The Roadkill Cook-off sounds a bit strange, right? The Pocahontas County festival doesn't feature real roadkill, rather it features dishes with meat typically found as roadkill. Think deer, foul, etc. I recently made the trip down there (I know this post is late - there's been a lot going on!) to check it out. 



The cook-off, which coincides with The Autumn Harvest Festival, has garnered national attention with its whacky premise from the likes of Andrew Zimmern and Lonely Planet TV. The day I went, it was quite rainy, but there were still many competitors.


Lots of stews and chilis, but my favorite was the BBQ bear. So tasty! Who knew?



But the winners were as follows:

• 1st Place Winner and Showmanship – The Ridge Runner’s "Catch Yer-Self a Huzband," (Hillbilly Burgoo)
• 2nd Place Winner – Cheers, Deers and Mountaineers "Busted Tailgate BBQ Macaroni & Cheese"
• 3rd Place Winnner – The Three Amigos "Bear Butt Savory Stew"
• People’s Choice – Pocahontas County High School Pro Start "Kountry Kookin’ Hillbilly Chili"

KD's Pub & Grub is a new bar located along Brockway Avenue (I've learned this is the Lower Greenmont neighborhood) that features a few Rochester, New York, inspired dishes - like "garbage plates" and these fancy hotdogs. The owner hails from the region.

The new bar - and I certainly lean more toward the label "bar" than "restaurant" - occupies the space of a former Yann's Hot Dogs. They are aiming for this "neighborhood bar" feel, though I'm not sure they're quite there yet.

I went recently for lunch since it's not too far of a trek from work. They only had their limited "gameday" menus available on the bar, but the owner told us they're actually offering their full menu. He went to the back to print out a copy for us.

They serve Zweigle's brand hot dogs and feature "KD's Pub Plate," which is a spinoff of the garbage plate. So, I opted for a KD plate with two hots - one of each kind (beef & pork or pork only)- along with french fries and macaroni salad (you could also opt for baked beans). I also added cheese, because doesn't cheese make everything better?

It took quite a while for our food to come out, but when it did, I was impressed. It's a mound of food. It's a lot. There was a huge pile of french fries, topped with chili, topped with the two hotdogs, topped with macaroni salad and topped with cheese. It really is a garbage plate. A tasty garbage plate. I did use some ketchup as a sauce; Tony had the baked beans, which acted as a sauce. But it's tasty - a whole mashup of tasty foods can only equal even tastier.

This is a huge gross plate of fried food covered in chili and cheese. And I mean gross in the tastiest way. The way that would be perfect after a beer or three.

Grade: B

A driving range back beyond a shopping center isn't usually my first choice for dinner. But, alas, Larobi's Pizza at Southridge Golf Range landed a spot on the 101 Most Unique Places to Dine in West Virginia list, and, well, I can't help myself.


I came here, avoided playing any golf and ordered a pizza at the bar. It was a bit busy, so lots of folks were coming up to get buckets of balls, which made things pretty crowded. Once my pizza came out, I grabbed a table away from the commotion. That was a good decision.



The pizza was OK; fairly average. There were a ton of little mushrooms all over it. That's a good thing. But the sauce was a bit too sweet, and the crust wasn't quite crisp enough for my personal preference. But, to each his own.

Grade: C

After checking out the Stewart's Original Hot Dogs location in Kenova, we hopped over to the Huntington location to compare. For starters, there's no restaurant seating at the Huntington location. It's an outdoor counter that has some accompanying outdoor seating. But most folks sat in their cars.

I already had an OK hotdog, so I wanted to try that root beer float. First off, it's huge. And, it wasn't the easiest to eat with that odd bubble top. I ended up taking that off and using a spoon so get all the goodness in one bite. Root beer + ice cream = no better way to have root beer. And a pretty good rendition of one.

Chelsey went for cheesy ranch fries this time, and I really like the shredded melted cheese more than the nacho cheese product. The "ranch" part is just ranch dipping sauce. But, nonetheless, good junk food.

Grade: B

Stewart's Original Hot Dogs has two locations: one in Kenova and one in Huntington. The restaurant has been around for quite some time, and it purchases its meat from S.S. Logan Packing co. and buns from Heiner's Bakery, which is a cool collaboration between three area businesses. Another cool thing about this eatery is that it helped create the West Virginia Hot Dog Festival, which is the very first time I tried a Stewart's hot dog.

Since Kenova was a bit out of the way, we wanted to knock that one out first. We pulled up into a spot outside the main restaurant (you may eat inside if you are so inclined) and waited for a bit before a carhop came by. They stuck a white sheet under my windshield wiper to show that we had been waited on. I asked for a menu, because I had no idea what I wanted. But, the "famous original hot dog" seemed like a good bet. I ordered one, not really knowing exactly what came on it and proceeding to panic that it might just be a plain hot dog.

Fear not, when the hot dog arrived all wrapped in a napkin, I could already tell there was at least chili. And then I discovered also onions and mustard. Not too shabby - just some slaw away from being a true West Virginia hot dog. And slaw is available if you think to order it.

The hot dog is OK. It's certainly not my favorite hot dog - but that's tough considering this one was slawless. But the chili was just not my favorite. It was a little bland and heavy. Chelsey's rootbeer float, though, looked incredible, and I knew what I wanted at the other Stewart's location immediately.

Grade: B