During my time in Morgantown, I've come to know two parties when it comes to Tex-Mex: There are the Los loyalists and the Rio loyalists. I belong to a small not-a-huge-fan-of-Mexican-food contingent. But, when I recently learned that Rio Grande III changed to Rio Verde, I was tasked with checking it out.

Unfortunately, I have no idea if the menu is different, because I had only been here previously like once. So, it could just be a change in name - or it could be owners or a whole overhaul. I'm not sure. Someone who was a Rio Grande devotee, lemme know.

The interior was a bit sparse, but it looked to have a cool mural on the far wall. Basic, quick service with no devoted server - just whoever was free to top off drinks or fill our chip basket. But, a fairly steady stream of people coming in for lunch.

So, my best bet for satisfaction at a Tex-Mex restaurant is queso. It's my saving grace. So, after the initial chips and salsa came out, I immediately put in a request for queso. And, it was fine. It seemed kind of ... condensed? I dunno; I've had better.

All of the lunch options are essentially some combination of tacos, burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, or chalupas. I've had tacos and burritos more times than I can count, so I went with Special Lunch #16, which had a chalupa and chicken enchilada with rice.

• Burrito: Flour tortilla folded and filled with meat or beans, topped with cheese and covered with our special burrito salsa.
• Chalupa: Flat crisp corn tortilla with beans, lettuce and guacamole on top.
• Chile Relleno: Poblano pepper stuffed with cheese and potatoes, served with cheese notop & covered with a special egg batter with gravy salsa on top (mild, hot)
• Enchiladas: Corn tortilla folded round and filled with your choice of meats or cheese or beans, cheese on top and gravy salsa.
• Tostaguac: Flat, crisp tortilla with beans, beef, lettuce, guacamole and tomatoes on top.
• Taquitos: A corn tortilla filled with beef or chicken and rolled, fried golden brown, nice & crispy.
• Tamales: Corn husks wrapped around a layer of corn mealwith chicken inside. Served with cheese & special gravy salsa on top.
• Quesadilla: A Mexican version of turnover or a grilled cheese sandwich made by folding a flour tortilla in half and cooked with cheese inside over low heat.
• Chimichanga: Crisp and flaky, deep-fried burritos, served with nacho cheese on top and available in chicken or beef.
• Mole: A highly flavored gravy made with chiles, spices, chicken broth and secret array of herbs. Rich and flavorful.
• Mole Poblano: Made like mole but with extra flavors of chocolate and nuts. Very good and flavorful.
• Chorizo: A mildly spiced Mexican style sausage.

So, it's fine. Everything is this sort of same mushy texture, and it all just tastes a bit bland to me. I don't get the appeal, and I'm not sure I ever will. The enchilada was decent - but I think some fresh veggies inside would've made it something I'd appreciate. The chalupa was soggy, and that's just not my jam.

I think some variance in texture or flavor would help make this more well-rounded for me. Maybe I just choose the wrong things. I don't know. I am already preparing for the backlash from this review, so, yes, I know I'm the worst for not loving Tex-Mex.



Grade: C
 

The interior of Naticakes is very shabby chic, with lots of mismatched chairs, upcycled doors as tables and this sort of Victorian theme. The shop offers quiche, French pastries, sandwiches, salads, soups, coffee, cupcakes and gelato.

I ordered a classic almond chicken salad croissant with a side of tomato bisque. Then, I found a seat and awaited my lunch.

They came out on these sort of paper bowls and plates, which I was surprised to see. This coming from the place thats only water option is Fiji.

The sandwich was OK - a little bland. I was a big fan of the soup, though. It's sweet and rich, but not totally convinced it was homemade. But, for a (fairly) quick and light meal, it wasn't bad.

The other thing about this shop is that it was founded for good reason:

When you support our bakery & crème café, you are helping children through The Natalie Wynn Carter Foundation, in memory of a sweet little girl we affectionately called, “Naticakes.” You are providing spaces for children to play, and bringing smiles to little faces locally, and globally. Thank you for partnering with us, in “making life a little sweeter,” for children!

Before we left, we got five macarons (for $10!). A bit expensive, but there are so few places that actually offer them, I wanted to try.

The flavors available were orange-lemonade, chocolate, passionfruit, coffee - cafe au lait and pistachio. I think the orange-lemonade and pistachio were the best. But, they all have a pretty light flavor.

Overall, they've definitely done a good job of transitioning from a froyo shop to a bakery and cafe. I'll be curious to see if they end up adding more items or experiment with some of the recipes they have. I still think their strong point is their sweets, and I would definitely like to try some more of those.


Grade: B

I recently attended one of Tamarack's dinners, and this one happened to be a partnership with Bloomery SweetShine. I've been to both of these lovely places separately, so I was very excited to see what the duo produced together.





The Bloomery SweetShine Pairings Dinner marketed itself as "an artisanal blend of vice and virtue." I would have to agree. The four-course dinner so blew my socks off that I decided to use my experience there as my column for the WV Gazette Mail. Read all about how these two businesses working together helped bring out the best in one another - something I hope to see more and more of in the future.

Join us for a special evening where our very own Tamarack Chef's bring you a custom tasting menu perfectly paired with the offerings of West Virginia's very own Bloomery. Cash Bar | Communal Seating | Music by Corey Lee McQuade, accompanied by Paul E. Johnson.

Before we arrived for dinner, we walked around to check out Tamarack - easily one of my favorite places in the state. Then, we made our way to the beautiful space set up for the dinner - large windows, touches of purple and gold and some great music playing in the background. Then, before I knew it, the party for our tastebuds began.

Have you spotted the tropical shaved ice truck that makes its rounds in Morgantown? There's luau music playing and bright leis lining the windows. And, likely, there are children running up to the window to throw money at the folks working.

That's Kona Ice, the mobile shaved ice company that has locations across the country. But, did you know that it was created by a Parkersburg High School graduate in 2007? Tony Lamb, a 1987 grad, started the company in northern Kentucky and began franchising in 2008. It has been ranked one of the fastest-growing franchises in the country by Entrepreneur Magazine.

Morgantown's Kona Ice folks reached out to me to see if I'd be interested in a midday snack (for free!), so, of course, I said yes. There are only 2 or 3 trucks in the state, so I was excited to see the one that frequents North Central West Virginia.

The truck parked alongside my work building, and the sound of tropical music lured me and a few of my coworkers over to the parking lot. And there it was, a little piece of paradise right in the middle of a concrete jungle. A few people had already gathered in line to get a taste of some shaved ice on a warm day.

When it was our turn, we were lei-ed and given a color-changing cup full of ice. How fun! Then, I went to town on trying all the different flavors. First, I went for the Tiger's Blood, which is a red punch flavor. And the Lemon Lime-A-Licious was pretty good. Oh, and the Wild Watermelon was that perfect fruity flavor. I ended up with drenching the ice in Blue Raspberry, their most popular flavor. The cool thing is you have the ability to put as little or as much of the flavor as you want - and to mix and match!

So, we sat outside, wind blowing, listening to tropical music, wearing our leis and eating this fruity tropical ice. It's a light, refreshing treat that you don't feel too guilty about - always a plus! Plus, one of the big parts of Kona Ice is giving back to the community, which is great to see.

So, if you see them out and about, be sure to grab a cup, knowing that it has roots right here in the Mountain State -- and who couldn't use a little tropical break?

A chilly, wet day couldn't stop me from finally seeing Kirkwood Winery's 25th Annual Grape Stomping Wine Festival -- and, of course, finding some good local grub afterward.

After stomping on some grapes, we headed out to Long Point Grille & Bar in Mount Nebo at Summesrville Lake. The wooden cabin-esque building was a nice refuge from the torrential downpour.

And as soon as we stepped inside, the server greeted us and told us to have a seat wherever we'd like. I, as per usual, selected a booth near the window (better for photos). The inside is charming, in a sense. Lots of light wood, and it seems to be a nice deck outside for when the weather is nice.

The menu has some fried appetizers, like jalapeno poppers (this is when I discovered heather's love for jalapeno poppers). They have sandwiches and salads, as well as a bunch of different kinds of pizzas and calzones - and the pizzas can be made into calzones!

Heather ordered the jalapeno poppers, and she may have uttered the word "life-changing." These did not have cream cheese - rather, they had cheddar cheese and the jalapeno was chopped up into bits instead of one large piece.

She let me steal one, and they were pretty tasty.

For my entree, I ordered a calzone with crispy chicken (I saw this as an option on one of the pizzas) and mushrooms. You can also opt to turn one of their pizzas into a calzone, which Heather did with the Greek pizza (hers has a balsamic glaze that you can see in the photo at the top of this post). I also got a side of mac & cheese because of course I did.

And my calzone was really good. Large, perfectly light crisp dough on the outside and hot and fresh inside. Tons of delicious pieces of chicken and mushrooms, and I asked for a side of marinara dipping sauce, which just combined everything perfectly. The mac & cheese was a doctored up Kraft - cheesier. Not even gonna complain about that.


For dessert, I went with a piece of peanut butter pie. Wow. Delicious. I think I set this restaurant up to achieve, between the calzone, mac & cheese and peanut butter pie. But they hit it out of the park on all three. That, and our server was one of the best. So kind, accommodating and on her game. I'd definitely go back while in the Summersville Lake area.

Grade: A