"At The Caboose, we embrace the spirit of community and exceptional dining. Nestled in Clarksburg, West Virginia, our story is rooted in delivering warm hospitality alongside a menu brimming with Italian-inspired flavors ... We take pride in offering a welcoming atmosphere, complete with outdoor seating and a full bar, making it perfect for family outings or group gatherings." The train-themed restaurant has changed ownership over the years -- and even locations. And currently, it features many recipes from the manager's mother. The menu features hoagies loaded with fillings, fresh salads, wings, pasta, pizza and more. Plus brunch, drinks and kids' meals. We started with some bread and butter. Warming it up would have made this 1,000 times more enticing. Or any blend of garlic and herbs. So, it was OK as is. The house salad consisted of red onion, tomato, mozzarella and chickpeas? Basic, but fresh. I ordered the cheese sacchetti - Pasta purses filled with a blend of 6 cheeses, topped with marinara sauce. I am always happy with pasta. I gladly gobbled this down. The level of acid in this marinara was fairly high, so I definitely felt it later. A touch of sweetness or creaminess would have put it into my personal favorites territory. Grade: B

Luigi’s is a family-friendly Italian restaurant in Milton, known for classic Italian fare at reasonable prices. It’s a casual dine-in or takeout spot where locals go for hearty pastas, pizzas, subs and more. This is the first Luigi's location I have visited, though there are now 2 additional ones in Huntington. There was a simple, but clean, dining area. I was just passing through, so I chose to place a takeout order. I started with a small house salad with French dressing - my favorite. it had a healthy base of lettuce, and was topped with green pepper, banana pepper, red onion, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, tons of mozzarella cheese and croutons. it was a really solid start to the meal. For my entrée, I chose stuffed shells with marinara sauce. This dish was good - it was baked so there was a layer of melted mozzarella cheese over everything. The stuffed shells did get a bit dried out, but they were swimming in a pool of sauce, which helped balance it a bit. Some more seasoning in the filling would've taken this over the top. Grade: B

The future of Sergio's is a bit up in the air with the recent sale so I wanted to share my thoughts while I still can.



The Italian restaurant has a sister restaurant already established in Hurricane and is connected to the Guadalajara restaurant family. The one thing that differs here from the sister restaurant is that there's a focus on pizzas, as opposed to steaks.



Sergio's is located in Elk City - with some historical charm and minimal decor. Tall tin ceilings and a combo of booths and tables line the dining room.



Soft, warm breadsticks sprinkled with parm set the tone for the meal. These were gloriously simple.



I had to try their house pepperoni roll, which was a long, flat roll filled with lots of cheese and pepperoni and scored in the center. It was somewhere between a calzone and a classic pepperoni roll—soft, hearty, and satisfying, though it didn’t quite stand out as remarkable.



My main entree was a hearty seafood pasta dish featuring jumbo lobster-stuffed ravioli paired with succulent jumbo sautéed shrimp, all enveloped in their rich, house-made Alfredo sauce. The ravioli are generously filled, providing a substantial bite. The Alfredo sauce delivers a creamy and flavorful coating. Rich, and right up my alley.



Grade: A

Chef Paul Smith, West Virginia's first James Beard Award winner, has opened his newest restaurant in Charleston: Paulie's Fine Italian. Located just across from his restaurant 1010 Bridge, Paulie's Fine Italian focuses on authentic Italian cusine with an Appalachian flare. Smith draws inspiration from his childhood memories spent in the kitchen with his grandfather, and the dishes at Paulie's each tell a story. I was super fortunate to check out the soft opening of the restaurant; I expected a few kinks considering it's brand new. But, I was blown away and want to share some of the incredibly tasty dishes we were able to try. I went with friends Evan & Heather Osborn, Erin & Eric Conner, and Jamie Ferrell. With such a big party, we were able to order a little bit of everything and share. Even doing that, we only ended up sampling a portion of the menu - but everything was amazing. First up was a round of oyster shooters. This was the first time I've ever had an oyster shooter. My question was: do you chew? I think the answer is no. But, I kinda wanted to savor the flavor of it? I chewed it a bit, enjoying the slimy, briny oyster with a touch of sweet acid from the limoncello mignonette. Next up was the appetizer I ordered: artichoke & potato with rosemary, garlic aioli. We received some complimentary bread and oil with parmesan. Brussels sprouts with guanciale, hot honey and farmhouse cheese. Fried Oysters with fire-roasted Calabrian chili. Fried mozzarella cheese curds wit hfire-roasted tomato sauce and parm snow. PARM SNOW. Fried anchoby stuffed olives, marcona almonds and lemon zest. Folks at the table seemed to love this one the most. Lobsters & Bowties - poached lobster, langoustine cream, and tarragon breadcrumbs. Just from this description alone, you know it's good. I had a hard time deciding because I also still really want to try the Sunday Ribbons, the Sausage and Pea, the Rigatoni alla Vodka, the Carbonara --- literally, everything. I want to try everything. But, wait, there's more. DESSERT. And, I know you're surprised, but I loved every single dessert. The cannoli chip & dip featured sweet ricotta and housemade pizzelles. Tiramisu cheesecake had espresso, mascarpone and a lady finger. The panna cotta had lemon and mascerated berries. The budino was like a chocolate pudding with salted caramel. Finally, the last one of the evening was bread pudding with panettone and rum anglaise. And, this may have been my most favorite of all. Grade: A

Sergio's Cucina Italiana & Steaks is a newer restaurant in Hurricane that I visited with two of my closest friends, Elena and Amanda, when it first opened.



This restaurant is one of several from the namesake owner, who also owns the Guadalajara restaurants. But, the specialty for this location is specifically Italian fare and steaks. And I had set my sights on Italian.



I started with a minestrone soup, which I wasn't crazy about. But the warm breadsticks with parmesan were fluffy and buttery.



I built my own trio with the following:

Meat lasagna - layers of hearty ground beef, creamy ricotta, and Parmesan cheese, all nestled between sheets of pasta and smothered in rich tomato sauce and baked to perfection.

Chicken parmesan - breaded chicken cutlet served over a bed of spaghetti pasta and topped with rich marinara sauce.

Fettuccine rosa - A delectable blend of marinara and house-made Alfredo sauce tossed with fettuccine, served with tender chicken.



The meal was so comforting and filling - it's impossible not to enjoy it. The flavors were not anything I haven't had before, but they were tasty. Carbs are my love language.



Grade: A

With an old world influenced style, Sauce on the Blue's menu offers a selection of Italian dishes - from classic favorites like Spaghetti Bolognese to more contemporary dishes like Penne Gorgonzola. That Penne Gorgonzola sounded right up my alley and reminded me of the grape & gorgonzola pizza at Pies & Pints. The dish has gorgonzola cream sauce, chicken, red grapes and baby spinach. It goes hard in the flavor category with the bright pops of sweetness with the grapes paired with the creamy funkiness of the cheese. The only downfall for me was the bits of chicken that were a bit rubbery, which can give me the ick pretty easily. Grade: B

Scaffidi's Gnocchi Nook was a quick-service carryout restaurant located in Weirton that turned to a virtual kitchen based out of the Scaffidi Restaurant Group in Steubenville, Ohio.



They offeer Build Your Own Gnocchi Bowls, Pasta Bowls, and more. I with with a gnocchi bowl, which comes with your choice of Ricotta Gnocchi, Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi or Tomato Basil Ricotta Gnocchi. Then, choose the sauce: Alfredo Sauce, Marinara Sauce, Oil & Garlic Sauce or Pink Sauce. Finally, choose the toppings: Bacon, Banana Peppers, Black Olives, Capers, Crumbled Sausage, Feta Cheese, Grilled Chicken, Ham, Mozzarella Cheese, Mixed Peppers, Mushrooms, Onions, Pepperoni, Salami, Shrimp, Spinach and Tomatoes.

I ordered a ricotta gnocchi with marinara sauce, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. What I received was a giant congealed mess of mozzarella sitting on top of some gnocchi. This is in my part my fault for choosing the ingredients, but I assumed erroneously that they would be mixed throughout. Now, none of this is bad - carbs, sauce, veggies. But the proportions were totally off. I went to search for a gnocchi, cut off a hunk of mozzarella and fork a mushroom to get a mix. This is part of the downfalls of a delivery-only restaurant. This probably would've been much beteter fresh.



Grade: C