The RailYard is located in Bluefield.









Chicken Waffle Nachos - mini round waffles, chicken strips, with maple syrup, sour cream, sriracha, cheddar and scallions


This was great to see in the bathroom!

I stumbled across Deskins Candies quite a long time ago, actually, but I hadn't had a chance to write about it until now. I saw this variety candy tray in Kroger and noticed it is from Bluefield. How cool is that? And the candies are delicious. I love the peanut butter fudge!

I traveled to McDowell County recently, and as I was exiting town, I was hoping to stop at Ya'Sou's Restaurant. Unfortunately, I found them closed. I made my way back to Bluefield to hit the interstate and head back north. But, stomach was rumbling and I needed dinner. So. Guess who I saw in Bluefield? Remember that guy?




The infamous Chris Slater. We went to a new restaurant in Bluefield called Portabella Italian Restaurant. We parked along the side, then I was asked to move so a gentleman could cut the grass, and then I parked again, and then we finally went inside.

It's pretty basic inside, though there is pretty stained glass above the door emblazoned with the restaurant's name. Our waitress was friendly. We first put in an appetizer of their "Italian Nachos," because it sounds interesting: deep-fried nachos, alfredo sauce, chicken, green peppers, jalapenos, and mozzarella cheese.

Even though Chris has a newfound vegetarian calling, I think he may have had a piece of chicken or two. Whoops. So the cool thing about this was the chips are actually fried, and the sauce was pretty tasty. But it got soggy way fast. You know how quickly regular nachos do? And they're not really covered in a sauce like this. I dig the creative spin on the appetizer, though, but not sure I'd go after it again.

My house salad was impressing, boasting fresh tomatoes, green peppers, onion, carrots, banana peppers, croutons, cucumbers and fresh mozzarella cheese. Definitely on the better end of regular house salads. Too bad it automatically comes with ranch. I was hoping for a house Italian dressing.




Some garlic bread was brought to us. A little small, but not terribly for complimentary.

Our wait for the main dishes was a little long. For my entree, I ordered their stuffed shells with meatballs in a pink sauce. Three small-ish stuffed shells, but they were each brimming with cheese. Meatballs were OK. I was a fan of the sauce - a nice mix between their alfredo and red.



Chris's calzone looked bangin'. Lots of cheese and a nice golden brown. Not bad, either.


So, Portabella is a no-frills Italian place. I'm always happy to see more local restaurants in an otherwise chain-heavy town. Food was above average. Nothing over-the-top or super amazing, but a decent meal. Service not totally polished, but friendly. Seems like a nice addition to the town.


Grade: B

I noticed a new small restaurant in Mercer Mall recently, and the first thing that struck me is that this area LOVES naming their restaurants after the sun (Cafe Soleil, Sunny Days and now Cafe de Sunny). The interior actually looks nicer than many of the other restaurants at the mall, and this one actually has a dine-in area.

It was staffed by some young high school girls, who quite frankly weren't well-versed in customer service. I walked up to the front, waited for a minute or so before anybody even acknowledged me. Then, as though I had just beaten her puppy, a girl asked what I wanted. They claim to have homemade chili, so I ordered two West Virginia hotdogs - chili, slaw, mustard and onions.

I noticed the girl put ONE glove on, the one which she scooped the condiments with, and she held my two hotdogs with her bare hand. Uh, think you have that backwards sweetheart. The real kicker was that she had a Band-aid on her finger, and it was slightly touching my hotdog. That was enough to turn my stomach. Why not put the glove on the hand that's actually TOUCHING the hotdog? Not the one that has a condiment utensil between it? Anyway.

I also got a bag of Fritos. I looked over their ice cream bar, but decided against it due to sanitary reasons. I reluctantly ate some of the hotdog, but couldn't get the thought of her touching it out of my head, so I threw most of it away. What I did taste was good, though. The chili actually tasted pretty good. Not good enough for me to continue, though.

Grade: D

Sunny Days is in the Mercer Mall and serves up typical food court fare: nachos, burgers, ice cream and a sign that says best hotdog in town.

Challenge accepted.

I walked up to the counter to place my order. It's really a pretty small area - only a few tables. And it's kind of right in the middle of the mall. It's awkward to see people walking by, and it's almost as if you're in their way. But anyway.

I ordered a hotdog with their homemade chili, slaw, onions and mustard. They also had chocolate-covered strawberries on the counter, so I ordered one of those, too.

The girl made the hotdog, handed it to me, and luckily, a seat opened up that I grabbed right away. I watched some of the WVU game while taking a bite of my hotdog. It actually wasn't bad, I was quite surprised. The chili had a good texture, and the slaw was perfect.

However, the place doesn't look the cleanest. The carpet is muddled with god only knows what, and the trash can looked like it had run its course. The tables were all dirty and pieces of debris were everywhere.

But then, the owner, or what I assume to be, decided that would be an ideal time to walk around the tiny dining area to spray air freshener at table's height. He continued to walk around every crevice, and I ultimately shot him a dirty look. I went to take a bite of my hotdog - nothing but floral taste and hotdog texture. Ugh.

Yes, it needed air freshener. No, it did not need it at table's height - aka right where my food is - at that moment. I was honestly shocked he thought that was okay. He apologized, but I threw the rest of my food away.

Grade: D

As I continue to take on Princeton and the surrounding areas, I am grasping to try new restaurants. I have a few on my list to check out (is Heritage Cafe still open?), but it's quickly dwindling. If you have suggestions for places in Princeton, please let me know!

While we were shopping at the mall, I saw two places that I can add to my list of places to dine: Pizza N' More and Sunny Days. I was in a pizza mood, so Pizza N' More it was.

It's in the food court area of the Mercer Mall, and it has its own little dine-in area, complete with mismatched and wobbling chairs. This is clearly not the mall's pride and joy. It could use some love put into it.

It was pretty clear when we entered, so I walked up to the counter to see what this place was all about. A few, slightly old looking pizzas littered the countertop. I wasn't sure if those were my only options, so I looked up at the menu.

It looked as thought you can basically order any kind of slice you want. I didn't want to make them go through the trouble to making a whole new pizza with just mushrooms (yum) for me. So I figured I'd order up two slices of pepperoni and a drink, which is pretty standard. They had a few lunch combos - 1 slice and 1 regular drink, 2 slices and 1 regular drink, 1 slice and 1 large drink, 2 slices and 1 large drink. I went with two slices and a large drink, which put my total around $5. They also have some pastas, wings, burgers, subs, salads and more. That must be the N' More part.

When the server went to scoop up my two pieces from the pie, he said they were stuck and wasn't going to sell them to me like that. Instead, he had a pepperoni pizza coming out of the oven, and it would only be a few minutes. Good timing.

He handed me a cup with ice and I filled my cup up with some variation of Sprite, Cherry Coke and Coke. I took a seat at the wobbly, sticky table. What do you expect in a mall food court?

There were a couple napkins scattered on the counter - no central location in which to find them. There were just a couple straws in a random holder on the edge of the counter. Not organized.

Shortly thereafter, he handed me a paper plate with two large, greasy slices of pepperoni pizza on top. My first thought was "WOW. That's a lot of grease." But with a ton of cheese on top, it didn't matter much to me. The pepperonis weren't overcooked either. The cheese was greasy and stringy - but sometimes that's exactly what hits the spot. The dough was puffier on the crust than I expected. I'd like if it was cooked a little more so it got some more crunch to it. I ended up leaving most of the crust behind, while devouring the cheesy pieces.

It really wasn't bad. It was good enough for me to down both slices. While the organization is questionable, the pie isn't too bad. I didn't mind paying my $5 for two huge slices of cheese, with a little bread and sauce thrown in.

Grade: B

I saw the restaurant Key Ingredients on Urbanspoon, and I was surprised to see something close by that seemed to be a really upscale restaurant. I had no idea it existed, so of course I was so excited to try it out. Chris actually worked near this place, so it was really easy for him to find. We saw the sign out front first and pulled into the parking lot. The parking is kind of precarious because it's on a fairly steep hill, and it didn't look to have many spots. They may have more around the building that we missed, though.

This place preaches good food, good faith and good fitness. While all of those are great, I was there for the food. When we walked inside, we were greeted by our waitress. We were the only ones there, and she asked us where we'd like to sit. We took a table nearby. The dining area that we were in only had about six tables. It was beautiful inside, though, with hardwood floors, white tablecloths and a fireplace. the walls were shelved with products, like their homemade apple butter. Our waitress was very chatty, all night actually, but it was sweet. She was relating to Chris and I via her son, who is around our age.


We looked through the whole menu, and I had some difficulty deciding what I wanted. She said the salmon was their specialty, so Chris opted for a salmon wrap and I chose the crabcake. The chef came out when we were choosing. He was very kind and asked what we were interested in. I told him I was torn between the salmon and crabcake, and he said they were both delicious. He was beyond in shape. It was actually kind of intimidating, but it also made me feel like the food he was serving me will be healthy. Our waitress had been going on about their organic fries, so we put in an order of those, too.

Our plate of fries came out first. It was a pretty large portion, and we were served with two cups of ketchup. Chris really enjoyed these. The fries weren't bad, but I supposed fries aren't really my cup of tea. I'm okay with them, but they weren't much different for me than others. Salty and crispy. I felt like they tasted earthier than I would have liked.

Our entrees came out soon after. Chris's was bigger than mine. His wrap was cold, with the blackened salmon. It had some shredded veggies, like cabbage, surrounding it. It was tasty, but the menu said it would contain rice, which it did not. I was thinking it'd be more like a burrito, warm with rice, but it was a cold dish. That was a little surprising.

Mine was a decent-sized patty with a small cabbage salad garnish on the side. But for $19, I was expecting a little more. There were some lumps of crab meat, and the remoulade was tangy and tasty, but it's simply not worth that much money. Our waitress went on about how the fish was fresh, so I asked where it was from. She hesitated slightly, then mentioned a seafood store. She also kept talking about how the beef was grass-fed and responsibly raised. Okay, so it's tasty. It was golden brown on the outside, and thick and delicious on the inside. It is delicious, and if this is the only option for crab cakes in the area, I could see how it would be very popular. But I was still starving. So we ordered dessert.

Our bread pudding came out on a small plate with a small amount of caramel sauce on top. It was warm and sweet and heavy. It's a nice winter dessert because it's dense and full of spices, like cinnamon. Our total meal was $45, which is pretty pricey for not even being full when I left. In fact, I was still so hungry that we went to Kroger across the street and got some snacks. Interestingly enough, while we were in there, we saw the chef buying some meat. I wonder if the meat was grass-fed or if it was for the restaurant.

Grade: B