I stopped in Wheeling to visit my mom at work and we grabbed a quick lunch. River City Restaurant & Bar is just down the block from her, so we popped in for a quick bite.

The entrance is kind of elaborate - sprawling open area with staircases leading to upper floors. The entryway was lined with a handful of Christmas trees. Dark wooden floors, chairs and tables lined the interior. The spacious area housed a few dining areas - near the bar and also in the back for seating.

I quickly skimmed the menu since we were rushing to do everything within an hour. They have some pretty typical sandwiches - tuna melt, BLTs, reubens. Nothing really too interesting caught my eye.

Mom is a huge fan of the chicken tortilla soup, so she had some of that, along with a lamb gyro. I ordered a turkey club hoagie with a side of hush puppies. I figured that since the sandwiches are pretty simple, maybe they'll just be done really well.

So, it was OK. The bread tasted store-bought, and the turkey, lettuce and bacon were all average. The tomatoes were sliced cherry tomatoes, so they were small and kept falling off the sandwich. That was odd. Why not have full slices so you get some tomato with each bite of sandwich? Mayo was squirted into a cup on the side, which wasn't super appealing.

My hushpuppies numbered four, I think. And not a ton of flavor there or a dipping sauce.

Overall, it was average. Not bad, but nothing creative or something I couldn't slap together on my own. Thoughts to make this better: freshly baked bread, some other type of lettuce (spring mix?), whole tomatoes and a sauce - mix that mayo with a pesto or something. Or maybe a quick homemade Italian. Or maybe a balsamic.

Otherwise, pretty average lunch. But with my favorite person - so that made for a nice time.

Grade: C

Everyone knows I'm obsessed with DiCarlo's. Wellsburg's, specifically.

But I won't discriminate. I'll take any DiCarlo's location over just about any other pizza. In West Virginia, there are several DiCarlo's locations - mostly spread throughout the Northern Panhandle. While I have access to both Follansbee and Weirton DiCarlo's (I'll have to go there soon) whenever I'm home, it's rare I get any further south. Recently, I met my mother in Wheeling for lunch and drove up north toward home, so I was able to hit THREE different DiCarlo's along the way.

One of these days, I'll make it to all of them.


But first, the DiCarlo's located on Dallas Pike. Technically, its located at 93 Coventry Road in Valley Grove. I kind of stumbled upon it after seeing the sign on the road, but a series of lucky turns pointed me right there. FYI, once you get off the exit, turn toward the gas station, and it sits back behind there. Fairly easy to find, actually.

When I walked in, a guy in front of me had ordered eight pizzas. So I was waiting a bit before they got to my two measly slices. It was also interesting to see a whole dining area and a menu that included sandwiches and salads. Definitely not used to that.

The pizza, though, still good. The crust was a bit poofier than what I'm used to, but there was plenty of cheese, so I like that. Just a tad different, but still very, very good. That nice golden crust, slightly spiced sauce and a ton of freshly grated mozzarella. Doesn't get much better.

Grade: A

I needed lunch on Saturday in Fairmont. We saw a steady stream of people pouring into The Firehouse Cafe. How fortuitous, because typically the Firehouse Cafe isn't open on Saturdays. But because of the festival, they opened (and for other large town events, they told me).

Typically they're open Mon.-Wed. 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Thurs.-Fri. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. They do have music some evenings/weekends. Though, it would usually be tough for me to get here working in Morgantown.

But I got lucky.

The Firehouse Cafe is a small restaurant located on Adams Street. It has - you guessed it - a firefighter theme. The husband of the couple who owns the restaurant is/was a firefighter. There is a ton of firefighter memorabilia all the walls in the form of plaques and photos, as well as toy fire trucks and more.

Walk to the back of the restaurant and order at the counter. I was kind of tired and didn't know what to order in the sea of sandwiches, wings, salads and dinners. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I wanted to know what the best thing was. The family operating this restaurant is the best. The girl working the counter was listing some of the best options, and her mom walked by seconding the chicken nuggets and noted they used to bribe the girl working to clean her room with the nuggets.

Sold.

I had a seat while Lisa placed her order - and proceeded to talk to the mom for, at least, 10 minutes. These people are SUPER friendly and welcoming. I felt like I was at home, which was perfect because I was tired from the day and just felt cozy here. The interior itself is dated and a bit cluttered, but it's warm.

My nuggets - with the requested garlic parmesan - and a side of ranch were brought out quickly. They were bangin. Small chunks of white breast meat, fried and topped with garlic and parmesan. How can that be bad? Plus the quality was good, so yessss.

There's nothing particularly unique in terms of food options. But what they do is good, homestyle food that is made fresh and with a smile. You can't beat that.

Grade: A

I've heard so many good things about Joe-N-Throw in Fairmont - a coffee house/pottery studio that serves up beer, sandwiches and local art. Does that sound like a place fit for me or what?

While I was in Fairmont, I passed this place, not realizing where it was, and vowed to eat there while in town for the day. After the festival, we did just that.

After perusing the menu (which looked tasty), we realized we arrived just after 2 p.m., and lunch was no longer being offered. Total bummer.

That's OK, though, because they have muffins and other tasty pastries to accompany your coffee (or beer, no one is judging here).

I ordered their last gigantic blueberry muffin in the case along with a cafe mocha. This muffin was gigantic and probably 1,000 calories, but it was delicious. I'm assuming freshly baked that morning. My coffee was good, too, and a nice little pick-me-up on a cold day. I only needed a few sips, though, to feel all the caffeine I needed for the day.

So, let's go through the list here: tasty, creative sandwiches. Check. Homemade pastries. Check. Local beer. Check. Coffee. Check. Plus lots of local art, pottery and just a really cool, laidback coffee shop atmosphere.

If you live in Fairmont, go here every day. For me.

Grade: A

When Afton and I went to Bridgeport to stop at our closest Sephora, we stopped to get dinner at Mia Margherita. It was an odd experience.

Where I was seated, I was facing an open area where the staff were just kind of standing around in the dining area waiting on people as they came in. It was super awkward to just be facing these people as they're talking.

And the service was a bit off. We started off with fried calamari, but I think our waitress tried to give it to the table next to us first. I'm not generally a huge fan of calamari, and this was really no different. There was a lemon cream dipping sauce that didn't do much for me, but underneath, there was this sweet and sour sauce I liked much better. But still, just kind of soggy, greasy chewy bits.

For our main entrees, we actually ordered two and split them. First, we had the gorgonzola mac and cheese, because how could you not? Creamy gorgonzola, pancetta, capicolla, garlic and herb breadcrumbs. For an entree portion, I guess I was expecting it to be much larger. The flavor was OK. Got a bit of that kick. The breadcrumbs were just kind of on top; they could've been baked in more so that when you breathe in, you don't inhale all of it. We each ate half, and my tummy was still rumbling.

The other dish we ordered was a small West Virginia via San Francisco pizza. It has pepperoni, sausage, mozzarella, ricotta and parmigiano reggiano. This pizza wasn't bad. The dollops of ricotta could've been more strategic so you actually get some in each bite. Otherwise, it's kind of a regular pizza with sausage. I did like the sauce, though, and the bites with ricotta were pretty good.

With just half the macaroni and cheese and half the smallest pizza, I was still pretty hungry. So I got dessert, too. I ordered the warm gallettes napoleon, which is a fresh-baked Italian cookie, vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.


First of all, there's no ice cream. It's more like a whipped cream. It was good, though. The dark chocolate part I wasn't crazy about, but the cookie itself was tasty. Chilled and a little hard, but a light sweetness I enjoyed.

So maybe it was because it was coming on the heels of a really great Italian dinner I had recently. Or maybe it was just because the service and atmosphere were a bit off, but I wasn't super impressed. It was pretty average to me. Plus I was still hungry when I left - despite having shelled out more than $20. Meh, I don't know. Maybe another time.

Grade: C