Kozy Farm's Sweets is an adorable Beckley bakery serving up cupcakes, mini cakes, cookies and coffee. 



When I was visiting, the cupcakes are what caught my attention. They were bright and stacked and just calling my name.



Now, typically, I'm not a cupcake person. They're fine, but not the first thing I gravitate toward. But these ones were so visually delicious. 



The cherry one was easily my first choice. Cherry is a very underrated fruit, in my opinion. I also have a hard time finding it in grocery stores. Bring back the cherry! 



The cupcake was absolutely stacked with ribbons of icing. A drizzle of chocolate. A gummy cherry. It was fun and tasty.



I also went with a strawberry lemonade cupcake, which was topped with a candied wedge of lemon. How adorable is that? And let's be honest, when it comes to cupcakes, we are more so eating with our eyes than with our tastebuds.



And while they didn't have their "mini cakes" available, I did spy with my little eye some bread pudding. And, you know bread pudding is one of my guilty pleasures. 



They had a maple pecan that I knew I had to have. And, honestly, the bulk inside was fairly dry and would have benefited greatly from a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream. 



Still, this Beckley bakery is adorable and had some fun sweets. I'd like to try some others next time to make sure I'm really getting their flavor.



Grade: B

One of my favorite local bakeries in recent memory has closed.



I visited Busy Bee Bakery in Beckley a few months ago and was greeted with happy customers wrapped around the building and a long wait to order.



And that's part of what led to their decision to close. In a Facebook post, the owners noted how all-consuming the bakery became. And that, coupled with some loss and health issues, have led to the end of this chapter.



The bakery itself had beautiful floor to ceiling windows, and the farmhouse chic interior gave way to a bright pastry case full of cupcakes, donuts, cheesecakes and bagels, too.



The creative flavors and attention to detail are really what made me light up at Busy Bee Bakery.



The cupcakes included flavors like "Death By Chocolate with Ferraro Rocher" and "Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla."



Then there was also "Chocolate Caramel with Mini Milky Ways" and Key Lime Pie.



There was cotton candy and blueberry coconut cream and the list goes on and on and on.



I went with Banana Nut Crunch, Strawberry Crunch Bar Ice Cream and Honeycomb Lavender. I thought these were unique flavors that you don't see everywhere, so I was excited to try them.



They each had a good cake base and tons of frosting, and my favorite part was the lovely toppers - a dried banana chip, honeycomb and scooter crunchies. Fun and full of sugar.



I also took a piece of turtle cheesecake home. You wanna talk about indulgent? My gooooodness. Creamy and silky and unreal.



But, wait, there's more: bagels! I didn't eat this on the spot. Instead, I took it home for breakfast the next morning.



But, it's like a feast for the eyes - how fun to see this brightly colored bagel in all shades of the rainbow.



If you had a chance to check it out while they were open, let me know your favorites!



Grade: A

These home-based charcuterie businesses are popping up around the state - and I am so happy about it. We've tried one in Morgantown and one in Charleston, and now, there's Gourmet Grazing in Beckley.



There are a variety of different kinds of charcuterie boards you can order, depending on how many folks you plan to feed. For a small portion, I ordered a 6x6 and when asked if there were any specifications, I just asked for no dark chocolate (bleh) - which is so nice! Since she prompted me, I felt like I wasn't being a pain. 



Typically, they deliver, but since I was just driving through town, I picked it up. I also believe they may be in the process of getting their own location - which is so exciting! 



The box was full of cheese, fruit, salami, chocolate and more. 



And I absolutely loved the cute little wooden utensils, like this absolutely adorable honey dipper. I just can't with how cute it is. I think that's part of this whole like experience - the picking and choosing and abundance of goodies and it's all presented in this lovely little package. Are you a fan?

First of all, I'm not quite sure why 90% of my photos of the outside of restaurants are messed up. I think I take the photo so quickly, my phone doesn't have time to really capture the whole thing. I swear this is not user error.

Secondly, I love Asian food. All kinds, really. Sushi. Ramen. Americanized Chinese. AND, I have many more restaurants to explore in Beckley. So when Yummi Japan popped up on my radar, it was a no-brainer to go check it out. 



The Philly Roll - crabmeat and cream cheese - is everything my basic heart loves. Guilty pleasure - but very tasty. 



Then, I did a shrimp teriyaki, which was just OK. It was really salty for my taste, and not a ton of sauce/flavor outside of that.



Crab cheese rangoons - always a treat. Maybe this means I should just stick to my guilty pleasures since they're my favorite?

Grade: B

Sweetz Da Snackery is a Beckley restaurant that specializes in soul food. They've been helping the local community during the COVID-19 pandemic and is a Black-owned business. Just a couple reasons I wanted to support them as soon as possible.



The building is bright - yellow and red - so it's definitely eye-catching! When you walk inside, there's a small shop to the right where you can get candies, snacks and drinks. Ahead, there are the main offerings of the day.



On this day, I went for the fried chicken and macaroni & cheese. Plus a Grape Crush. I mean, does it get any better?



The chicken had a nice crisp breading. Usually I'd choose a drumstick, but these were tasty. But let's talk about the macaroni and cheese. This is literally one of my favorite foods - whether it's blue box Kraft or a homemade style. But this, this was a different level. A heaping portion of baked sweet and creamy mac & cheese. The kind that I beg for here in Charleston. It's just... so good. Do yourself a favor and get some ASAP.



Grade: A

Wasabi Fusion is a Chinese, Japanese and Thai fusion restaurant in Beckley. So, think Chinese classics with sushi and a few noodle dishes, too.



Recently, I ordered takeout here: crab rangoons and a sushi roll. The crab rangoons - this was a very small order. I think there were three. They were the fold-over kind, which I tend to like because they have more filling. These were average.



I underestimated the amount of "crunchies" this would have, but I was not mad about it. It's a little deep-fried log of goodness. All of my guilty pleasures wrapped up in one.

Grade: B

Sam's Hot Dog Stand is a well-known hot dog joint in southern West Virginia. And me, being me, decided to try all of them so I can complete the list. Well, friends, this is one of the last ones.



We're at a gas station on Robert C. Byrd Drive in Beckley. The Sam's has a whole separate section with an awning, and those are my favorite. It looks like a true little shop of its own. 



And on this day, I somehow got lucky! They were giving out a coupon for two free hot dogs with any purchase. So I purchased a pepperoni roll and a drink and got two hot dogs - with ketchup and onion on this day.



I'm always a fan of the English bun, so that was perfect. Nice little hot dog overall.



The pepperoni roll, though, was definitely homemade and really tasty. Just a touch over the "well done" side, but good nonetheless.


Grade: B

Do you know one of my biggest cravings during quarantine? Sushi. It's fresh, something I can't really make at home on my own, and comforting. So when I was taking a long road trip and started to get a rumbling in my tummy, I looked up nearby sushi places I hadn't been to. And, that brought me to Fujiyama Japanese Steak House in Beckley.

Fujiyama is a common name for restaurants in West Virginia with hibachi, but I swear this one in Beckley is new to me. I looked at their menu online, called in an order for crab cheese wontons and a sushi roll, and pulled up where they met me with curbside service.



The crab cheese wontons did not come with their own sauce - rather packaged Duck sauce - so that was a little disappointing, but I did enjoy the wontons. They were crisp, but not too crisp, and had a good creamy mixture inside.



The sushi roll was a "Mountaineer Roll," which had Shrimp Tempura, Cream Cheese Topped with Avocado, Eel Sauce, Spicy Crab, Scallion and Tobiko. It's hard to go wrong with these ingredients. Creamy, crunchy, umami, sweet. The toppings were a bit haphazard and messy overall, but the flavors were there.


Grade: B