Check out my latest J.Q. Dickinson Appalachian Mercantile box:

Evelyn's Elegant Edibles - Essential Spice Mix - This spice is great on pork, chicken, or tofu. Use as a marinade or breading. Evelyn bases her recipes on those of her Greek grandmother. Made in PA.

Ronceverte recently held a food truck festival that had a ton of new places I had never tried. Check out these:


Bandit BBQ - I ordered a portato here that was maybe the best baked potato I've ever had. It was huge and topped with pork, butter, sauce, cheese, sour cream, scallons, and it was perfection.






Greenbrier Dairy LLC - I've been wanting to visit Greenbrier Dairy, so I was thrilled to see they were offering ice cream at the event. I went with a coke float since it was portable. Now I can't wait to ty somee of the cheese curds and other offerings.






The Hungry Hillbilly - I kept it simple here with a hot dog, but sometimes simplicity is best. Not bad.






Flavor Mutt - All sorts of beautiful breads and goodies here. I took home a delish onion bialy.






Potluck - The Appalasian Bowl had rice, carrots, kale, cucumber, kimchi, pickled onion, pickled kohlrabi, sprouts, sesame oil and strawberry gochujang. This brought some heat, but still nice and refreshing for a warm day.








The Rolling Stove - This corn almost looks too good to eat, but I had never had it with the extra seasonings - outside of butter - and man oh man is it worth it.






When Pigs Fly BBQs - I was intrigued by the sundae, which had baked beans, pork, slaw and a pickle. It's like a portable pulled pork sandwich, minus the carbs. It was pretty good and fun to eat.








River City Sweets - Fruit pizza is one of my favorites of all time. So, when I saw this cookie, I knew I had to have it. Sweet but fresh - all tasty.








Poppy's Mobile Food Service - One of the most unique offerings waas this pepperoni roll-shaped gyro that was one of my favorites of the day. It had a great earthy flavor, plus a delicious, spicy sauce to go with it.






Doolittle Roasting Company - Last, but not least, I discovered a new-to-me coffee roaster from West Virginia. It's roasted in Hillsboro, and the artwork is completed by the roaster. How neat!



Some other folks who were there: Kobe Asian Fusion, Twisted Sisterz, and in subsequent events: Dawg Haus, Jimmy D’s Shuck Shack, The Waffle Wagon, etc.

In honor of Pride Month last year, Low Ivy Catering produced some specials at Starlings that were super colorful.



There were 5 colors of steamed buns stuffed with 16-hour smoked pork, gochujang bbq and lime-honey napa slaw.



Have you enjoyed any Pride-themed meals this month?



Let's keep it going all year round!

Royal Restaurant is a beloved institution in Keyser. The family restaurant has been around since 1904 serving up diner favorites and breakfast all day.



When I was seated, I saw some groups of folks who seem like they had probably been coming here for years and had made lots of memories around this place. They had regular orders and inside jokes, and it was a real feel-good gathering space. The interior is well-worn and well-loved but clean and simple.



I mixed both breakfast and lunch by ordering a cheeseburger and a side of home fries. Plus a topping of cheese and onion.



The burger wasn't bad, but a little extra done for my liking. The potatoes had ample cheese, but I was hoping they would be a little bit crispier. Standard mom and pop fare that is filling, for sure.



Grade: B

I think I've been to about 100 Rio Grande restaurants in my lifetime so let's add one more in Huntington. I kid, but it is a pretty common name for Mexican-American restaurants, and I distinguish this Rio Grande by noting that it is on 5th Avenue.



I placed a take-out order for lunch, which included chips and salsa, and the enchiladas suizas, which came with grilled chicken, tomatillo sauce and queso.



It wasn't really a looker of a plate, but that could be in part because it was to go. it seemed pretty on par with other Mexican-American restaurants in the region. Salsa was thin, but I enjoyed the flavor, even though it could use a bit more spice. The texture of the enchiladas in the sauce left something to be desired, but they were full of grilled chicken that was seasoned well and it's hard to beat the cheese dip.



Grade: B