Day Trips

Photo By Gerald E. McLeod

Rose's Warda Store isn't just the biggest store in town; it is the only store at the wide spot in U.S. 77 halfway between Giddings and LaGrange. The only choice for area residents, the combination cafe, convenience store, domino hall, and post office has developed a statewide reputation for their hearty "Wardaburgers" by mountain-bike riders who stop by after riding the trails at the nearby bicycle ranch.

If they hadn't already eaten at Rose's for breakfast or lunch, the local clientele stops by after 5:30 for the dinner specials. On Thursday night, home-style fried chicken is a favorite served with mashed potatoes and a thick cream gravy. Friday night is usually the busiest night with fried catfish and seafood specials. On Saturday night the special is chicken-fried steak cooked to near perfection.

Good country cooking is the specialty of the house with most meals well under $10. The hamburgers are big and juicy and the onion rings are hand-breaded. Of course, the beer is always cold and there is usually a game of dominos or skatt (a card game pronounced "scott") going on in the game room. The rows of tables that take up the majority of the building are watched over by the TV flickering near the door to the kitchen.

According to Rose Stewart, who has owned the business since April 2001, the history of the store goes back 112 years when Andres Falke built a stucco general store across the road from the current building. The area was settled by Wendish and German farmers who also established the nearby communities of Serbin and Northrup. The Lutheran Church west of the highway is even older than the store.

Falke's sons Charlie and Ernest ran the store until 1946. When Ernest retired he had been postmaster for 46 years. Fred and Mabel Casper ran the business that included the post office until 1989 when Gene and Sylvia Vinson kept the doors open until 1992. The Vinsons added the kitchen and enclosed the patio to make a game room. Gene also served as Warda postmaster for 46 years when he died in 1992.

For several months the future of the enterprise seemed uncertain. Scared that the business that had become such a center of the community, second only to the church, would be taken over by an outsider and severely altered, a group of area residents joined together in 1993 to buy it from Sylvia Vinson.

The cooperative was composed of 34 couples who also volunteered as the cooks, waitresses, and bottle washers. "It was a very challenging experience," Rose says, "and I'm being nice." Without a full-time operator the hours were erratic, the grocery stock dwindled, and the quality became shoddy.

When Rose and her husband, a chiropractor in Giddings, took over the store last April the business had suffered from the years of neglect. Slowly the Stewarts have steadily increased the service. "It's been a terrific experience," Rose says with a laugh that accented the comment's understatement.

Not only is the business a job for her, but it also serves as a learning experience for her two sons, Shawn and Conner. Rose proudly credits the two high school students with being her right-hand men. "We have our good days and bad days," Rose says, "but when I see the people pull into the parking lot, I get a big smile. It's really hard work, but most of the time it's fun."

Rick and Becky Youman honor the Warda Store in their excellent guidebook A Knobby-Headed Guide to Mountain Biking Central Texas. In the description of the nearby Bluff Creek (Bike) Ranch (409/242-5894) they describe the store as where "locals come after work and the atmosphere is small town Texas -- perfect after a hard ride."

Rose says the dining room often fills on weekends with riders from the ranch. A couple from Fort Worth asked to meet Rose because they had heard of her before they drove down to try the trails. A rider from Houston got up from his meal and stopped Rose as she worked behind the bar. "I have to tell you," he said, "this is really good food and I'll be back." And he was.

Rose's Warda Store opens Monday through Thursday 7am-9pm, Friday and Saturday 7am-9:30pm, and closes on Sunday. Bluff Creek Ranch has intermediate and difficult mountain-bike trails and is open by appointment. The Texas Wendish Heritage Museum in Serbin is an excellent small museum dedicated to the immigrants from Central Europe. The museum is open daily 1-5pm, 409/366-2441.

549th in a series. Day Trips, Vol.2, a book of Day Trips 101-200, is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.Belly up to the bar for good country cookin'.