Now that I've conquered all of the DiCarlo's within West Virginia, I'm starting to branch out into Pennsylvania and Ohio.

And a very convenient location for me is the Washington, PA, DiCarlo's.

This location is on the path between Morgantown and Wellsburg - an area that I often travel.

So I called in an order of two pieces of pizza with mushrooms.

It was so, so warm inside that I broke a sweat just waiting for the few minutes I was there.

But I did get to see they had pepperoni rolls prepared so I purchased one of those, too.

This was a really nice rendition of a DiCarlo's slice. It's my favorite kind of cheese - the little bits, instead of shreds. Mmm.

The pepperoni roll is large and in charge - plus a side of marinara.

After attending a church service (I know) in Washington, Pa., my family and I were starved. I always look for the best restaurant in the area, and I was surprised to see "Al an' Rubens" toward the top of the list. I pass by this place every time I head home and always assumed it was a bar. You know what they say about people who assume...


It's not. It's a decent Italian place, actually. We walked in and saw all the staff sitting to the right - either they just opened or weren't very busy. I felt everyone's eyes on me as a waitress led us to our table.

I looked over the menu as our waitress brought us drinks. I asked if they had just opened, and she said no, so I was concerned why we were the only patrons in the restaurant. Luckily, it filled in pretty quickly as it got a little later and into "dinner time" territory.

We were brought bread and butter, and the butter was a different kind blended with some seasonings. Not bad.

I ordered their Tortellini Al Fonze, which had sautéed spinach, bacon and mushrooms in a garlic parmesan cream sauce tossed with cheese tortellini.

But first, a salad. Actually, a pretty decent salad with a pepper, some tomatoes, olives and mixed greens.


My entree was pretty good. It was $18, but that seems on par with meals in Morgantown. Tortellini was tasty, cheese sauce was on point, and I love the bacon and spinach. I mean, this is really kind of a dish made for me. Creamy and cheesey and amazing. Love this.



The service could be a tad bit more professional and polished (how odd to have servers standing around and watching you while you eat), the prices could be a little lower for the area, and the outside could be a bit more inviting -- but overall, decent food.

Grade: A

How could a place called Hogfather's not intrigue you? This little BBQ restaurant is located in Washington, Pa., and I pass it every time I head home to Wellsburg. For, like, seven years now I've passed it and never stopped. It has always caught my eye, though. I was just always in a hurry to either get home to Wellsburg or back to my home in Morgantown.

I was in the Washington, Pa., area with two friends recently, and when our tummies started rumbling I knew just the place I wanted to go. Hogfather's.


This place has only a dozen or so places inside to sit; it also has a drive-thru. We were seated quickly at a booth and scanned the menu. The "Old Fashioned BBQ Sandwich" seemd like a pretyt good standard to judge them by. It range up at $6.99 and had smoked, hand-pulled beef or pork with choice of spicy red or Carolina-style BBQ sauce with crisp onion straw and jalapeno peppers. I opted for pork and Carolina-style. I also ordered a side of macaroni and cheese.

The sandwich was different - in a really, really good way. It wasn't a pile of meat with sauce poured over top. No, this was the meat cooked in the sauce, so the meat was just full of tangy and sweet flavor. You don't catch much sauce - just lots of flavor. The jalapenos added just the perfect slight kick and the crispy onion straws really added a little crunch, little sweetness - just perfect. This is a damn good sandwich.

The macaroni and cheese? Also fantastic. Homemade, creamy, sinfully delicious. The spiral noodles sat in a delicious sauce with some shreds of cheese on top. Yum.

I couldn't believe this place was as good as it was. And I've been passing it for so long! Just order this exact thing and thank me later.

Grade: A

A friend wanted to get out of town and try sushi in Washington, PA. Or as I call it, "Little Washington." We headed up to Fusion Steakhouse, which is a Japanese hibachi that has a few locations locally.

As soon as we walked in, I realized how incredibly loud and packed it was. This place was super busy. We didn't opt for the hibachi - just a seat in the restaurant - so we got to move to the front of the line. As we walked through the hibachi area, you could hear people cheering for the chefs and loud music playing. It was almost a mix between a nightclub and restaurant.

It took a while for the server to get to us because they were so busy, I assume. But once she did, she made it clear she was in a hurry by plopping our menus down quickly and rushing for our drinks. 

I got the Sunset Roll, which is crispy shrimp tempura and avocado on the inside, topped with crab and smokey cream sauce. I also got a spicy California roll. Both of them were actually quite tasty. The Sunset Roll is similar to my favorite at Volcano - the WV roll. The sushi was fresh, a good temperature, and tightly rolled. The flavors melded together seamlessly, and I ate every last roll.

For dessert, I ordered a Reese's pie. While not made in-house, it was decadent, chocolatey, peanut buttery and hit every "mm" zone. I'd totally go back to this place if you want out of the typical Morgantown rut occasionally. 

Grade: A