I recently traveled to Milwaukee recently for a work conference with Tony. We did the whole conference thing, presented, networked, met up with colleagues. But, of course, we also ate. A lot. And I had a lot of fun, and I want to write about it! So prep yourself for the next barrage of blog posts because they'll be Milwaukee centered.



I never expected to visit Milwaukee. It was never at the top of any list. But, I really, really enjoyed myself. It's a big city, so it has the luxuries of that, but it's not so big that it's incredibly crowded. It was actually quite nice.

We flew in on a Saturday, and I had made dinner reservations at a very nice restaurant that evening. Surprisingly, we actually got into the city, settled in and ready to go way in advance. So we decided to walk toward the restaurant, thinking it would take us some time to get there. Welp. We ended up getting there about an hour and a half early. We looked around trying to figure out what we should do, when we saw "Pleasant Kafe."

I actually thought the name sounded questionable, but it's actually a coffee shop by day and a chill wine bar by night. I can't tell you how much I love this concept. There are two floors, the bottom having the counter space and a few tables, and then upstairs there were folks working on laptops while sipping wine. And, each chair had a different small blanket/afghan to cover up while you enjoy your time. How awesome is that? Why doesn't Morgantown have this? I would literally never leave. I could be there right now as I catch up on all these blogs...

We were there when everyone was drinking wine since it was the evening, so why not do as the locals do? We ended up getting a bottle of their seasonal sparkling cider. That can't NOT be good, right? Right!

We got our carafe and flutes and sat on the second floor overlooking other folks as they walked in or chatted or what have you. And it was so, so tasty. It was sweet, sparkling and refreshing. It doesn't get much better than that. It was housemade with champagne, and as champagne usually does with me, it tricks me into thinking it's not that strong and then I'm three glasses in and giggling to myself.

It was a lovely precursor to dinner in a very sweet little shop.

Grade: A

One thing Morgantown is missing is a good deli. I'm talking fresh sandwiches, with pastrami and corned beef, with pickles and other Jewish specialties ala New York-style restaurants. OR, for less urban areas, deli can also be a place to get cold cuts and made-to-order sandwiches. But, that's just my interpretation. It can be ambiguous.



So, when Tony's Deli in Westover opened (in the previous Agresti's location with same owner), I had high hopes. I liked Agresti's, though I had only been once. Just not a convenient spot for me. So, I thought this place could have potential.

Tony's Deli has a counter where you can order your choice of salad, appetizer or sandwich. There's a seating area with a few tables and a cooler with a few desserts, like cannoli and a few random deli meats. Of the options available, the meatball hoagie sounded best to me. I placed that order, paid in cash (cash only!), and found a table.

My meatball hoagie arrived cold. So cold that the cheese on top wouldn't even melt. Also, there was just one large meatball in each half of the sandwich, which made eating this cumbersome. The meatball itself, though, had decent seasoning. I think it would have been more enjoyable warm, though.

My friends found their sandwiches tasty, and their housemade ribbon chips were pretty good - though I wish they came with the purchase of the sandwich. They also had fancy San Pellegrino drinks for sale.

Overall thoughts - average. Nothing really outstanding. Not yet, at least.


Grade: C
 

So, I feel like I need a disclaimer at the beginning of this blog post.

Last month, I spent a whole day at the Bramwell Oktoberfest having a super fun and drunk time. But, a huge part of even making this day trip to Bramwell was to try The Corner Shop, a restaurant listed on the 101 Unique Places to Dine in WV list. But after an entire day of drinking delicious beer after delicious beer after delicious beer, you kind of lose track of ... well ... everything.

It was later in the evening when I realized the restaurant was closing, and I HAD to get there because I traveled all this way and I needed to check them off my list! I, I'm sure, gracefully stumbled into the restaurant as they were closing. I said, I'm sure, in a super pathetic tone - "Can I still order something!" I was met with some shaking heads. Devastation. Then I jumped to the third level of dealing with a devastating situation: bargaining.

"But ... Can I ... just get an ice cream? Please please? I've been wanting to come here all day!" What is wrong with me? They either felt really sad for me or just wanted me to leave, so they made me an ice cream. Bless their hearts.

As a side note, The Corner Shop is this super adorable soda fountain, which is located in a former pharmacy. It's a very cool place, and if you have the opportunity to try more than just ice cream, please do so. They have floats, shakes, sundaes, splits, cones, as well as "millionaire" burgers, hotdogs, pulled pork sandwiches, paninis, soups, salads and more homemade items.

I can't even remember what specific ice cream flavor I got; I just remember it was caramel-ly, and it made my night. Delicious, light - almost fluffy ice cream - and very sweet. I was SO happy they accommodated me, they had a delicious ice cream flavor, and I got my sweet fix at the end of the night. Nothing better.

EDIT 5/5/17: I was able to go try their food - I got a cheeseburger with macaroni & cheese (mmmm), onion rings and a butter pecan milkshake. They were all absolutely delicious!











Grade: A
 

There are three Berkshire's Old Fashion Frozen Custard locations in West Virginia: Princeton, Beckley and Crab Orchard. I was first introduced to the custard stand in Princeton when I would excitedly anticipate each new week's flavor.



Because I don't like unfinished lists, I wanted to check out their locations in Beckley and Crab Orchard. I actually called Crab Orchard the day before asking if they would be open. They assured me they would be. When I finally arrived, there was a handwritten note on their stored saying they were closed. Annoying.

I hopped over to the Beckley location to at least knock that one out. They had JUST opened, like, a minute before I got there. I pulled into the drive-thru and ask for a strawberry cone. They were out of strawberry. So, I asked for a chocolate cone. After they put money in the cash register, they handed me my change and my ice cream cone, and I was on my way.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt - maybe the machine didn't have time to "get started," or something. But this was not great. And, for the ice cream-aholic that is me, that's saying something. First off, it's very, very thick. Like, you have to actually bite it. And the flavor tasted ... chalky. Not my favorite rendition of chocolate.

Grade: C
 

The final drive in in West Virginia! Finally! I visited Lynn's Drive In in Bluewell on a rainy Saturday. (And, since I've gone to all of them now, I just want to gripe about how they all spell "drive in" differently. It can be "drive in," "drive-in," drive inn," "drive-inn," etc. Grumble)

Since it was raining, I felt super bad that the carhop came to my window. Especially when I didn't really know what I wanted. I asked for a few minutes to look over the menu written on the window. She said to just honk when I was ready. Is that aggressive? Honking?

The menu consists of items you would expect at a drive-in: burgers, hotdogs, some salads and some "plated" entree meals. Plus tons of ice cream. If it wasn't so chilly already, I would've had at least three milkshakes.

After a few minutes, I saw someone actually go up to the window to order. I felt like that would be more polite than honking so I went up to the window and placed an order for a hotdog with chili, slaw, mustard and onions, as well as an order of the broccoli and cheese bites.

I returned to my car and a few minutes later, she delivered our plate full of food. Hotdog - not bad! The chili wasn't especially memorable, but I liked the slaw - a nice consistency with good flavor. The broccoli and cheese bites just OK. I didn't honestly get much of a "cheesy" flavor; it was more of a fried flavor with the thick breading. But decent, fried food from a drive in? Check.

Next time, I need to try one of those 32 ice cream flavors!

Grade: B