While driving through Virginia and searching for something to satisfy my sweet tooth, my friend found the "Balkan Bakery."

What is a Balkan bakery, you ask? That was my question, too.

First of all, the Balkans are a geographic region in southeastern Europe. This region includes the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Greece, and Slovenia.

So this bakery features pastries from this region.

That includes things like "burek," "strudla," "kifli," "ekleri," bread and crepes.

The Balkan Bakery is actually housed in the same building as another coffee shop, Zazzy'z.

When we walked in, I first saw the menu, and I was so excited to see lots of items I've never had before.

There was baklava, strudla (streussel), ekleri (eclairs), kilfli (croissants), bombinci (truffles), palacinki (Balkan crepes), and more.


Everything looked amazing.

I ended up trying a spinach and feta burek, which is a filo dough puffed pastry stuffed with savory ingredients.

And, I got a peanut butter balklava - which was easily the best baklava I've ever had. And it was all rolled and syrupy and amazing.

Do you have a favorite Balkan dessert?

The Yellow Jacket - Sweets and Eats is home to what's known as "Freak Shakes."

This restaurant serves up sandwiches, pepperoni rolls, hot dogs - and their famous shakes in Williamstown.

They have homemade pepperoni rolls, so I had to try one. I ordered mine with marinara sauce and cheese.

They have thick, triangular sticks in the buns, split open and topped with sauce and cheese - very Fairmont-esque.

And, I had to get a s'more "Freak Shake." Not only is it a tall milkshake, but it's then topped with just a ball of ice cream and THEN all the toppings. Just to get to the milkshake is a feat.

But quite a tasty meal.

I first visited Appalachian Coffee House in Mt. Nebo, and they've since expanded to Summersville and Princeton/

So when passing through Princeton, I had to stop to check it out.

Princeton has changed so much from when I first visited, and I'm loving the new small businesses and public art.

It's really growing with a kombucha shop, cool coffee shop and more.

Appalachian Coffee House has a number of coffee drink specialties. I've tried a few before so I went with a new one this time: "sweet falls" which is mocha crush with a shot of caramel.

They also have a variety of specialties - like honey lavender latte.

And, there are pastries, too!

I went for a cheese bagel with cream cheese.

... And maybe a blueberry scone, too.

Yum!

Have you been to any of the locations yet?

And, if so, what have you tried?

Nomada Bakery is a brand-new bakery located at Heritage Station.

It's in the former River & Rail Bakery location that everyone was sad to see go.

But Nomada just opened and is serving up coffee, pastries, breads, entrees and empanadas. And this is just to start.

It was my duty to try a little bit of everything. And who am I to shy away from duty?

First up is an empanada. Today, they offered pineapple, beef and chicken curry options. But since I have never had a pineapple empanada, it was the obvious choice. The dessert empanada was truly tasty and unique.

Next up - the curry chicken popover. They also had avocado & egg popovers, but I was already in the mood for lunch.

Since it was more of an entree, it was preceded with a small house salad with fresh greens, tomatoes and a vinaigrette.

This popover was a new, different flavor for me. I love the concept, and the curry was not overpowering - just enough to fully taste all the flavors and complexity.

But, wait, there's more. Under pastries, Nomada serves up these beautiful mini cakes. On this day, they had carrot, chocolate, orange and strawberry.

Without missing a beat, I ordered an absolutely beautiful strawberry mini cake. Strawberry cake with a buttery delicious strawberry icing and dried strawberries - I am dreaming of this cake already.

The former Blackwater Brewing Company space is now the 912 Brew Pub.

They weren't making beer yet when I visited, but I'll have to go back when they do.

Instead, they are serving a full lunch and dinner menu with items like steaks, sandwiches and shrimp.

I started with a salad, which was served with a unique orange-y dressing.

For my main meal, I went with the Zesty Crab Cake Dinner, which was two 4 oz. broiled crab cakes.

Plus a nice side of veggies. Tasty! What's your favorite thing here?