I've never been to Harts, West Virginia - that I can recall. But two restaurants prompted a recent visit: Creekers and Sam's Hot Dog Stand. I'll talk about the former later, but let's chat about the latter.



Sam's Hot Dog Stand has just a few more locations I need to visit. A friend recently asked me if there's really much difference between the locations. And, there's not really. Sometimes they have a local favorite. But, mostly, I have a list and I want to complete it.



The Harts location is located in a gas station, along with a Subway, too. This Sam's Hot Dog Stand is a mash-up of hot dogs and pizza from Godfather's. They have a little bit of everything - which I imagine is necessary in small towns that don't have a ton of other options.



The hot dog I ordered was a regular steamed bun, mild chili, slaw and onion. It's a standard Sam's hot dog, though I did like how the chili was a bit thicker here. What's your favorite Sam's hot dog?

Roadrunners Grill is a small restaurant in Nitro that specializes in American food, like soups, salads, sandwiches and burgers.



Dawn and I went to check it out, after I had heard some good reviews of the food. The restaurant is attached to an antique store and has a similar feel itself - lots of old decor on the walls and a random collection of Nascar, religious symbols and tools.



The menu is pretty straightforward. Dawn went with a burger, fries and mozzarella sticks.



And I went with soup and a sandwich.



Sweet beefy cabbage soup is not a combination of words I typically see together, but it piqued my interest. And, it tasted like a cabbage roll in soup form - with just a hint of sweetness, which really just tapered down the acidic nature of the tomato.



The sub had ham, pepperoni, provolone, tomato, onion, lettuce and served with a side of what seemed to me to be a mix of ranch and Italian. Definitely interesting.

Grade: B

Just a quick ode to everything ramps. I love when local places make dishes with ramps during this time of year. And, I scooped up this ramp bagel at Starlings Coffee & Provisions last week. Yum.

During MOV Restaurant Week - Mid-Ohio Valley Restaurant Week - I wanted to make sure I knocked at least one restaurant off my list here.



This restaurant week encompasses restaurants from Ohio to Parkersburg down to Ripley. I wanted to find a West Virginia restaurant, of course, and the only one on the list that I hadn't tried yet was Bogey's BBQ & Grille.



Located on a golf course, this restaurant focuses on BBQ and other homestyle favorites. But for restaurant week, they showed off a few other options.



Appetizers were either fried green tomatoes or pepperoni rolls - of course I went with the latter. They were rolled up like an eggroll and very crisp on the outside with grill marks. They had a ton of oozing cheese, which I love, and a side of marinara.



For my entree, I went with the prime rib. It was served as one thick piece in its own au jus. It was pretty fatty, but when I got bites of meat, it was great.



The two sides I chose were macaroni & cheese and potato salad. Both decent.



And for dessert, I went with fried cheesecake - which was wrapped up and crispy just like the pepperoni rolls. Topped with caramel and whipped cream, you can't really go wrong with this dessert. Creamy cheesecake in a fried exterior. And sweet on sweet on sweet.



Grade: B

There's a brand new winery right in Morgantown called Findley Martin, which is named after the owners' two favorite lake vacations growing up.



"Looking out at her Concord grape vine, Amy asked Murray, "How hard could it be to make wine?" After recalling the hilarity of Lucille Ball and her friend, Ethel stomping grapes, Amy and Murray set-out to learn how to turn fruit into wine. As it turns out, winemaking isn't so easy. We did a lot of research, met some incredibly helpful winemakers, and fermented numerous batches of wine in our kitchens before "going pro."



Proudly made in West Virginia, the business name Findley Martin was inspired by our favorite places...Findley Lake, New York and Lake Martin, Alabama. We hope our award-winning wines remind you of spending good times with friends by your favorite body of water!"



Sam and I stopped here and had a great conversation with the owners while sampling each of the wines: cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc and muscat canelli. They were each tasty and well-balanced.



One of the cool things about this winery is how collaborative they are with other businesses, including Presque Isle Candy Co., which I had to try - butter pecan brittle and pretzel brittle.



Have you been here yet? Which is your favorite wine?



Let me know in the comments!