What You Loved in 2023

With Love, From Mexico to Morgantown

It’s hard to believe Monarca Taqueria opened just last winter—it seems like we’ve always loved those chatas. Freelancer Wendy Holdren spent time with owner Irlanda Huff and her family for our Summer 2023 print edition to bring us the story behind Huff’s delicious blend of flavors from Veracruz and Oaxaca. Now serving Mexican beers, too.

Two Good Fellows

A new bakery in town? We all rise to that occasion! Assistant Editor Devin Lacy caught up with Jaclyn Weese and Jeanne Brewer when they opened Good Fellows Bakery on Don Knotts Boulevard last fall to get their story.

A Family Matter

Mama K’s Kitchen opened in early 2023 to dish out some family Italian recipes that taste just as good in the restaurant as they do if you take them home to your family table. Lacy got the backstory, and readers ate it up.

A Long-Awaited Return

We were so excited when we heard there was going to be a new independent bookstore downtown! Lacy talked with Monkey Wrench Books owner Lindsey Jacobs as she was just starting to set her space up in August, and, if the popularity of the story she wrote is any indication, it seems our readers are excited, too. We checked in with Jacobs this week and have high hopes we’ll be browsing in her shop by spring.

Behold the “COVID” Tree

You got us stumped, here. This is a story then-Managing Editor Holly Thubron wrote—all the way back in 2020. We’re attributing  its popularity to the power of a catchy title combined with a surprising topic, something Thubron is great at.

Pepperoni Rolls Your Way

I billed Anthony Semler’s Pepperoni Roll Bar as the Next Big Thing in West Virginia when I wrote about it in November, and when our Marketing and Operations Associate Grace Campbell stopped in to take photos, she backed me up on that. Pepperoni rolls with the cheese and toppings of your choice, toasted up hot while you wait—if you didn’t try it before the holidays, this is your reminder. You’re welcome.

Feasting on Finger Foods

Our intern Elizabeth Howard checked out Finger Foods, an independent fast-casual restaurant that opened downtown in 2023. Revel Williams Jr. is serving up satisfying meals with a lot of enthusiasm, and Morgantown readers passed the word along. Howard had the Brisket Mac ’n’ Cheese Melt and recommends it as “pretty tasty.”

Five Reasons to Love Bruceton Mills

Bruceton Mills holds a special place in my heart. And, apparently, in many of yours—this story got a lot of love when we posted it last February. If you haven’t been, this little town in Preston County is a great place for a winter day’s escape from Morgantown.

As the Tire Turns

When Christine Ann Croucher, the long-beloved Tire Lady, passed away in March 2023, we re-posted a story we’d printed in 2014 about how her Rainbow Tire came to be. Friends and fans enjoyed the retrospective.

The Stranger Opens 2023 Ruby Summer Concert Series

Free summer concerts by the river—one of the best things to happen to Morgantown in years. The second-season schedule that we included in our May 2023 story about the season opener was referenced by you throughout the summer. Stay tuned for the third-season schedule in the spring!

Image courtesy of the City of Morgantown