Huntington, you beautiful food town, you. There's so much to explore. I'm slowly making my way through the town, hitting the best food spots along the way.



Savannah's Restaurant is upscale dining in a beautiful, old white house. There is also a bistro portion and a catering space. It gives off a kind of southern charm feeling. It is one of the finest restaurants (read: pricey) in town, so when a friend tipped me off to Savannah's participating in Huntington's Restaurant Week, I was excited to check it out.



As part of the Restaurant Week special, Savannah's offered a prix fixe menu of $35 per person, including a soup or salad, choice of entree and dessert.



First, we had a small amuse-bouche of a crunchy baguette, blue cheese, cream cheese, dried cranberries and nuts. This was fine. Familiar flavors but on what tasted like toast, so ... it was OK.



Then, we had a basket with an assortment of bread and a side of whipped butter. I liked the variety, as well as the light butter. Nice start.



Then, I started with Savannah's Classic Cream of Crab Soup. The consistency was thinner than I imagined, but the flavor was light and buttery. There were some good pieces of lump crab meat.

The entree I chose was the chicken cordon bleu, which was a chicken breast stuffed with prosciutto and Point Reyes blue cheese, served with mushroom sherry cream sauce, saffron butternut risotto, snow peas and julienne carrots. It's chicken cordon bleu kicked up a few fancy notches.

This was really quite tasty. The chicken was breaded and crispy and juicy. The cream sauce was light but a beautiful touch. And the risotto underneath was a flavor I was not expecting but certainly welcomed. It was really tasty. It's rich in flavor and has a wonderful combination of crunch with fresh snow peas and silky smooth sauce with a flavorful chicken and umami flavors. All around super good. Love this dish - a little unexpected but with classically delicious flavors.

I must say, our server was not the most confident. You could tell she was new or nervous, but she never seemed sure of her answers about the food, and she was timid when approaching us. I'm thinking it'll only take a little time before she's a veteran.

For dessert, I went with the bread pudding du jour. Bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts. This one featured chocolate and peanut butter. Those are some heavy flavors, as opposed to something like cinnamon or white chocolate that accent the flavors.

So, to me, it seemed like the dessert was desperately trying to be something it's not. It was just covered in this chocolate and peanut butter that smothered any of the real flavor. It was bread pudding, but all flavors of it were masked and this forced chocolate/peanut butter combo didn't do it for me. Too overpowering. That said, it wasn't bad, but it was more of a chocolate cake with peanut butter, really.

Despite some small misteps, I actually really liked Savannah's. The entree was very well-thought out and delicious. The crab soup was also tasty. The amuse bouche and dessert were more experimental, but at least they were different. Overall, a very good experience and some tasty, interesting food.

Savannah's is open Tuesday through Saturday for dinner. The bistro opens at 5 p.m., and the restaurant opens at 5:30 p.m.

Grade: A

Summit Beer Station is a small bar serving up craft beer, with many local options as well as hard-to-find ones. When we walked in, the first thing I noticed was the digital screen showing all the beers they had on tap, as well as how full the keg was, how much each beer was, the ABV and location of the beer. Just super cool.

There was like one high-top table downstairs and maybe just a couple upstairs. It's very small, and the crowd seemed intimate. And totally hipster. They also ordered a pizza while we were there, which was funny.

I ordered a Charleston Brewing Company Wobbly and fell in love pretty much immediately. The English Bitter was clean but with a little power there. Huge fan. And, no, I swear I wasn't drunk - I just apparently don't know how to focus in a dark bar with bright light outside. So, A to this beer and also A to this bar.

Grade: A

Butter in coffee is a new thing. And apparently a thing marketed as being healthy.

I don't drink coffee often, unless I really need it, so I don't pick up on small details that everyday coffee drinkers would. But after a rainy day traveling, a hot cup of coffee sounded good. And Butter It Up was close, so why not?



I ordered "The Katie," which has butter, cream and local honey. Honestly, though, I couldn't really taste any of that. Instead, it tasted like... well, coffee. And kind of average coffee, at that.

I like that it's something a little different, sure. But a whole marketing concept around something that doesn't have a ton of flavor to me is interesting. So, to me, average coffee. I think I'd rather go for a latte or maybe something else.

What do you guys think? Have you had butter coffee? Does it change the taste? Do you like it or nah? Any diehard butter coffee lovers out there? Englighten me.

Grade: C

As part of my effort to complete adventures from the 55 things to do in the Mountain State list, I convinced Tom to accompany me to southern West Virginia to see the Coal House in Williamson and check out the grave of Devil 'Anse' Hatfield, as well as stop in Matewan and try the Tunnel Drive-In. It was a first me to travel through Lincoln, Logan, Boone and Mingo. Woo!

1) The Devil Anse Hatfield grave is in the middle of nowhere, but we found it without too much trouble. I realize how tough it is to not rely on my phone in an area where I have no idea where I'm going. I'm actually surprised I didn't get more lost. We climbed a hill to see that guy right over there ----------------> and nearly died on the muddy hill, but it was worth it to see this near-life-size statue of Hatfield. Fun fact, my friend BJ is a relative.

2) The Coal House is pretty cool. It's, well, a house made out of coal and is also home to the Tug Valley Chamber of Commerce. Inside, I bought a coal pig. The whole Hatfield/McCoy thing is a huge thing in this area of the state, so I figured a pig would be fitting considering it is rumored that a stolen pig is what helped start the war between the families.

3) Matewan, of Matewan Massacre fame, had a nice little area devoted to the history of the massacre, as well as more Hatfield/McCoy stuff. I bought the book on Matewan there, because it seemed fitting.

OK, food!



The Tunnel Drive-In is one of the few drive-ins left in the state. It's located in Williamson, and it took me a few tries to find this place. The address has it listed on the road down below (so I thought), but I happened to look past the road and saw it, thankfully. As soon as I pulled up, my car was beside none other than Don Blankenship himself sitting in his Beemer eating some drive-in food. I was a little shocked.








After some awkwardness about omfg, that's Don Blankenship in the car beside me, we figured out what we wanted from the menu and went inside to order. After being in my car for hours upon hours, I didn't want to sit in there to eat, too.

I wanted to order the Tunnel burger, considering the namesake, but they were out. I found out it is a 1 lb. burger, so I'm glad they were out. Somehow, they weren't out of regular sized burgers, so I ordered one of those instead with a side of fried mushrooms. And a strawberry milkshake.

My burger was not bad - the burger was kind of dwarfed by the size of the bun and a giant piece of tomato. It was definitely well done, bordering on crispy, but a slice of cheese masks some of that. But a burger is a burger. It's still good because you can't mess up a cheeseburger too terribly bad.

The mushrooms were aplenty, and the ranch dip wasn't a bad touch. I don't know if I've ever dipped mushrooms in ranch? It worked, but I kind of liked them all on their own.

The perfect touch was a strawberry shake. I can't tell you the last time I had one, but it was so delicious. What goes better with a burger and a side of fried food than a smooth, sweet shake? Nothing, I tell you. Nothing.


Grade: B