Every I-79 road warrior is familiar with Flatwoods. It's often a midway point for travels and has easy access to gas and food.



Usually, that food stop for me looks like a quick drive-through meal because I'm on a schedule. But I've always been curious about the China Buffet nearby.



It almost serves as a focal point for the whole plaza - or maybe that's just me because I've been curious. It is a decent size inside, too, with several rows of offerings greeting customers as soon as they walk in.



I got a to-go box and sought out my go-tos. I love a stuffed mushroom and crab rangoon. I also am a fan of imitation Krab. Plus any sweet and sticky chicken entree is finding its way onto my plate.



For everyone else, though, there is beef & broccoli, soups and fried rice. Plus the American clasics like mozzarella sticks, salad, fruit, and fries.



I was happy to see a lot of the classic Chinese-American dishes, as well as others that added something different. Overall, standard buffet fare that imcluded some of my favorites.



Grade: B

One of my newest favorite restaurants in West Virginia isn't a restaurant at all. It's a food truck. Country Thai on Wheels is the modern reincarnation of the previous Country Thai restaurant in the area. Pornsawan Jumpated posts on her Facebook where her food truck is going to be each day, and she usually sells at lunch time until she's sold out for the day.



She usually offeres a handful of items each day, but you can never go wrong with anything that's on the menu. Here are just a few of the items she has offered recently:

Chicken curry with potatoes (Masaman curry)
Spring rolls
Dumplings
Pad Thai
Chicken Panang
Jalapeño Rice balls
Chicken Satay
Sweet & Sour Ribs



On the day I visited, I got a combo of pad thai, chicken curry and a spring roll. It was the perfect combination of home-cooked comfort food with fun, new interesting flavors. I also love that you get to try a little bit of everything as part of a whole meal. Don't sleep on this delicious food.



Grade: A

The Davis/Thomas area is one of my favorites in the state. But it is small, so there isn't a ton of new business there often. So, when I saw the Riverfront Wood Fired Pizza open, I wasted no time placing an order.



The space is lovely and cozy, but I took mine to go so I could spend some time outside. They offer crowd, favorite pizzas, like pepperoni, margherita, buffalo, chicken, veggie, and the one that instantly caught my attention: the spaghetti pizza.



"Fresh house made spaghetti red sauce, meatballs, spaghetti pasta and mozzarella cheese." Listen, I don't disagree with you that it's a little bit gimmicky. But, explain to me why this is actually delicious. There's overlap between pizza and spaghetti as it is, so just doubling up on the carbs made this and even more delicious pie to me. Kind of fun, kind of different, and definitely a new texture. But still, really tasty red sauce good quality mozzarella = a pretty tasty pie.



Grade: A

Rocky Tops Pizza is a Wayne-based restaurant with additional locations in Barboursville and Kenova.

"Rocky Tops Pizza was established by the Akers family in Kenova in 1991. The small take-out pizza joint would quickly become a favorite in Wayne County. Today there are four locations serving up pizza with a thin, chewy crust and cheese sticks with a sweet dipping sauce," according to the newspaper.



I ordered the pepperoni rolls, which come with a sweet marinara sauce. An order came with eight small ball-sized pepperoni rolls that were in the shape of a knot.



These were a bit on the too-dark side for me. It dried them out too much, and the herbs and spices of the pepperoni weren't able to shine through.



Grade: C

I've been woring my way through Chinese–American take out restaurants in the Northern Panhandle for some time now. Whenever I go to visit my parents, I will often stop and grab lunch for us. I try to pick the new place each time, and it can't be too far away from home so that it doesn't get cold. That means I usually end up in the Moundsville-Wheeling area.



Such is the case with China Wok in the Bethlehem neighborhood of Wheeling. they offer the standard fare, including fried rice, lo mein, specialty chicken, beef, and pork dishes, and more. It also has the added benefit of online ordering, which makes it easier for me. I usually order a few different entrées; this time included General Tso's chicken, crab rangoons, peanut butter chicken, sesame chicken, and steamed veggies.



I would say everything was as expected. I liked that the peanut butter chicken was an option because I don't see that often, but it was a bit dry for my taste. I did enjoy the lo mein, which had some more moisture. Both of sesame chicken and General Tso's were pretty similar save for the sesame seed topping. A little sweet, a little stringy. My favorite bites, though, were are those bites of white rice drenched in the General Tso sauce.



Grade: B