Original Flavor Bistro brings Puerto Rican and Venezuelan dishes to Summersville.
AFTER WORKING VARIOUS JOBS IN FLORIDA FOR 20 YEARS, including stints at multiple restaurants in Tampa and other cities, Rosa Rodriquez del Rey wanted to escape that hectic life, step away from the food industry a bit, and start over somewhere new. That led her to North Carolina—but the “something new” didn’t last very long. She soon found herself back managing a deli there, until a visit to Richwood with friends changed her course once again.
“It was my first time ever in West Virginia, and I just fell in love with the place right away,” she says. “I told everyone I was going to move here within a month—and that’s exactly what I did.”
As it turns out, her doctor in North Carolina was getting ready to open a restaurant in Summersville, so Rodriquez del Rey tagged along to help her open The Vault on Main before an itch to get back to her Puerto Rican culinary roots finally had to be scratched.
“Once I got to know the area, I discovered there wasn’t anyone around here serving the food I grew up with, and I really thought the Summersville area needed a restaurant like that. So I opened Original Flavor Bistro, and we just celebrated three years in June.”
Those three years have not always been easy. While the restaurant’s fusion menu of Puerto Rican and Venezuelan favorites has drawn a steady stream of visitors from elsewhere, the locals have been slower to embrace food that’s a little—well, different.
“We still don’t really get a lot of locals,” she says, a hint of surprise in her voice. “I’d say 80% of our customers come from Charleston, Morgantown, Fayetteville, and the cities in between them. Once people hear about us, they’ll travel out of their way to visit. We’re a pit stop along the way for lots of people traveling through.”
They’re drawn by a selection of authentic Caribbean and Latin American ceviches, arepas, empanadas, cachapas, tequeños, mofongos, street-food sandwiches, and butcher boards stacked with meats, cheeses, veggies, and rice. Featured entrees let you dig into dishes like a fried sweet plantain casserole stuffed with chicken and cheese; a deep-fried pork loin sauteed with onions and peppers in vinegar; a whole deep-fried tilapia seasoned with cilantro and garlic; or a bountiful bowl of shrimp, scallops, clams, and mussels cooked in white wine with tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and saffron.
“We started out with a really big menu, but have refined it now to focus on our best sellers in each category,” Rodriquez del Rey says. “So the arepas you see on the menu now are the most popular ones. The mofongos and sandwiches are the versions people have liked most. And then we’ve had some recurring specials that were so popular they’re now on the regular menu.”
Some of that food is made by Rodriguez del Rey’s own children, because Original Flavor Bistro is a family affair. “My kids and I do it all. My daughter makes all the sauces and our desserts,” she says. “She can also run the kitchen, and she’s only 16.”
Not familiar with the dishes on Original Flavor Bistro’s menu? Many people walk in and don’t know much about this type of food, Rodriquez del Rey says, so she has a platter that offers a sampling of both Puerto Rican and Venezuelan foods. “You get the best of both!”
860 Broad Street, Summersville, @originalflavorbistrowv on FB
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