to-wall carpeting, and forty-eight beautiful stained glass windows depicting scenes from the life of Christ and important Christian symbols. The new three-story educational building contained ten large department rooms, nine restrooms, and three kitchenettes. These facilities continue to be central to congregational life well into the twenty-first century, although renovations occurred in the 1980s to accommodate the growing body of worshippers. In 1968, Austin Avenue Methodist Church became formally known as Austin Avenue United Methodist Church. The name change marked the merger of the Methodist denomination with the Evangelical United Brethren.
Over its long history, Austin Avenue United Methodist Church has served the greater community of Waco with a variety of outreach programs. During the Great Depression, the church established a soup kitchen to help feed local individuals and families hardest hit by the economic downturn. From 1942 to 1945, Austin Avenue contributed to the World War II home front by hosting Sunday evening programs and dinners for visiting servicemen. Congregation member Maybelle Rice even took on the role of wedding planner, happily organizing many a marriage ceremony held within the church for active-duty soldiers and their sweethearts. Austin Avenue’s commitment to American servicemen continued during the Korean War (1951-1953) as the church hosted parties each Friday night for the homesick cadets stationed at James Connally Air Force Base. In the aftermath of the 1953 F-5 tornado that devastated Waco’s downtown, Austin Avenue Methodist Church served as one of the main distribution centers for relief donations. Seeking to make better use of its resources in the mid-1970s, the church opened a kindergarten in its education building and used its kitchen to participate in the Meals on Wheels program. Two years later, a preschool was added to the kindergarten and the administrative board approved the adoption of Montessori-style instruction for those childcare facilities. Austin Avenue Montessori School remained at the location until 1993. To further meet the childcare needs of the community, the church started a Parents’ Day Out program in January of 1980.
In 1990, Austin Avenue United Methodist Church received an official Texas Historical Commission Marker.
As one of the first houses of worship established past Eighth Street, Austin Avenue United Methodist Church--which "reunited" with First Methodist in July 2019--continues to serve downtown Waco well into the twenty-first century.
For more (including 6 images & 1 audio file) view the original article
]]>