Content area
Full Text
INWOOD - Dozens of Mexican restaurants in West Virginia serve tacos, enchiladas, freshly fried tortilla chips, flan and the like, but the authentic feel of one eatery in this small southern Berkeley County town goes beyond the items on the menu.
Rosa Chaparro came to the Eastern Panhandle from her native Mexico in 1989 and, a decade later, opened Viva Mexico at 22 Annex Drive just off U.S. 11 in a handsome converted stone residence.
Her son, Frank Noriega, co-owns the business. Chaparro works the day shift, while Noriega. typically spends evenings at the restaurant.
From its opening days, the restaurant's charming decor, friendly wait staff and popular extras such as monthly performances by an authentic Mariachi band from Greensboro, N.C., kept Viva Mexico busy at lunch and dinner.
Soon, the restaurant expanded from a cozy two-room dining area served by just six employees to an additional space downstairs, as well as a patio area, a first in Inwood. On weekend nights, the parking lot fills up and stays packed until closing time.
Largely a bedroom community for people working in Winchester, Va., Hagerstown, Md., Chambersburg, Pa., and, increasingly, Washington, D.C.,...