Southwest
Texas breakfast favorite, kolache, has fascinating backstory involving Czech immigration
In parts of Texas, a common on-the-go breakfast is a kolache. It’s a savory pastry that typically contains meat and cheese.
But the story of kolaches is far more interesting than one might expect for a breakfast item.
It’s a tale that weaves together immigration, clever business sense and a good-sized dose of Americana.
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True Texas delicacy
In the early 19th century, the first Czechs made their way to Texas, according to the website for the Texas State Historical Association. By the Civil War, there were 700 Czechs living in Texas, and Czech immigration to Texas rapidly increased at the turn of the 20th century.
By 1910, there were 15,074 “foreign-born Czechs” in Texas, the Texas State Historical Association said.
Traditional Czech kolaches, such as the one shown at far right, are filled with fruit — while the kolaches served in Texas today, above and left, contain meat. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
Among the numerous things those Czech immigrants brought with them to Texas was their traditional pastries, including kolaches.
In their original form, kolaches are a Czech pastry typically filled with fruit. They’re “almost like a thumbprint cookie but on a larger scale,” a Shipley Do-Nuts representative told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.
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Kolaches account for a third of the sales at the Texas-based chain, Ashley Lennington said. She works for a Dallas-based public relations agency that represents Shipley Do-Nuts.
“Kolaches are one of the top breakfast foods here in Texas – and at Shipley. And we wanted to give our customers more protein-filled, savory breakfast options beyond our legendary doughnuts,” Kaitlyn Venable, executive chef at Shipley Do-Nuts, told Fox News Digital.
But the kolaches that are sold, eaten and beloved in Texas are savory and not sweet. Typically, there’s no fruit to be found.
Kolaches account for a third of sales at Shipley Do-Nuts, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. The kolaches sold at Shipley Do-Nuts are the savory variety. (Shipley Do-Nuts)
And rather than a large thumbprint cookie, the kolaches in Texas look more like enclosed buns.
Technically, the Texas kolaches are a Czech-American pastry known as a klobásník, but kolache is still the word more commonly used for them.
“Being in Texas, we’re meat-heavy down here,” Lennington said.
Technically, the Texas kolaches are a Czech-American pastry known as a klobásník.
There’s also a slight pronunciation difference. In Texas, kolache is pronounced “ko-lah-chee,” whereas in Czech, it’s “more like ko-lahsh,” Lennington said.
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The Texas kolaches “started with a kielbasa sausage in a yeast roll,” Lennington said.
People seemed to enjoy the dish, “and it just kind of expanded from that.”
Shipley Do-Nuts began selling kolaches in 1995, Lennington said, as a savory breakfast (or lunch or snack) alternative to its doughnuts.
This kolache at Shipley Do-Nuts contains ham, sausage and jalapeños. (Shipley Do-Nuts)
“They saw all the other Houston-based doughnut brands and other breakfast places [selling] savory kolache options, so they started selling them,” Lennington said.
Shipley Do-Nuts recently added egg-stuffed kolaches to its menu, Venable noted, and there are plans for even more.
“Our three new egg and cheese varieties that launched in early July have quickly become bestsellers and have set single-day sales records week after week,” she said. “Seeing this success, I’m already in the kitchen developing more new kolaches to bring to our menu.”
While kolaches are commonplace throughout Texas, the Kolache Factory, a Katy, Texas-based chain, has locations in nine states and ships its products throughout the United States.
Kolache Factory, founded in 1982, has a menu featuring both the traditional sweet fruit kolaches and the savory meat-filled Texas kolaches.
“Kolaches are self-contained and neat to eat,” the Kolache Factory website said.
“They can be conveniently consumed anywhere, from the car, to group or business meetings, to the baseball field.”
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Kolaches, it said, “are the ideal choice for a nutritious, ‘on-the-go’ meal.”
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Long Beach will hold a pride festival this weekend after the one they originally had scheduled was canceled.
Long Beach city officials said the celebration was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit.
It was supposed to start on Friday and last through Sunday.
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city of Long Beach said in a statement. “With event programming scheduled to begin on May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
Officials noted that they were working to see if a “shortened event” could be held this weekend, and indeed, an agreement was reached to stage a one-day gathering on Sunday.
Billed as “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” and emceed by comedian and drag queen Jewels, it will still bring the city’s LGBTQ community together after Sunday morning’s Long Beach Pride Parade, which was not canceled.
“Long Beach Pride weekend is a culmination of celebrations put on by our community, including our many vibrant restaurants, bars and businesses, and that will never change,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a press release issued late Saturday night. “Along with the Pride Parade, we are proud to join the party with this new event that reaffirms what this City has always stood for: that every person belongs here.”
“The festival may have been canceled, but Long Beach drag artists don’t cancel joy,” added Jewels Long Beach.
The one-day “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” festival will take place at Bixby Park from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. A free event, it will include music by several performers and a drag show.
More information can be found here.
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
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