Fat Albert's is a pizza place in Ripley that also serves up appetizers, salads, burgers, calzones and sandwiches.

On the day I visited, the place was packed for a gathering. But I had ordered to-go, so I was just in and out quickly.


I had just ordered a personal pizza with mushrooms and a pepperoni roll. 

The pizza sauce is fairly sweet - which I loved. The dough had a nice crisp on the bottom but still had some puff to it. This was a really great flavor combination and marriage of textures.

The pepperoni roll was giant and puffy. But once you take a bite, it all flattens out. Not bad, definitely heavier on the dough.

I've been to the Capitol Food Court a billion times, but realized I hadn't written about it.

So, it's time to change that, right?

The food court has a few different areas.

There's a salad bar with fresh toppings and veggies.

There's a "Grill Station," which has sandwiches and a daily special.

And they've been having pepperoni rolls pretty regularly.

And there are soups and sometimes more on the larger buffet (though not recently).


Plus there's a snack bar in Building 7, which has mostly the same items as the "Grill" area.

Here, I went for some cheesy bread, which was pretty tasty.



And it was convenient for Building 3.



Not too shabby.



What's your favorite?

If you saw this bottle of olive oil, you probably wouldn't think it had any connection to West Virginia. But, in fact, it does.

From a Charleston Gazette-Mail piece:

"Even though nearly 5,000 miles separate her from her family estate in Sezze Romano, Italy, Lia DiTrapano Fairless brings a piece — a taste — of Italy back with her to Charleston each time she visits.

To her, there’s nothing better than DiTrapano Oil — cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil made from olive trees surrounding Villa DiTrapano, the family’s 16-acre estate near the Mediterranean Sea. 

Since 2009, the family has been hand-harvesting the Itrana olives from the more than 400 trees in the uliveto — Italian for olive grove — to make their prized olive oil.

Until recently, they’ve just brought the oil back home in plastic containers to use for themselves and to share with close friends and relatives. But in September, Fairless said, they brought 67 cases of the bottled oil to sell in West Virginia. The first cases were stocked on shelves at The Wine Shop at Capitol Market; Eggplant on Bridge Road in Charleston; and Bella The Corner Gourmet in Lewisburg."

Have you tried it?

Dunkin' Donuts has a new coffee flavor: Girl Scout Cookies!



You can get just about any kind of coffee - with a flavoring of coconut caramel or Thin Mint!



My drink of choice was a frozen hot chocolate with the Thin Mint flavoring. Tasted like a standard minty chocolate flavor. I am into it.

A La Carte Fine Chocolates is a small candy company that is based out of Bridgeport but sells its candy in small venues and festivals. They make chocolate marshmallow pops, pecan bark, coconut truffles and everything in between. While at was at the Culture Center shop, I picked up these chocolate pops for a sweet treat. SO tasty. Make sure you pick up one of their tasty treats!