Gulla's Lunch in Bellaire, Ohio, is known for its hot dogs.
The "Gulla Dog" is made with their specialty chili sauce, onions and mustard.
They kind of have taken on a life of their own. It's known along the likes of DiCarlo's pizza and Drover's wings (though since those two are from my hometown, I'm a bit more biased toward them).
While traveling through the area, I put in an order for a Gulla dog, an eggroll and fries with gravy. The hot dog is interesting in that the chili sauce is a little sweet, a little tang, but no meat. It was all very soft in texture, but I enjoyed the flavor.
I thought it was interesting to see egg rolls available - and they were decent. Nothing too crazy there. Deep-fried so it has a nice crunch, but lots of filled inside.
The fries have "comfort food" written all over them. It can certainly get heavy and soggy, but if you get a few nice, crisp bites, they are dang good.
Grade: B
Hilltop Coffee is one of the coolest coffee shops I've visited in recent memory.
Located in Crab Orchard, Hilltop Coffee is situated inside 'the offices at Orchard Park' which is the former Crab Orchard Elementary School and the location of Vaught Neurology.
Once you enter the coffee shop itself, it has a really cool vibe with edison bulbs, chalkboard, subway tiles - very trendy.
They offer espresso drinks, blended drinks and a unique selection of snacks and treats.
They even have coffee from White Oak Bee Company roasted in White Oak, West Virginia.
I ordered a delicious red velvet frappuccino, which was not overly sweet and had a delicious light creme flavor.
Have you been?
Grade: A
Have you seen a purple house in St. Albans that displays a "dinners to go" chalkboard sign? That would be The Violet Kitchen.
The St. Albans house has a Victorian-themed interior and serves takeout homestyle dinners Wednesday through Friday.
When I saw this was one of the options this week, I messaged them an order on Facebook immediately: Meatloaf w/ Mashed Potatoes, Pan Fried Green Beans & a Roll.
My biggest concern was whether this was going to be a thin, brown-gravy-laden piece of meatloaf or whether it would be the sweet tomato thick hunk of meatloaf. To my delight, it was the latter. It was a very moist, flavorful hunk of meatloaf with a sweet tomato glaze on top. Chunks of onion and green pepper just made it delightful. Homemade green beans and mashed potatoes round it all out, with a soft roll on the side.
Keep an eye on their Facebook to see their weekly specials. And if they offer the meatloaf again any time soon, get it in your belly.
Grade: A
Kozy Farm's Sweets is an adorable Beckley bakery serving up cupcakes, mini cakes, cookies and coffee.
When I was visiting, the cupcakes are what caught my attention. They were bright and stacked and just calling my name.
Now, typically, I'm not a cupcake person. They're fine, but not the first thing I gravitate toward. But these ones were so visually delicious.
The cherry one was easily my first choice. Cherry is a very underrated fruit, in my opinion. I also have a hard time finding it in grocery stores. Bring back the cherry!
The cupcake was absolutely stacked with ribbons of icing. A drizzle of chocolate. A gummy cherry. It was fun and tasty.
I also went with a strawberry lemonade cupcake, which was topped with a candied wedge of lemon. How adorable is that? And let's be honest, when it comes to cupcakes, we are more so eating with our eyes than with our tastebuds.
And while they didn't have their "mini cakes" available, I did spy with my little eye some bread pudding. And, you know bread pudding is one of my guilty pleasures.
They had a maple pecan that I knew I had to have. And, honestly, the bulk inside was fairly dry and would have benefited greatly from a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Still, this Beckley bakery is adorable and had some fun sweets. I'd like to try some others next time to make sure I'm really getting their flavor.
Grade: B
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