One thing there's never a shortage of in a college town: pizza.

But, a new pizza place located just on the outskirts of town promises to bring a new "home grown" angle.

Everything we do is from the heart. We pride ourselves on offering a menu full of made from scratch, delicious items: from our hand-cut chips that accompany every sandwich, to the original recipe pizza sauce, made in small batches with hand-crushed pear tomatoes. Locally-sourced, fresh, quality ingredients – everything we do is "HomeGrown".




Home Grown Pizza, located along Earl L Core Road, has a large gravel parking area and a red paneled exterior. Watch your step going in.


It's a bit rustic - small - but friendly. It's pretty basic, but high ceilings and wood paneling give it a cool vibe.

We ordered a pizza with half mushrooms, half pepperoni. We also got a "double" pepperoni roll - which is just two pepperoni rolls.

Pepperoni rolls weren't bad - a little heavy on the breading, but filling.

The pizza was decent. I like mine a little crisper on the bottom, so a hotter oven would help that. Decent flavors, though!

We also got brownies for dessert - and I love that they have dessert readily available. They also have cannolis or hummingbird cakes.

Overall, not a bad addition to this side of town. There are so many other options that are a little closer to me, but if you're looking to try out something new, not a bad option.

There is a brewery right in Pike Place Market, which is pretty cool.

It's as old as I am, but The Pike Brewing Company is pretty lively. There were lots of folks eating and drinking throughout the sort of sprawling dining area.

We came just for some drinks, though.

We each ordered the sampler, which came with Pike Naughty Nellie, Pike Place Ale, Pike IPA, Pike Kilt Lifter, Pike XXXXX, and Pike Monk's Uncle.

These were all a bit underwhelming for me. Heavy or bland or just not all that exciting. I didn't mind the golden Nellie beer, but even then, not super exciting.

So, we were definitely in search of a good brewery - maybe a bit further away from the touristy area of Pike Place. Nothing especially bad here, but nothing I got excited about either.




Grade: C

Rivesville is becoming one cool little town.

Lodged between Morgantown and Fairmont off the beaten track, this town has a record shop, a tasty restaurant and now - West Virginia's newest brewery.

Short Story Brewing was founded by a brother, sister, and the sister's husband: Aaron, Abby and Mike. The trio wanted to create great beer in their community, and the brewery has a literature theme which pleases me. 

It's a nice little scenic drive to get here, there's tons of parking and the building - it's just beautiful. It's sleek, a little hipster and cozy all at once.

Their beers currently (as per Brilliant Stream):

We got a flight so we could sample them all, and I loved Working Title so much that I ended up taking a growler home with me. Aaron was also kind enough to show us the beautiful brewing system. 

If you haven't been here, make plans to immediately. The place is gorgeous, the beer is absolutely delicious, and there's a really cool vibe here where I can see them being a strong force in the revitalization of this community.

Stop by, have a drink (or two), snack on some popcorn and enjoy the card catalog flights :)

With all the traveling, this year has been a little crazy for me. I've been all over the country and had the opportunity to try some really cool food. Most notably, I've finally found really good tacos in Austin.

So, the bar was pretty high when I tried Los Agaves in Seattle.

They offer traditional Mexican street food, and I ordered a single taco al pastor, which has grilled pork, pineapple and onion.

And, it was fine, but a bit too greasy for my taste. That kind of was the overarching flavor here, so I thought this one was just OK this time around.



Grade: C

The Barge is a classic Charleston restaurant that was gone before I had the chance to check it out.

Luckily, it has made a triumphant return so I was happy to experience dining on the Kanawha.

Offering traditional bar & grille fare, the real draw for The Barge is being able to dine on the dock.

After fumbling a bit to figure out how to get to it from the road, I pulled into the parking lot my GPS directed me to, and I saw the sign on the gate.

They had carts shuttling people up and down the hill, but I took the stairs down and onto the boat.

A dock surrounds the boat, and there are a bunch of umbrella-ed tables for which to sit. On this day, though, it was at least 4000 degrees so I asked to sit inside. I think that caught them by surprise, and I was seated downstairs.

This space is essentially used for the wait staff prep, as they were folding silverware on the tables and hanging out. I definitely felt a bit out of place and like I was in their private space.

The menu has a huge "build your own" sandwich option, so I figured that could be a pretty solid way to go. I ordered a burger, on brioche, with bleu cheese, crispy onions and a sweet and spicy glaze. I also got a side of fries.

The burger was pretty good - I wish more of that glaze had been on it, but not bad.

The fries were good - and a pretty hefty portion at that.



There are still some kinks they're working out, as they just reopened. But, I like this unique option in town, and on a (slightly cooler) nice day, this could be a great spot.