Fruits of Labor has been expanding across southern West Virginia - from Rainelle and Alderson to Montgomery and now Beckley.



"You'll be greeted warmly at all five of our locations which are nestled in four different river valleys across West Virginia. Sometimes by a core staff member, other times by a neighbor in recovery or young person in an addiction prevention program.

Both groups of students participate in our Nationally Certified American Culinary Federation Quality Training Program & Farm-to-Table Café and Bakery.

Each time you visit Fruits of Labor, your purchase invests in our students and allows us to offer this training and certification free of charge," reads the website.



This location is much like the others, offering soup, salads and sandwiches. It has several small tables inside and a bar area touting baked goods. It is also home to a separate spin off downstairs that offers pizza and coffee. I'll have to come back for that one.

For now, I ordered the Bacon & Blue Burger: Made with 1/3-pound Ground Beef, topped with crumbled Amish Blue Cheese, Smoked Bacon, and Baby Swiss Cheese served on our house made Café Bun. I do love some bleu cheese on a burger, but this one was pretty heavy on the funk so it overpowered the other flavors. I would love to see a bacon jam or candied bacon to bring the flavors into harmony. Overall, though, fairly tasty.



Grade: B

While driving through Ohio, I started to hear my stomach growl. At my next gas station stop, I did a quick search for drive-through food options in the next town and found Cristy's Pizza & Subs.



"Have you ever wondered why Cristy’s Pizza tastes so good? It’s simple, if you’re going to have the best pizza, you’ve gotta start with the best ingredients, like… Bold Sweet Sauce from Fresh, Vine-Ripened Tomatoes, Signature Dough Recipe, All-Natural Premium Cheese, Fresh Vegetables Old World Pepperoni, and of course, a team of Pizza Pros to make the best pizza every single time," reads the website.



While Cristy's is not necessarily a drive-through, it does have a pick up window. I placed an order online for "Nibblers": Single bites of pepperoni or cheese pizza all rolled up, slathered with creamy Parmesan garlic butter sauce. Served with sweet & tangy tomato or creamy Parmesan garlic butter. These are close to pepperoni rolls, and I like that they are bite-size, so that the proportions of meat and cheese and dough are equal.

I also ordered a cheese pizza with mushrooms. The pizza had a rustic feel with the crust forming a bubbly texture, and the sauce and cheese not fully uniform all the way around. Fairly mild in flavor - but generally crowd pleasing. I would love a crisper crust, a bolder sauce, more punchy flavors.



Grade: B

Did you know that Chambers General Store in Bethany is one of the oldest shops in the state? It opened in 1917 and carries a little bit of everything - from paper towels and nails to energy drinks and sandwiches.



It's kinda like a tight, one-way maze in here but there is plenty to check out. There is a limited deli case that you can order a sandwich or a couple sides. They will even serve Coleman's fish sandwiches on Fridays. I just got a small pasta salad to go - very simple and affordable.



Grade: B

It's my last restaurant on this Arizona visit - and it's to a BBQ joint. While Arizona isn't necessarily known for its BBQ, this restaurant has been voted the best in the area by the local newspaper.



Colt Grill is "a small group of BBQ smokehouses located in the coolest cities and towns of Northern Arizona. Each restaurant has a full bar and a menu entirely made from scratch, centered around smoked meats. We are female owned, family run, and believe in the value of hard work, personal responsibility and perseverance," according to the website.



The BBQ is smoked in giant steel smokers with hardwoods and selections include baby back ribs, brisket, chicken and pulled pork, plus burgers, tacos salads, corn bread, beans, fruit cobblers and whiskey brownies.



The dining room is fairly casual with music playing and folks generally having a good time. Pretty informal and generous with the whiffs of BBQ smoke.



You order at the bar at the front, and then the food is delivered to the table once it's ready. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich, which was topped with crispy COLT slaw and Kansas City Sauce. This was a good sandwich. It's maybe the 1,000th pulled pork sandwich I've ever had, but it was right there in the middle of the pack - some good smoke flavor, some decent quality meat and one of my fav BBQ sauce types.



To go along with the sandwich, I also had potato salad, mac & cheese and peach cobbler.



Everything here was solidly good, and any tweaks I would suggest are minimal. I'd love to see one wildly creative BBQ dish I've never seen before to turn up the innovation level. But, all-around crowd-pleasing good time.



Grade: B

"Make your own edible cookie dough bowl."



Has there ever been a more beautiful string of words assembled? Probably, but this one's pretty close.



Scoopwell's Dough Bar takes the well-known concept of assembling your own dish, but with a new medium: cookie dough. They do also offer ice cream, baked cookies and other treats.



Before I get too far into this, let's first start off by noting that, yes, the raw cookie dough is edible, as per their website.

Q: Is the dough safe to eat without baking?
A: Yes, it’s specifically made to be eaten straight from the mixing bowl. We utilize heat treated flour and pasteurized eggs to take the worry away.

Q: But I thought you couldn’t eat raw eggs?
A: Much like the heat treating process of the flour, the pasteurization process for eggs eliminates any potentially harmful bacteria so all the doughs are safe to enjoy without baking.



Once inside the playful & colorgul space, I went up to the bar to make my decisions on creating the perfect cookie dough bowl.



First step is deciding how many scoops of cookie dough you would like. then, decide on which flavors you would like to include: brownie batter, cookies and cream, chocolate chip, just dough, snickerdoodle, cake batter, peanut butter explosion, oatmeal chip, s'more, banana cream pie, Irish mint or white chocolate macadamia.

Finally, add toppings like: Rainbow Sprinkles, Chocolate Sprinkles, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, Mini Reese's Pieces, Mini M&Ms; Chocolate Chips, Oreo, Kit Kat, White Chocolate Chips, Peanut Butter Chips, and Butterscotch Chips.



I mixed and matched without much strategy in mind. That may have been a mistake, because it ended up very sweet. But, I very much enjoy the concept and getting to try something a little bit different. I like cookie dough much better than actual chocolate chip cookies, so this was quite a delight.



Grade: A

Dapper & Stout takes coffee seriously.

"Espresso Drinks feature our locally roasted signature Ensemble Blend. The combination of four coffees from around the globe are masterfully selected and tailor roasted with espresso preparation in mind. The richness stems from Brazil & Ethiopa. The balanced, smooth flavor experience completes the roast with the addition of Costa Rican & Guatemalan beans."



This coffee shop is beautifully polished and feels very high-end. From the lighting and the finishes to the layout and bakery options, the space is refined while bordering on cocktail bar vibes.



They offer coffee drinks of all kinds, including: lattes, cappuccinos, macchiato, Americanos, cold brew, tea, mocha and more.



I ordered a large iced caramel latte. It was good and as expected. Not too sweet, a tad bitter, but fairly refreshing as well.



we also had a number of grab and go pastries that were already packaged. I found a croissant that looked pretty good, so I went for it.



The croissant was a bit too dry for my taste; maybe I should've known better with it being prepackaged.



The two together, though, made for a decent start to the day.



Grade: B

Listen, not every meal can be a glamorous night out. Sometimes, you want to eat well but not leave the house. This is precisely why delivery exists in my mind. And on this occasion, it was Yama Sushi House in Chandler, Arizona.



I went with these two:

Caterpillar Roll - crab mix, avocado and cucumber wrapped inside, topped with avocado and eel sauce

Godzilla Roll - crab mix deep-fried with yum sauce and eel sauce

Both were decent, but nothing mindblowing. The crab mixture could be a bit more flavorful, the fried part could be crisper, but the avocado was fresh and layered in a lovely way.



Grade: B

I'm back with another culinary love letter to Hawaii. It may have taken me traveling to Arizona to discover this love, but it is going strong. I discovered Golden Hawaiian BBQ on a delivery app, and wasted no time placing an order.



I bought an entire smorgasbord: crab puffs, egg roll, manapua and a chicken katsu combo with steamed rice, macaroni salad, and cabbage.



The eggroll and crab puffs were standard – fried to a golden brown with a tasty filling. But the manapua was a soft bun filled with barbecued pork, and it was amazing. I love the toothsome, pillowy texture of the bun with that rich, meaty interior. The combo entrée was the real star. There's not a better way to cook chicken, and when there's a rich sauce to bring everything together, it is just *chef's kiss*. And the mac salad is key; the fattiness helps break through the fried flavors



Grade: A

My favorite Bloody Marys are full meals. Not simply a brunch beverage. There are so many garnishes that the drink itself is secondary. That is my kind of Bloody Mary. So, when I learned about a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar, I was in.



Hash Kitchen in Chandler, Arizona, specializes in brunch and claims to have the original build-your-own Bloody Mary bar. From hashes and scrambled to benedicts and waffles - there are endless options here that all sound amazing.



I ordered the herb fried chicken benedict with two buttermilk biscuits, fried leeks, warm, maple reduction, hollandaise, two poached eggs, and served with hash potatoes. My favorite part of this dish was the fried leeks that gave it a little bit of a pungent flavor on top of what is otherwise a pretty standard flavor combo. I enjoyed the touch of sweetness, but this is a pretty heavy dish, so I put most aside in favor of the main event.



At the Bloody Mary bar, you start with a celery salt or bacon salt rim. Then, you get to choose what type of vodka: cucumber, jalapeño, celery, cilantro lime, dirty vodka or bacon. Next, it's the spice level of the mix: classic, tomatillo, chili, pepper or habanero. Finally, you can choose to upgrade from the house vodka and then it's on to the toppings.



There are over 50 craft toppings to create the ultimate Bloody Mary: Calabrian chilis, pickled red pepper, pickled jalapeno, cocktail onions, spicy pineapple, artichokes, pickled fennel, pickled green beans, celery, bacon, raviolis, meatballs, oysters, spicy mango, pickled eggs, blue cheese-stuffed olives, cheese cubes, beef jerky, pickles and more.



I tried to fit as many different toppings onto various skewers as I could. It was like an amusement park full of pickled and spicy goodies. I almost used the Bloody Mary itself as a dipping sauce for all of these fun, savory toppings. Plus, some were pretty creative. I love a fun, delicious, new way to enjoy a meal. This checked all those boxes.



Grade: A

Grindhouze Coffee is a local roaster offering several types of coffees. I recently purchased some of their products from Etsy to try out and add to my collection.

They offer Ethiopian, Costa Rican, Peruvian and Aurora's blend.

All coffee is dark roast and whole bean.

Ethiopian coffee has flavor notes of blueberry, peach, and watermelon.

Costa rican coffee has flavor notes of chocolate and citrus.

Peruvian coffee has flavor notes of chocolate and walnut.

Aurora's blend is a fan favorite. This blend combines all three flavors of Ethiopian, Costa Rican, and Peruvian coffees to host a perfect combination of chocolate, caramel and berry notes.

Have you tried them yet?