While we had our full meal already, I wanted to soak up as many Wheeling eateries as I could. Another I hadn't been to was Later Alligator.

It's not even a block from the Centre Market, so we stopped by for some snacks and smoothies.

We grabbed menus and sat at the bar as we figured out what we wanted. I ordered their soup special: corn chowder with shrimp, while my parents both got smoothies.

They had salads, savory crepes, sweet crepes, and wraps/sandwiches.

After waiting for a bit - well, quite a while - we received our items and headed for home. It was a little pricey.


The soup was still piping hot when we got home, so I dove right in. It was tasty - creamy, with huge chunks of shrimp. I was a fan. Little too expensive and a long wait. But the food wasn't bad.



Grade: B

I have been to the famous Coleman's Fish Market in Wheeling just once. It was time to revisit.

The Centre Market is kind of the main market area in Wheeling with lots of bordering antique shops, stores and little restaurants.

Coleman's is housed inside. There's a special line for their original fish sandwich - since they get many orders for that (which really confused me because I was with my parents who didn't want that, so I didn't know which line to get in). Rest assured, we got in the specialty line, and everything was fine.

In addition to steaming hot fish prepared to eat right away, they have a number of fresh seafood available to purchase so you can go home and make your own dinner. Scallops, crab, any kind of fish you can imagine, and more. This is the place to go for seafood in the Northern Panhandle.


After placing our order at the front, my parents waited around until our order was ready while I left the shop to find seating in the open Centre Market area.

After a bit, my parents marched down the stairs to join me. Inside a large brown bag was our lunch. I unwrapped the wax paper to find two three-ounce fillets of fresh North Atlantic pollack deep fried between two slices of what bread (For the deluxe sandwich - with wheat and tartar - the regular is on white).



Okay, and now for the sandwich:



Yum! Steaming hot and full of white fish. Fresh. The tartar is the perfect balance of a mayo base and relish. I hate too much relish. But this is perfect. And a pretty hefty sandwich, at that. One of my favorites.

There's nothing like it.

Grade: A
 

It's rare I make stops in Beckley anymore, but on the way back from Lewisburg, our tummies were rumbling.

Pasquale Mira's is well-known in the area for some of the best Italian food. We were seated in an terrace area, with views outside. It was cute.

The menu had classic American Italian pasta dishes: spaghetti lasagna, ziti, ravioli, manicotti, eggplant parmesan. Oh, and my favorite - jumbo shells.

But first, a salad with their housemade dressing.

Blah. Some iceberg lettuce with may two or three small, tasteless pieces of tomato all soaked in the the dressing. I don't really know why people seem to be fond of this. Boring.

They brought out a basket of cold bread that was ... well, bread. Nothing too special there.

Okay, but onto the shells, florentine actually. I also ordered a side of meatballs because I was curious. I tried them first.

Not bad, actually. They crumble easily - they were well-seasoned, though. And I liked the marinara sauce. Not super powerful and hearty, but like a better-seasoned basic sauce.

The shells weren't bad, either. You can't really go wrong when there's a blanket of melted cheese atop some pasta. I do wish there had been a bit more filling inside the actual shells with more flavor. It kind of all blends together, but a little bit more seasoning. Maybe another kind of cheese. But still, overall good. Slightly above average.

Grade: B

The Irish Pub was voted as one of the best southern bars by Southern Living. Pretty cool, right? I definitely wanted to fit in a visit - even if only briefly. We went in for a quick snack so I could get a little of the experience.

Well, it seems they were having some sort of quasi-private event. There weren't any signs or anything, but there were some balloons on the floor over near the bar area and, for some reason, Disney songs were blaring. We kept our distance and sat near the front to not interrupt whatever gathering was going on.



A waitress came over to us and gave us a menu. She was sweet, so I figured we were OK. Since we were just in for a snack, I ordered the "Big Soft Pretzel," kind of excited for something a little different. It said it was an Israeli recipe - a delicious, sesame seed sprinkled snack.

This was different and definitely interesting!

Ice cream was tasty! I definitely need to get back to try their pepperoni roll, though, as I hear that is even better!

Grade: B

Lewisburg continued to amaze me with really hip, delicious, local restaurants in Stella's Tea House.

This sweet little place has an outdoor dining area and an elegant, but fun, interior. Gorgeous goblets for our waters (filled with Blenko pitchers), and light pastels color the drapes and artwork on the walls.

We happened to have time for Stella's on Sunday, when they were serving their Sunday brunch.

There were so many great options, but I couldn't get over the crab & avocado eggs benedict. I mean, can you pass that up? It's a combination of everything great: toasted muffin topped with poached eggs, fresh avocado, lump crab, hollandaise AND served with a side of fresh fruit.


I looooved this. It was just a perfect brunch meal. Fresh eggs and avocado and crab meat all with a little tang. A nice sweetness with the fruit. Well-rounded.


Grade: A