North Central West Virginia is well known for their Italian cuisine - apparently from Italian immigrants who had been recruited to work in mining and glass manufacturing. There are a number of iconic Italian restaurants in the area, including Muriale's in Fairmont and Puglioni's or Oliverio's in Morgantown. Minard's Spaghetti Inn is the Clarksburg equivalent of that - local, Italian, and beloved in the area. It even earned a spot on the 101 unique places to dine in West Virginia.

I feel like I first heard about Minard's when I saw their sauce for sale, but since I can't find anywhere that says anything about them selling their sauce, I might just be crazy. Regardless, I had a free Saturday night and so did Tony, so we made the small trip there to see what all the commotion was about.


Once we got the address right on the GPS, it was easy to find. It's 813 EAST Pike St., FYI. And, it's a really pretty building, actually. I was expecting something older, possibly run down. But it looks like a house that was transformed into a restaurant. I dig it. Inside, there are some kind of old-school decorations - it is 75 years old afterall - some odd nooks and crannies, but comfortable. Just like you'd want an Italian dinner to be.

Their menu has the traditional spaghetti, ravioli, baked ziti, stuffed shells, rigatonni, lasagna, eggplant parmesan and some white sauce options like chicken fettuccine alfredo. Nothing really new or inventive, but classic Italian fare in Appalachia.

My mother's stuffed shells were my favorite meal growing up. I would beg for stuffed shells in place of ham for Christmas - and sometimes it worked. When I began celebrating Christmas on my own, stuffed shells became the main course. And, I use her recipe. It's the best mixture of ricotta, parmesan, romano, parmesan in a marinara sauce. If I'm feeling fancy, I'll make meatballs for some protein. But it's seriously my favorite homemade meal.

I knew this wouldn't be the same, but it's hard for me to pass up stuffed shells at an Italian restaurant in hopes they might come close to nipping at the toes of the deliciousness my mother can produce. The menu said they are stuffed with seasoned ground sausage mixed with a blend of four cheeses and herbs and baked in their famous red sauce. All that for $11.95. I also ordered a side of meatballs because I wanted to see what they were like - two meatballs for $2.

The entrees come with salad and bread. I went for the house Italian dressing. The waitress asked if I wanted tomatoes, and of course, I want all of your tomatoes. When the salad came out, I immediately felt bad for anyone who didn't order tomatoes because you just lost half your salad. Their salads consist of iceberg lettuce and tomatoes. House dressing. I get that these are supposed to be simple - or whatever - but you can't give me a sprig of carrot? A crunchy crouton? Nada? It didn't help that the tomatoes weren't especially flavorful. Big surprise. But the dressing was actually good. I like the light olive oil/vinegar. Light but with tang.

The bread, which others have claimed is fresh baked, looks straight from a bag to me. It wasn't even warm. Meh meh meh. I feel like they probably brought bread out because you're supposed to. But it was lackluster.

The stuffed shells - I think I had a total of four or five. Not super huge helpings. It was simple, but good. Not a super complex sauce - tomatoes, herbs, sugar, etc. But it was good. It was basic, but not canned, and what you'd want from a base sauce. I would've loved some mushrooms to give it a bit more depth, but like I said - basic, but good.

The inside was filled with mostly meet and very little cheese. I was a little disappointed because I was hoping it'd be the other way around. It was still good though - great flavor, well-seasoned and tasty. More cheese would've made me a lot happier, but it was still overall good. The meatballs I had were pretty much in the same seasoning as the filling of the shells, but they were even better. They were moist and had a perfect amount of spice. If you're looking for some basic, yet tasty, Italian food, check it out.

Check them out on Yelp and Google+.

Grade: B

Westover isn't really a breeding ground for culinary masterpieces and fine cuisine. Most of the "restaurants" are hotspots or focus more on the booze than food. Michael's Pizzeria popped onto my radar recently, so during lunch, I left to see what this place is all about.

Michael's is located on Holland Avenue in a small plaza with a bar, Weezie's, and a hair salon. Michael's does have a separate entrance, but it looks as though it is connected to Weezie's, and the owner is the same, I believe. Walking inside, it just looks like the back entrance to Weezie's, with some pool tables and a kitchen in the back. They're currently only doing carry-out and delivery, but the lady working said they might be trying to move some of the pool tables out to make room. She said the problem with that is that Weezie's gets busy during the weekends, so I assume people spill out into those areas.

I had called earlier to find out what the special was. They only have a handful of pizzas on their Facebook: cheese, pepperoni, white, Hawaiian, grape, veggie-lovers, meat-lovers, and supreme. The person who answered the phone wasn't sure, so I hung up kind of confused. I got a call back maybe 10 minutes later with the owner on the other line apologizing for being out on delivery and telling me what the special was. I hadn't left my number or anything, so it was sweet of her to call back and go out of her way to help me.

Whatever was on special, I wasn't interested in. I asked instead of they could do a half and half because I couldn't decide between pepperoni or white pizza. And I really didn't need two whole pizzas. After I explained that it wasn't a combination of the two, just a half of each, that I wanted, she happily obliged. And for just $12 - the price of the cheaper (pepperoni) pizza.

Anyway, as soon as we came in, she was boxing the pizza. She was incredibly sweet, thanking us and making sure we were satisfied and letting her know what we thought. And after we walked out, she even came back out with a magnet to give us.

Okay, the actual pizza. First, I tried the pepperoni. Crust could have been a bit crisper and crunchier. I don't know if the pizza oven had gotten hot enough. The sauce is a pretty sweet sauce - probably canned. And the pepperoni turned up to make those little grease cups. It reminds me a lot of when I try to make pizza at home. My oven simple cannot get hot enough, so it's a somewhat more bready crust.

The white pizza didn't have super great tomatoes. Kinda mushy. Not very flavorful - looks like these were more slicing tomatoes than anything else. There wasn't really a white sauce base - just oil. I think it would've had more flavor if it had some sort of sauce. But it wasn't bad.

Final verdict: It was an overall OK pie. I think it would benefit from a homemade sauce, a crisper crust and some more flavor on the white side. Really, though, a crisper crust would do wonders. Management seems top-notch and willing to help, so once they get some more practice under their belts, it seems as though this could be a good one.

Grade: C

Colasessano's is an institution in Fairmont - so much so that it's even on the list of 55 Unique Things to Do in WV. They have a location in Morgantown that I've been to, so I had an idea of what the food is like, but nothing beats the original.


Parking is a bit precarious, but I found a spot fairly easily. Inside, it seems as though it's just a carry-out store with a counter and menu board, but when you turn the corner, it opens to a decent sized dining area. I took a seat at a booth and waited for a waitress. Either I looked familiar or they have a lot of regulars, because the waitress asked if I'd like a menu. "Two, please."

Getting a pepperoni bun was on the list, but we also ordered a side of BBQ wings not knowing how big or small a pepperoni bun was. Pepperoni buns can come plain, with cheese only, with sauce only, with sauce and cheese, or everything. Everything comes with their signature meat sauce, provolone and mild, mixed or hot peppers. I ordered an everything with mild peppers.



So, a pepperoni bun. It's a thick bun, split down the middle, shove a couple sticks of pepperoni inside, top with a meat sauce, some cheese and peppers. I can't say I love it. Sacrilege, I know.

They're hearty, but they end up kind of mushy, and the sauce doesn't have much flavor or spice to it at all. I kind of ate pieces of the cheese, but wasn't impressed with the rest.  I just wish some culinary thought went into this a bit more.

I think the wings actually fared better. They were pretty big, but I wish the skin was crisper. I removed it and ate the meat off the bone. A slimy skin does nothing for me.

So overall, it was fine. It was something to try, and I'm guessing it operates off a good bit of nostalgia. Or hefty appetites.

Grade: C

Last meal in Boston. Where better to dine at the oldest restaurant in America? Union Oyster House is a historical landmark and pretty iconic Boston.

It's located in a really cool old building, and it's clearly a hotspot for tourists.

Because we requested dinner, we were whisked upstairs, past an oyster bar, to a more dimly lit dining area.


It wasn't a difficult decision for me to know I wanted oysters. The menu, though, limits your options for an entree of fresh oysters. You can get them fried - but I can get them fried anywhere. So I ordered an entree of freshly shucked oysters (half dozen) for $16. I also got a bowl of clam chowder, because I didn't figure six oysters would fill me up.

We got some cornbread first off - as I mentioned previously, typical for Boston - and it was good. Probably one of the better times to have cornbread so that I could eat it with my chowder. A little dry, but you know.

Kaitlynn got calamari as an appetizer. Which was weird. There were like whole little squids that you can just pop. Not just the, like, rings that you usually get. Whole little things. It was good, though. I actually liked those ones better. But too much breading did my stomach in. Just too greasy and fried.

My clam chowder was pretty good. It is way different than most other places I've had back home because it just tastes fresh. Not from a can or shipped across  multiple states inland. Itwas actually good. The taste isn't as pungent as what I remember. So that's good.


Oysters! Yum! It's a rarity to get fresh oysters anywhere really in West Virginia, so it was a treat. They were huge and came with a horseradish and spicy kind of cocktail sauce.

They were good. Fresh. I know some folks aren't crazy about the slimy texture, but these were cold, not gritty or chewy, but just all around good. And the sauce was tasty too.

And yeah, kind of pricey. But I can't really get anything like it anywhere else.
 

Grade: B

Okay, so the OTHER pastry shop. We went to Mike's Pastry much closer to dinner time, so that may be why it was so incredibly packed. As soon as we walked in, there was just a mob of people in half-formed lines waiting to get cannolis.

Lining the ceiling are photos of all the kinds of cannolis they sell. They're not made to order like Modern Pastry, but there is more variety. This is apparently the more tourist-y shop. 

Either way, they have all sorts of cannolis. Plain Ricotta Cheese, Yellow Cream Cannolo, Chocolate Cream Cannolo, Chocoloate Chip Cannolo, Pistachio, Chocolate Moussse, Espresso, Amaretto, Hazelnut, Chocolate Ricotta, Limoncello, Strawberry, Oreo, Peanut Butter, Florentine & Chocolate Covere.

Through reading numerous comments on how amazing the chocolate chip one was, I selected it. That is, after much waiting and crowding in line. Then they stow it in a box, swirl a line of string around it, which descends from the ceiling, and you're on your way. We were lucky enough to grab a seat to enjoy our treasures inside.




Kaitlynn got a lemon one, and Josh got a strawberry one.

Mine was delish. Not a huge fan of chocolate chips usually, but this was good. Maybe because they were covered in a thick ricotta paste. Mmm. But shell was just a tad bit heavier - less flaky - than Modern. I think I preferred Modern just a bit over that. But the inside was great. Sweet, but not too sweet for me. I like that I can tell it's ricotta and not some artificial icing sweetness.

The lemon was also pretty good. You get that lighter citrus bit of flavor, so it's more refreshing almost.

The strawberry was a little too sweet for me in a more artificial way. Not as big of a fan.

I'm sure you're dying to know which I liked better? They were both really good. They're both also very similar. But Modern, for me, might win out just a bit with a lighter, flakier crust.



Grade: A