For lunch today, Brittany and I grabbed some bar food at the Brick Yard Pub. This smoke-free pub features specials, a full menu and is home of the "yard glasses." Their full story can be found here. Located right in downtown Morgantown on Spruce Street, there isn't free parking, but there is a parking garage less than a block away.

Considering it is more of a pub, and we went in at about noon, it was pretty bare. We were the only ones inside until around 1 p.m., when two other parties showed up. This may be why we had excellent service, but I'll give Brick Yard the benefit of the doubt. The man working immediately tended to us, and had our drinks out to us in less than a minute or so.

The menu features typical pub fare, but it's all named after Morgantown areas. For example, there are: Spruce salsa and chips,  The Stewartstown, The Waterfront Wedge, The Cheat Lake, Sunnyside Salad, The Wharf, The Westover, The South Park, The I-79, The Pleasant Street Pulled Pork, The Suncrest, The Lair, The Star City, The Sabraton, The PRT, The Coliseum, Greenbag Bleu Burger, Willowdale Western Burger, and The Deckers Creek. Very cool!

We decided on "The Stewar- tstown" for an appet- izer: a bacon and grilled chicken quesadilla with sour cream and salsa. I was surprised at how tasty this was. It wasn't a squashed-flat quesadilla; it was full of chicken, bacon and gooey cheese. The salsa was also very tasty - a little kick, but not overwhelming. This has probably been my favorite quesadilla in Morgantown to date.

I wish I could say the same for my entree, The Suncrest, a grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, bacon, cheese and ranch dressing spinach wrap. This wrap just didn't do it for me. The flavors were bland, and the meal was slightly dry. Though it says there is ranch involved, I barely tasted it. If there was more cheese and more ranch, I think this dish could have been better. But with barely-there flavors, I wasn't impressed. I instead chose to snack on my side of chips instead.

For dessert, they had one option: fried oreos and ice cream. Intrigued, we immediately ordered them. Why these are not on the menu, I have no idea. As far as a deep-fried oreo goes, it's a chocolatey mess of deep-fried. But paired with a thick vanilla bean ice cream balanced out the hot, chocolate flavor with a cool, sweet one.

Grade: B

Jessica Hammond and I went to Charlie's Grill to devour some delicious grub and catch up. I've known Jessica since my freshman year; We both were junior staff writers at The Daily Athenaeum. She moved on to bigger and better things eventually, and I remained at The Daily Athenaeum. You decide whether or not that's a good thing.

Charlie's Grill is located right in Westover, just past the Dairy Queen. I know the sign has changed hands quite a few times - The Aquarium, and others. The outside looks typical, but once you walk inside, it's a whole different story. As soon as we opened the doors, we were in this small waiting area. There were menus and doors on either side of us. After looking puzzled for a minute or so, a waitress asked if we'd like smoking or non-smoking. They have a bar, with a small smoking section; a non-smoking section adjoined to the bar area; and a separate non-smoking section. We opted for the area where the most people were, which happened to be the non-smoking area near the bar.


Inside, the decorations are quite elegant looking - black with silver accents. The menus were thick with plenty of options, and they were very nice quality. After browsing for a minute or so, Jessica said she had tried the "Lobster Stuffed Chicken" when the restaurant was under a previous name, and it was fantastic. Immediately, I decided on that entree along with a sweet baked potato. Jessica opted for the special, a salmon caesar salad.

We were soon served a loaf of bread with our choice of butter - we chose sweet. The bread was homemade, and the butter we used made it taste like a cinnamon roll. You can't argue with that.

Then, I was served my salad, a spinach salad with egg, bacon, and sweet and sour dressing. Even though this was just a started salad, it was absolutely divine. I wouldn't have minded having that as my entree alone. Everything was fresh and crisp, and the sweet and sour dressing wasn't overpowering - just the perfect amount of accent to the dish.

Finally, the main entrees came out. For the quality of food Charlie's Grill has, I assumed the portions would reflect that. AKA, they'd be minuscule. However, my dish consisted of two large chicken breasts, battered, with a lobster cream cheese mixture inside.

The sweet baked potato was large, wrapped in foil, and accompanied with more sweet butter. The chicken was tender, and blended well with the lobster cream cheese. The batter was flaky, buttery, garlicy - everything that says yum in calorie form. The baked potato was also cooked perfectly, I was able to scoop the inside out and eat it like a sweet potato pie. The food was exquisite. It was really all the greats of fine dining - excellent food and atmosphere - paired with the greats of casual dining - large portions and not large prices.

Jessica was thrilled with hers, as well, as she stated quite a few times how good it was.

Besides tasting amazing, it was like comfort food only amped up. I felt full, satisfied and happy when I left Charlie's Grill. I can't wait to go back.

Grade: A

Chris was in town yesterday, and we decided to treat ourselves to a "fancy" dinner. A restaurant called Stefano's has been on my bucket list for awhile because I've seen the commercials advertising it, and it's supposed to be one of the best fine dining establishments in town.

From the outside, we determined it didn't seem too intimidating -- a neon sign and Christmas lights in the tree. To top it off, it's located beneath a bowling alley, Suburban Lanes. It's tucked away, so there's not really a grand entrance, but the windows were dark, so we weren't quite sure what we were in for.

When we walked through the two sets of doors, there was a hostess ready to take our coats. We had called ahead for reservations (as per requested on the website), so they sat us right away. There was one couple and a party of 10 or so. Probably typical for a Wednesday evening.

The lighting inside was very dim, and consisted of mainly modern, circular track lighting. Wine bottles were showcased in a cabinet, and large glass bowls were affixed on the wall. A bar was also placed behind translucent glass, with a few TVs on the wall. The chairs were a dark blue, and there were black accents - all very sophisticated.

The music playing were popular songs, though they had no lyrics. When there were gaps between the songs, we were able to hear the bowling alley above on a few occasions.

We were sat at one of the tables that had a long chain of booth seating opposite the table with a chair on the other end. Our table was placed with a candle, a couple forks and spoons, and as soon as we were seated, we were served bread with a muffaletta olive salad, butter and olive oil. The olive salad was tasty and tangy - paired perfectly with the moist slices of bread.


As we were snacking on the bread, we were served a tortellini special from the chef.  This lovely little surprise was a thick pasta with a mixture of cheeses in a cheese-based sauce. Though the cheeses weren't overly flavorful, they weren't bad. Slightly bland, so it wasn't going to overpower the main course.

Before we knew it - yet another surprise. This time, it was a lemon sorbet. This refreshing little bite-sized  cool treat refreshed the palate before our main courses arrived. I ordered the "Manicotti di Frutti di Mar," which is shrimp, scallops, crab, and lobster rolled in pasta and topped with pesto beurre blanc ~ $24. Chris had the "Spigola di Arigosta," pan-roasted sea bass served with homemade fried lobster ravioli, sauteed spinach, and lobster consomme.

It was a difficult decision; most things on the menu looked delicious. I did, indeed, love my dish (as many others seem to do, too). Though I was worried that the various shellfish would run the risk of a very fishy meal, the chef portioned the fish perfectly to the pasta, and the pesto sauce just hit the right notes. The texture of the shrimp and lobster was nice and firm - not mushy like many seafood/pasta combos. The pesto was creamy, basil-infused with a delicious olive oil base. The combinations of the seafood, pasta and pesto was delicious. I also had a side of french-cut green beans, drenched in garlic and butter, and crisp.

Chris also liked his dish - the fish was moist and flavorful, as was the pile of spinach. The lobster ravioli, however, consisted of one ravioli, which consisted of mostly of deep-fried ravioli edges without much lobster in the middle.


As we finished our meal, the waiter came out with a serving tray full of the desserts they offer. It was very nice to see them all already made and in person - much more effective than photos. I can venture to guess that many patrons end up ordering dessert because all the options looked absolutely delicious. Chocolate and candies were placed on every dish, and it was almost a work of art. I probably could've eaten them off the tray. Among them were a chocolate mousse and creme brulee. Chris and I ordered two: pecan-encrusted vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, candy-explosion cheesecake  that was adorned with butterfinger, reese's pieces, Hershey's kisses.

We shared both of these, but I think we preferred the ice cream dish only because it was a cold, refreshing dessert after our meal. It was drenched in chocolate syrup, so much so that I took some off the plate and transferred it to the cheesecake. The ice cream had tiny crushed candied pecans that made the dish seem like a fancier Nutty Buddy. The cheesecake was also tasty, with the candy encrusted on the top. Though good in theory, I would've preferred a strawberry or cherry syrup because the chocolate syrup with the chocolate candies was a little much. And without the syrup, it was a little dry. Overall, though, it is better than 90 percent of the cheesecake I've had in Morgantown.

My experience was fantastic - the meal was delicious, service was excellent, and I couldn't have asked for better company. Oh, and we also got these giant mints at the end of the meal.

Grade: A

For Wednesday's paper, I had to write about the new restaurant opening, Volcano Japanese Restaurant. It is located beside Pizza Hut and Radioshack in the Rite Aid/Boston Beanery plaza. The location used to be a former U.S. Cellular store. I wrote a story about it for The Daily Athenaeum, so most of the info is included in that article. So for now, I'll focus on the taste.


I had the chance to try two types of specialty rolls: The West Virginia roll and the Candy Cane Roll.The West Virginia roll consists of shrimp rempura, masago, avocado, and cream cheese wrapped in crab meat. This roll was my  favorite of the two. It had a nice combination of crunchy and soft that really allowed me to gain the full flavor and texture of the roll. It was all very fresh, and it didn't have that "hour-old" feel, when sushi gets slightly sticky and gross.

The second roll I tried, the candy cane, was also excellent. The candy cane consisted of white tuna, white fish, crab meat, and shrimp. Typically, I'm a "California Roll" type of girl because the texture and flavor of raw fish generally didn't appeal to me. This made me a believer. It doesn't have the "ew" factor of raw fish - instead, it just taste very fresh and flavorful. Now, I'm just wondering about all the other sushi I've tried.

The prices are fairly reasonable, with the specialty rolls hovering around $10, and there are a ton of options. When I go back, I'm definitely getting the same rolls - the texture, the freshness of the fish and the unique, secret combination of the sauces has me hooked. These photos are compliments of Mallory Bracken, a photographer of the DA.


Grade: A

I heard about Big Kahuna's from a friend who has a family friend involved with the restaurant. The DA did a story on it, and it's been on my radar ever since. When my friend Kristen said she didn't want to go somewhere right in town, I knew Big Kahuna's would be a decent choice. It's located on Grafton Road, a few miles past the Walmart.

The restaurant itself is a small area, seating about 20 people total, maybe. There's also an attached bar/gambling area. The fixtures were pretty basic, and there were a few "Hawaiian-style" cardboard designs on the walls - nothing fancy. The menu had the typical American grub - hoagies, burgers, pizzas. Some of the dishes did carry on the Hawaiian theme by infusing some pineapples, etc. into the food.

I ordered chili cheese fries and the "Big Kahuna's" burger. The fries were a huge portion - enough for a full appetizer. They came out in a fast-food fry basket, and were doused in a few types of cheese and a mild chili sauce. It was the kind of chili cheese fries that require a fork, which means there's more than enough flavor to go around. They were also served with sour cream, which topped off the meal perfectly.

The burger was cooked perfectly and topped with gouda cheese, pineapple, bacon, tomato, lettuce and a tangy barbecue sauce. The combination was like an explosion of excellent flavors - maybe straight from Hawaii. I really have no complaints about this burger. I really enjoyed the tangy sweet flavor, and I'd go back to have it again - despite the distant from campus.

Grade: B