Summersville is home to a restaurant called The Local.



With a name like that, I'm expecting local beer, local music and local food. 



The space gives more of a country bar and grill vibe, and it seems like it's more popular in the evening than during lunch time.



The menu features burgers, fried apps, hot dogs, a couple salads, and two chicken sandwiches. 



To start with, we decided to try some pretzel bites that were topped with salt and had a cheese dipping sauce. I liked that they were cut on the diagonal so it made it a lot easier to eat the individual pieces - which were almost toasted. Cheese was fine. 



Friends opted for a hot dog and different burger, which they both enjoyed. And I may have sampled. 



It's tough for me to ever pass up macaroni and cheese so when I saw macaroni and cheese placed on top of a burger, I knew I needed to try that. First - that bacon blue cheese. I love blue cheese on a burger - I just don't love floppy bacon. It was OK.



For the mac burger, I always appreciate the cheese, but it really needs something to make it pop so I can appreciate that creamy dairy. Like a sriracha or honey or something that helps punch it up. Overall, it was fine - a little cold... but I do enjoy a crispy fry with garlic.

Grade: C

OK, so we are finishing up our rounds at the local Gino's Pizza and Spaghetti restaurants. And that took us to Grantsville, West Virginia, which is not a place that I visit often. So, I made a special trip here just to check out their Gino's. At this point I have tried most of the menu items that I'm interested in, and I have gravitated toward a few favorites.



One of those is the boneless wings in their tangy mustard sauce. I've also noticed that a few locations so far make their own blue cheese dressing, which is really special. So these wings were a little bit on the dry side, as you can see from the photo. But they had the signature tangy mustard flavor, which I really enjoy. The main draw here, for me, was that homemade blue dressing. It really is quite tasty if you can find it. So, overall, much like many of the other locations but extra points for that blue cheese.

Grade: B

I came across this mini donut truck in Barboursville recently, and I was excited to check out what they had to offer.



O Goodness Mini Donuts offers teeny tiny donuts by the dozen with both classic and specialty flavors: cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, glazed, peanut butter lovers, maple bacon and fruity pebbles. 



I threw caution to the wind and ordered a dozen. You can split the dozen into two flavors, so I went with peanut butter lovers and fruity pebbles. 



I actually really liked the texture of these little guys. They had an ever so slight chew that was really satisfying. And the toppings, of course, took them over the top. It's kind of a fun experience to eat a bowl of donuts with a fork - plus fruity cereal and peanut butter candies. It doesn't really get much better.

Grade: A

The Juice Box has opened a location in Kanawha City, in addition to its Hurricane location. 



They offer cold press juices, cleanses, "shots," smoothies and acai bowls.



When I visited he Hurricane location, I tried the Tropical Smoothie, and I enjoyed it.



So, this time, I had to go with something just a littttttle different. The kind gentleman working encouraged me to try the "Blue Breeze" acai bowl. 



It's actually pretty similar to the tropical smoothie with banana, pineapple, kiwi, raspberry, coconut, peanut butter, honey, blue spiralina and hemp seed. 



It was the last two that sorta threw me. Blue spirulina? Apparently it's a superfood algae that can be bitter - which is why it's mixed in with all those sweet fruits. Hemp seed? These don't seem to have much flavor but add some nutritional value.



And in the finished product? I couldn't taste anything ~different~. In fact, the bowl was really good. I loved the contrasting flavors with the fruits and oats. There was a perfect proportion of ingredients so it didn't feel like one big soupy mass or just a thick bunch of oats. It was a beautiful medium, and it's definitely something I'd try again. It was sweet, refreshing and satisfying.

Grade: A

There's a new restaurant in Nitro that is serving up some monster portions. 1st Place Cafe is a small spot at the corner of 1st and 2nd avenues with dark windows with a handful of parking spots out front.



The interior has maybe a dozen tables sprinkled throughout the space, a couple TVs and the singular neon menu board that lists the options for the day. 



As soon as I walked in, the kinda gentleman running the show that day came out to explain each individual menu item to me - and he did so for each group that walked in. The menu boiled down to burgers, a chicken sandwich and a hot dog that all came with a heaping pile of fries. Drinks are extra.



I went with a cheeseburger, which he had explained is not just ground chuck - but sirloin. I also added a side of the blue cheese sauce he mentioned was developed as part of the chicken sandwich. But, I thought it could be a great dipping sauce for those fries. 



After a short wait, my order was up, and I whisked it away to the car to hurriedly unwrap my meal. The burger was wrapped in paper with a pick in the center to keep it all together. I'm not joking when I say I think this is the largest burger I've ever had in my life. Initially, I thought I could eat it while driving to my next errand. But upon seeing the size, there was no physical way that was going to happen.



Let me try to break it down - the burger is very wide. It's a two-handed experience at best, a fork-and-knife experience more likely. It has a large fluffy bun and a salad's worth of lettuce, tomato, onion and fresh pickle atop a hefty burger patty. There's cheese and mayo and mustard and ketchup and they are not skimpy on any of those ingredients. They combine to make a tangy sauce that just dripped with every bite. It was fresh and flavorful and like a tasty backyard BBQ burger on steroids. 



The fries are softer with a ton of seasonings - including a cajun spice that gives it a little kick. I wouldn't hate mine being more crisp, but the flavor is still good. I enjoyed dipping mine in the blue cheese dressing. This could easily be two meals - but I'm not judging if it's one.



Grade: A