Let's keep this short and sweet. I have tried to visit Novichenks on and off for several years and have not been able to order food for one reason or another.



I have seen evidence of a menu once existing. It consisted of fried appetizers, wings, sandwiches, and that's about it. Very short. One page. But elusive to me on every trip. Whether there wasn't a cook in that day, or they weren't operating the kitchen, or they couldn't deep fry. Whatever the various reasons, I've only ever been left with a drink. Maybe it's a me problem.



So, my vodka cranberries have been satisfactory. The space is definitely geared toward locals, and I don't feel a huge pool to visit again in the future. In this case, not because of bad food, but just sheer lack of it.



Grade: D

I don't really know what's going on with this space located on University Avenue. In the plaza, on the left side, have been a series of terrible Middle Eastern restaurants. Is it the same family reinventing this place? Is it a few different family members trying their hand at something new? Is it a coincidence?

I don't know, but it's terrible. When I first tried it, it was Albasha, then it was La Baba. And now, it's the Gulf Grocery Mediterranean Food and Juicebox.

I totally went in here with an open mind. I walked in. A couple guys were sitting at a table playing chess right in front of us. To the right were some shelves full of grocery product. In front and to the left were a haphazard buffet and the Juicebox menu.

From what I gather, Juicebox is just the little juicebar inside. I'm guessing the buffet falls under the grocery store title. Anyway. I went up to the front and asked what was in the buffet, since they had lids. The man behind the counter was very nice, but didn't speak the greatest English, so what I got out of the conversation was rice and some sort of meat. To be expected. I told him I'll order a juice first and the buffet.


I ordered their cocktail juice, which looked to be some sort of strawberry and banana combo. Yum. the man behind the counter called to one of the guys sitting down to make the drink. The guy sitting down pointed to a premade drink sitting in a tray with two others. The man behind the counter went over, picked it up and handed it to me.

Um, what?

How long has this been sitting here? Why is it already made? It's just sitting out on the counter. Not being refrigerated or anything. Just no.

My friend ordered the same drink, but since there wasn't another sitting on the tray, they actually went back and made hers. During this process, I felt my appetite for the buffet dwindle. It seemed he forgot about it, too, so I looked at the grocery section while I waited for her nice and fresh juice to be made.

I stumbled upon some cool items, but then I saw something not so cool - some Laughing Cow cheese. Just chillin'. On the rack. Not refrigerated. I mean, this stuff does need to be refrigerated, right? Something just didn't sit well with me about that.

I had taken one sip of my drink, which was actually good. But my brain couldn't overcome my stomach. I was concerned about my drink sitting out. And now this cheese on the shelf.

When they returned from the kitchen with my friend's drink, they had two styrofoam containers they gave to her. We told them we didn't want the buffet, but they shook their heads and said it was on the house. They didn't tell us what it was. But we took it.

Considering the experience thus far, I didn't really want to take a chance on the food at this point. Which is unfortunate because it smelled good. But I think it was chicken and rice? But I don't really want to take the chance. Food poisoning is the worst.

I feel like this a pretty unfortunate set of circumstances. Their food could be great. But some things are lost in translation. It could be some cultural differences. I could be totally ignorant and that type of cheese can just sit on shelves to be sold. The drink could not have been sitting there super long. But, as a customer, I don't know any of this. And when I have other options that appear more safe, I'm gonna go after that.

And I feel bad that they were genuinely trying to be cool and give us some food, and that's super sweet. And I want them to do well. But this just isn't it.

Tips: Make EVERY drink fresh to order. I felt shafted my friend got a fresh drink and I didn't.

Don't have cheese - that I usually see in a refrigerator - sitting out on a shelf. Seems odd.

Don't have your employees just sitting around playing board games. I feel like I'm interrupting something private. Don't feel as welcome.

Invest in some buffet trays that are good quality. They look like an afterthought and make me wonder what the quality of food is like.

Grade: D

Chestnut Street in downtown Morgantown has been booming in the past year or so. The first domino down was that Dragonfly closed. Then it was a chain reaction with Rocktop opening on the roof of that building, a hotel was erected next door, and Big Whiskey opened up in the former Dragonfly location. The latter three are all under the same ownership. So they have three businesses right on the same block.

It reminds me of the trifecta of businesses in Bent Willy's, Vintage Room and Red Zone just the next  building up.

This company clearly has some money. I saw releases going out from a PR firm about the openings of the restaurant and hotel, so it doesn't give me that warm, local feeling. More like that of larger corporate types taking over a block downtown, shelling out some dough for a nice-looking place and attracting a certain type of clientele - kind of the opposite of the local, hip, chill vibe I go for.


Regardless, my friend Heather and I wanted to check out this new country bar and BBQ place called Big Whiskey. We tried opening the doors in front of the street. Stood there awkwardly for about five minutes. Nothing was happening. So I called the phone number listed, and it rang up to Rocktop. I told the woman I was trying to get to Big Whiskey, and she told me to go to the door around the corner. So I walked around to the right and saw a broken down-looking door with a bucket and broom in front of it, then I kept walking and saw another door. We went inside.

Ooof.

Okay, so once we got inside, there was literally no one there except for a guy working on the sound. We awkwardly walked inside - it was kind of dark - but they said they were open. We meandered over to a table and sat, wondering what we were doing there. The guy who was supposed to be there came not too longer after, then a few more people trickled in. He came over and apologized because they were having a meeting. Okay, great, I don't really care. At this point, I was annoying at the maze I had to get through to get in and then there was nobody there. Whatever. Just feed me at this point.

He brought us menus, and in the meantime, the man who was working on the sound warned us it would get really loud for a few minutes. It got really loud for a few minutes - so loud I couldn't hear Heather across the table from me. He was testing the bass and whatnot. Clearly they were more concerned with the ridiculous country dance party they were going to be having that night than the two customers trying to have dinner in the restaurant portion. First sign this place is a bar masquerading as a restaurant. And not a very good one at that.

Prices are a bit steep, but the brisket platter was $14, so I ordered that. It came with a side, and I got slaw. As we were waiting, we were looking around. It really does have nice finishes - it's trying to be an upscale country place. Dragonfly was gorgeous inside, so it's a shame that a restaurant with a similar theme couldn't come in. But the interior is nice, but the focus is on the dance floor and bar.

When our food came out, I was kind of surprised to see zero sauce with the brisket. Nada. You gotta be pretty confident in your smoking abilities to not need any garnish. Rare in West Virginia. They shouldn't be so confident.

It was a pile of meat that had a hint of smokey flavor, but not enough to garner no additional sauce. Some pieces were really fatty, too. Others were fine, but just kind of bland. It was kind of greasy in a way, and for the price, bleh. The slaw was surprisingly much better with pickles and a more oil base than mayo. For $15, I felt very unfulfilled. Very mediocre. And considering the subpar service, I wasn't happy.

It doesn't help that just a week later, I was walking past this business around 7 p.m. and the bouncers - presumably for Rocktop - catcalled my friend and I. Bouncers, really? When I voiced my displeasure via Twitter, Rocktop responded that the parking lot was just for Rocktop and Big Whiskey patrons after hours. Uh, what? You're condoning their behavior if you think I parked in that lot? A - I did not park there. B - What in the actual hell? I sent a few more tweets, and apparently I'm still not over the whole experience because I'm voicing it here. Hate everything about this place. Food is mediocre, at best. Service is atrocious. And apparently they don't care.

Grade: D

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

I noticed a new sign reading "La Baba" in the plaza behind Hibachi on University Avenue, where Albasha was located. After much digging, the only information I could come up with about La Baba is its Facebook, which stated it was open for dinner and looked to be of Middle Eastern cuisine.

I trekked over with a couple friends to check it out. They have a handful of tables in the center, with a bar area along the back. It looked as though they had just opened, but I asked the girl working and she had replied they had been open for two months.

The counter had four, maybe five, serving trays and a few bowls on the counter. It all looked so temporary. It wasn't built into the restaurant. In fact, when my friends and I stepped in, they pulled a few plates out of a refrigerated area and put them on the counter. They only offer a buffet here, which is $10. You can get a drink out of the refrigerator for another $1.50 - no fountain soda.

The girl working asked us if we had been there before, and when we replied no, she took us up to the counter and told us what each of the items were. Apparently they change daily, but they didn't look like it. The "buffet" included some meat pies, spinach pies, a chicken dish, a beef dish, dolma, tabbouleh, hummus, baba ghanoush, pita from a bag, baklava, and awamat. These would all be great if they were all good, but I found very little here that I actually enjoyed.

Everything tasted as though it was old and sitting in that pan for days. The sauces were nearly coagulated. The dolma was soft and mushy. The awamat, those crisp doughnut balls in syrup, are usually a favorite because they're so sweet, were so hard I had to use some pressure to shove my fork into it. I even tried eating it - only to be surprised with that thick syrup mixed with oil. Not good.

I barely even used my buffet privileges, trying another plate, because there really wasn't anything that was that great. I took to the rice since I was starving, and I think it's difficult to mess up rice.

While the girl helping us was very sweet and attentive, I just was not pleased by the food. It was old, hard, bland and not worth my money. But they did have some other people in the restaurant, so maybe it's just not my cup of tea.
 
Grade: D

Located underneath Dollar General on High Street, Billiards and Cue is pretty easy to miss. Unless you're looking for it. As you descend the stairs, you feel like you're entering another world: that of Morgantown's bar scene. Seriously, why are all the bars underground here?

Anyway, I was shocked at how big it was. Shocked. Pool tables, tons of seating, as well as lounge areas. This was going to be good! Or so I thought. It was still early, maybe 9ish, so there were only two other people in the place. They were playing pool.

My group of friends sat at one of the tables in front of the bar. The bartender saw us and walked the other way. That's odd. I assumed he'd say something since we were the only ones there. We waited, still nothing. We got up to go over to the bar area once the bartender came back and quickly learned that everything on tap was kicked. Bottles were our only option.

A few of my friends ordered their bottles. I was next in line when the bartender went to a back room, took a few bites of a piece of pizza, then came back to take my order. Maybe he didn't think we could see him through the opening to the back area? C'mon, really?

When he came back, I ordered a beer and looked at the menu. He said they only had cheese pizza and pepperoni pizza. What a buzzkill that was, since their menu looked yummy. But, I put in an order for a large cheese pizza. I said thank you. He ignored me and walked away. I get it, you're a college kid, you're working, you're unhappy. But I was just being civil; there's no reason to completely disregard me.

We went to sit at a booth. We tried to find one that was not completely sticky, but to no avail. This place was grimy. One of my friends remarked it was like a frat house's basement. Truer words were never spoken.

When the pizza was done, the bartender brought it over to the table. One of my friends asked if she could get another beer, too. The guy said she'd need to go over to the counter. She asked if he could just put it on her tab that she had open, and he said no. I was ready to leave at this point.

The pizza wasn't awful. We still ate it. It was pretty average. The cheese was tasty, but the crust was like what you'd get if you microwaved a pizza. Kind of soft and crumbly. Not ideal. If the pizza wasn't keeping me from coming back, the "service" sure would.

Grade: D

I've been excited about this place opening for a long time. It's not just a new restaurant for me to try in Princeton, it's a new restaurant completely! It's right in the same building with Dragon Palace, Curves and Sally's along Stafford Drive. It's opened by the same owners of the Chinese restaurant, Dragon Palace. So, that's interesting. It has the same large, red lettering on the outside like Dragon Palace. It even has the outside door, then a small entryway, then another door to the restaurant like the Dragon Palace.

Once we got inside the restaurant, I realized how spacious this area was. We walked in, and there was a dining area to the left and a dining area to the right. The buffet was straight ahead. A waitress walked up to us and asked if we wanted the buffet. We said yes, and she seated us to the left. Maybe those who are ordering off the menu sit on the right side. Apparently they have both options here. We got situated in our booth, ordered our drinks, then headed up to the buffet. It was a few of those islands, like what you'd see at a Chinese restaurant.

Since its name is "Pizza House," I was expecting this buffet to be filled with pizzas, like CiCi's. But it was not. In fact, only a very small portion of the buffet was devoted to pizzas. There were only about six pizzas, one with cheese, one with sausage, one with pepperoni. One was a chicken alfredo. Two were dessert pizzas - cherry & pineapple. The rest of the buffet was some noodles, some mushrooms, some quesadilla thing, gravies. A huge area was devoted to salad, and the other area was devoted to some desserts - like light pastry-type things they serve at the Chinese restaurant.


They also had a soup, which was vegetable on this day. I was quite disappointed by this sad display of pizzas, but I tried not to let that get in the way of my judgment if the pizza was outstanding. It was not. It was generic, bland, lifeless. There weren't many varieties, some of the pizzas were all taken, and those spots weren't refilled. No thought was put into what types of pizzas people might like. If your name is Pizza House, you should specialize in pizzas. Six terrible pies isn't cutting it. It wouldn't surprise me if it was frozen & heated up in a microwave. The chicken alfredo wasn't too bad, though. It was a little salty, but it actually had some flavor. It was probably the sole redeeming factor of the visit, along with their spaghetti.

The problem with anything on the buffet that wasn't pizza, which was about 75% of the food, was that the spoon to get the food was scalding hot. They must have had some issues with some ventilation system because the spoons were so hot that I simply couldn't get some food, and one woman requested that a waiter bring out a different utensil.

But once I got the spaghetti on my plate, I really liked it. The noodles were thick, and the sauce was robust, but nothing a decent jar couldn't handle. While the wait staff was attentive, and the owner seemed nice, the pizza is not good here. You cannot open a restaurant, call it Pizza House, put out a handful of generic pizzas and think people will come. Pizza Hut has better pizzas and much more variety. And that's saying something.

Grade: D