Owner Rosita Angel with the Salvadoran breakfast plate at Rosita (Photo by Jay Paul)
Rosita
Chesterfield, 1580 Koger Center Blvd.
It would be easy to think the only place to eat on this corner is the Chick-fil-A, with its long lines of idling cars, but if you look a little harder, there’s something much more interesting right behind it. Swing by Rosita Mexican and Salvadorean Restaurant for bean- or meat-filled pupusas, crunchy taquitos, a surprisingly large chicken tamale — a steal for $2 — a Salvadoran breakfast plate laden with chorizo and eggs, or an afternoon sopa de mondongo, a richly braised soup of tripe and cow hoof.
Chefahn
Hopewell, 5201 Plaza Drive
In an old shopping center between downtown Hopewell and Fort Lee, there’s a slip of a place that seems to have been ripped straight from a line of street food vendors in Seoul, South Korea. Chefahn serves crispy homemade dumplings made with the restaurant’s own blend of beef, pork and chicken seasoned with fresh herbs and spices, as well as glass noodles and tender beef tossed in the wok with a lightly sweetened soy sauce. Find these standouts, along with wings spiced to preference, served by a multigenerational family that seems very much at home in their new food stall off Interstate 295.
Chadar Thai
West End, 8030 W. Broad St.
It’s been there, tucked beside a Big Lots in Henrico for 13 years, but recently, Chadar Thai is getting a bit of backroom buzz among area foodies: This is classic Thai cooking at its best. No fusion or trendy gimmicks, just drunken noodles or panang curry the way it deserves be made, with noticeably fresh ingredients and care. If you’re looking to reset your expectations for Thai food to the baseline, this is the place to do it.
