The Trail Kitchen, located off the beaten path near Clendenin, got a lot of attention when it opened for its "pay what you want" scale. 



It has since made the rounds for its location, its open or closed status, and its specials. I couldn't wait to check it out.



Because it isn't quite "along the way" for anyone, really, I had to make a special trip out here - and I'm glad I did before they closed for the season. 



Let's start with getting here because that's half the battle. I have a Subaru for a reason; I like to be able to go just about anywhere. But if you have a vehicle with a low clearance or are not comfortable driving on unpaved roads, this may not be the road for you. I made it fine - nice and slow on the dirt roads - but know that you're going to see mostly ATVs and trucks in the parking area. 



The building has a nice outdoor deck area, as well as indoor seating. You order at the walk-up window, which has a menu listed - but no prices. It is a little awkward - without even a suggested price - because money is such a weird, taboo topic in our culture and looking at someone and telling them what you think their work, their effort, their staff are worth. Here's the restaurant's explanation on why they do it:

Our way to "Be the Change we wish to see in the world" ... We have decided to use a business model we have not seen before in any other restaurant. There will be NO prices on our menu! Our customers will decide how much they will pay for their meal. Here will be your 3 options ...

1. Pay only what you can afford
2. Pay what the meal is worth to you
3. "Pay it forward" to help someone who is quietly suffering financially

You will be handed an envelope when you order. Deposit your money into the envelope, the amount will be based on the 3 choices above, then put that envelope into a mail slot near the takeout window to pay for your meal, it will be completely private. OR you can choose to pay with a credit card and the amount will be between you and your cashier. WHY WOULD WE DO SUCH A CRAZY THING???? Please read to the end. Sometimes God whispers and idea in your ear that challenges your way of thinking. We did not do this lightly or on whim. Much thought and prayer went into this decision.

1. Someone who can't afford a meal, gets a meal while keeping their pride and dignity intact.
2. Someone who can afford a meal gets a great meal and pays what it's worth to them.
3. It gives those who can pay a little extra the opportunity to "pay it forward" to someone who is quietly suffering.

This prolonged pandemic and polarized political divide is creating a toxic environment in our country. When you're overwhelmed with fear and frustration, the best answer is to respond with fearlessness, and faith. We have faith in ...
God
Our community
We the people
Americans
and especially West Virginians

Anyone can fall on hard times and this pandemic has only amplified the problem for many families. Imagine if you couldn't take your daughter to a special birthday dinner, or celebrate a special event, or just needed a real meal that didn't come from a microwave. We will offer delicious meals made with quality ingredients, this is a real restaurant and we take pride in our food. We are not rich people, we are not a non-profit, we are not a "soup kitchen". We have built a first class commercial kitchen with an enormous deck on our property with our life savings and months of hard work.

We are a family owned small business that operates on old fashioned American values...
Faith in God
Hard Work
Quality product
Service to others
Strong Community

Life is more than the mindless pursuit of money and material things. We still have to pay bills, buy food, maintain the restaurant equipment and stay complaint with the health dept.. This bold move to operate solely on an honor system is scary, but we believe you must. "Be the change you wish to see in the world" and we believe this is the right thing to do. This is our preferred business model. If for some reason we are unable to continue operations in this manner, we will adjust our pricing plan but only if the original plan proves to be unsustainable. The founding fathers of our country had faith in "We the people" when they wrote our constitution. So, we will have faith in the people as well.

The Markers
The Trail Kitchen LLC "In God We Trust"



So I walked up to the window and put in an order for their "Trail Dipper," which is grilled sourdough with pepperjack cheese, american cheese, turkey, lettuce, tomato, onion and homemade ranch to dip it in. They also had homemade french onion dip that I added - I figured it could be fun to try that as a dip for the sandwich, too. 



After I placed my order, I walked inside the little breezeway area that has restrooms, as well as a small complimentary coffee bar. How nice that is for those who have been traveling! A little pick-me-up. After just a few minutes, my food was ready and I left to enjoy it. 



The sandwich is stacked. The bread is beautifully grilled, the cheese was perfectly melted, and there's a substantial amount of deli turkey, without it being unwieldy. The one thing I would change is the stringy shredded lettuce. I don't love that texture when glopped with a sauce. So I scooped out the bulk of it and enjoy the remainder of my sandwich.

If you want a one-of-a-kind West Virginia experience, the Trail Kitchen can provide that. I appreciate what they're doing and providing, and it's something different we can enjoy.

Grade: A

Legacy Foods has been distributing their products to area stores for some time now, but they just opened their own physical location in Indore.



Its' a little bit of a trek and out of the way for most folks, but that just means you may need to make a special trip there. 



Legacy Foods is a shop selling their bakery goods, as well as other West Virginia products and produce and a deli. 



I was most interested in their bakery products, so I took to the shelves to check out what they had. 



I fell in love with the idea of the s'mores brownie - with little marshmallows and teddy grahams sprinkled on top. 



And, like every good West Virginia bakery, they had some pepperoni rolls. 



Both of these were good. My personal preference is a bit more on the moist side, but they both still had decent flavor. 



The deli sandwiches are made from the meats they have available in the case.



Which would you try?

Grade: B

Dancing Dog is a new ice cream shop on the West Side of Charleston. I personally am always a fan of ice cream, and I think it's the perfect addition to the West Side. 



Their soft opening was during Oktoberwest, and it may or may not have been the highlight of my day. I made my way through a crowd of people to this beautiful, sweet oasis.



The space is long and narrow and has some really cool artwork on the walls that bring in some color. As of now, they're just serving homemade ice cream, but it seems like more food options may be on the way in the future.



The menu for this day included chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, lemon chiffon, oreo, brownie brittle, milk chocolate, raspberry, mint chocolate chip and chocolate chip.



Me - being me - I couldn't choose between chocolately or fruity, so I went with both. I got one scoop of oreo and one scoop of strawberry. 



These flavors were both so smooth. The oreo has big chunks of cookie, and the ice cream was the perfect temperature of cool. It made the texture perfect. Go get you some local scoops and taste the difference.



Grade: A

You may have heard of Girls Night Out in Charleston, which is a fundraiser for the YWCA.



But have you heard of Guys Night Out?



It's a smaller scale event geared toward men that also raises money for the YWCA and Sojourner's Shelter. 



Think of a giant WVU tailgate with huge TVs, an outdoor BBQ, games, raffle tickets and silent auctions. And you have Guys Night Out! 



Located at Oakes Field in South Charleston, the event coincided with WVU's most recent football game. 



I was fortunate enough to be able to hep out and judge the wing contest held during halftime. 



They offer a BBQ buffet before making way for the wings. There were six different restaurants who competed for the title this year. 



They were Red Carpet, Bear's Den, Sam's Uptown Cafe, Tricky Fish, Bar 101 and the Lookout.



One of the smartest things they did was have these little Halloween-themed markers for each wing so you could keep track of which ones come from where. 



I can't tell you how beneficial this could be for pepperoni roll cookoffs, too! 



So let's talk about the wings! My favorites of the evening were Bar 101, Red Carpet and Tricky Fish.



All my fellow judges agreed on the top three - but Red Carpet ended up coming out on top. 



I think Bar 101 had the best balance of a sweet and tangy - it was a delish teriyaki.



And the people's choice was Bear's Den, which was surprising! But nice to spread the love a little.



Have you attended this event?

Who doesn't love a good snow cone? They're fun and nostalgic and serve no real culinary value. But they're pretty.



There's a new Sno Biz location - which is a franchise with a few locations in the Mountain State - in Kanawha City. There are a billion different flavors you can choose from, which of course all taste like sugar with maybe a hint of fruit. That's kind of the point. 



I ordered one to make a rainbow: cherry, orange, lemon, lime, blue raspberry and grape. It kind of reminds me when you mix a bunch of different options at a soda fountain machine - the result isn't a recognizable flavor, per se, but it's enjoyable. That's kind of like this. All of the flavors kind of melded together to be a fruity sweet. And that's what makes it fun.

Grade: B

My friend Sara posted a cupcake fundraiser that was happening, and I am always down to support a good cause - especially when food is involved.



Sugar Shenanigans was offering a variety of different cupcakes, so I wanted to try one of each: chocolate peanut butter (chocolate cake, peanut butter filling, chocolate peanut butter frosting), red velvet (red velvet cake, cream cheese filling, cream cheese), pumpkin (pumpkin cake, cream cheese filling, cream cheese frosting), French vanilla (french vanilla cake, rich vanilla buttercream frosting), apple spice (apple spice cake, vanilla buttercream frosting, topped with apple pie filling) and cookies & cream (white cake with crushed Oreos, cookies and buttercream frosting). 



My favorites were the French vanilla and cookies and cream. Which ones would you choose?

EZ Street in St. Albans is a bar with a large outdoor deck. They also have a fairly large menu for this type of venue, which Sarah and I were excited to check out. 



The interior is dark, but it's was bright and sunny when we went out back. Luckily, there was some shade that kept the sun from pounding down too much.



I ordered a draft beer - a Wild Little Thing from Sierra Nevada Brewing. This giant frosty mug held a sweet and sour beer perfect for summer.



The menu has some good options, and I ultimately went with the "Boom Boom Shrimp" Tacos that have a breaded sweet and spicy shrimp with pico de gallo and shredded cheese in a soft flour tortilla. These were pretty good. There wasn't a ton of the sauce, but I did get some of that flavor, which I enjoyed. 



And then I had a side of hot pepper bites, which are one of my absolute favorites. These had a good bit of breading on them, but they were tasty. I wish every single bar sold these, because they are delish. Where else serves them?



Grade: B