Fill 'er up-- and fill you up

The winds of change blow inexorably, and recently they’ve been gusting over Pantops Mountain. There, locally based Virginia Oil Company has just opened its the Liberty gas station and the Everyday Café in front of the soon-to-be-complete Giant superstore and shopping center.
And with 24 pumping stations, Liberty is sure to, uh, pump… you up. Definitely an impressive addition to the local gas station scene. (Bet you didn’t even know there was such a scene!)
In its nearly 7,000 square feet of gourmet goodies, the café will have something to satisfy just about any craving. Wraps, salads, pizza, and gelato made in-house are among the choices. And with 80 seats, you’ll never have to stand! So next time you and your car get hungry, you know where to head.

Scoops in Scottsville
The news arrived at the Dish office in an unassuming package: a press release for a night of music at Scoops, on Valley Street in Scottsville. Interesting, we thought. But wait! Had our memories failed us? Wasn’t Scoops out west of town at The Square in Crozet, and didn’t it close nearly two years ago, making way for Ombra, a family-friendly Italian restaurant?
Fortunately, we need not be worried about impending dementia just yet. The new Scottsville Scoops, which opened about a month ago, is no relation to the Crozetian version.
Owned by David Dodge, a newcomer to the ice cream/restaurant biz, Scottsville’s Scoops is open seven days a week, offering coffee (including espresso), and pastries from the early morning on. Ice cream, of course, is also served all day.
   
Get crazy!
Nosy nellies that we are, we’ve been keeping a careful eye on construction over by Dan’s Automart on 29 North across from Wal-Mart. First a new Hess gas station popped up, and before long a diminuitive strip mall unfurled. Could another eatery be joining Rhett’s River Grill and Raw Bar on that section of Route 29?
As of earlier this month, there were no hints about what might fill the four or so new spaces, but last week the first clue appeared.
The word PUPUSA, boldly printed in red letters, caught our eye as we drove by, and our first thought was that it was some kind of pet store (Pup USA or whatever). But the description “Crazy Latin Cuisine” had us doing a jig on the gas pedal. A new restaurant!
Our next clue came when we called directory assistance to ask for a listing. No such luck, but the friendly operator spoke Spanish and told us Pupusa is an El Salvadoran type of pita sandwich.
According to the online United States Restaurant Guide food glossary, pupusa (pronounced Puh-POO-sa), indeed a Salvadoran specialty, is “a rounded corn meal dough usually stuffed with meat or cheese. The typical form is somewhat heavy and oily. Commonly served with repollo, a sliced cabbage marinated in vinegar.”
Whether Pupusa Crazy Restaurant and Bar (as it is called on the posted ABC notice) will offer dishes other than pupusa remains to be seen. We were unable to get hold of the three owners– Marvin and Gloria Herrera and Felipe Mendoza– so we’ll have to wait to see when the cuisine will get crazy up on 29 North.