Happy Garden Chinese Buffet in Glen Dale is a standard small-town Chinese-American restaurant.



I picked up several Styrofoam to-go boxes from the main counter and filled them with food from the buffet: General Tso's chicken, seafood delight, crab rangoons, etc. Those are my core go-tos: a little sweet, a little savory, a little creamy, a little crunchy.



After weighing each box, the cashier rang me up. I think this is the best way to go because you can enjoy the variety of a buffet in the comfort of your own home. Plus, you can have leftovers. With a buffet, though, comes my oft-recited complaints - a bit dried out, a bit chewy. But par for the course.



Grade: B

Red Bird Cafe is an ice cream shop in southern West Virginia that is part of a new development called the Appalachian Outpost.



This new development features of variety of shops and a restaurant in addition to the ice cream store. But I bee-lined straight to the Red Bird Cafe. The black and red themed shop features hand-dipped ice cream, coffee and assorted pastries.



I ordered a butter pecan milkshake. It was decent. The sweet cream with a touch of saltiness is always always one of my favorite flavors. Texture was a bit odd as a milkshake though - maybe it would have been better if it was less blended so the nuts seemed more intentional rather than odd, tiny gravel-y bits.



Grade: B

I have sung the praises of Lefty's Place for quite some time. When the pizza restaurant first opened in Morgantown, I was hesitant to try what I thought might be another gimmicky, average, college-town pizza joint.

But after the first bite, I was sold. Imagine my delight when I found out that Lefty's was coming to Charleston. They have partnered with Short Story, which also started in the north and migrated the Charleston, to provide the food for the brewery.



Lefty's Place specializes in Detroit-style pizza. Detroit-style pizza is a rectangular pizza with a thick, airy crust that's crispy on the bottom due to being baked in a well-oiled pan. The cheese is spread to the edges, creating a caramelized crust, and the sauce is typically ladled on top in thick stripes.



It is a hearty and delicious pizza. It almost eats more like cheesy bread with sauce. Crispy, caramelized and quality ingredients. I like topping mine with ricotta and mushrooms, and then having a side of sauce to dip in on the side. I also like ordering the Betty White, which has spinach, ricotta, garlic, and olive oil. I do the same technique with a sauce on the side. It is absolute perfection.



I also tried the pepperoni balls here, which are also quite tasty. But, considering how much food we had, I didn't have much room for these. It is a good take on a pepperoni roll, but it's hard to beat that pizza.



Grade: A

This is the first time I can say that I've ever seen a Sam's Hot Dogs share a space with Pita Pit. Each is elusive on its own, but putting them both together results in a real rarity. The combo can be found in Hurricane and even has a drive-through. You can order both the pitas and the hot dogs at the same spot. I opted for the standard West Virginia dog: mild chili, slaw, mustard and onion. I think I am one of the few people to go with a hotdog instead of a pita, because it was clear I threw a bit of a wrench in their process. The proportions were a bit off, making it a bit sloppier than I would prefer, but I still enjoyed it. A bit more restraint on the chili and slaw would be ideal. Grade: B

Eric Freeland's Farm is located in Beech Bottom and grows a number of delicious fruits and vegetables, like: Red Berries
Black Berries
Golden Berries
Strawberries
Everbearing Strawberries
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Kennebeck Potatoes
Cantaloupe
Beets
Cucumbers He has made a name for himself being one of - if not the only - strawberry farmers in the Northern Panhandle. His products can also be found at The Public Market in Wheeling, which is a great option for those who can't make it out to the farm. The farm offers pick-your-own sunflowers and zinnias when they are in season – and even a sunflower festival. He even offers products from other local producers, like honey from Windswept Farm. I endeavored to get a little bit of a sampling from everything that was available on my recent visit. That included some strawberry jam, some of the aforementioned, honey, some black raspberries and some strawberries. Those berries were some of the tastiest I've had in recent memory. The strawberries were so tiny, but packed with sweet flavor. The black raspberries were gone within minutes. What started as a quick nibble turned into me popping them into my mouth relentlessly. If you are so inclined, stop and check them out – every little bit helps as the drought takes its toll on our local farmers. Have you been yet?