Before a day of adventuring in Fayetteville, I needed a quick breakfast. We stopped by Wild Flour Bakery to get a bite to eat ... and apparently a bunch of other people had the same idea.

I first requested a sausage, egg and cheese bagel, but they were out of bagels. It seemed they were running short on a lot of things. Not sure why; we didn't come in late. But I guess it was just a busy day.

Instead, I opted for a sausage, egg and cheese croissant. And it wasn't bad. Pretty average. The eggs were a little rubbery, and the croissant got a little too black around the edges. But it could have been an off-day. I have hope yet for this little bakery, so I want to check them out again. Until then, they're pretty middle of the pack.

Grade: C

Fresh donuts 24 hours a day? Plus pepperoni rolls? It's true at JR's Donut Castle in Parkersburg.



The Donut Castle has been around since 1969, and it offers breads, donuts, pepperoni rolls, muffins, brownies, cakes, cookies, pastries, pies, hotdog sauce and drinks.

"JR’s famous saying “Baked Fresh Daily” is what JR lives by. Everyday the employees start making each product over again so we can have the best for our customers. Each product is made from scratch and put together by JR’s old recipes. JR’s has kept the same product for thirty years, and does not plan on changing that. Everything is made the same way day in and day out." - JR's Donut Castle

PRODUCT LIST: Breads - White Bread, Wheat bread, Pan Rolls, Butter Bits, Hot Dog Buns, Hamburger Buns, Sub Buns, Kaiser Buns, and Italian Bread

Pepperoni Rolls - Plain Pepperoni Rolls, American Cheese and Pepperoni Rolls, Pepper Jack Cheese and Pepperoni Rolls, Pizza Roll. 

Muffins - Famous Chocolate Chip, Cream Cheese, Apple, Cherry, Banana nut, carrot, Oat Brand Raisin, Lemon Poppy, Cranberry, Pumpkin, Double Chocolate Chip 

Brownies - German Chocolate, Fudge, Cream Cheese, Peanut Butter, Walnut brownie. 

Cakes – ¼ sheet, ½ sheet, Full sheet, and 8” round. White and Chocolate cake with butter cream Icing 

Cookies – Chocolate Chip, M&M, Oat Meal, Sugar, White Chocolate Macadamia, Peanut Butter 

Pastries - Cream Cheese Danish, Apple and Cherry Turnovers, Strawberry Cream Cheese Stick, Apple stick, sticky bun, cream horn, Éclair, and Radio Bar 

Pies – Chocolate Cream, Lemon Cream, Coconut Cream, Apple, Dutch Apple, Cherry, Peach, Blueberry, Blackberry, Pumpkin, Lemon Crunch, and Pecan. All the cream pie also come in 4” pies too. 

Hot Dogs – Home made hot dog sauce 

Drinks – Coffee, Tea, Pop, Milk, Chocolate milk, Orange Juice, Cappuccino, Hot Chocolate, Ice Coffee and Summer time only cherry slushie 

The bakery offers about 34 types of donuts, including favorites like glazed, maple cream filled, yum yums, apple fritters and chocolate glazed. We ordered a half dozen donuts, including maple glazed and cream filled, an apple fritter, a blueberry cake donut, a chocolate donut with chocolate icing.

I think it would be ridiculous to give a donut place less than a stellar grade. This place totally deserves that stellar grade. I love a cake donut, and those maple glazed ones with whipped centers? Holy donuts. Those are good. Getchu a dozen. Or two.


Grade: A

Diogi's Latin Fusion Restaurant is a well-known restaurant in Fayetteville that recently rebranded a bit and moved to a new location. The dog-themed restaurant serves up latin cuisine and even allows furry friends to dine alongside companions.



Diogis has a large dining area, dog photos adorning the walls and dog treats as centerpieces (didn't love that, tbh). But what I did love: the appetizer of chips and queso we scarfed down in, like, five minutes flat. Mmm queso.



The salsa was actually pretty good, too. The main menu consists of some burgers, carnitas, chimichangas, fajitas, enchiladas and tacos. What stood out to me? Fish tacos! Mmm. They came with three soft flour tortillas with grilled or fried fish, chipotle lime cabbage, pico de gallo, chipotle lime crema and fresh cilantro.

These tacos were pretty good. But man they were kinda tough to eat. There were so many toppings, they were spilling out and over the edges. It was tough to get bites of all the ingredients at once. BUT, when I did manage that feat, it was the perfect combo of fried fish, fresh tomatoes and chipotle cream.

I had a side of fried plantains, which were just slightly sweet. But I actually nibbled on quite a few of these. Tony had the "spicy papas" as his side.



Overall, I think this place was good. I think my fish tacos were pretty good, actually. I just think the execution could be slightly better. Portion them out a bit so I can get all the intended flavors in a single bite. The queso was good. Tony found his meal satisfactory. The dog biscuits on my table though... not loving that.

Grade: B

OK, let's chat about another Morgantown Farmers Market vendor! I picked up some ground sirloin from Hawthorne Valley Farms and just had to learn a little more. Lisa gives us a little background:

Hawthorne Valley Farm is run by an husband and wife, Liz & Frank Abruzzino in Harrison County, WV (close-ish to Clarksburg). Active in the West Virginia Cattleman's Association, they specialize in grass fed beef cattle, exclusively Black Angus. You can find their products at the farmers market, which besides beef, Liz makes vinegars, they grow award winning popcorn, herbs, veggies, and gourds, which are turned in to painted bird houses. They sell at multiple farmers markets and you can find their beef in lots of restaurants in North Central WV. Though newer vendors at the morgantown farmers market recently, they sold at the market previously closer to it's infancy. They are definitely not strangers to farming or marketing! - http://capitolbev.com/hvf/

So, spill! What's your favorite item from Hawthorne Valley Farms? If you haven't tried their ground beef sirloin, you must!

Photo by Sher Yip

This second Motown Mac N' Cheese Cook Off brought out the cheesiest area competitors on Saturday, Aug. 8. Seven local restaurants - and two home cooks! - battled to see who had the best macaroni and cheese dish at the Morgantown Market Place Pavilion.

This year's event was a bit different from last year's. The judges (me, Gretchen Ross and Craig Behr) actually got our servings first in a kind of quickfire round, before the two different tasting sessions opened to the public. I'm super lucky to have the opportunity, and I was happy to be able to mingle with some friend after the judging. First was the home cooks. Then we got into the restaurants!

Home Cooks - There were two home cook entries this year in the new category. And both were really good! The first was a Southwest Mac & Jack, which had Monterey cheese and salsa and sausage and crushed tortilla chips on top. Quite tasty.

Photo by Sher Yip

The second was "Millie Maxine's Sweet Southern Mac," which may have been the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had in my life. It had both shells and wagon wheel noodles in a super cheesy and slightly sweet creamy sauce. It was just incredible.



Terra Cafe - Stuffed poblano southwest mac accompanied by a a mini local beef taco bowl and green chili avocado sauce. All locally sourced ingredients for this dish are from Possum Tail Farm and Round Right Farms. First off, can I say how much I love that I get a card that says what's in Terra's dishes? I LOVE that. Also, I love that they used local ingredients. Of all the macaroni and cheese dishes, I would say this one was the lightest tasting. I think maybe the chili avocado sauce added a bit of freshness? Not sure, but it just didn't feel as heavy or super rich as the others.

Photo by Sher Yip

Photo by Sher Yip

Hash Browns & New Grounds - Jalapeno gnocchi with grilled pepperoni, a red chili sauce, and a panko topping. Cody was the people's choice winner last year. And I was SO excited to have this dish this year! I had it when I visited him before, and it blew me away. It's delicious, as always. And that pepperoni? From Marino Brothers in Clarksburg!

Photo by Sher Yip

Photo by Sher Yip

Soul Brothers - Southern-style macaroni and cheese featuring a sweet cornbread and collard green garnish topped with fried chicken. This dish had colby and jack cheese and can actually be found on the menu daily at Soul Brothers - the only competitor that brought a dish regularly on their menu. This was one of my very favorites. I kept coming back to this, grabbing bits of sweet cornbread, with the salty chicken and creamy mac and cheese.

Photo by Sher Yip

Photo by Sher Yip