Best Kolaches in Central Texas: Czech Bakeries to Visit

The best kolaches in Central Texas are baked in Czech towns along I-35 and Highway 71, where bakeries have sold fruit pastries and sausage-filled rolls for generations. A kolache is a small, soft, yeasted pastry with a dimple of fruit or cheese. Austin makes a good base for the day trip.

Go in the morning, when the choice is widest, since popular bakeries sell out by afternoon. Plan a loop from Austin and eat one pastry at each stop.

Where are the best kolaches in Central Texas found?

A kolache is a sweet bun with a well in the center filled with fruit, cream cheese or poppy seed. It came to Texas with Czech immigrants in the nineteenth century, and the Czech communities of the Hill Country and the Brazos Valley kept the tradition alive. The dough is soft and slightly sweet, and the best ones are eaten the day they are baked.

Fillings vary by bakery, and apricot, prune, poppy seed, cream cheese and cherry are classic choices.

What is a kolache and a klobasnek, and how do they differ?

A klobasnek is a savory roll with a sausage baked inside, often with cheese or jalapeno. Strictly, it is not a kolache, which is a sweet pastry, but most Texans call both kolaches. A Texas bakery menu may list them together, and a sign at a gas station may use the word for either.

Ask what is meant if you want to be sure. If you want a sweet pastry, ask for fruit. If you want something savory for the road, ask for sausage and cheese. One of each makes a good breakfast.

Is a bakery stop in West, Texas worth a visit?

The town of West sits between Waco and Dallas on I-35. West is known as a Czech town, and its bakeries make a convenient road trip stop, one of them attached to a gas station.

Opinions on any one bakery differ, so go with an open mind and try more than one. The sausage kolache is the one to compare, and a fruit kolache next to it makes a fair test.

Which Czech Texas bakeries line Highway 71?

Bakeries in the small towns along Highway 71 are known for pork sausage kolaches, and the popular ones can sell out in the afternoon, so go early. Check hours before you drive.

That is the reason to go in the morning. Pick a couple of bakeries, buy a mixed box and eat them on a picnic table or at the side of the road.

How to plan a kolache road trip from Austin

From Austin, Highway 71 east leads to Bastrop, La Grange and Ellinger within a couple of hours' drive. I-35 north reaches West in a similar time. You can combine one of them with lunch at a barbecue place in a nearby town, since the Czech and German communities of Central Texas also made the region's barbecue.

Plan to leave early. Fuel up, bring a cooler for a box to take home and expect to eat more than you planned.

What else is in the case at a Czech bakery?

Beyond kolaches, Czech bakeries sell rolls, breads, strudels, cookies and pies. Rye bread and rolls are popular, and some shops make a traditional fruit-filled pastry called a pastry roll or a bun with streusel. Savory options include sausage rolls, ham and cheese rolls and sometimes a hot plate lunch.

A Czech bakery is also a place to buy gifts: a box of cookies, a loaf of bread or a pie. If the case is full of items you cannot name, ask the person at the counter to pick a few. They are usually pleased to explain.

What should you order?

Start with two sweet kolaches and one savory. If the bakery has a poppy seed or prune filling, try it, since those are traditional and harder to find. A cream cheese kolache is the easiest to like.

Add a cup of coffee, and you have breakfast. Buy a dozen for the road, because they do not last long. A kolache is best the day it is baked.

What about Austin pastries and other Texas bakery food?

Back in Austin, bakeries sell kolaches alongside croissants, tacos and cookies. Many of them bake their own dough in the morning, so the quality is high. Texas pastry is a mix of German, Czech and Mexican traditions, with pan dulce and conchas in the same window.

If you only have a morning in town, try a bakery in a neighborhood, and ask what is fresh from the oven. See the East Austin restaurants guide for places that bake as well as cook.

What to read next

For a wider view of Texas, read the Texas regional dishes guide, the brunch in Austin guide and the Austin farmers markets guide. The US guides page lists more.

After a meal, open the Mosey app while you remember it: rate the dish, pick a tag and add a line. Ten seconds of notes now beat trying to remember the name of a plate a month later.

If a bakery earns a second visit, record it. In the Mosey app you can rate each kolache you try, note the filling and the crust, and build a Central Texas list that fits in a glove compartment.