A new BBQ joint opened up in Winfield, and Dawn and I made our way over there to check it out.



Mo Betta BBQ, located at 12474 Winfield Road, sells pork, chicken, beef and brisket. You can purchase them by the pound - and they're listed at market price, which is a bit of a pet peeve of mine - but you can also get the BBQ as part of a combo, sandwich or platter. 



I went with a platter so that I could get two sides, which is often my favorite part of BBQ! Brisket, loaded potato salad and macaroni & cheese. Plus a garlic parmesan cornbread muffin and honey BBQ sauce on the side.  



The potato salad was great - it had lots of flavor with a little bit of kick. The mac & cheese was average - but thick and creamy. The brisket was good, though I would have preferred fewer fatty pieces and more bark. But that's personal preference.



They also have some desserts that look amazing, but we didn't partake on this visit. Have you been?



Grade: B

Let's throw it back to a warmer summer day when my friend Brittany and I were visiting The Pink Pig in Fayetteville. I think this was technically during what would have been Bridge Day weekend, and this spot was slammed. 



The Pink Pig, which is the brick-and-mortar location for Fred's BBQ & Catering, looks like it's located in a former auto shop with two large garage door openings, which make it a perfect indoor-outdoor vibe. They also have cornhole outside with various tables and some heaters, too.



As one might imagine, BBQ is their specialty - and it was clear many folks were hungry for it. We waited in line for some time before making our way to the front. And, by that time, I wanted to order everything on the menu. 



I ordered the "sloppy mac," which is a pulled pork sandwich with mac & cheese on top of it. I think this is pretty much a standard menu item at so many BBQ places now, and I'm here for it. 



Plus, I got a side of Utz Helluva Good chips - I love this dip, so I figured the chips would be good. And, I was right. I kept munching on these while waiting for our food to come out. They kinda served as my appetizer.



Finally, our real appetizers came out: cheerwine jalapeno poppers and pimento cheese jalapeno poppers. 



The cheerwine ones were definitely on the sweeter side, but they were still balanced well with salty bacon and the heat of the jalapeno. 



It's hard for me to put anything about pimento cheese, though. I love me some pimento cheese. And the cheesiness with salty, crispy bacon and soft, spicy jalapeno = a recipe for perfection. 



Now, let's get to the sandwich. First and foremost, it does not come with sauce. There are some sauces at the table to use: a tangy golden, a regular and then some others. So, the sandwich was actually pretty dry - even with the mac & cheese - until I doused it in BBQ. 



With that, it was pretty tasty. I really like the tangy gold BBQ sauce. The pulled pork was tender but not super flavorful - same with the mac & cheese, so the BBQ is what really gave it that zing. 



Grade: B

When I visited home this summer, my parents and I went to check out Chiefs Smokin BBQ.



This downtown BBQ team operate out of a tent with the smoker nearby -- and a line at least a handful of people deep.



They serve brisket, pulled pork, ribs, chicken and sides like mac & cheese.



They even have their own merch for sale.



So, my dad ordered enough to feed a small army and we brought it back to the house to dig in. 



I'm not quite sure if I've ever actually had a brisket sandwich - usually I've had brisket on its own. But this was tender, melt-in-your mouth brisket. I love having a bit of bark, but I didn't see any here. Overall, though, not bad!



The macaroni & cheese was homemade, but lacked a bit of flavor. It needed something to punch it up. But, still a nice addition to town for something different. 

Grade: B

I don't know a lot about Hamlin, West Virginia. I know that Chuck Yeager grew up not far from there, and I know there's a Tudor's there from my state biscuit tour.



But I've recently learned about Carnivore BBQ, a popular Hamlin restaurant that folks from Charleston are traveling to check out. So once I saw this popping up all over the place with scrumptious-looking meals, I needed to go check it out. 



Carnivore BBQ started off as a competition-style BBQ team that has turned into a brick-and-mortar destination restaurant. My friend Dawn and I arrived 5 minutes before the restaurant opened on a Sunday, and there were folks already waiting to get in. 



The interior is a mixture of red paint, corrugated steel, wooden planks and the sweet, sweet smells of BBQ. 



Let's talk about the menu. I struggled to narrow down the options - from fried appetizers and pizza to BBQ and over-the-top burgers. I even enlisted our waiter for help - asking what is the most unique or over-the-top or tastiest. He was incredibly patient and helpful.



First, though, as first-time customers, we were treated to samples of pork, brisket and chicken. This gave me the perfect opportunity to also try their regular BBQ, kicker, vinegar and gold. Mmmm. 



My favorites were the regular and the gold - both of which were homemade! 



OK - now, for the first bite. We went with a shared appetizer of Jurassic Fries. This was a heaping portion of fries topped with melted cheese, pulled pork, pickled jalapenos, bacon and ranch on the side. I covered it in the regular bbq sauce for an indulgent, tangy, crispy delight.



For my entree, I had to go with the Caveman Kenny burger, based primarily on curb appeal. LOOK AT THIS THING. That is an entire fried disc of cheese combined with short rib patty, sauteed mushrooms and onions, lettuce, tomato and BBQ aioli. If you're a cheese-lover like me, go get it - now. 



And, if that's not enough cheese, opt for some mac & cheese as a side, like me. Very saucy with some fresh grated cheese on top.



Dessert. They have a revolving slate of desserts, but the one that caught my eye was the s'mores lava cake. Typically, lava cake is not my jam. It seems kinda generic, and chocolate cake isn't my favorite anyway. BUT, s'mores makes everything more appealing.



The cake was not as harsh as chocolate, but was a bit dry. The marshmallow was like a toasted meringue, and it was unreal. So, so good. Overall, quite a nice meal that was a bit different and provided a lovely little scenic drive, too.

Grade: A

Trail 12 BBQ has made quite a name for itself for BBQ in southern West Virginia. Located at Twin Hollow Campground & Cabins, this BBQ restaurant has been super active on social and has shown delicious dishes that I couldn't wait to get my hands on.



During quarantine, Trail 12 was still operating - thank goodness - and serving BBQ deliciousness through its pick-up window. Their menu features hickory smoked baby back ribs, wings, pulled pork, pulled chicken, shredded beef brisket, burgers, smoked bologna, hot dogs and more. 



Because ribs are the bread and butter, I ordered a half rack with a sweet Memphis-style BBQ sauce. These ribs were SO smoky, super tender and had a good flavor. Ribs are typically not my go-to, but these were tasty.



For sides, I got a spicy mac & cheese, which definitely did have some heat to it - but creamy, too.




And potato salad, which was standard.



Plus a roll to top it all off!

Grade: B 

During MOV Restaurant Week - Mid-Ohio Valley Restaurant Week - I wanted to make sure I knocked at least one restaurant off my list here.



This restaurant week encompasses restaurants from Ohio to Parkersburg down to Ripley. I wanted to find a West Virginia restaurant, of course, and the only one on the list that I hadn't tried yet was Bogey's BBQ & Grille.



Located on a golf course, this restaurant focuses on BBQ and other homestyle favorites. But for restaurant week, they showed off a few other options.



Appetizers were either fried green tomatoes or pepperoni rolls - of course I went with the latter. They were rolled up like an eggroll and very crisp on the outside with grill marks. They had a ton of oozing cheese, which I love, and a side of marinara.



For my entree, I went with the prime rib. It was served as one thick piece in its own au jus. It was pretty fatty, but when I got bites of meat, it was great.



The two sides I chose were macaroni & cheese and potato salad. Both decent.



And for dessert, I went with fried cheesecake - which was wrapped up and crispy just like the pepperoni rolls. Topped with caramel and whipped cream, you can't really go wrong with this dessert. Creamy cheesecake in a fried exterior. And sweet on sweet on sweet.



Grade: B