Hours–
Monday through Friday: 6:30am – 5:30pm
Saturday: 6:30am – 5:00pm
113 East Oak Street, West, TX 76691
Owners: Wendel and Georgia Montgomery
(254) 826-5151
The Village Bakery, established in 1952 by Wendel and Georgia Montgomery, is best known as “The First All-Czech Bakery in Texas.” Signature items include such authentic Czech pastries as the kolache, klobasniki™, strudel, and buchta as well as a variety of pies, breads and cookies. A one-time pharmacist, Wendel was deemed “The Central Texas Godfather of Kolaches” and was responsible for the first marketing of Czech baked goods on a commercial level.
Wendel and Georgia’s mother, Honey Morris, put their heads together and utilizing her talent in baking and his background in chemistry, the family recipe was redesigned for commercial distribution. Honey’s traditional kolaches, filled with fruits and spices indigenous to Czechoslovaka (apricot, apple, prune, poppy seed, peach and cherry) were an immediate sensation. Over the years strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and cream cheese varieties have been added to the menu as concessions to the American appetite.
“As for the sausage kolach, it was actually invented at the epicenter of the Village Bakery itself. Apparently the concept came to Wendel while he was eating a hotdog. He and Honey (Georgia’s mother) experimented for a while before getting it right – plain or jalapeno sausage and sausage-and-cheese were both winners, but an attempt at sausage/sauerkraut never made it out of the test kitchen… Wendel went on to trademark his invention under the name klobasniki, a Czech word meaning little sausages.”
Take time to check out all the historical photos of West and the Crash at Crush (an 1896 publicity stunt that featured the crashing of two 35-ton locomotives just a few miles south of town, the historical marker for the ‘Crush’ was moved to the West Katy Depot for the duration of the highway renovation).
Read more about the bakery….
Upcoming Events
- Saturday, April 26
Parker’s Park Project Fundraiser – West KC Hall
Opens at 2pm, Auction begins at 3 (cast members of Storage Wars will be helping) - Sunday, April 27
History of West Museum Fundraiser
West KC Hall. Slovacek’s Beef Brisket/Sausage & all the trimmings. Food service begins at 11am, drive-thru available. Auction begins at Noon, enterainment provided by the West Polka Boys - August
West Rodeo - Labor Day Weekend
Westfest
Welcome to West
Czech Point of Central Texas
This website is a companion to our printed brochures and definitely a work in progress. If you don’t see what you need today, please check back soon. If you have a question about West, or would like to see something not on the website? Send us an email and we’ll see what we can do!
Without that comma, people think we’re the western half of the Lone Star State. Actually West is a small town of 2,500 located on Interstate 35, only 80 miles south of Dallas or 15 miles north of Waco.
Perhaps best known for the Westfest Festival held during Labor Day weekend, West has many other events during the year and is a great place to stop in and visit anytime.
West is only 15 minutes away from Waco to the south and Hillsboro to the north. With the I-35 rennovations kicking into high gear, traffic can be hazardous. West is a great place to pull off, take a break and get some great food before continuing your journey.
