Out past the "other" Walmart on Grafton Road, there is a restaurant space. I first went there some five years ago when it housed "Big Kahunas." (Can we also just take a moment and lament Blogger couldn't recognize when photos were vertical or horizontal and just put them in any which way it thought was best? Sigh.) Big Kahunas and its Hawaiian-themed menu are no longer there, but a new restaurant has taken its space.

It is now Whitetail Crossing, which takes on more of a hunting theme as evidenced by the deer on the wall. I ran here during lunch one day to see what it's about. Plenty of parking here, and the outside looks a bit questionable. No windows or way to really see inside, so at first, I thought it was more of a gambling joint. Inside, there was a large dining space to the left - but the lights were out - and to the right was a bar area that had two other customers seated. I decided to sit at the bar. I noticed another dining space on the opposite side of the bar.

The menus had seen better days - pieces of paper that were stapled together with stains of various colors and sizes littering the pages. But, it's a comprehensive menu with pizza, burgers, chicken, sandwiches, wings, hot dogs and even a kids menu. I asked the bartender what the favorites were, and she said pizza or calzones, but they're huge. So, she suggested the wings and noted they also have boneless ones, even though they're not on the menu. She suggested the Hot Honey Hawaiian sauce, and I took her up on that.

The service was friendly, but entirely too slow. I waited for a half hour at noon to get my10 wings, with the only other patrons being the two at the bar - and they both ordered salads. And, she rang me up as a to-go order. I didn't ask for it, but I assume since Iw as by myself she assumed it was to-go. Which was fine, because after waiting that long for the food, I was ready to get back to work. And, I just spent $14 (with tip) for some wings. Meh.

So, once I got to work, I opened the box. It seems like they mixed a bottle of Frank's Red Hot and a can of pineapple chunks. There was no trace of honey. And the hot sauce really dominated the flavor. The pineapple bits didn't taste at all like pineapple - just hot sauce. I don't mind some heat - but as long as there is flavor to accompany it. There was no underlying of sweet or even depth of flavor here. The chunks of chicken were decent quality, but the sauce was not.

I think it's too expensive, I think the wait was way too long, and I think the food is average - at best. I think it joins a host of other restaurants in Morgantown under the "bar & grill" category that cater more to the bar, less to the grill, and it shows.

Grade: C

Recently, I was in the Parkersburg area and had lunch at the mall. The food court has a few local options that I'm slowly working my way through. I started with The Pizza Place, and now we've moved on to China Max.

This isn't the first time I've come across a restaurant named China Max, though I'm unsure if they are connected in any way. I tried some of the sesame chicken, noodles and cheese wontons. The chicken was of meh quality, but I was a fan of the creamy cheese wontons. They weren't dry and crumbly like many others. But, so far, Pizza Place is winning in the race.

Grade: C

So, I knew I needed to get some chicken fried steak in Oklahoma before I left. Chicken fried steak is a thing in Oklahoma, and I was able to find it right in the conference hotel: Springs at the Artesian.



The menu listed "Chicken Fried Steak or Chicken Fried Chicken Beef cutlet or chicken breast lightly breaded and fried. Served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, bacon country gravy and honey glazed carrots. $15"

Yes, please.

The steak had a few grisly parts that I wasn't expecting, and the fried batter is REALLY fried - a little too greasy. But it's all covered in that white gravy that really gives masks the flavor of everything else. The carrots on the side were a bit undercooked, though they had a good flavor. The garlic mashed potatoes a bit cold, but again, good flavor. My side of macaroni and cheese was good.

So, I think I like chicken fried steak in general, though this cut of steak wasn't the best, and the batter didn't have a ton of flavor, just grease - more seasoning would've put it over the top. But, I guess you derive most of the flavor from that gravy.

But, it was still tasty. Carrots and potatoes had good flavor, even if not executed great. And the mac was good. Overall, heavy, greasy, over-the-top. But not bad.

Grade: C

I have a friend from Ripley who would sing the praises of Fratello's any time the city was brought up in conversation. So, Fratello's has been held as this high standard for Italian food years before I even visited.

Nestled in the hills of West Virginia half way between the capital, Charleston and the third largest city, Parkersburg, you will find Fratello’s Italian Family Steak House. We have been serving excellent food since 1999. Not only do we offer unique family recipes, originating from Calabrai, Italy; we also offer our National Award Winning Appetizer, Marco Polo Juniors. We still maintain true food preparation. We make our sauces, soups, lasagne, ribs, manicotti, and the list goes on. We use only fresh vegetables and we make our salads fresh to order. It has been our goal to provide best quality food possible along with a pleasant atmosphere to enjoy it in. Fratello’s offers a hand-picked selection of domestic and imported beers and wine along with a full bar to compliment your dining experience. You are invited to come in and relax in our comfortable surroundings, enhanced by a stone fireplace and a quaint gift shop. Enjoy our authentic Italian cuisine, or one of our mouth-watering Angus Steaks, decadent baby back ribs, specialty salads or seafood dishes, and of course a wide choice of pizzas and calzones. 

Fratello's has vinyl booths with the faux green granite tabletops or old-school wooden tables with chairs. Dark reds, some fake plants and you've got yourself the quintessential old-school mid-priced Italian restaurant that has some loving wear and tear from years of regulars.

First up was some bread and butter. Nothing particularly notable here, but standard for Italian fare.

Next, a pretty decent house salad. Fresh romaine, carrots, tomatoes, red onion and croutons made for something better than just iceberg and a single cherry tomato. Pretty good.

And, for my entree, I went with manicotti, which was stuffed with their cheese mixture and topped with marinara. Pretty standard. Nothing especially mindblowing here, but nothing bad, either. I would call it solid, average Italian fare. Considering the plethora of amazing Italian restaurants in North Central West Virginia, the bar is high. And this probably sits right in the middle.

Grade: C

Slowly but surely I will have eaten at every sushi restaurant in West Virginia.

And, I know what you're thinking: YES, there are sushi restaurants in West Virginia. And, YES, there are some pretty decent ones.

RL and I recently went to Shogun Asian Cuisine in Parkersburg. This isn't the first Asian restaurant I've been to that is named "Shogun."

Here's what Wikipedia says about that word:

A shogun was a hereditary military dictator in Japan during the period from 1185 to 1868 (with exceptions). In this period, the shoguns were the de facto rulers of the country; although nominally they were appointed by the Emperor as a ceremonial formality. The Shogun held almost absolute power over territories through military means, in contrast to the concept of a colonial governor in Western culture.

First up were salad and soup. Both of which were OK - not my thing. I don't love ginger dressing, but the soup was fine. Broth with a few mushrooms. NBD.

But, then came some of the most delicious crab cheese rangoons I've ever had. Seriously so good. The inside was super creamy, the outside was perfectly crisp, and the small dollops of chili sauce were delish. I love these damn things.

We ordered a spicy tuna roll, a philly roll and a Volcano Roll.

The spicy tuna and Philly roll were both fine. Neither were super flavorful; I think the fish wasn't super duper fresh.

And the Volcano Roll had crab meat, cucumber, avocado topped with seared scallops and drizzled with spicy mayo. We may have just chosen wrong. And we saw the specials afterward that sounded REALLY good, but this one was just OK. The scallops wasn't really seared; instead, it was just this sort of gummy exterior.

Great company, OK food. Decent atmosphere. Maybe a different choice next time will lead to better results.

Grade: C

The Boston Beanery is no longer at the Pines Country Club. Rather, it moved to I-68 and is now called the Beanery American Grill, along with three other locations.

"The Boston Beanery has been a staple in north central West Virginia for more than 30 years. Now, the team that brought you The Boston Beanery is introducing several new dining experiences to the region. In early 2016, three former Boston Beanery locations became Beanery American Grill — a nostalgic blend of homecooking and all-American favorites. Or visit our former Tygart Lake Boston Beanery location which is now home to Apple Annie's, a favorite among locals."

I dunno, dude. Regardless, this is about the NEW restaurant that went in the previous location at the Pines: The Clubhouse Grill at the Pines.

You DO NOT need to be a member to have a meal here, and there's plenty of parking right outside the restaurant. So, don't let that dissuade you.

I ordered a club sandwich here because it just felt right, y'know? And, I can get down with a good club sandwich. This one wasn't bad. I really think it needed some sort of sauce with all those cold cuts. If there was mayo, I didn't taste it. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of meat and bread. The sauce is key.


The fries are thicker than the Beanery's, but they have the same seasoning, which I love. Dipped in ranch dressing is a favorite.

Overall - not bad. Good fries. Decent sandwich.

Grade: C

A friend pointed out a new pizza place on Van Voorhis Road called La Pizzeria. I remembered this location vaguely from MiHaley's, though I think it was at the front of this building, and La Pizzeria is at the back/side.


Walking inside, you enter through a sort of dark, short hallway, which opens up into a small dining room. There were a few people behind the counter and in the kitchen talking casually, because I guess they weren't very busy.

The menu has pizza, calzones, wings, some subs and salads. I ordered a slice with mushrooms, and Tony got two pepperoni slices.

Our pizza came out very, very quickly. I'm guessing they have some pizzas made to sell off in slices during lunch time. The first thing I noticed was the mushrooms were raw and just tossed on top. So, they weren't cooked with the pizza, which is kind of a bummer. Not the kind of texture you want. Beyond that, the pizza seemed fairly average. The pizza crust was a good flavor, but it wasn't crisp, and it got pretty greasy pretty quickly.

Overall, fairly run of the mill, though I do like the flavor of the crust. Crisper, cooked mushrooms and a bit more spice to the sauce would win me over.

Grade: C

We're on our third pizza place in three days. This time? Gino's East.

Gino's East was just a block or two from the hotel, so we stopped here for lunch. We actually arrived here slightly before they opened, and we waited outside the doors with a few others for them to let us in (damn tourists). There is writing all. over. the. walls. and. seats. It's everywhere! Which is mostly fine, but I was worried about sitting on it. No worries.

After being seated, we ordered the "Gino's Supreme," with pepperoni. It comes with pepperoni or Italian sausage, onions, green peppers and mushrooms. Since Giordano's switched our order, and we ended up with sausage, we still had yet to try one with pepperoni. After the waiter read the order back, he said "pepperoni deep dish," which I assumed meant a Gino's Supreme WITH pepperoni. When he came back with our drinks, I clarified, and he basically told me I said it incorrectly (nope) and rushed back to fix it. K.

But, it came out correctly, though I can't say it was my favorite pie. It has a very, very buttery, flaky crust. It almost seemed like I was eating an actual pie crust. I like the crisper crusts better. The sauce and toppings were just OK. Little soggy, not a ton of flavor. But, it had the best cheese, by far. Ooey and stringy. Very good.

At this point, the appeal of deep dish pizza was wearing on me, and this crust just wasn't doing it for me. Not bad, by any means, but not the one I'd go back to, either.

Grade: C

Another day, another new bar in Morgantown. Playoffs Sports Bar has been open for a little while now, replacing what was once Brick Yard Pub on Spruce Street. I visited for dinner recently.

In typical downtown Morgantown fashion, you're on your own for parking. The dining space is open with lots of tables that definitely cater to the bar scene more than the dining scene. Tables, floors and menus were a bit sticky. Our waitress quickly warned us they have no pizzas. Bummer.

Instead, I went for a burger. The Freshman Fifteen has fresh ground chuck stuffed with cheese, plus all the fixins for me - lettuce, tomato, red onion.

The burger itself was average. Most of the cheese had melted out, so there wasn't this creamy, cheesy center. The burger was a bit dwarfed by the gigantic bun and toppings. A tad more seasoning could've helped too. Overall, though, not bad. Not great. Just fairly average.

Grade: C