Quick trip to West Virginia

This past weekend, I spent a day plus in West Virginia. My cousin Johnny from Baltimore, who loves Roadfood as much as I do, joined me. We met at our hotel in Fairmont, where we left his car.

Our first stop was Book & Bean in Fairmont. I had called the day before and they said they open at 9:00AM on Saturdays. We arrived about 9:05 and the front door was locked. We waited about five more minutes and there still didn't seem to be any stirring inside, so we left. Not exactly a great start.

Luckily, the Country Club Bakery was nearby and is famous for their Pepperoni Rolls. We bought a dozen in a bag to take home, but each got one to eat for the drive. I have had them from here before, so I knew what to expect, but Johnny made the comment that he thought they would be greasier. A nice snack to eat while driving down the road. They also had some fine looking cookies, which turned out be be delicious, especially the raspberry filled.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=529

From there, we made the short drive down I-79 to Clarksburg. Our first stop was Oliverio's Cash & Carry. Unfortunately, they don't make as many different types of peppers as they used to. Still, I bought several jars of their really good spaghetti sauce for me and a jar of the portabella mushrooms with sweet peppers to take back for my secretary. The ladies who run Oliverio's are incredibly nice and fun to chat with. And they recognized me from previous visits, which was nice.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=265

We then drove back across the bridge, made a right on Pike and stopped at Ritzy Lunch. I really like this place a lot. I have had their chili dogs, with slaw on it several times before, but I wanted to try their Giovanni burger. It was a burger with roasted peppers on garlic toast. The excellent bread really made this burger a winner. Johnny, a bigger eater than me, had two chili/slaw dogs and a Giovanni. Ritzy Lunch is a great Roadfood spot.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=49

Then we headed to Charleston. One of my little hobbies is taking tours of the different state capitol buildings. I have visited this state capitol building previously, but that was before they refurbished the dome itself. With the gold leaf, it really is a spectacular sight.

Next, we had a late lunch at Southern Kitchen. I had only been here one time before and that was to have breakfast in 2002. So, I have been quite anxious to get back. Johnny got the fried chicken, which he thought was good, but nothing special. I got the country ham with red eye gravy and really liked it. For sides, we both agreed that the mac & cheese was the best. Dessert wise, I had my mind made up ahead of time to get their legendary peanut butter pie, which was thick and creamy, but not overly rich. I love peanut butter pie and this was the best I have ever had. Johnny went for the bread pudding, since the waitress and the tour guide at the capitol recommended it. And he said it was among the best he has had.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=43

From there, we made the hour drive to Beckley, since I wanted to stop at Tamarack, a giant gift shop that bills itself as "The Best of West Virginia". With Valentine's Day coming up, I planned on buying my girlfriend a nice hard carved jewelry box. Some of them go for as much as $800.00, but it was hard to justify that. I did still get her a nice one I know she will be quite happy with.

http://tamarack.terradon.com/default.aspx

We then started on the drive back north on Rte. 19 and crossed the incredible New River Gorge Bridge, which until recently was the longest single arch bridge in the world. At 876 feet, it is the second highest bridge in the US. They have an overlook on the north end and we stopped and took some photos.

For dinner, we planned on eating at Julio's in Clarksburg. Since we didn't have reservations, we got a bad table. But, I was just happy we didn't have a long wait. For dinner, there is no menu. They just read the specials to you. All dinners came with soup (Onion Fagioli) and a salad, both of which were excellent. They had many things I would have liked to try, but I settled for the Shrimp Mediterranean. It was four huge shrimp, with mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and roasted peppers. Johnny got the salmon stuffed with crabmeat. Both dinners came with potatoes and asparagus. For dessert, I had the banana creme cake and he had the Grand Marnier Creme Brulee. We both agreed, this was the best meal we have had in a while. Even though it was a bit pricey, we agreed it was a great value for the quality of the food. This was my first visit to Julio's, but I will be back many more times.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=4319

After spending the night at the nearby Comfort Inn, we headed back to Clarksburg to get more Pepperoni Rolls at Tomaro's Bakery. This place is a bit odd in that they are closed on Saturday, but open Sunday. The very nice lady behind the counter was patient with us asking a lot of questions and even gave us each a free hot Pepperoni Roll to eat on the road along with the dozen to go. And the Pepperoni Roll here is greasier and more flavorful than from the previous day. From now on, I am going to get all my Pepperoni Rolls from Tomaro's.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=466

Next was a full breakfast from Ruby & Ketchy's just east of Morgantown. The review from Jane & Michael didn't mention breakfast, but we didn't have time to wait for lunch. R & K's has a nice wood paneled family restaurant feel to it, but the breakfast menu was rather small. One thing I liked was that you can order a single slice of French toast, which enabled me to try other things. I also got a cinnamon roll and bacon, which was perfectly done. Johnny got the biscuits & gravy and thought it was just okay.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=4116

From there, we split up and I was home by noon on Sunday. All together, a really successful trip to The Mountain State.

Wow! What a really terrific way to spend a couple of days. And that was a great report. Thanks, he said hungrily and enviously.

Sounds like a great trip.

If I knew you were going to Southern Kitchen in Charleston, I would have steered your cousin away from the Fried Chicken.
I agree with your assessment of the Country Ham and Red Eye Gravy. I hope you ordered biscuits with that!

I have almost made that same identical trip except I did not get to the New River Gorge. I understand it is a spectacular sight.

I spent the night in Beckley several times at the Courtyard by Marriott, visited the Tamarack, got fresh doughnuts somewhere down town and they had a great bisquit place there. I believe I had dinner at the Outback.

I also spent the night in Charleston. You are correct about the gold dome. Great drive through that area right beside the river.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Gold dome?!? Now I know where all my taxes went. It sure wasn't on the roads!

Great trip report BF, thanks.

MikeS.

For dinner last night, I made a couple of sandwiches using the Italian bread I bought at Tomaro's Bakery in Clarksburg. Excellent bread!!! They have the slogan "Always Eat Tomaro's Bread Today" written on the wrapper.

Just as a follow up...

On Valentine's Day, I gave my girlfriend the beautiful jewelry box I bought her. I also brought her a few of the pepperoni rolls I bought at Tomaro's Bakery in Clarksburg. The next day, she called me and thanked me profusely.....for the pepperoni rolls!

Next year, I am going to go cheap and just get a few dozen pepperoni rolls for V-Day.

If you thought the raspberry-filled cookies at Country Club were good, wait until you try the raisin. I got two one time along with a dozen pepperoni rolls--and while I would gladly sell an organ for CCB pepperoni rolls, I wound up wishing I'd bought more cookies.

Also, try the food court at Tamarack--good, high-quality eats most of the time.

Duesy-
Your timing on that tip is impeccable! I will be driving right past Tamarack later this afternoon and would have been looking for someplace to eat. Now, I will definitely stop in.

I have shopped at Tamarack many times before but have never dined there. Thanks for the tip!

Duesy-
I did stop at Tamarack on Sunday for dinner. Since the entrees I was interested in were already gone, I happily settled for the four vegetable plate. There was mashed potatoes, green beans, greens and fruit cocktail. Nothing special, but everything was fine. The highlight was the cheese soup, which was very tasty. I did also try the peach cobbler for dessert, which was a mistake since I already had cobbler three other times over the weekend and I was all cobblered out. All together, a fine meal.

Thanks again for the tip!

BB,

They do tend to have good soup--the best meal I ever had there was a bowl of creamy sausage-potato. The only problem I have with Tamarack is that what's on the menu during one visit is never on it the next, so you can't have favorites.

For the record, they only redo the dome when they have the money to waste and second, it used to be COMPLETELY gilded--now they just do the crown.

Great Report - I will be going up I-77 to 19 to I -79 in October and back in October. Will use your some of your suggestions.

A couple of other places that I would recommend as well in Fayetteville off Hwy 19.

Cathedral Cafe - excellent food.
Tudor's Biscuit Kitchen - it's a chain but they have very good biscuits.
Gumbo's - great Cajun food
Pies and Pints - excellent pizza ( wide variety of choices).

It was kind of fun to go back and find this old trip report, which I believe was the first I ever did.  Obviously, it was before I knew how to post photos on here.  Anyway, I made a very similar day trip today, so I thought I would just add on to here.

I was already on I-79 heading south this morning when I called Mariton to ask if she wanted to join me for a day of eating hot dogs in West Virginia.  Despite not being a hot dog lover, she was up for an adventure, so I picked her and we were on our way. 

Knowing that Ritzy Lunch in Clarksburg closes at 2:00 (and when I called, they told me their kitchen closes at 1:00), we decided to make this the first stop and then work our way back north. 

Despite the fact that it is only 2 1/2 hours away from me, I haven't been here in a couple of years.  It is located right in the center of downtown Clarksburg.  Ritzy Lunch

goes all the way back to 1933!  They have some quality signage on the front window, both neon

and painted.

Had I been here by myself, I would have grabbed a seat at the counter. 

But since Mariton was with me, we sat in one of the wooden booths in the back.

Deciding what to order was more difficult than usual.  Neither one of us had eaten at this point, so we were famished.  But there were also many more stops to go.  We settled on two slaw dogs, a Giovanni burger and an Italian sausage.

The first thing we tackled was the Giovanni burger.  What makes this burger different is that it is served with melted American cheese and roasted peppers on extra thick buttered toast. 


A bag of chips and a dill pickle are served with it in the basket.  The toast and roasted peppers are both excellent, but I found the burger itself to be dried out and not very tasty.  Mariton still enjoyed her half very much.

Next up was the Italian sausage.  Happily, like the Giovanni, it was also served with cheese (provolone, maybe?), roasted peppers on the toast.

The sausage was thick cut, plenty of heat and incredibly flavorful.  This was easily the single best thing I ate all day and we both gobbled it up quickly!

The hot dogs,

topped with chili, mustard, onion and slaw were fine.  And as you can see, 

they are generous with the toppings.  The slaw was slightly sweet and the contrast with the spicy chili was nice.  But after that Italian sausage, it paled in comparison.

Next door to the Ritzy Lunch is a business that helps with tax returns and they frequently have someone dressed as the Statue of Liberty doing some advertising on the street.  On this day,

Lady Liberty was hungry and thirsty, because she took a quick break inside.

Ritzy Lunch
465 W. Pike Street
Clarksburg, WV
304-622-3600

http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Review/49-49/ritzy-lunch

A right turn, crossing a bridge and then another turn, all of which took less than a minute, we were pulling up outside Oliverio's Cash & Carry. 

This is actually a grocery store and I knew exactly what to look for.  In the back, they have shelves of really good peppers and sauces. 

I grabbed jars of spaghetti sauce and cherry peppers,

both of which I have enjoyed in the past.  Since we were planning on driving around for several hours, I wasn't sure if the in-house ground Italian sausage would be okay until I could get home.  The owner, went in the back and wrapped the sausage with a dry ice pack in newspaper

at no extra charge.  That was very nice of them.  Of course we chatted with these nice people for a while and we told them how much we loved the Italian sausage sandwich from Ritzy Lunch.  She told me the reason the bread was so good was that they got it from the excellent nearby Tomaro's Bakery.  Hmmm, I should have known this.

Oliverio's Cash & Carry
427 Clark Street
Clarksburg, WV
800-296-4959

http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Review/265-265/oliverios-cash-and-carry

Had Tomaro's been open, we would have definitely stopped in to load up on pepperoni rolls.  But, they are closed on Saturdays.  A quick drive by confirmed this and we were on our way to our next destination.

Always great to revisit the classics. Thanks for the update.

Looks like another delicious trip! Thanks for posting Buffetbuster!

One of my favorite food blogs is about slaw dogs in West Virginia. 
 
http://www.wvhotdogs.com/reviews.html
 
They visit hot dog places all over the state and rate them, up to five weenies.  On this day, I wanted to visit some of the places they have rated the highest.
 
Before leaving Clarksburg, we went in search of a place called Tubby's.  The roads got very narrow, lots of steep hills, until we found the place in a residential neighborhood.  There is very little signage out front,

enough so that we were even wondering if they were still in business.  And it looked more like a house than a bar or restaurant.  The parking lot is so small, only a couple of cars can fit in, so we were forced to park on the street against the hill.  To get out of the car, Mariton had to crawl out through the driver's door.  At this point, I am not expecting much.
 
As bright as it was outside, that was how dark it was inside.  It took us a few moments for us to adjust our eyes.  The fact that there is a six foot tall figure/mannequin dressed in biker clothes just inside the door, holding a basket of mints also threw us off.  We really must of looked like idiots just standing there, figuring out what to do.
 
The inside of Tubby's was decorated with a Harley-Davidson theme, but was much nicer than what I think a biker bar is normally like.  Very clean, several big tvs, I could hang out here.  I went up to the bar and asked for two hot dogs to go.  Not sure what toppings to get, the friendly lady recommended chili, mustard and onion.  Sounds good to me.  I sat down at a table and checked out one of the menus. 

Note how they also have Giovannis here, too.  The nice people at Oliverio's had previously told me they are found on menus all over Clarksburg.  Mariton came out of the ladies' room raving about how clean it was.
 
When the hot dogs were delivered to us, she also gave us a couple of to go menus, which was appreciated.  Once we were in the car, we dug in.

The soft buns had been steamed and the wieners had an unmistable grilling taste.  There weren't a lot of onions on the hot dogs, but they were chopped in large pieces and tasted very fresh.  The chili reminded me of the typical Midwest coney sauce, but with a little extra zip.  Though Mariton thought it was just okay, I loved these chili dogs.  Clearly the best I had all day.  The only complaint was they didn't have slaw, even though slaw isn't all that common this far north in West Virginia.  Next time in Clarksburg, I will be back to try more items off of Tubby's menu.
 
Tubby's
1042 Factory Street
Clarksburg, WV
304-623-1023
 
While we were parking at Tubby's, I had received a phone call from Travelin Man.  Though the conversation was brief, something occurred to me.  Even though TTM's appearance on this trip was cursory at best, his indisputable powers meant that we were assuredly destined to find a closed restaurant before the day was done.

Cliff, those dogs from Tubby's look really good, slaw or no slaw. I remember reading somewhere that slaw on a hot dog is virtually unheard of in the northern one-third of West Virginia, while in the rest of the state, most people consider slaw on their dogs a must. I've had chili-slaw dogs at Stewart's Drive-In in Huntington a couple of times and really enjoyed them. On the other hand, I tried Steak n Shake's new Carolina slaw dog the other day... maybe they ought to just stick to what they do best, burgers, chili and milkshakes.

Nice looking dogs and sandwiches!  I still love that picture of the Statue of Liberty waiting for her drink.

After the short drive north to Fairmont, we arrived at a long time Roadfood classic, Country Club Bakery. 

I had called ahead of time and found out they closed at 2:30PM on Saturdays, but since it was just before 2:00, we were in plenty of time.  The main reason to come here is for their pepperoni rolls.  In fact, Country Club Bakery is credited with having inventing the popular West Virginia snack. 
 
When you walk in, they do have a case there where you can buy the pepperoni rolls individually. 

And they will be more than happy to heat them up for you.  But with all the other eating I had planned, I just asked for two bags of a dozen each to take home. 

These freeze very well and can be heated up later.  But since they had a fine selection of cookies in front of us,

we grabbed a dozen assorted for the road.  Here is what survived the ride home:

The top left are three chocolate coconut, top right is chocolate peanut better, the single one is raisin filled and the two on the bottom right are macademia nut.  Mariton thought the chocolate coconut was too sweet, but I thought the chocolate peanut butter and the raisin filled were excellent!
 
Country Club Bakery
1211 Country Club Road
Fairmont, WV
304-363-5690
 
http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Review/529-529/country-club-bakery
 
The ladies in here took an interest in us and when we told them we were driving around hitting restaurants, especially hot dog joints in West Virginia, they wanted to hear all about it.  I took this opportunity to inquire about a place in Fairmont called Yann's.  Both of the ladies lit up and got very animated.  The older woman, told me she remembers going there as a child and she was now in her 70's.  On the WV hot dog blog, they mention that the owner of Yann's (they compare him to the soup nazi) was known to be cranky and they both started laughing.  They told me that the owner of Yann's, Russell Yann comes into the Country Club Bakery just about everyday.  
 
So Yann's, just a couple of miles away, was the next stop.  A tiny place, located partially on a high bridge

and without a sign, Yann's was predictably closed. Well, it looks like we have been Travelin Manned.  But, as the great Lee Corso would say, not so fast my friend! 
 
The older woman back at Country Club Bakery had previously pulled out a brown paper bag from her purse, where she had hot dogs from Yann's.  In fact, she tried to give them to us.  We thanked her, but told her we wanted to see the place for ourselves.  But, I did ask if it turned out Yann's was closed, could we come back and try one.  She laughed and said, "Sure, as long as you are back before we close at 2:30".   Mariton thought I was nuts, but we rushed back to Country Club Bakery.  I was hoping to try just one, but the nice lady insisted we take her entire bag of five.  How cool is that?  It took some coaxing, but I did get her to pose for me with one of the hot dogs,

although I think the unposed photo is much better.

This has to be my all-time favorite anti-Travelin Man moment!
 
Sitting around in a purse all day, the hot dogs were far from temperature hot.  But according to the blog, the hot dogs are notoriously spicy hot.  Mariton took the first bite and said that they were indeed hot.  If she thinks they are hot (in Thai restaurants where they ask you on a scale of 1-10 how hot you want your food, she always says 10 and then claims it isn't hot enough for her), then I knew I was going to be trouble.  I took a bite and didn't feel the heat right away.  It sneaks up on you.  And lingers.  And lingers some more. And doesn't go away.  This was by far, the hottest hot dog I have ever had.  Oh, they may look innocent,

but these things are dangerous!  If you love hot foods, I highly recommend them.  If you don't stay away!
 
Obviously, I still need to visit the inside of Yann's, just for the experience.  From what I read, you get things his way or you won't get them at all.  Don't ask for ketchup or slaw or you will be out the door!
 
Yann's
300 Washington Street
Fairmont, WV
 
http://www.wvhotdogs.com/...tml%3C/a%3E%3C/font%3E
 
Just one stop left and that was in Morgantown.  We got on I-68 East, got off at exit 4 and quickly found the unfortunate named Haught Diggity Dogz.

This place is even smaller than Yann's and doesn't even have any seating.  It is actually just an extension of the bar next door. 

They do have a decent sized menu, but I just stuck with two hot dogs.  I got one with chili, mustard and onion and the other the same, plus slaw.  They do have three different types of chili, regular, medium and hot, but after the last experience, I wanted no part of the hot.  So, one came with regular and one with medium.  To tell you the truth, I really couldn't tell the difference between the two. 
 
Here is what we received:


As you can see, they were kind of stingy with the cole slaw.  But it was extremely fresh, sweet and creamy and contrasted wonderfully with the chili.  Mariton named this her favorite hot dog of the day.  She also pointed out that it tastes like there is bbq sauce in the chili and she is right, that is what it tasted like.  Unusual, but we both gave this place a thumbs up.  Now, about that name..... 
 
Haught Diggity Dogz
3174 Earl L Core Road
Morgantown, WV
304-291-3649
 
http://www.wvhotdogs.com/...tml%3C/a%3E%3C/font%3E
 
With full bellies, we headed back to Pennsylvania.

Nancypalooza


Nice looking dogs and sandwiches!  I still love that picture of the Statue of Liberty waiting for her drink.

That lady has such a wonderful world weary look on her face.  Her face is saying, "It's cold out, my feet hurt, I'm hungry, I'm wearing a Statue of Liberty costume and now some idiot is taking my photo!"
 
BTW, as we were driving through Fairmont, we found another person in similar costume.

Seriously?  You took that ladies hot dogs? 

Are the children of Clarksburg running amok in the streets with tales of the man from Pittsburgh who took all of their candy?

I hope you stuffed one of the pepperoni rolls in the jewelry box :)  Who says diamonds are a girl's best friend?
Great report!

The Travelin Man


Seriously?  You took that ladies hot dogs? 

Are the children of Clarksburg running amok in the streets with tales of the man from Pittsburgh who took all of their candy?

Don't worry, they didn't recognize me.  I was dressed as the Statue of Liberty!
 
I really did try to leave with just one hot dog.  But she was insistent.

One of my own Roadfood stories about the Country Club Bakery:

We stopped in to get some pepperoni rolls. 

I should describe what we were wearing, because it is relevant to the story:
I was wearing a tie-dye T-shirt, shorts, and a black felt fedora; I had long hair down to my shoulders. Lori was wearing a peasant blouse and a lace-trimmed skirt.
I encourage you to visualize that clothing in detail, because I think that doing so will make the next paragraph funnier.

Lori made conversation with the young woman behind the counter, and mentioned that we were from Pennsylvania. The saleswoman asked brightly, "Oh, are y'all Amish?"

Ralph-
You forgot to mention if any of your clothes had zippers!

I believe there's a photo of Ralph dressed like that around here somewhere...

Brad

My shorts had a zipper, but I think that it would have been hard for the saleswoman to notice that. So the only clues she would have had that I might not be Amish were the tie-dye, the long hair, and the minivan outside.

BB, another great report!  I would've paid good money to see the look on that woman's face at the Country Club Bakery when you walked back through the door!

Those Statue of Liberty costumes are out in force here now.  Tax Season.  The ones here, though, are all men.

What kind of hot dog is usually used in WV?  Is it one capable of standing alone with a little mustard, or is it more of a carrier for slaw or chili?
Thanks to this thread I wound up going out of my way for hot dogs on Sunday!
 
Brad