There are three Berkshire's Old Fashion Frozen Custard locations in West Virginia: Princeton, Beckley and Crab Orchard. I was first introduced to the custard stand in Princeton when I would excitedly anticipate each new week's flavor.



Because I don't like unfinished lists, I wanted to check out their locations in Beckley and Crab Orchard. I actually called Crab Orchard the day before asking if they would be open. They assured me they would be. When I finally arrived, there was a handwritten note on their stored saying they were closed. Annoying.

I hopped over to the Beckley location to at least knock that one out. They had JUST opened, like, a minute before I got there. I pulled into the drive-thru and ask for a strawberry cone. They were out of strawberry. So, I asked for a chocolate cone. After they put money in the cash register, they handed me my change and my ice cream cone, and I was on my way.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt - maybe the machine didn't have time to "get started," or something. But this was not great. And, for the ice cream-aholic that is me, that's saying something. First off, it's very, very thick. Like, you have to actually bite it. And the flavor tasted ... chalky. Not my favorite rendition of chocolate.

Grade: C
 

The final drive in in West Virginia! Finally! I visited Lynn's Drive In in Bluewell on a rainy Saturday. (And, since I've gone to all of them now, I just want to gripe about how they all spell "drive in" differently. It can be "drive in," "drive-in," drive inn," "drive-inn," etc. Grumble)

Since it was raining, I felt super bad that the carhop came to my window. Especially when I didn't really know what I wanted. I asked for a few minutes to look over the menu written on the window. She said to just honk when I was ready. Is that aggressive? Honking?

The menu consists of items you would expect at a drive-in: burgers, hotdogs, some salads and some "plated" entree meals. Plus tons of ice cream. If it wasn't so chilly already, I would've had at least three milkshakes.

After a few minutes, I saw someone actually go up to the window to order. I felt like that would be more polite than honking so I went up to the window and placed an order for a hotdog with chili, slaw, mustard and onions, as well as an order of the broccoli and cheese bites.

I returned to my car and a few minutes later, she delivered our plate full of food. Hotdog - not bad! The chili wasn't especially memorable, but I liked the slaw - a nice consistency with good flavor. The broccoli and cheese bites just OK. I didn't honestly get much of a "cheesy" flavor; it was more of a fried flavor with the thick breading. But decent, fried food from a drive in? Check.

Next time, I need to try one of those 32 ice cream flavors!

Grade: B

A new pizza joint has opened in downtown Morgantown! Just what we need, right? Amidst the sea of Casa D'Amici, Tortoni's, Bent, Vintage Room, Zaytun, Vocelli's, Little Caesars? But this one is a little different.

Lotsa Mozza, located in the former Daniel's Men's Clothing store on High Street, is a build-your-own pizza shop that pops out your wood-fired pizza in under five minutes from start to finish. This fast casual pizza place is also open late-night (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday from 11 a.m. to midnight; Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; and Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 a.m.). So, customizable & late-night? Seems like they may be on to something.

Walk in, wait your turn, and once you're at the counter, the decisions start. Traditional, ancient grain or gluten free dough? Then, they shape the 11" pizza right in front of you. Next, choose your sauce: red sauce, spicy red sauce, buffalo sauce, alfredo, olive oil or BBQ sauce. Then, cheese: mozzarella, shaved parmesan, blue cheese, fresh mozzarella, romano, feta, provolone, ricotta or cheddar jack blend. You can get more than one! Move down the line to toppings.

Then, it's toppings time! Artichokes, arugula, basil, black olives, kalamata olives, caramelized onions, red onion, tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, chopped garlic, roasted garlic, banana peppers, bell peppers, roasted red peppers, jalapenos, fresh spinach, mushrooms, pineapple, zucchini blend, roasted rosemary potato, bacon, meatballs, chicken, salami, Italian sausage, Italian ham, pepperoni, prosciutto, anchovies, scrambled eggs, shrimp and flat iron steak.

Finally, you can complete it with a "finish" - pesto basil, olive oil, old bay butter, blue cheese, balsamic glaze or arugula.

They also have their signature pizzas available (so less thinking for you!): BBQ chicken, bianca (olive oil, ricotta, tomatoes, basil), breakfast, buffalo chicken, hawaiian, margherita, meat lovers, shrimp old bay or veggie. And, they also have salads.

Finally, the pizza is thrown into the wood-fired oven (800 degrees!), where it cooks in three minutes with a char around the edges.

My pizza was a traditional crust with red sauce and mozzarella AND ricotta cheese. Toppings included mushrooms, roasted garlic and meatballs. It is like the Subway of pizza shops, so it's nice to see everything made right in front of you. Their claimed chewy, thin crust wasn't so much for me - I wish it was crisper. In fact, it actually got quite soggy. Their red sauce recipe is also not my favorite. The toppings were pretty good, though. I love, love roasted garlic. So, nice toppings but not loving the crust. However, I see the value in the concept of a very quick customized pizza all hours of the night. And, their branding is pretty impressive.

Grade: B
 

Yes, it really is kind of ridiculous to review a small counter-service restaurant at an airport. But, I have a point, promise. Mostly, I want to set up the fact that I traveled to Milwaukee for a work conference! So I have a good bit of Milwaukee posts coming up. I know they're probably not applicable to the majority of my audience, but I had a lot of fun and want to share that with you all. Plus, maybe you'll have to check out Milwaukee sometime -- you'll have a good food guide to start off with right here! :)



So, Rice & Noodle is a counter-service Asian spot in the common area of the Pittsburgh airport. There are a number of other places for a quick bite - like Bruegger's Bagels, McDonald's, Nature's Kitchen, Quiznos, and Villa Italian Kitchen. I try to go for the more local option whenever possible, and this was Asian. So.



Rice & Noodle opened in 2009, and serves up sushi, Japanese-style noodle soups and typical American Chinese classics like General Tso's chicken ... yes, I got General Tso's chicken. It's comfort food for me. And at an airport, which is generally pretty stressful, it's welcome. Was it good? Yeah, it actually wasn't bad. Decent quality of meat; everything was hot. The sauce was a decent balance. For quick, American Chinese, not awful.

Grade: C
 

Just two C.J. Maggie's locations exist now: Buckhannon and Elkins. Since I had already been to the Buckhannon location, I was curious to see how Elkins' location stacked up in comparison.

As I've mentioned before, C.J. Maggie's boasts an incredibly expansive American grill menu - like, maybe the biggest one I've ever seen. Chicken fingers? Check. Wings? Check. Queso? Check. Bacon & cheddar fries? Check. Pizza, salads, steak, pulled pork, salmon, Italian sausage, pork chop, lasagna, jambalaya, macaroni and cheese, quesadillas, sandwiches, burgers? Check.

We came in for just a snack. The "40 Miles of Bad Road Nachos" sounded perfect: tortilla chips, chicken, peppers, tomato, onion, black olives and cheddar. Served with a side of salsa.

The first thing I noticed was that the sour cream was an odd tube-like string spread across the top of the chips. Odd. But I dove into the heap of nachos that had a nice solid layer of cheese melted. Perfect. I noticed the chicken wasn't the best of quality - some hard, cartilagey pieces. These were stacked so high by the time we got to the center, everything was completely soggy. But overall, it wasn't bad. I love a good plate of nachos.

Grade: B