West Virginia is home to about a dozen drive-in restaurants that continue to thrive despite being about a half-century removed from their prime.

The first drive-in restaurant was Kirby's Pig Stand, which opened in Dallas, Texas, in 1921. In North America, drive-in facilities of all types have become less popular since their heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, with drive-throughs rising to prominence since the 1970s and 1980s.

The drive-in is reminiscent of a simpler time when eating out at restaurant wasn't the norm, and there's something fun about participating in this iconic Americana experience. Carhops skating around, jotting down orders on paper pads and racing them to the kitchen. They return with a tray full of (often) fried foods or juicy cheeseburgers that rest on the car window.

The 1950s drive-in is still alive in parts of West Virginia, with carhops slinging milkshakes and orders of french fries to lines of automobiles. And loyal customers return to their beloved drive-ins time and time again for the homemade recipes and to support a local business.

Get out your map. Pull into a drive-in restaurant on this list. Park near a menu. Wait for a carhop (hopefully on roller skates!). Order something delicious (can't go wrong with a West Virginia-style hotdog, cheeseburger or milkshake). Make sure to have your window rolled down so that just about 1/3 or 1/4 shows; the carhop will place the tray on your window. Chow down. Wait for them to pay (usually with cash). Sometimes they will leave the change on your tray. No worries, they will have bills handy. When you're finished, turn on your headlights (or honk in some places), so they take the tray and you can be on your merry way.



Frostop Drive-In (Huntington)
1449 Hal Greer Boulevard, Huntington, WV 25701, 304.523.6851
Monday through Saturday 10 a.m.-10 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Drive toward the giant, mesmerizing rotating root beer mug atop the Frostop Drive-In in Huntington to lead yourself to the best root beer float (in a frosted mug) you may ever experience. Frostop, once a well-known drive-in franchise, has just a few locations remaining in the country and is the only remaining location in West Virginia. The 1959 restaurant encourages customers to honk their horns for service so that a carhop, donning yellow or brown shirts with brown caps with 'Frostop' written in the cursive logo, will arrive. My trip to Frostop came on the heels of a daylong hotdog festival, but they also have a tasty hotdog. Get it the West Virginia way: with chili, slaw, mustard and onions. The hot dogs are boiled, and buns are steamed. The chili sauce is a family recipe that has been passed down through generations.



301 North Eisenhower Drive, Beckley, WV 25801, 304.252.6353
Mon.-Tues. 10:30 a.m. -11 p.m.; Thurs.-Sun. 10:30 a.m. -11 p.m.; closed Wed.
Beckley's King Tut Drive-In has a huge menu, offering everything from sandwiches and burgers to plated dinners, like meatloaf, chicken strips and seafood. King Tut also takes credit for introducing pizza to the Beckley area. At first, the restaurant had trouble selling pizza before it caught on big time. Try one with pepperoni!



Pinnacle Drive Inn (Pineville)
Pinnacle Avenue and Route 16, Pineville, WV 24874, 304.732.7785
Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The restaurant is closed Sundays.
Wyoming County's drive-in restaurant has had a loyal following since it opened in November 1968. Check out their "sandwich specialties" that range from a "Big John" (ham, swiss, salami, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise) to a "Submarine" (turkey salad, bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and cranberry sauce). Pinnacle Drive Inn's hot dogs are served with fresh chili and in a toasted English bun.



Jim's Drive In (Lewisburg)

A very hoity-toity dinner the previous night necessitated a good, comfort food breakfast the next morning. Blue's Egg serves up "modern, American" brunch food every day from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.



There was a bit of a wait, so we hung out for a bit until we got a notification that our table was ready. The menu here is pretty impressive. It has everything from benedicts and omelettes to French toast and seafood crepes. Also, they serve "very stuffed browns," which are huge hash browns filled with some sort of delicious stuff. They have a pulled ham and sharp cheddar; an aged provolone, basil pesto and rich tomato sauce; a goat cheese with roasted olives and paprika aioli; a chicken chorizo, spinach and paprika aioli; and a roasted mushroom, creamy leeks, and herb creme fraiche.

I ordered French toast with sausage and a goat cheese hash brown.

Yum, yum yum. I love a good French toast, and this was a pretty good French toast. The syrup covered all four triangles of French toast to form this sticky sweet comfort food I love. The sausage was quite good - a little spice.

The hash brown was the star. Inside this perfect crisp hash brown was a mound of creamy goat cheese that I took little bits of to mesh with a bite of hash brown. The sauce on top was a bit spicy, and the olives added just a touch of bitter. It was quite good.

I actually find myself still thinking about that goat cheese hash brown. French toast is very good - but I can get that most places. That hash brown, though, I would love to get another.

Grade: A

Sanford was the first place I booked a reservation for when I knew I was going to Milwaukee. It boasts award-winning chefs and an impressive repertoire of incredible dishes. It had rave reviews, and I wanted to try this magnificent place.

As soon as we walked in, I knew we were underdressed. While they do not enforce any dress code, it was abundantly clear this was a certain clientele of a certain echelon. Luckily, I had about three drinks in me at this point, so any self-consciousness was gone. Thank god.



The first thing that made me giggle as soon as we sat down was there were these long, thin, brittle breadsticks right on the table. They are some sort of appetizer in a way, but they were just kind of awkward for me. And not super tasty. Don't worry, it gets better.



The bread, while not warm, was very tasty. It had a nice flavor with some herbs mixed in.



The first bite was this amuse bouche made of lamb chimichurri with tomato. It was a nice palate cleanser.

For my entree, I ordered the "Seared Sea Scallops with Watercress Puree, Wine Potatoes, and Wild Mushrooms with Walnut Brown Butter." The scallops were very, very buttery. There wasn't a thick sear on them, but the flavor was delicious. The bedding had a very earthy taste, which I love, so it was a good combination.

Tony ordered the beef tenderloin, which came with yukon potato puree, escarole, and parmesan truffle dressing. I snuck a bite, and it was quite tasty.

On to dessert:

They are known for their desserts, and they often take some time to prepare. So, we ordered two and split them. We ordered the "Warm Blueberry Clafoutis, Lemon Ice Cream" and the "Banana Butterscotch Toffee Tart with Banana Rum Ice Cream."

The "Clafoutis" is just like a thick pancake that had a nice sear on both sides. The warm blueberry sauce made the experience just like eating a pancake + ice cream. A nice sweet - but not overly sweet - bite.

OK so this one was really, really good for me. The banana butterscotch toffee tart is what my dreams are made of. And typically I don't go after banana-y things. But it was a perfect mix of textures and a dark, roasted toffee flavor with the light floral banana flavor. The ice cream had this sort of gritty texture that was just a perfect complement. The little design thing of a mango and raspberry flavor was an outlier - a bit acidic and didn't mesh as well.

And, in case we hadn't already had enough sugar, we were presented with some petit fours. One was a chocolate chip biscotti (meh), one was a shortcake (eh), and one was a caramel almond square. I know it's shocking, but the caramel one was my favorite.

Overall thoughts: This place is a definitely a bit stuffier than I prefer. And I can do fancy. Just don't love "stuffy." The woman next to me was using a neck roll pillow behind her back for god's sake. A fancy one. BUT, I had such a good time. Maybe it was the few drinks beforehand, or maybe it's because we know how to have a good time, but I had fun and really liked my meal.

Grade: A

I recently traveled to Milwaukee recently for a work conference with Tony. We did the whole conference thing, presented, networked, met up with colleagues. But, of course, we also ate. A lot. And I had a lot of fun, and I want to write about it! So prep yourself for the next barrage of blog posts because they'll be Milwaukee centered.



I never expected to visit Milwaukee. It was never at the top of any list. But, I really, really enjoyed myself. It's a big city, so it has the luxuries of that, but it's not so big that it's incredibly crowded. It was actually quite nice.

We flew in on a Saturday, and I had made dinner reservations at a very nice restaurant that evening. Surprisingly, we actually got into the city, settled in and ready to go way in advance. So we decided to walk toward the restaurant, thinking it would take us some time to get there. Welp. We ended up getting there about an hour and a half early. We looked around trying to figure out what we should do, when we saw "Pleasant Kafe."

I actually thought the name sounded questionable, but it's actually a coffee shop by day and a chill wine bar by night. I can't tell you how much I love this concept. There are two floors, the bottom having the counter space and a few tables, and then upstairs there were folks working on laptops while sipping wine. And, each chair had a different small blanket/afghan to cover up while you enjoy your time. How awesome is that? Why doesn't Morgantown have this? I would literally never leave. I could be there right now as I catch up on all these blogs...

We were there when everyone was drinking wine since it was the evening, so why not do as the locals do? We ended up getting a bottle of their seasonal sparkling cider. That can't NOT be good, right? Right!

We got our carafe and flutes and sat on the second floor overlooking other folks as they walked in or chatted or what have you. And it was so, so tasty. It was sweet, sparkling and refreshing. It doesn't get much better than that. It was housemade with champagne, and as champagne usually does with me, it tricks me into thinking it's not that strong and then I'm three glasses in and giggling to myself.

It was a lovely precursor to dinner in a very sweet little shop.

Grade: A

One thing Morgantown is missing is a good deli. I'm talking fresh sandwiches, with pastrami and corned beef, with pickles and other Jewish specialties ala New York-style restaurants. OR, for less urban areas, deli can also be a place to get cold cuts and made-to-order sandwiches. But, that's just my interpretation. It can be ambiguous.



So, when Tony's Deli in Westover opened (in the previous Agresti's location with same owner), I had high hopes. I liked Agresti's, though I had only been once. Just not a convenient spot for me. So, I thought this place could have potential.

Tony's Deli has a counter where you can order your choice of salad, appetizer or sandwich. There's a seating area with a few tables and a cooler with a few desserts, like cannoli and a few random deli meats. Of the options available, the meatball hoagie sounded best to me. I placed that order, paid in cash (cash only!), and found a table.

My meatball hoagie arrived cold. So cold that the cheese on top wouldn't even melt. Also, there was just one large meatball in each half of the sandwich, which made eating this cumbersome. The meatball itself, though, had decent seasoning. I think it would have been more enjoyable warm, though.

My friends found their sandwiches tasty, and their housemade ribbon chips were pretty good - though I wish they came with the purchase of the sandwich. They also had fancy San Pellegrino drinks for sale.

Overall thoughts - average. Nothing really outstanding. Not yet, at least.


Grade: C