Am I the only one who thought the Bear's Den was a gay bar? Yes? Just me? Okay then.

The Bear's Den is not a gay bar, just for the record.

It's located near the opposite end of Capitol Street - near the Capitol Market. The only giveaway that it was a restaurant was that there was a chef statue outside donning the day's meals,and since it was close, it became the day's lunch.

The menu is not huge, but it has some typical sandwiches like burgers, chicken, grilled cheese, club. I went for the "Bear's Burger," which has fresh ground beef, onions, mushrooms, peppers and provolone cheese. I got that with a small side of pasta salad in lieu of fries.

Let's start from the outside in - the bun was lovely because it was toasted and buttered. Lovely. The burger was thick and juicey. Could've used some more seasoning. Toppings - fine. I really like some tomato and lettuce with my burger, but the peppers were fine. I think some fresh veggies - not just sauteed ones - would kick it up a notch. But it was still an overall solid burger.

The pasta salad had seen better days. Devoid of much flavor and just kind of a cold, mushy mess.

Grade: B

Just when I thought I was running out of the more popular restaurants in town, I saw this Kaifu Japanese Cuisine restaurant was rated fairly high on Urbanspoon. That led me to ask my friend Jessica her opinion of it. She was quite fond of this little place I hadn't heard of, so I knew I had to try it.

It could probably be in a nicer area of town, but there is a parking lot just behind there, so parking isn't crazy. It's just near the transit mall, so luckily we were there during the day time. It truly is tucked away, so it'd be pretty easy to miss.


When we walked in, there was only one other gentleman eating. That was good, though, because we got the immediate attention of the waitress who took our drink orders. They have special rolls on a board, and an avocado/shrimp one caught my eye. That, and I got a Philadelphia roll, which has typical salmon, cream cheese and cucumber. AND I got gyoza for an appetizer.

Gyoza is just a dumpling filled with a pork mixture and fried. Delicious with a side of sauce made of soy and vinegar.

Both of the rolls were good, too. They were fresh and sturdy. Full of flavor. And better quality than what you get at most West Virginia restaurants.

Jessica got a lunch box full of all kinds of goodies. So, that's an option, too.

Grade: A

There's a different kind of "hot dog" in the Spring Hill area of Charleston. It's not one topped with chili, slaw, mustard and onions. Instead, it's a bakery version of a hot dog - found at Spring Hill Pastry Shop.

It swaps the bun for an eclair that is split and filled with fluffy cream and has chocolate icing atop. It borrows the name "hot dog" because of its appearance, but it doesn't actually contain any of the same elements.

It's an iconic part of Charleston, I was told many times, as it remained on my bucket list when my deadline to move was quickly approaching. I made it my goal to get the much coveted hot dog before I left.

When I walked into the pastry shop, I was overwhelmed with amazing smells and beautiful displays. All of this at around 8 a.m. I can't imagine how early they wake up to prepare this spread. But they basically have every kind of pastry and sweet delight you could imagine. My friend told the woman behind the counter I had never had the famed hot dog and want to try it before I leave.

She gave me one. On the house.

In addition to being a sweet treat with a soft bun, creamy center and decadent drizzle of chocolate - the service is phenomenal. Great hometown place. Get the hot dog. Revel in its delight. Contribute to a great group of people.


Grade: A

I've heard Suzi's referred to as "Suzi's Hamburgers," but what you have to get there is the biscuits, apparently. For whatever reason, my friend and I happened to be in the South Charleston area at an ungodly early hour (Suzi's isn't open for dinner) - so we swung through the drive-thru.

Granted, this is via a drive-thru, so it's very likely that the quality is less than perfect. But  go with it.

Maybe I'm not a huge biscuit person. Maybe it's the Nothern Panhandle in me. But I've had my ups and downs with Tudor's, but Suzi's doesn't come close to that - I don't think.

I ordered a bacon and egg biscuit. I felt like I was eating a flour-coated cloud. And not in a good way. It was just doughey and too much. Maybe it was an off day, or I just wasn't feeling that much biscuit to meat/egg ratio. It was too dense. Too thick. Too bland. Will have to try in the future.


Grade: C

Betty Lou's Diner came across my radar when I was doing research for a story. The local health department in Charleston was giving gold stars for the restaurants who basically went above and beyond typical health standards. Betty Lou's was one on a fairly short list.

I was intrigued. And then I found out the restaurant was one of 101 Unique Places to Dine in West Virginia. Okay, cool. Definitely going.

Brittany and I made our way to the South Charleston restaurant - it's located at 415 Central Avenue, and it's pretty much nestled in with a residential area. But the bright red exterior tipped me off.

It was pretty sparse when we went inside, but we chose a table near the front. A waitress came out with some worn menus that had seen better days. I was torn between trying their pulled pork sandwich or their Betty Hot Dog - which is essentially a West Virginia hot dog (slaw, mustard, chili, onions). So I got both, duh.

After a little wait, my food came out on a plastic red tray. So much West Virginia in one spot. I was happy.

The pulled pork was pretty big, and it was pretty average as far as flavor goes. Standard BBQ, but nothing that blew me away. It was good, though.

The hotdog was similar. Mediocre weenie, not a ton of chili, slaw was fine. Decent hot dog.

Nothing was terrible here, but nothing was better than average. It was all decent.

Oh, I'm lying. One really cool thing is that they had my article hanging up. That's pretty cool.

If you're in the mood for some diner food, this might quench that thirst. And if it's nearby, I'm sure it's a winner. I wouldn't mind trying it again.

Grade: B