Rapid Fired Pizza is a chain restaurant featuring made-to-order pizzas with tons of topping options - and all made fast. Their Huntington location is the first in West Virginia, and I just so happened to be in town on one of their first days open. 



They make it easy to order online and either order one of their specialty pizzas or choose from all sorts of fun ingredients to top a pizza that they assemble right behind the counter for you. Here are the various options:

Sauce: Classic Red, Spicy Red, Sweet Red, Applewood Smoked Bacon BBQ, Buffalo, Garlic Sauce, Margarine, Olive Oil, Pesto, Ranch, Taco, White, Mac n Cheese

Cheese: Cheddar Jack Cheese, Feta Cheese Crumbles, Goat Cheese Crumbles, Mozzarella Provolone Mix, Fresh Mozzarella Slices, Parmesan Cheese, Ricotta Cheese, Vegan Cheese

Meat: Anchovy, Bacon, Beef Crumble, Chicken, Ham, Jalapeno Pepperoni, Pepperoni, Sausage, Sausage Crumble

Veggies: Artichoke Hearts, Arugula, Banana Peppers, Basil, Black or Green Olives, Cucumber, Green or Red Onions, Green or Red Pepper, Jalapeno, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Pineapple, Fresh Garlic, Spinach, Roasted Tomato, Tomato

Seasoning: Cinnamon Streusel, Crushed Red Pepper, Firecracker, Oregano, Parmesan Cheese, Sea Salt, Taco, The Bomb

Dipping Sauce: Classic Red, Spicy Red, Sweet Red, BBQ, Buffalo, Chipotle Ranch, Garlic Sauce, Pesto, Ranch, Rapid Fired, Sweet Habanero, Taco

Hot Sauces: Mean Green Ghost, Gusty Garlic Habanero, Hip Hot Habanero, Jumpin' Jalapeno, Kickin' Cayenne, Smokin' Chipotle



The pizza I created had sweet red sauce, ricotta, sliced mozzarella, garlic, artichoke, cooked mushrooms and parmesan. And it was soooo good, with the exception that the crust simply just didn't stand up to the weight of the ingredients. It became soggy and difficult to even pick up. I finished it with a fork. That could be my fault for choosing so many - or it could be my win because the flavors were perfection. It was umami heaven. Judging by the photo below, I think it's clear it was indeed enjoyed. 



Grade: B

West Virginia's version of a 24-hour diner is The Omelet Shoppe, which has locations in Virginia, Beckley, Parkersburg and, at one point, Princeton. Parkersburg was the only West Virginia located I hadn't yet been to, so while driving through the area in search of breakfast, I found myself here.



I placed an order online (who knew they had that capability?!) for bologna cheese bagel. Typically, I'd stroll in, find an uncomfortable seat amongst the rest of the late-nighters turned to early-morningers. 



There's certainly a vibe to the place, but on this occasion, I actually had to stand outside in the breezeway before being greeted due to occupancy limits. They already assumed I was the online to-go order and handed me my bag. I'm glad I remembered the drink because that was almost forgotten. 



Once I had my food, I got back in my car and continued on my journey. At this moment, let's reflect on The Omelet Shoppe. It serves a crucial role in the landscape of restaurants. It's not high-end, and it's not trying to be. It is quick, easy diner food that you can likely make at home. But it's cheap and often the perfect place after a long night out, shift workers, truck drivers and others looking for a warm meal in a no-frills joint. 



The bagel sandwich was perfect for a one-handed breakfast. I added both cheddar and swiss and mayo to give me all those comforting flavors. Side note: I am sad McDonald's no longer has bagel sandwiches. They're like a guilty pleasure. This bagel sandwich hit the spot, though. Points off for it being lopsided, making it more difficult to eat and the bagels on the dry side. Overall, though, simple, quick and tasty.



Grade: B

Everybody loves pizza, right? Well, *most* people love pizza (sorry, lactose-intolerant friends). This means there are a LOT of opinions on pizza. Do you like a super thin crust or a thick, puffy crust? Sweet sauce or slightly spicy sauce? Tons of toppings or minimal? We all have our own preferences, and I always try to keep an open mind to new styles. And, I tend to get my standard cheese pizza with mushrooms as a benchmark. So, let's check out a new-to-me spot in Huntington.



Monty's Pizza in Huntington calls itself the "Cadillac of Pizza Places." OK. I called in a small with mushrooms and made my way to the building. It looks kinda old school from the outside, and I was happy to see the drive-up pick-up window. That makes things easier in these COVID-19 times (and, let's be honest, outside of those times, too). So, I dug in right away. It's a thinner crust that they cook to dark golden brown. There was ample stringy cheese and I liked the sauce; it was fairly subtle and mild. Overall, it made for a decent pie. Pretty standard, solid pizza.

Grade: B

East Flavor is a Huntington restaurant that opened in the fall in a space that many of my Huntington friends say is "doomed" - 322 10th Street. What they mean by this is that there are a lot of restaurants in this space that ultimately fail. 



Truthfully, I feel like this is the case for many towns. And, I'm always rooting for the new ones to change the trend. East Flavor is no exception, so I placed an order online to pick up at the restaurant. At this time, I felt more comfortable getting food to go - but still wanted to support this new restaurant. My quick view inside showed a large space, lots of finished wood and teal accents with small decorations. 



I ordered pad thai, tempura don and an Angry Dragon roll. I keep hoping I'll find a pad thai that lives up to my dreams of some favorites in Morgantown, but this just wasn't quite it. It wasn't bad, but it was a little bland. But, I also know this is probably not their specialty.



The tempura don was on the "danburi" list, and I was curious about it. It was tempura prawns and veggies on top of rice with house sauce, but mine was missing a sauce. But, tempura anything (fried anything) can't be too bad.



Finally, the Angry Dragon roll has shrimp tempura (sensing a theme?), spica tuna, avocado, topped with spicy crab salad and spicy mayo. I enjoyed this the most of the bunch. But I also rarely turn down sushi? Very yummy.

Grade: B

I'm not sure who Grumpy Gary is, but I do know he now has a restaurant in the Huntington area. Or, maybe someone just likes him enough to name a restaurant after him. 



Either way, I stopped here to check it out. The interior was closed due to COVID-19, but there were a few tables outside where we could enjoy our food. We placed our order, waited for some folks who were taking up the tables and were finally able to eat our dishes.



The menu here is heavy on biscuits - topped with everything from sausage and bacon to pinto beans and fried chicken breast. They have other breakfast items, burgers, appetizers, salads and pizza. On this particular day, they had just come out with their "Grumpwich," which has flaked ham on a pizza dough seasoned with garlic, basil and oregano, topped with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, provolone and mozzarella cheese. 

You may be familiar with pubwiches or wedgies, and this is similar. It's a pizza as the top crust of a sandwich. It was pretty good - though certainly messy. And definitely filling. The top was super cheesy and the crust itself was flavorful - like it had herbs in it. The experience of trying to eat while having folks smoking nearby or napping on tables was not great, but I would come back to try a biscuit. 

Grade: B

Forgive me for not getting a photo of the outside of the building - because it's one of those places that you've probably driven by in Parkersburg but may have not set food inside. George's Place is located near the mall in Parkersburg and is a family-friendly bar that features some Mediterranean dishes. 



The interior looked pretty standard for a bar & grill, though I was only inside for a few minutes to pick up my to-go order. Let's dive in, shall we? We are starting with grape leaves stuffed with rice and ground beef and served with a side of yogurt. Grape leaves definitely have a bit of a sour flavor that I have come to love - but paired with that yogurt? Delish.



Then, I went to another extreme for dinner - stuffed shells. But first, a quick salad with fresh spring greens, cut tomatoes and red onion. Solid for a complimentary salad.



And then there is some garlic bread that was a bit sad, but it tasted fine nonetheless. 



Now, the entree. This was a bit different from what I am used to. The shells were stuffed with chicken, veggies, tomatoes, onion, mozzarella and marinara. I typically have some sort of ricotta and mozzarella mixture inside, but this was okay. I would've loved some more punches of flavor - maybe something like fresh herbs and getting that creaminess from the cheese. Still a decent dish for a bit different take on it.

Grade: B

Gino's Pizza and Spaghetti House has a number of locations throughout West Virginia, and while they may not be quite as ubiquitous as Tudor's, they're probably not far off. In fact, they're usually attached to one another.



The locations do vary slightly from one to the other. Some have independent owners (I believe), which means they can switch up some of the menu items. In this case, I went for a calzone with cheese and mushrooms. You can see it's a litttleeee extra done, especially on the bottom. And I would not have hated some more filling, but I still ate every bite. 

Grade: B

Travel + ice cream are two of my favorite things. So, I combined the two recently during a trip to Vienna to check out the Frostee Shoppe Too.



The small drive-through shop has more than just ice cream, though: hot dogs, nachos, pretzels and pulled pork BBQ, as well. 



I started off with ice cream and went with a turtle frostee flurry - chocolate, caramel and pecans. I oddly loved that the mix-ins aren't completely blended so there was a chunky texture with some chocolate-heavy bites and pecan-heavy bites for variation.



Then, I went with a soft pretzel with cheese. I'm not sure if I developed like a sensitivity to salt or what, but I cannot deal with this much salt on a pretzel. It just takes over. So I brushed a good bit off, dunked it in cheese and it was all hunky-dory.



And I got two hot dogs, too. One plain with ketchup and a "junkyard dog," which had "everything imaginable." It was pretty much chili, ketchup, mustard, onion and relish. Not bad, but with so many toppings, you barely get any of the hotdog itself.

Grade: B

There's a certain void that a smoothie can fill. It's light and refreshing and can be more healthy or more indulgent depending on the ingredients.



At the mall in Barboursville, there's a new smoothie spot: Green Revolution. They have smoothies, smoothie bowls, salads and avocado toast. Many of the options have some feel-good, healthy ingredients. 



I went for a strawberry-banana smoothie - a pretty standard, solid option at most smoothie places. This one was made with yogurt and no added sugar, so it still had the same great flavor without the additional sweetness.



Does that make it a bit more bland? Maybe. Does it make it more guilt-free? Yes. And they even have a paper straw to be environment-friendly. But, man, it sure does get yummy and difficult to use after a bit.



Have you been? I'm curious about the avocado toast! 

Grade: B

We're back in Milton for dinner time! But, this isn't country, homecooking. Instead, it's a bit higher end cuisine at The Venetian Restaurant. 



The Venetian Restaurant is one part of The Venetian Estate, which also includes an event venue and pub. I've previously been to the pub, which is nice but more casual.



When Dawn and I came to check it out, there was a bit of confusion on whether we would be able to join or not because we didn't have a reservation. So we waited for a bit and then were guided to a table in a room off to the left near a wine cabinet. 



The space here really is lovely. It's like a classic home with lots of lovely touches. The service didn't necessarily match the ambiance, though. It was a little hectic and unorganized, but once we finally had a server it was smooth sailing. We started off with some rolls and butter. A little chilly so it was tough to spread, but tasty nonetheless.



Dawn ordered a few appetizers as her main meal, which she was generous to let me sample. First, soft pretzels and beer cheese. I really enjoyed the flavor, though the cheese texture was a bit grainy and began to separate. 



The meatballs were different ... the ground beef had a little funk to it - not necessarily in a bad way. But almost gamey. And the sauce was sweet with a twang. I appreciate that this was a little different, but not necessarily to my tastes.



But for my appetizer, I went with these little beef wellingtons. I've never had beef wellington before, so I was excited for this. They were like mini, savory, tender pieces of beef enrobed in puff pastry with a thick gravy for dipping. It was very savory, and I would've loved like a sour cream or something light and creamy as a relief from the savory.



My entree was scallops and grits. It looked  a little sparse, but still had some great flavors. The scallops were a bit smaller than the giant ones you may see elsewhere, but they had a very light sear and slight sweetness.



Finally, dinner was a bourbon butter cake. It was a pretty dense, almost cornbread like slice topped with ice cream and berries. It wasn't very sweet - most of that came from the berries and ice cream. But I enjoyed it.

Grade: B

Princeton is consistently improving and adding all kinds of new, fun things. One of those new things is Totally Glazed, a donut shop on Mercer Street. 



The shop has a sorta retro vibe with the awning and then some graffiti art. Brick walls lay the way for bright, white counters full of donuts. FULL OF DONUTS.



As I perused all the different flavors, I matched the chalkboard menu on the wall with the options in front of me. Lemon Glazed. Oreo. Peanut Butter. Pumpkin.

They also have donut holes - or BITES - with cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, peanut butter, maple bacon, and more. 



Since I wanted to try out a bunch of different flavors, I went for a half dozen with six different options.



But here's some delish donut p0rn for you adore.



Peanut butter! Maple pecan!



Pumpkin! Fruity pebbles!

 

And here's my final six: peanut butter, pumpkin, cookies & cream, maple pecan, fruity pebbles and I think regular glazed. I think it's a bit tough to mess up a donut. And these were good. Not especially different, but good, solid and reliable.

Grade: B