While driving through Virginia and searching for something to satisfy my sweet tooth, my friend found the "Balkan Bakery."

What is a Balkan bakery, you ask? That was my question, too.

First of all, the Balkans are a geographic region in southeastern Europe. This region includes the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Greece, and Slovenia.

So this bakery features pastries from this region.

That includes things like "burek," "strudla," "kifli," "ekleri," bread and crepes.

The Balkan Bakery is actually housed in the same building as another coffee shop, Zazzy'z.

When we walked in, I first saw the menu, and I was so excited to see lots of items I've never had before.

There was baklava, strudla (streussel), ekleri (eclairs), kilfli (croissants), bombinci (truffles), palacinki (Balkan crepes), and more.


Everything looked amazing.

I ended up trying a spinach and feta burek, which is a filo dough puffed pastry stuffed with savory ingredients.

And, I got a peanut butter balklava - which was easily the best baklava I've ever had. And it was all rolled and syrupy and amazing.

Do you have a favorite Balkan dessert?

I first visited Appalachian Coffee House in Mt. Nebo, and they've since expanded to Summersville and Princeton/

So when passing through Princeton, I had to stop to check it out.

Princeton has changed so much from when I first visited, and I'm loving the new small businesses and public art.

It's really growing with a kombucha shop, cool coffee shop and more.

Appalachian Coffee House has a number of coffee drink specialties. I've tried a few before so I went with a new one this time: "sweet falls" which is mocha crush with a shot of caramel.

They also have a variety of specialties - like honey lavender latte.

And, there are pastries, too!

I went for a cheese bagel with cream cheese.

... And maybe a blueberry scone, too.

Yum!

Have you been to any of the locations yet?

And, if so, what have you tried?

As I continue to try every coffee roaster in the state, I learned of one new one to add to my list: Cherry River Roasting.

Based in Richwood, this coffee roaster has coffee beans in various spots around the state. I got this bag of beans at Appalachian Coffee House in Princeton.

Have you tried it yet?

Oglebay is home to a number of dining facilities, but one that is new to me is Sarita's Coffee Bar.

The coffee bar features coffee drinks, bakery goodies, and other grab & go items. Here's my iced caramel coffee.

There's a coffee shop slash thrift shop in Sissonville called Bargains & Brews.

The entire shop is dedicated to clothes and other goods.

Except the front counter, which makes coffee drinks.

I went for a frozen caramel coffee - because it's me - and took a look around.

Have you been here before?

Melange Cafe is a unique restaurant offering coffee and tacos - what a great combination.


The cafe grew out of their Atlas Building location and opened a new spot at 700 Virginia Street East. The Atlas location is currently closed, but I believe the intention is to open it back up as a grab & go option.

The new space is large with tons of windows and natural light, so it becomes inviting.

Looking over the menu, I was tempted by the waffles but ultimately decided on a taco combo.

I went with one steak and one pork taco, a side of Spanish rice and 2 mini muffins.

The tacos are more small, street tacos with options of white onion, cilantro, salsa verde and queso fresco as toppings.

And, though I didn't get coffee on this day, I did get something to drink.

On their beverage menu is a list of bubble teas.

And I had to get an original, which came loaded with boba.

All in all, a tasty lunch!

There's a new coffee shop smack dab in the center of the Vienna mall.

Leaf & Bean Tea & Coffee serves espresso, coffee, frozen drinks and teas.

There are also some snacks, like pepperoni rolls!

I ordered their "caramel cloud" frappe, which was one of their best sellers!