Frontera Grill, Rick Bayless’s iconic Chicago restaurant, has been serving vibrant regional Mexican cuisine since 1987. The lively River North spot bursts with color -- folk art, bright walls, and a menu that features guacamole, moles, tacos, and tamales. The restaurant features accolades like the James Beard Foundation’s “Outstanding Restaurant” award and a Michelin Bib Gourmand distinction. Frontera Grill’s guacamole is famous because it’s prepared fresh to order, using high-quality avocados and vibrant, authentic ingredients. It is presented in a molcajete with warm, house-made tortilla chips. It’s become a signature dish and a must-order. The avocados are perfectly ripe, creating a creamy base that’s lifted by zesty lime, sweet tomato, crisp onion, and just enough chile heat to keep things interesting. The Ceviche Trio includes the Shrimp & Scallop Ceviche Verde (creamy, herb-green ceviche of Mazatlan blue shrimp and Baja bay scallops, avocado, cucumber, jicama, serrano, and knob onions), Tropical Tuna Cocktail (Hawaiian yellowfin tuna, tomatillo-avocado salsa, and tropical fruit salsa), and the Classic Frontera Ceviche (Hawaiian albacore, lime, tomatoes, olives, cilantro, green chile, and Tostaditas). Ceviche is a dish where raw seafood is “cooked” by marinating it in acidic citrus juice—usually lime or lemon. The acid causes the proteins in the fish or shellfish to denature, which changes their texture and color, making them firm and opaque like they’ve been cooked with heat. This process also imparts a bright, tangy flavor that complements fresh herbs, onions, chiles, and other ingredients typically mixed in. Because the seafood isn’t heated, freshness is crucial, and ceviche is usually served chilled to keep it safe and refreshing. In the midst of my meal of guacamole and ceviche, I also enjoyed bites of the Tomatillo Salsa: a tangy green salsa made with fire-roasted tomatillos, cilantro, garlic, and serrano chile, and the Roasted Tomato Salsa: a rich red salsa featuring sweet tomatoes, fresh cilantro, and earthy New Mexico chiles. To finish things off, I enjoyed the hot chocolate, which is rich, and bittersweet. "Frontera roasts a huge burlap sacks of cacao from groves in Tabasco, Mexico. They winnow and grind them under a heavy granite wheel – all handmade, in-house in Chicago. They simply mix the best quality chocolate with the perfect amount of organic Mexican sugar." Grade: A

Los Amigos is a new Mexican restaurant in Kanawha City, which is the third location from this particular local chain.



This space has been home to a number of restaurants over the years, most recently The Pitch. I think the sports bar decor is still evident in the current setup, but it is still general enough to be fitting.



The menu has all the basics: tacos, burritos, quesadillas, fajitas and the like. I saw a couple things that caught my eye, but they were actually out of them. So I ended up with steak, shrimp and chicken tacos.



I was looking for more flavor, more toppings, more garnish. Just more. Onions and cilantro and sauces helped, but not enough. They were pretty streamlined and simple.



The sides of rice and beans were fine; I ended up scooping some of the rice into the taco to fill it out a bit more. Some seasoning and balance would have turned this around for me.



Grade: C

La Roca recently opened in Sissonville, and my friend Erin and I went to check it out. I've been to their sister restaurants in Charleston and Nitro in the past, so I was happy to round out the collection. The place was poppin' on Friday night. It's one of the few sit-down restaurants in town, so there was a line out the door. Plenty of kids. Moderately noisy. Upon being seated, we were served chips and salsa and their signature white mayo-ranch style dip, which is pretty divisive. It's a bit sweet and tangy, but I enjoy it as a nice counterpoint to the salsa. For my entrée, I ordered the huarache, which is a wheat tortilla topped with beans and a combination of salsas, pico de gallo, steak & cheese. This was kinda like an open-faced burrito, but the flavors were pretty punchy. The salsas had some heat, but I enjoyed that depth of flavor. I opted for something not smothered in cheese, so it was fresh and flavorful. I also enjoyed a jumbo frozen mango. Margarita, which may have been the best I've ever had. Sweet and a bit tart, the drink was delicious. Have you been? What's your favorite? Grade: A

Bandidos On The Run is a food truck in Wellsburg that parks outside of the former Pizza Hut. My hometown has often been devoid of any Mexican cuisine off and on over the years. So, I am always happy to see a new offering in the small town. I ordered the following: Mexican Street Corn in a Cup, Cheese Dip, Classic Tacos (3) with Ground Beef, Sour Cream & Tomato, Loaded Rice with Grilled Steak and a Grand Chimichanga with Al Pastor but hold the lettuce. The Mexican street corn in a cup eight just a bit too sour for me. Usually the corn is sweet and it has a fairly good balance, but this was just a bit off. I also had the chimichanga, which is covered in cheese sauce. I mean, you can't really go wrong with that. Super stuffed with filling and no skimping on the cheese. My mother and grandmother both enjoyed their cheese dip, the tacos and the steak over rice. Overall, a decent meal. Grade: B

Cozumel has a small empire in the Kanawha Valley area, extending north to Ripley. The Ripley restaurant moved locations since my last visit, so I figured it was time to stop by. My partner got takeout and brought it home for dinner. We enjoyed the Cozumel dip, which is their white cheese queso dip with ground beef and pico de gallo. This was a nice level up from the standard cheese dip. I do wish it was a bit thicker, but that didn't stop me from indulging.

I also tried the Cozumel pasta, because penne is not something you see every day on a Mexican menu. Grilled shrimp and chicken are cooked with onions and mushrooms on a bed of penne covered in a queso sauce. And, it was pretty good. I love the queso so adding pasta to it made it even better. I think there was actually too much chicken for the balance. But good, nonetheless. Grade: B

Named after the Spanish word for “miner,” Minero represents the storied history of the taco, which supposes that Mexican silver miners named the dish in the 18th century. The word “taco” referred to the dynamite miners used to excavate the ore in the mines, which was made of pieces of paper wrapped around gunpowder and inserted into the holes carved in the rock face, reads the website.



Chef Sean Brock (Husk, McCrady's) brought his take on Mexican fare to the Ponce City Market in Atlanta. It's a spin-off of his Charleston original location, though he's no longer involved with the restaurant.



Minero serves street food-style tacos on house-made tortillas.

The Minero team tasted over 40 varieties of corn from different producers before choosing their favorite: Masienda. Using a traditional nixtamalization process to make fresh masa every day, Minero grinds the corn in house, which results in a truly authentic corn tortilla. The corn Minero uses comes from Masienda, a company operated by Jorge Gaviria. Masienda’s goal is to connect with small independent farmers in Mexico who are growing single origin landrace varieties of corn to import to the United States. Minero uses a Yellow Olotillo corn grown in Oaxaca. By utilizing this amazing company and their unique products, we are able to create an incredibly delicious tortilla.



"Chef Bill Hogan embraces traditional Mexican cuisine utilizing time-honored techniques, including nixtamalization of masa for house made corn tortillas. Fresh, high-quality ingredients are used as the foundation for each dish, exploring many styles of cooking and featuring live fire preparations from our custom charcoal grill," reads the website.



I ordered "The Minero Burrito (or Burrito Bowl) - white rice, beans, oaxaca cheese, crema, poblano, cabbage, cilantro, salsa verde, avocado" with veggies, charcoal chicken, grilled steak or al pastor pork.



This boy was filled to the brim, though it wasn't always spread evenly. Still, good flavors and a nice variety of filling ingredients.



Grade: B

Atlanta's Buford Highway is known for having restaurants featuring cuisines from every corner of the globe.



With everything from Vietnamese and Korean to Colombian and Peruvian, the Buford Highway restaurant that stuck out to me was El Taco Veloz. Apparently Anthony Bourdain had said: "Best tacos in town. We love to stick with the barbacoa and the lengua. You’ll get two corn tortillas stuffed with slow roasted meat, white onions and cilantro."



So, I ordered the lengua. That is beef tongue for those keeping track. Tongue is a tough cut of meat so it has to be cooked for quite some time to make it tender. it is kind of rich and fairly fatty, but it does have a bit of gamey flavor. not my favorite, but not the worst.



Grade: B

Plaza Azteca is a chain of Mexican restaurants in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachussetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and one singular location in West Virginia: Morgantown.



This space in Suncrest Towne Centre has been home to a number of restaurants over the years, but I do think the bright blue and vibrant yellow hues on the outside of the building make it one of the most welcoming and exciting options this location has seen. I visited with my friend Kayla and her two kids.



The menu features many of the same offerings you'd find at comparable restaurants in the region: tacos, burritos, nachos, fajitas, chimichangas and the like.



It was something else that caught my eye, though.

FRESH TABLE-SIDE CEVICHE ** Citrus-marinated fish, shrimp, avocados, jalapeño, tomato, onion, lime, orange, salt, cilantro.



"Ceviche is a seafood dish where diced cubes of raw fish, marinated in a lemon or lime juice mixture, react with the citrus juices to cure the fish protein and causes it to become opaque and firm while absorbing flavor," according to Southern Living. It is South American/Peruvian traditionally.



I love a tableside preparation, and there are really aren't too many places to get ceviche locally. Food just tastes much more fresh when watching it be prepared right in front of you.



And I enjoyed the flavors - bright, light, fresh, punchy. While it is typically served as an appetizer, I indulged in it as my main meal. I think the only addition that would have made this meal better is a margarita.



Grade: A