Cracker Barrel: Triadelphia, WV

On our way from Oglebay Park in Wheeling, WV, my friend, her daughter and I decided to stop for dinner near Cabela's. There are a lot of chain restaurants in the area, but she hadn't been to a Cracker Barrel.

How can this be?

I decided we must rectify the situation.

We both ordered the new summer menu item, Campfire Chicken. Its a foil wrapped packaged of goodness, filled with wonderful chicken, carrots, red pepper and even a tomato for flavor. We also had some lemonade that was perfectly tart and refreshing.

The food arrived almost instantly and I have to say that everything was absolutely delicious. This was comfort food at its best. It is definitely a must try. Oh and did I mention that it only cost about $10.00 for the whole meal with a drink? It really doesn't get much better than this.

Restaurant Review: Cheddar's Casual Cafe Triadelphia, WV

Northerners won't be as familiar with this chain as those south of the Mason Dixon line will be and west of PA, but after eating there 2 times, I want to shout my praises to the rooftops. You have to eat at a Cheddars!!

Why is Cheddar's so wonderful?

Cheddar's has the atmosphere of pricier chains, some of which are in the same area. At the location in Triadelphia, there's an Applebee's, Quaker Steak And Lube, a Fusion Steakhouse and a Bob Evans, to name but a few...oh and there's also Indigo Joe's but that particular restaurant deserves a review of its own. That said, all of the above mentioned eateries cost more than a meal at Cheddars.

The menu may not feature pages and pages of selections but what they do have is great, from salads, sandwiches and burgers to classic comfort foods and steaks. They also have these wonderful honey buttered croissants that can only be described as "to die for."

We started the meal off with chips and queso. For $3.99 this was a great deal for an appetizer, especially for two. There's more than enough queso dip and salsa. Oh and the salsa was really good on the heat factor, more medium than mild, which makes me go Yay!

Both times I've been there, I've been seduced by the Bakes Spasagna, which is a big slice of baked spaghetti, only it looks like lasagna. It is possibly the best comfort food ever, served with a wonderful slice of garlic bread.

My dad, who is always my Sunday dinner companion, had an 8 oz sirloin with loaded baked potato and cole slaw. Once I again, I expected dad, to lick his plate clean.

The best part is with the tip, the meal only cost $30.77! That's two dinners, an appetizer and both of us having fountain drinks! That should get a woo hoo from just about anyone!

There's more to Cheddar's than just great food and low prices though, the place really has atmosphere, from the cute waterfall fountain outside to the unique ceiling fans inside.

This place makes you feel like you've gone to a really expensive place, without hitting your pocketbook. I don't think I've been in a chain restaurant that felt so classy. I think that's why it holds court at the Cabela's plaza in Triadelphia. If you go there on a Saturday night, expect a 45 minute wait for a table. Thankfully this Sunday we got a table straight away, but the place was still packed.

You can find locations and menu items at the Cheddar's Website.

Later Alligator (Revisited): Wheeling, WV

This past Saturday, my friend Jen and I stopped by Later's down at Central Market again to try some different crepes.

Once again I was wowed by the total awesomeness of the food at this tiny little place. I had a Southwestern concoction, whose name I can't remember, Jen had Pesto Chango. You have to love the "Pun-y" names the place gives to the food.

My crepe was full of egg that seemed to lay right against the pancake, omelette style, white rice, black beans and salsa. The combination was wonderful. It certainly wasn't anything I'd come up with to fill a crepe, savory or otherwise.

Its impossible to leave without sampling a dessert crepe, and of course, we did. This time our crepe was filled with unsweetened ricotta cheese and topped with fresh berries and powered sugar. It was light and fluffy and full of the "Om nom nom nom...AHHHHHHs."

Later's offers up many sandwiches as well, most are bigger than the customer's head, but its so hard to get past those crepes! Plus the crepes are pretty reasonable @ $7.95. Two people can eat crepes have a soda and split a dessert crepe for around $30.00. Not a bad deal. Plus, there just aren't many restaurants that specialize in sweet and savory crepes. These aren't your IHOP pancakes (and I have nothing against IHOP).

The other thing I love about this restaurant is the mascot; Aldo Gator. How can you not love a 'gator who wear's Converse?



So if you happen to be in Wheeling, and you're hankering for a fantastic pancake, you have to to the 'gators! After all the motto is "Eat Or We Both Starve!"

DiCarlo's Pizza: Wheeling, WV

After spending the evening surrounded by the smells of stadium food (and a pretty epic looking hot dog condiments bar) at the Wheeling Nailers game, the husband and I were pretty hungry. We decided to walk down the block to a pizza place called DiCarlo's.


The place was jammed packed before the game, so we figured it was pretty popular. I was a little confused as to why the tables had random sprinkles of cheese until I read the menu: Only DiCarlo's initially flash-bakes its crust and sauce in a special brick oven, and when the steaming crust emerges, it is adorned with cold creamy provolone cheese, making the taste indescribable!

Cold cheese? WTF? I was starting to get a little nervous.

All the nervousness flew out the window when we were actually handed our pizza. The cheese was melty without being greasy like most pizzas, and the crust was sweet and crunchy. I'm not sure exactly what constitutes "flash-baking," but it definitely made a difference.

I can't say it was the best pizza I've ever had - that honor goes to Villa Italia in the blink-and-you'll-miss-it town of Plattekill, NY. But it was good. Pretty damn good, in fact, and an interesting take on the standard pizza formula.

Hockey Night!

Today I'm tapping into a subject that doesn't get touched upon a lot here, and that's sports. Granted, I'm an idiot when it comes to most sports, gaining minuscule bits of insight on various cameraman gigs. But I'm an absolute hockey rat. I'm not the only Wench either that's a hockey fan, either, as it seems. So indulge me a bit as I go on a sports tangent.

As a young lass I won tickets from a newspaper contest to the local ECHL team the Huntington Blizzard. From that moment on, I was a hockey fan. I went to at least two games a season for several years before the team folded in 2000.

Anyway, last weekend I went on a hockey weekend roadtrip to catch the Wheeling Nailers. It's the first live hockey game I've seen this century. I definitely rooted and rallied for the Nailers when they were under financial difficulty a few years ago. And I have to cheer for them, since they're the only semi-pro team in the state now. But I can't totally get behind them, and here's why:

1) They were one of the Blizzard's rivals back in the day
2) They're the ECHL affiliate of the Penns, and I'm Red Wings all the way (sorry Janelle)
3) Their theme song on the ice is "Machinehead" by Bush? Really? Lame.

Anyway, Saturday's game wasn't that epic, with the Trenton Devils winning 6-3 and scoring the last goal of the night with the Nailers' goalie nowhere in sight. It seems like the main strategy of the night was "shoot the puck through the air to the opposite side of the rink or into the crowd," work worked out for at least three super pumped wee hockey fans in the crowd (free souvenirs!) Still, during the second period, it was pretty close and exciting. And Trenton had a hell of a goalie, so the odds were tipped in their favor before the game even began.

In addition to being the obnoxious Wings fan, I'm also the obnoxious fight fan. I fondly remember some epic fights from the Blizzard's heyday, one of which resulted in a ten-minute time gap when every single player was pulled off the ice, and about five from each team were thrown in the penalty box (including one of the goalies). The Nailers weren't as fight-happy as the Blizz; they had a few "roughing" calls but no gloves-off, bloody-nosed honest-to-blog fights. They did seem to have a pretty sweet spitfire in #23 Mitch Ganzak, who seemed to spend more time in the penalty box than on the ice.

At any rate, the trip and the game really renewed my love of hockey. Plus, Wheeling was a rad city, and I'll talk about it a little bit later. And did I mention how nice the people that work at the Nailer's office are? We had to reschedule the original trip because of an epic snowstorm, and they were pretty easy going about it. Definitely going to make it a repeat experience.

When In Wheeling You Must Eat Here

When In Wheeling You Must Eat Here

Wheeling, WV, the home of an awesome casino, Oglebay Festival Of Lights and a really awesome shopping complex filled with everything you need to empty your wallet and a wonderful market district with yummy places to eat and buy tasty treats.

So with all of this going on, how can I tell you that there is only one place you need to stop to eat when you are in the city?

Its easy.

CREPES!

Yes, there is a creperie in Wheeling, and the crepes are some of the best I've ever tasted!

So head on over to Later (Allegator) @ The Market in Wheeling and try some savory crepes that are filled with all sorts of things like ham, chicken, roasted red peppers, cheese and spinach.



Then you'll want to have a sweet crepe as dessert. You'll really want to share these, unless you don't care about your waistline. These gorgeous treats are filled with stuff like creme cheese, nuetella, ricotta, fruits and topped with honey, chocolate (do I need to go on), and nuts.



This one is called Monkey Business and is full of bananas, cream cheese and topped with honey and sugared walnuts!

This is a must stop place on when you are in Wheeling. After all, how can you resist a place who's slogan is eat or we both starve, and the mascot is an alligator wearing converse!