It was a nice day for a drive on Monday, so went went up to West Liberty, OH to have dinner at
Liberty Gathering Place, where we've never been before. (Not for lack of trying, but we always seemed to hit them at odd hours and they weren't open.) Even on a weekday, West Liberty is pretty quiet with plenty of parking.
The specials menu. The prime rib dinner sounds awfully tempting.
Unfortunately, it's a bit dark inside and I didn't get a great shot, but this tasted way better than it looks. It wasn't big enough to require folding in half like the Roadfood review listed, but it was delicious-- very light breading and not as crisp or pounded as flat as other pork tenderloins, so it's a change of pace. My only complaint was that it seemed a touch on the salty side, but I loved that it was nice and peppery. Very flavorful.
My sister ordered the burger and fries, which she reported was very good. The fries were very nice-- skins left on, which is how I like them. Not pictured is the cole slaw (good) and the macaroni salad, which I thought was nothing special and a little too sweet for my taste.
After dinner, it was across the street and down a bit to the
Ice Cream Parlour for dessert. We've been here a few times before, and always enjoyed it. The best part is sitting outside in sunny weather, eating your ice cream while people drive by and stare in envy. ;P This place always smells fantastic, like fresh waffle cones.
I would've tried to get more pictures of ice cream flavors, but there were other people lined up at the counter and I was trying to be all sneaky.
On the left, husband's Moose Tracks, vanilla ice cream with peanut butter cups and soft slabs of fudge. On the right, Bear Claws, which is dark chocolate with a caramel swirl and chocolate covered cashews. Awesome. I'm definitely getting that again. But um, maybe not a waffle cone size, for fear of doing myself an injury. My sister got the butter pecan.
There's not much to West Liberty (one main street with the restaurant, ice cream parlour, general store and a few other small shops), but it's a great little stop along 68 for ice cream. Business picks up as the weather warms, so you'll generally see a lot of families in the ice cream parlour on summer evenings. They've put out more benches and chairs along the sidewalk for expanded seating, and there was a sign saying that they now serve chicken sandwiches and apple dumplings, too.
