BRGR is a restaurant in the Pittsburgh area, which features creative burgers and spiked shakes. Afton and I checked out the Cranberry Township location because it was along the way. And yep, pronounced, BEE ARR

It's located in a strip mall, so parking was no problem. When we went inside, I was surprised to see most of the place bare, save for the bar area. Granted, the bar area is large and probably a good place to watch the game. Service was off. We weren't immediately greeted when we came in, and once we were seated, we had to wait some time before someone actually waited on us.

The menu has some interesting beef burgers - like a pad thai one and another featuring guacamole, jalapeños, Sriracha and chipotle aioli. Plus some others that include a black bean patty, a salmon patty, mahi mahi, bison and turkey.

I ordered "The BRGR" - which is 8 oz. of dry aged prime beef, pickled red onions, arugula, creamy bleu cheese and oven-roasted tomatoes. I also ordered a shake: Salty Caramel - bourbon + caramel sauce + sea salt + vanilla bean. Yaaasss.

My burger was really pretty good. I don't remember much of the bleu cheese, but the flavors overall were delicious.

Afton had ordered some fries, and we split some of those. They were average. It's kind of a bummer that if you want to add fries to your burger, it's like an extra $4. Little steep. Not sure they were worth it, but they weren't bad.

And my shake was delicious. I could definitely taste a good bit of the bourbon. It came out in the metal can, while Afton's was served in a glass. Not sure why. I think mine ended up having more, though. But very tasty.

Overall thoughts: This place wasn't bad. I think maybe I like the Burgatory more. I think if the service here had been right, the "feel" and overall experience would've been better. But my burger was tasty, and my milkshake was sweet and boozey (my favorite). I think being able to add fries to the side, instead of buying them as like a $4 appetizer seems like a reasonable request. In sum, pretty good.

Grade: B

Thankfully, the Northern Panhandle is littered with DiCarlo's locations. The next one on my list is Warwood.

This location is odd in the sense that it shares a walkway with Subway. Inside. But it didn't bother me much. There are a set of tables and a banister and back beyond that area is the counter where you order.

Two pieces, please.

After a bit of a wait, I had two pieces and out the door I went. The first thing I noticed was that each DiCarlo's varies in price. Some are 10 cents more or less per piece. Then, I realized the shredding style of the cheese is different. These small round bits of cheese - or as I've been saying, nobbules - were a bit thicker than the finely shredded mozzarella at other places.

The taste, still the same, though. The crust was a bit darker. The sauce was the perfect blend of tomato and spice, and the cheese - maybe because of the way it was shredded - did not melt nearly as quick and was still fairly in tact by the time I had gotten on the road and was ready to have a slice.

All around, good.

Grade: A

Spoiler alert: I don't think I can give DiCarlo's any less than an A. Biased? Obvi.

While in Wheeling, I decided to get two quick slices (or pieces, slices makes me think of triangular slices) from the DiCarlo's located on Main Street in Wheeling. I had never been to this location -- or many of the others more south -- so new restaurant + it being DiCarlo's = dream.

It's weird walking into this location; it feels like an actual restaurant. There is art on the walls of old DiCarlo's signs or folks working in the kitchen. There was even this nice little poster showcasing the history. Plus tables and people eating in. And space. Talk about a change from the sparse, white walls and lack of tables at Wellsburg's DiCarlo's.

I ordered at the counter and waited at a table for my order. Soon enough, a folded-over cardboard box tied with a rubberband housing two piping hot pieces of square pizza was in my hands.

The beauty of DiCarlo's is the perfectly crisp crust, the well-seasoned sauce and the freshly grated mozzarella cheese that is tossed on at the end so it creates this very flavorful bite where you can actually taste the flavor of the cheese instead of it turning into this sort of flavorless, greasy elastic.

My car wasn't far away, so I just in the drivers seat and unveiled this small piece of gold. As I opened the box, I could see it had already become steamy and cheese was melting. Not so fast, cheese. In my belly first.

It's delicious. Crust was a bit crisper than Wellsburg's (my preferred location), but it's still perfection.

Grade: A

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