Weekend in Virginia

My girlfriend and I spent this past weekend driving around Virginia.  Some snow was moving in to western Pennsylvania in mid-afternoon on Friday, so I left work early to beat the weather.  After picking her up in Washington, PA, we made it to our first stop, Ruby & Ketchy's in Morgantown right around 1:00PM.
 
Located right off exit 10 of I-68, Ruby & Ketchy's

is a comfortable family diner type of joint, that I imagine very few non-locals ever visit.  The street address says Morgantown, but it is far out of town.  You can sit at a regular table, at the counter

or in one of the old wooden booths.

As usual, we chose the booth.  The menu

has all the typical diner classics and some surprising seafood dishes, which I have yet to try.  Deep fried oysters just doesn't seem to be the thing to eat in West Virginia.  Our favorite single dish is the stuffed cabbage, which is a Friday special, but unfortunately, that isn't available until 5:00pm.
 
Mariton went for the pork chops,

which according to the menu, is grilled to order.  When I first saw these put in front of her, my initial reaction was that those don't look very good.  But, they were surprisingly juicy for not being very thick and those are real mashed potatoes covered in a good brown gravy on the side.  She was a happy girl!  Being the unselfish person she is, when it comes to ordering sides, she picks something that she thinks I will like.  Which is why we ended up with these green beans,

which were supremely porky and the best thing I ate all day!
 
Having had the fine hot roast beef sandwich before, I was hoping the hot turkey sandwich would be as good.  Of course, that always depends on whether they use real roast turkey or cheap turkey loaf.

It was indeed real turkey and along with the fries, covered in a delicious chicken gravy. 
 
They make their own pies here, so we made sure to leave room for dessert.  Mariton went for their signature pie, the blackberry,

with a scoop of vanilla on top.  Excellent pie with an impressive flaky crust!  My choice was the chocolate pie,

which was dense and fudgy, topped by the tall, delicate meringue.  Also very, very good!
 
I have been to Ruby & Ketchy's at least a half dozen times now and with each visit, it goes up in my estimation.  It isn't the type of place where you walk out thinking that was the best meal ever.  But, they don't take any shortcuts and they give every single dish an honest effort.  I have yet to try anything here I didn't like.  Maybe it is time to try one of those seafood dishes. 
 
Ruby & Ketchy's
2232 Cheat Road
Morgantown, WV
304-594-2004

We got back on I-68 and continued east.
 
Much more to come.....

Good to see something around Morgantown, too bad I don't pass through there anymore. Could have used that stop about 2 years ago though.

buffetbuster
  I left work early to beat the weather 

 
 
You Work?
 
Kidding, I am very interested in what Virginia has to offer.  I may be spending some time down there this summer.

buffetbuster


My girlfriend and I spent this past weekend driving around Virginia...we made it to our first stop, Ruby & Ketchy's in Morgantown...

 

RICHMOND, VA, FEB. 28, 2011 (AP) -- BREAKING NEWS: Upon further research, authorities have

officially concluded that Morgantown is in West Virginia and not in Virginia. Details at eleven.

i95-
Somehow I knew that was going to come back to bite me! 

That blackberry pie looks really good.  I am a fan, you know.
 
You do need to explain something to me, though.  These pictures that you post?  You take them OFF of your camera, yes?  Huh.  I just seem to accumulate them ON my camera.  

What fantastic looking comfort food. Love places like that!

BB, do you ever stop traveling.  As near as I can figure, you went to San Diego after Raleigh and now into WV?  Way to go man.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

buffetbuster


i95-
Somehow I knew that was going to come back to bite me! 

 
No problem. The Travelin Man said that you often get distracted when listening to Barry Manilow's "Weekend in New Mexico."

The pies look incredible!  I would have loved either...how many choices were there?
 
I was eyeing the Ham Dinner - have you ever tried it? with a side of Split Tail Jumbo Shrimp.

ChiTownDiner


The pies look incredible!  I would have loved either...how many choices were there?

I was eyeing the Ham Dinner - have you ever tried it? with a side of Split Tail Jumbo Shrimp.

What about the fried chicken honey dipped.  Sounded pretty good to me.  Pie looked excellent.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN
 

I'll have the country fried steak with mashed potatoes, plenty of gravy, and a side of those green beans, please.
 
And I'm glad to see that you've been informed that West Virginia no longer is part of Virginia. Granted, it's only been that way for about 148 years, so it's new to lots of folks.

Our original plan was to eat light at Ruby & Ketchy's, since we still had two more food stops to go.  As you can see, that didn't work out too well. 
 
After Roadfood and Hollyeats, my favorite website for finding local restaurants is choppedonion.  This site is especially strong in Virginia and North Carolina and is where I read about Snow White Grill in Winchester, VA.  Apparently, this used to be a small chain in the area, starting in Frederick, MD and eventually including Hagerstown, MD, Martinsville, WV and Winchester.  This one, opened in 1949, is actually the only one left.
 
We had to keep an eye on the time, since they close at 5:00pm on weeknights, but we made it with plenty of time to spare.  Snow White Grill is located on a pedestrian mall in the downtown area.  The restaurant

is neatly wedged between taller buildings.  They do have a take-out window and some tables and chairs outside, but since it had been raining and was fairly cold out, there was hardly anyone else in the area.
 
The specialty of the house

is the mini-hamburger, a.k.a. the slider, which cost only $1.45 each.  The woman who took our order was a little cranky, since we had interrupted her smoke break when we walked in.  She seemed annoyed we only ordered five, but we did bump it up to six once she told us just how small they were.  She put the patties on the small grill and then topped them with onions.

After a short amount of time, she covered them with wax paper,

which I assume was done to keep the moisture in.  That lasted only a few minutes until the wax paper was replaced by the top half of the buns.

Soon, we had a basket full of sliders in front of us.  Even for sliders, these are really small, as this photo of holding one demonstrates.

We are talking three bites max here.  The buns seemed to be pleasantly steamed and what is not to like about fried meat and onions?  I do wish the cheese had been a little more melted.  These sliders were fine, but not in the same class as places like Crabill's, Powers Hamburgers or Cozy Inn.
 
A real disappointment was the cole slaw. 

Both of us took one bite and pushed it away.  But, they more than made up for it with the thin, but very flavorful black raspberry shake.

That silver beaker held 2 1/2 glasses worth of dairy goodness!
 
The inside of Snow White Grill is worth the stop alone.  There are only 11 seats, all at the counter. 

There used to be 12, but a guy who came out the back to chat with us, told us they removed one to make room for the register.  They have a board in the back

where they keep track of the one-sitting records.  Considering how old this place is, I was shocked to see such small totals.  But, I was told that they were always being asked what the record was, although they had never kept track.  So, they just started to in the last month or so.  Another thing I liked about this place was this interesting sign.

 
Finally, the best thing about Snow White Grill is the connection to Patsy Cline, who grew up in Winchester.

In fact, they have a photo of Patsy, sitting at the counter

(seated, 2nd from the right), enjoying her sliders.  I was even told the story that after she won a local talent contest, the owner of Snow White Grill paid for her bus ticket to Nashville, which is very cool if it is true.
 
Oh, and more cool thing about this place.  If you can't get here during the day, they reopen on Friday and Saturday nights at 10:00PM and then close again at 2:30AM.  The man we talked to here said that they do great business that late.  Something tells me that the day time crowd and night time crowd are quite different!
 
Snow White Grill
159 N. Loudoun Street
Winchester, VA
540-662-5955
 
Much more to come.....

ChiTownDiner


The pies look incredible!  I would have loved either...how many choices were there?

I was eyeing the Ham Dinner - have you ever tried it? with a side of Split Tail Jumbo Shrimp.

This should answer your question.

I have not tried their ham steak.  Considering how much ham I knew I would be eating on this trip, it wasn't even a consideration.  But, I bet it is good!
 
Paul-
I wish I could say there was a visit to San Diego in between Raleigh and this trip, but there wasn't.  We have not tried the honey dipped fried chicken, because they warn you it can take a while.  But, my girlfriend's daughter once ordered the wings and they were outstanding! 

annpeeples-
You described it perfectly!  It really is comfort food at its best.

It's interesting what some people will pick when encountering a menu for the first time.  At the Snow White Grill, I would have gone with the deep fried hot dog and the "Peach Berry" (if I read that right) pie.  I've not seen those things on a menu before.)

 
And at Ruby and Ketchy's I would have tried the crab cakes.
 
In 2002, while in Winchester, I found crab cake-flavored potato chips--something I'd also never seen before.  As I made my way to Baltimore (for a speech I had to give there) I encountered (and ate) a lot of crab cakes.  Crab is a big favorite in those parts, I discovered.  (So is creamed chipped beef on toast, which is ubiquitous there, much like pecan and chess pie is in my part of the country.)

Raspberry shakes...ummm!  One of my favs! 

It was a good shake, but definitely not in the same league as Paradise Pup!

That may have had something to do with the company also...

Even though neither one of us were exactly famished, I really wanted Mariton to see the Wayside Inn in Middletown, VA, so that became our next stop.  This place goes all the way back to 1797 and according to their sign,

they are America's oldest continuous inn.  The outside of the building does look very old

and it is easy to spot where they have added on over the years.  We were sat in the atmospheric main dining room,

where I had to duck down so my head wouldn't hit an overhead beam.  It was approaching 6:00pm on a Friday night and we were the only customers, which seemed rather strange.
 
Even before she took our drink order, our waitress, with the unusual name of Rusty, asked if we were thinking of getting the spoon bread as an appetizer.  Mariton asked what spoon bread was, which Rusty described as a cross between a souffle, corn bread and corn pudding.  Because it is made to order and takes a good 20 minutes, they recommend ordering it immediately, which we did.  The spoon bread

came out very hot.  Rusty told us to eat while it was hot and put just a dab of butter on it, which she said would make the taste explode in our mouth.  There were no explosions, but we did enjoy this light dish, that had just a slight sweet taste.
 
After the two previous stops, Mariton was in no mood for another big meal.  She started with a garden salad and then had the lamb chops

appetizer for her meal.  She thought it was just okay.
 
My meal began with the peanut soup,

which according to the menu is the "original 1797 recipe".  The last time I was here, this soup was so dry, there wasn't enough water in the ocean to quench my thirst.  Not so this time.  The soup was creamy, smooth and thicker than I remember.  For my entree, it was the country ham,

which came swimming in a thin red-eye gravy.  I ate as much of the salty, full flavored ham as I could and dragged the potatoes and green beans through the excess gravy.  This was a really good meal!
 
While we were dining, two other parties were brought to the dining room.  There was a couple from New Brunswick and another couple, who had to be in their 70's and by their conversation, were on a first date!  After we got done eating, Rusty gave Mariton a tour throughout the inn, even showing her some upstairs guestrooms.
 
Wayside Inn
7783 Main Street
Middletown, VA
540-869-1797 
 
Our hotel for the night was the Quality Inn in New Market.  The plans were for breakfast at the Southern Kitchen the next morning.  Wanting to see the place with their great neon light lit up at night, we drove by and took a few photos.

This is one of the great Roadfood signs!
 
Much more to come.....
 

I am glad you had the spoon bread.  Mamaw Smith makes a killer spoon bread.  The country ham looks fantastic.  I really enjoy red eye gravy with grits and biscuits and jelly.  The salty taste with the jelly works for me.  Great post.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Paul, how blessed you are to be able to enjoy Mamaw Smith's cooking all of these years!  And country ham is SO much better when accompanied by red-eye gravy. 

I love peanut soup!  And now you have found another place for me to go the next time I'm in the area.  Thank You!
 
The Southern Kitchen (and a place in Leesburg, VA, the name of which I have forgotten) are the only places in the area that I know that serve peanut soup.  Interesting in that this great dish has not been franchised into fast food (yet).

Paul, I now make country ham( courtesy of my Carolina cousin) served on biscuits with jam, dipped in country gravy.One of our favorite breakfasts.And BB, the one you were served looks perfect.

Looks like an awesome trip, BB!

Was there any indication why the restaurant was so empty...price, quality, cleanliness, ???

Louis-
Glad to see another fan of peanut soup here.  If you remember the name of the place in Leesburg that makes it, please let us know.  We may be headed to that area in the next few weeks.
 
CTD-
I'm not really sure why they weren't busy.  The economy has to have something to do with it.  And with the type of menu they have, they don't particularly appeal to a younger demographic.  During warm weather, they have live music on weekend nights and I'm sure they do better.

buffetbuster


If you remember the name of the place in Leesburg that makes it, please let us know.  

 
 

 

While I fear that such might be referencing any one of the tourist-magnet yet perpetually empty restaurants unfortunately lining South King Street in Leesburg and all owned by the same entity, I can hope that you might also be referring to the independently-owned Leesburg Restaurant (located at 9 South King Street) which serves a fine peanut soup (although I believe the place is only open for breakfast and lunch these days).
 
The more upscale Lightfoot Restaurant (at 11 North King Street [look for the Swedish flag]) has also served-up the southern delicacy at times, FYI.
 

Louis


I love peanut soup!  And now you have found another place for me to go the next time I'm in the area.  Thank You!

The Southern Kitchen (and a place in Leesburg, VA, the name of which I have forgotten) are the only places in the area that I know that serve peanut soup.  Interesting in that this great dish has not been franchised into fast food (yet).

The Virginia Diner, in Wakefield, serves peanut soup. And a bunch of other good stuff.

I was having building-related deja vu reading this.  The Snow White looks like a blue-and-white version of the Cozy Inn (too bad about the sliders not being as good--they look insanely good), and the Wayside Inn reminded me of the Blue Willow. 

As sad as it was when my grandmother passed away last year, it was nice to be able to reconnect with some family members I hadn't seen in years.  One of them was my cousin Pam, who told me she now lives near New Market, VA.  We agreed to get together the next time I was driving through, which was this morning.
 
I have been to the Southern Kitchen at least a half dozen times and always sat in the front room,

usually in one of the small booths.  But Pam, her son Ben and daughter Megan were already set up in the back dining room when we arrived.  Here is a group photo

we took before leaving.  From left to right: Ben, Megan, Mariton, me and Pam.
 
I did let them know as soon as we sat down that I would be taking photos of my (and their) food, so they wouldn't think I was some kind of a kook, but Pam had already warned them!  Mariton and I started our breakfast with the peanut soup. 

This soup is thinner than the one we had the night before, but I liked the extra oniony sweetness of what is served here.  Still, I would give the Wayside Inn version the edge and Mariton agreed.  Yet, the last time I visited both places, the one at Southern Kitchen was clearly better.  My advice?  Try them both and make up your own mind!
 
Here is what everyone had:  Megan had the french toast,

which looked terrific!  But after just a few bites, she pushed it away.  Apparently, she is one of those people who can't eat too soon after waking up and it was still too early for her.  Ben got the country fried steak,

which looked good and since there were no complaints from him and he finished it minutes, I am assuming he would give it a thumbs up.  Pam went simple, with eggs and bacon.

Fully aware of what was ahead of her on this day, Mariton got just eggs and sausage. 

The sausage was vividly spiced and the best thing I ate during the meal.  The Southern Kitchen is known for their country ham, so that was the obvious choice for me. 

The ham had some parts of it that were a weird grey color, but the portion size was big and what I ate (which was most of it) was delicious.
 
Ben loved the idea of joining me for a slice of pie for breakfast, so we asked the waitress what was available.  We were told lemon, chocolate, peanut butter or coconut.  I ordered lemon, Ben chocolate.  A few minutes later, she came back and told us the lemon and coconut had just come out of the oven
and it was too soon to cut them.  Under normal circumstances, I would have then taken the peanut butter.  But, Pam had already mentioned that even though she doesn't have an allergy, she is a peanut phobe.  Which means she is definitely living in the wrong state!  Not wanting to subject her to peanut soup and peanut butter pie, I switched to chocolate instead.

The meringue wasn't as light and the filling not as fudgy, but this was still a fine way to finish the meal.
 
Mariton and I had a very busy schedule and thought we would only be here for about an hour.  Instead, we had such a great time visiting with family, we ended up being here for over two hours.  It was great to see Pam again and to get to know her kids, who I had only met a couple of times before.
 
Southern Kitchen
9576 S. Congress Street
New Market, VA
540-740-3514

Much more to come.....