Barnyard BBQ has three restaurants in the area: Cross Lanes, Hurricane and Milton. I visited the first. This is my second. And the third is still on my list.

Well,  I had ordered ahead and picked up - but took in all the crazy scenery while here.

It's certainly a fun environment with neon signs, giant roosters, and other creative decorations all around.

But I ordered corn fritters, pulled pork sandwich and sides of potato salad and cole slaw.

Just look at this place.



Have you been here?

Fairways has a reputation in Hurricane for being a delicious restaurant, which is attached to a gas station and coffee shop.

Because I was heading back to Charleston, I called in an order for the fried goat cheese and honey, as well as lobster macaroni & cheese.

They also have a variety of Greek dishes, seafood and other pastas. There's really a little bit of everything.

The fried goat cheese with honey and pita is always so great. I added extra honey.

And the mac & cheese was multicolored cavatappi with little pieces of lobster throughout.

I've been to the Halfway Market in Milton.

But I didn't realize they had a second location in Hurricane.

So while in the area, I stopped in to check it out.

Here's more about the market from their website: "The Halfway Market was established in 1970 by Boyd and Betty Meadows. It was originally a produce market, however over the years it has evolved into a market of specialties. Not only is there a large selection of fresh produce, we also carry Amish jams and canned items, Amish furniture, and Amish cheese. We also carry quilts, handbags, fudge, dried fruit, trail mixed, bulk spices, bulk foods, homemade apple butter, Amish made sorghums, and honey. Don’t forget to check out the great greenhouse that is stocked with perennials, and seasonal annuals."


There are lots of produce, like apples, oranges and more.

And there are lots of canned goodies - like chowchow, pickled eggs and more.

Plus lots and lots of candy.

Farley's Famous Hot Dogs has two locations in the Metro Valley, and I was excited to finally try the Hurricane spot. Farley's is known for tasty hot dogs and has been named the best in the area multiple times. I went with one hot dog with chili, slaw, mustard and onions - plus a small lemonade. Can't beat it!

Hurricane is home to a new coffee shop where the former Books & Brews used to be.

Drip's Cafe on Main (not to be confused with Drip Coffee House) is a bit different from the former space. There are two long seating areas, with some bar seating, too.

The coffee menu is up on the chalkboard, and they're serving lunch and some dinners, too.

On this cold day, I went for a simple hot chocolate, which totally hit the spot.

And the menu features that day included a macaroni & cheese grilled cheese, which immediately sold me.

Truthfully, I could've just gone with an entire bowl of mac & cheese. But that's neither here nor there.

It's definitely a comfort food and drink kinda day. And a delicious combo.

Well, it won't be long before I've tried every Chinese takeout joint in the entire Kanawha Valley.

Golden Wok in Nitro has a lunch buffet and some tables for indoor dining, but I called in my order and picked it up.

What did I get, you ask? Honey chicken. Crab rangoons. Steamed dumplings.

The chicken wasn't all white meat, but it was very crispy which made it delicious.

The rangoons are super crisp, but the interior was delicious so I ate the cream cheese portion.

And the steamed dumplings seemed to be filled with pork, which was new, but tasty nonetheless.

Sam's is a local hot dog chain that is typically connected to a gambling establishment.

I'm slowly venturing out of the Kanawha Valley more and trying restaurants a bit further out. That brought me to the Sam's Hot Dogs location in Poca.

So I went with a hot dog on an English bun, topped with mild chili, slaw, mustard and onions. Perfect combo.

The Shape Shop Cafe is a health-based restaurant that when I last visited, was located on the West Side. They've since moved locations, and I need to go check them out. But in the meantime, they've been out on the street in their food truck.

The food truck features wraps, soups, salads, pizza, sandwiches and paninis. They're pretty standard with a main protein and lettuce, tomato, onions on top. I went for a ham & cheese panini, which came with a side of chips.

Fairly healthy and tasty.

When a restaurant named "Dough Daddy's Pizza" was brought to my attention, I knew I had to check it out.

My buddy Tom and I made a plan to visit the Scott Depot restaurant recently to get a bite to eat.

The menu features sandwiches, pastas, pizzas and calzones. But of course, the star seems to be the pizzas.

We started with an order of the pepperoni rolls, which comes with two large pepperoni rolls sliced into bite-sized pieces.

With options like taco pizza, buffalo chicken pizza and Greek pizza, they have some unique varieties. But the one that stuck out to me was the "Loaded Tator Pizza." The Loaded Tator has a beer cheese sauce, thinly sliced potatoes, mozzarella and cheddar cheeses and smoked bacon with a scallion sour cream drizzle on top. If you haven't tried it, you must.