Oryza is one of my favorite "new" restaurants in all of Morgantown.

When they first opened in the Suncrest area, I fell in love. And now, they've opened a second location at the University Town Centre.



Oryza is a fast-casual Asian grill concept where you order at the counter, they make it right in front of you, and it's all fresh.

You choose from a few options:
1) Format: Bowl, Salad or Wrap
2) Protein: Chicken, Spicy Chicken, Steak, Chicken & Pork Meatballs, or Organic Tofu
3) Veggies (pick 3): Black Beans, Sauteed Vegetables, Asian Green Beans, Charred Corn, Kale, or Egg
4) Sauce: Garlic Yum, Ginger Yum, Spicy Yum, Sambal Salsa, Thai Curry, or Sweet Sriracha Red
5) Toppings: Herb Salad, Carrot, White Raddish, Cucumber, or Cheese
6) Finish: Sesame Seed, Crispy Garlic, Crushed Peanut or Thai Chili
So I went with a bowl with red rice, with chicken, suateed vegetables, Asian green beans, charred corn, garlic yum, cheese and crispy garlic.
 
It's just delicious - and fairly healthy! That is, until you add a caramel tart (and you should add a caramel tart).

Grade: A

All of a sudden, there's an influx of BBQ into Charleston. I mentioned the new counter service spot in the mall. And, now, there's Danny's BBQ Stand - from the former mayor of Charleston.

Located on Quarrier Street, the restaurant is plastered with momentos and memories from Danny and seats a handful of tables.


The menu features ribs, BBQ sandwiches, salads and a couple sides. It's a small menu that's reasonably priced.

The ribs appear to be the best-seller so far, so I ordered those, with sides of baked beans and cole slaw. I'm typically not a baked beans fan, but I wasn't sure of another side and decided to give it a go.

The meal was plated right in front of me, and I was on my way back to the office to dig in. 

Ribs aren't typically my BBQ of choice. But these... were really good. They were so tender that I could use my fork - and not get messy. The BBQ was smoky and just a touch sweet.

The baked beans were surprisingly good, too. Maybe I'm just becoming accustomed to them. The slaw was standard.

Though I know some folks are either excited considering the former mayors politics or not so much, I just wanted to check out the food. And I think you might like it, too.

There's a new Chinese buffet in town, and it's already making waves.

China King, located in South Charleston's Riverwalk Plaza, faces the main road, but there's parking around back and the entrance is off to the side.

The buffet features classics like General Tso's, Beef & Broccoli, and American favorites. There's also a sushi bar and hibachi, too.

One item that stood out to me was an egg tart of sorts - not something you usually see on the buffet!

What's your favorite thing here?

Smokin' Barnyard is a new restaurant in the food court at the Charleston mall. Serving up bbq staples, the restaurant features chicken, brisket, pulled pork and burgers.

While on my lunch break, I stopped by to check it out. It wasn't too busy, but it was clear they were still getting the hang of things. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with slaw. I must have missed the BBQ sauce, so mine was a bit dry - save for the cole slaw.

Overall, the sandwich was fairly average with a mixture of fatty pieces and meat. Next time, I'll be sure to hunt down the BBQ.

Grade: C

Happy Belly Foods is a new lunch spot in Hurricane. They have a food truck and also a location in The Commons at Valley Park.



They focus on homestyle cooking and slow-smoked meats. You can find Mexican options, sandwiches, breakfast and sweets.

While here, I decided to go with a quesadilla with their housemade queso, sour cream and salsa. I wanted some of their pinwheels, but they didn't have them that day. Next time!

And, I also got a box of their homemade truffles.

The quesadilla was pretty tasty - including the smoked chicken. It had a nice kick of cheese in there. The truffles were a bit heavy-handed, but had some good flavors.

Have you been?

Grade: B