Eating Local: Heavenly Hoagies

We here in North Central WV have a keen sense of what makes a great steak hoagie.  Tender, thinly cut steak, tasty sauce and peppers, gooey mozzarella all on a soft bun.  It doesn't get any better than that.

Let me introduce you to my new favorite steak hoagie.  I first found out about these sandwiches this Spring while I was working my home health day.  There, in the middle of a usually empty parking lot was a food truck with a huge crowd around it.  You know I'm way to nosey to not stop and see what's going on.  Just last month, they finally opened a restaurant - although I'm using the term restaurant loosely.  It's a building off of Rt 73 on Industrial Park Road that is more for take out than anything else.  Also, the hours are really short - 10-2 most days and closed on Sundays.  The first day they were open, I bullied talked the girls at work into picking up hoagies.  I actually had to park along the road and wait forever, but it was worth it! 

Kerry - my lovely hand model



Molly's pepperoni roll





They do offer other items, including a pulled pork that looked incredible.  You can check out their menu, hours and truck locations on their Facebook page here.

And since it's just around the corner from our church, you better believe you'll be seeing this show up on my menu plan once co-op starts again!

Eaing Local: Papa Bears

Have you heard about Papa Bears?  I hadn't either until it was mentioned on the What Fairmont Needs Is....board.  Turns out, I have driven by Papa Bears every single time I go to church. 

We decided to check it out and packed up the family. 

Small, but friendly with quick service and good food.

Ronnie & I ordered the steak hoagies "regular". 

Nice fresh buns with steak, cheese, peppers and onions....oh, and more cheese!  Ronnie wasn't able to finish the whole thing.  I only ate part of mine, because I wanted to try this:

Hello cheesy love!

Thin crust, hand tossed pepperoni pizza with ooey, gooey cheese.

Now, we're used to thick crust, but this was great.  And only $9.99 for a 14 inch pizza. 

If you can't tell, John was all about the pizza.  Just keep your hands and feet away from the eating child. 

One more thing.....

A real live jukebox!  The boys were having trouble wrapping their heads around how it works, so the guys there opened it up.

That' right!  Old 45's.  Ronnie and I were pretty amazed to see inside it too.

Here's what we ordered:

1 order of cheese sticks
2 cheesesteak hoagies
1 14 inch pepperoni pizza
1 hot dog
1 cherry pepsi
4 waters

Our total was $33 and change.  Not too bad.  And we took home 1/2 a steak hoagie and 4 slices of pizza.

Papa Bears is located at 7 Cory Rd - just off Rt 73.  It's on the left before the turn to MPE rentals and Alco fence. 

Thanks Papa Bears!

Restaurant Review: CJ Maggies in Fairmont

Ronnie and I have gone to CJ Maggies in Buchannon quite a few times.  We really liked it and were looking forward to the opening of one in downtown Fairmont. 

After the movies on Saturday, we went there with the boys.  The atmosphere was just what we expected.  Eclectic decor, semi-private seating, music just loud enough that you can carry on a conversation and mask the sound of kids at the same time.  No complaints. 

We ordered brushetta as an appetizer.  It's one thing that the whole family likes.  It was a reasonable size with plenty for everyone.  While it had a good taste, it wasn't your typical brushetta.  It appeared to be diced tomatoes in a creamy Italian dressing with a sprinkling of basil, served along side some thin toasted bread topped with Parmesan cheese.  The boys loved it and ate most of it themselves.

The kids meals were reasonably priced with most being $3.95 and drinks being 0.99.  John & Josiah both chose cheese pizza,  Josh went with his usual exotic chicken strips.  The chicken strips were chicken strips.  Really, what can you say about that.  It's kind of a hard one to mess up. 
The pizza was great.  Crisp crust, nice tomato sauce, and cheesy.  The boys ate it all with no leftovers. 

I chose the chimichanga.  I used to love the chimi's at Cactus Jacks in Clarksburg years ago and thought I would give it a try here.  The actual chimi was good.  Crispy on the outside, lots of chicken inside.  Overall good flavor.  It was served with rice and beans, both of which left much to be desired.  The rice tasted like plain rice mixed with salsa and the beans were cold.  I won't choose this dish again.  I would go with a pasta or something from the wood oven. 

Ronnie chose a steak sandwich which was served on hearth bread with a side of thick crispy chips that I can't remember what they were called.  He thought it was fantastic, and this is coming from a steak sandwich connoisseur.  Everyone at the table tried the chips and enjoyed them.

All in all, it was a good meal.  We had great service and it was $44 for the five of us to eat with drinks and an appetizer.  That's not too bad. 

You can check out their menu here.