KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (WOWK) — Cozumel Mexican Restaurants opened with a single location in Ripley in 1994, and now, they are expanding with a new riverfront location along Route 60 in Kanawha County.

In February 2023, the owners of Cozumel signed a lease on the former Mountain Pie on the River building, which went out of business last year. The building is between the Rustic Motel and U-Haul buildings on MacCorkle Ave.

The new location will be named Cozumel Cantina and Grill on the River and will have a riverfront dining deck and an outdoor bar area.

“We’re excited to come in with something new in West Virginia,” Miguel Valdez, co-owner of Cozumel Mexican Restaurants, says.

According to Valdez, the new cantina will offer more than 50 different margarita flavors, and their menu will be their usual tex mex with a few brand new items, including his favorite: a Mexican-style salmon pasta dish.

“As soon as you walk in, we want everyone to have a good time: music playing, margaritas everywhere,” Valdez says.

Valdez says that if everything goes well, the Cozumel Cantina and Grill on the River will open in early May, just in time for Cinco De Mayo.