A new Mexican restaurant has joined the likes of pizza, greek, coffee and more on Capitol Street in downtown Charleston.



Cozumel Express is a welcome addition to this part of town, with its birria tacos, breakfast tacos and much more.



I visited the restaurant for lunch with my friend Hannah. We started with some chips and salsa, which was like old faithful. Standard, tasty and reliable.



Hannah is a nacho connoisseur, so I was excited to be dining with an expert. I love a good nacho, but she certainly has more experience here.



She went for the trash can nachos, which have your choice of meat (steak, chicken, pastor, carnitas) topped with refried beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, Mexican sour cream, jalapeños, queso fresco. The. fe bites I had were really good - especially with queso fresco. 



I went for the street corn tacos. If there's anything I've learned during my Mexican restaurant adventures, it's that I cannot turn down street corn. And adding it on top of a taco? Absolutely. So this had corn soft tacos with chicken topped with a mixture of corn, sour cream, mayonnaise, tajin, avocado and cilantro. Served with white rice. These were delicious. 



Grade: A

Wine Down on Market is a wine bar in downtown Parkersburg, which also serves shareable plates, flatbreads, sandwiches and entrees.



I, however, happened to visit when they were serving brunch. It was one of their first ones, and it was honestly a bit chaotic. Despite being the first person in the restaurant, they didn't know if they could seat me without a reservation. But once I was seated at the bar, I had a first-hand view of the stresses of the staff. 



Beyond that, though, the space is lovely, sleek and refined. The menu featured challah french toast, lox bagels, avocado toast, eggs benedict, and my choice: the shrimp and grits with bell peppers, andouille sausage, and cajun veloute. The shrimp was a bit on the salty side for me, but I enjoyed the cheesy grits and delicious sauce. 



I also ordered a side of candied chocolate bacon, which was not whatI was expecting. It was more like bacon that with haphazard chocolate, but you can't really go wrong with the sweet and salty combo.



Grade: B

Morgantown is not lacking in exciting, new restaurants. They come in all kinds and flavors - pizza and Asian and milkshakes and Mexican. While in town a bit ago, I stopped at Rio Jalisco.



The restaurant, located at the University Town Centre, is very similar to the other Mexican restaurants in town. There are a zillion menu options that are various combinations of tacos, burritos, fajitas, etc. You get complimentary chips & salsa. Add margaritas, and you have a solid college kid audience.



That said, nothing was bad. The chips were crisp. The salsa had just a touch of heat and was super thin.



Instead of arroz con pollo, I went with steak: rice, steak and cheese dip. I usually scan the menu for anything doused in cheese dip. But even cheese dip in this case couldn't save the chewy, gristly steak. Now, I don't expect super high end quality meal for the price, but I ended up with chewed up and spit out steak more often than not. 



Grade: C

Chin's was a beloved restaurant in Charleston that was known for its eggrolls. It closed to allow the owners to retire.



But, they made a return for one night as part of a fundraiser for United Way Dancing with the Stars - Gina & Gordon. 



I was more than happy to get a taste of this classic Charleston food that you can no longer get - and to learn from the master herself! 



"What a great way to ring in Chinese New Year 2023 - the Year of the Rabbit! Egg roll making at Kita Modern Japanese with wonderful friends and supporters of Couple 3 (aka Team G-squared, Gina Marini and Gordon Chin, and choreography team of MaryLouise King and Jim Wallace of Charleston WV Dance). We are so humbled by the turn-out and support for us and United Way of Central WV's Dancing with the Stars!



"This event was also made possible by use of the kitchen and woks at Rice Bowl Chinese Restaurant (in Cross Lanes) to make the egg roll filling — it takes a large wok to cook up the filling (consisting of 12 stalks of celery) for 450+ egg rolls -- thank you, Andy and Fannie Gao!"



The filling is made with celery, mushrooms, shrimp, ground pork, along with seasoning (salt, white pepper, sugar, sesame oil, and a cornstarch mixture with water) -- the cornstarch needs to be dissolved in water and then the liquid added to the rest of the ingredients. Do not add cornstarch directly into the ingredients.



Despite a lengthy wait to get the ones I made fried, I thought these were really tasty and a fun way to spend an evening - all for a good cause!

My boyfriend brought me lunch from The Grind in Ripley today.



It's a cute, trendy spot that  has had a bit of a journey - from Spencer to a coffee. truck to a brick-and-mortar in Ripley.



They offer a variety of coffee drinks - hot, iced, frozen, plus smoothies, and even virgin daiquiris. 



They also have bagel sandwiches, flatbreads on cauliflower crust, donuts, pastries and pepperoni rolls. We got a small smorgasboard. 



White hot chocolate - so comforting. RL went with an iced coffee that he really enjoyed. Very easy, smooth, not so bitter. 



The donuts were fine; I was not enamored. But donuts do not tend to be my main thing anyway.



The spinach artichoke bagel on an everything bagel was tasty - essentially the sinful, creamy dip on carbs. You can't really go wrong there. The red velvet cookies were good - I liked the white chocolate chips and generally avoided the chocolate chips.



Finally, a pretty decent pepperoni roll. It was more like a pocket, being kinda rectangle shaped. The breading was a little sweet, but not chewy. Maybe a bit crumbly. But packed with cheese and pepperoni.

Grade: A