Larobi’s opening location on the West Side
- Steven Keith
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Casa Garcia closing at Riverwalk, moving down the road in SC
A popular pizzeria in St. Albans is opening a new location inside a recently closed restaurant on Charleston’s West Side.
A sign hanging outside The Grill at 117 West Washington St. says Larobi’s Pizza is “coming soon” to that location. A post on the Larobi’s Facebook page also confirms the additional location.
Although Larobi’s serves a variety of sandwiches and pizzas that draw guests from several counties to their original location at 2412 MacCorkle Ave. SW, the place is best known for a creation called “The Big O,” an insanely good pie piled high with giant pepperoni, salami, ham, sausage, mushrooms, green olives, green pepper, onion and hot banana peppers.
One of the most interesting items atop that pizza is also a divisive one. Some people cry foul over the small sheets of flat-sliced sausage that blanket it, but I could not love them any more. They remind me of gyro meat, but in sausage form, and how could any meat-eater not love that?
And while Larobi’s in St. Albans changed hands a few years ago – a transition which saw a makeover of the dining room as well – many longtime fans say everything still tastes the same as it has for decades.
The Grill’s original owner, Dave Arthur, ran that restaurant on the West Side for 52 years before selling it last year and, sadly, passing away this past May. The restaurant didn’t last long after that ownership change, so it’s nice to see that something popular (and good!) will be going into that space.
There’s no word yet on an opening date, so stayed tuned here for more details.
Casa Garcia relocating in South Charleston
After 20 years in business at Riverwalk Plaza in South Charleston, Casa Garcia Mexican Restaurant closed its doors this past Monday, but not for long and only at that location.
The restaurant plans to relocate and reopen in just a few weeks exactly one mile west at 4845 MacCorkle Ave. SW in South Charleston near Food Guy-endorsed restaurants Sumthin’ Good Soul Food two doors down and King Kabab across the street.
“Dearest patrons and friends, we hope to see you all there to continue supporting our family’s business,” the restaurant said in a social media post over the weekend. “We want to thank everyone for their loyalty, camaraderie and love throughout these years.”
I’ll keep you updated on Casa Garcia’s reopening date.
Restaurants win big at Taste of Bridge Day
Winner, winner, Bridge Day dinner!
Although judging the annual Taste of Bridge Day event in Fayetteville on the eve before West Virginia’s largest single-day festival is not really a dinner, per se, it might as well be.
That’s because me and six other judges spent two hours tasting more than 30 different snacks, appetizers, entrees and desserts at Adventures on the Gorge this past Friday to determine this year’s winners.
That’s a whole lotta food.
My favorite bites of the night included a rich and savory pumpkin chili with spiced oyster crackers from Summit Bechtel Reserve; a tangy, creamy and cheesy wood-fired Mexican street corn pizza from The Lost Paddle Bar & Grill at ACE Adventure Resort; BBQ ribs from The Table; and a lemon curd mousse with raspberry cream and shortbread dust from Chetty’s Pub.
And if I could’ve awarded one contestant with The Food Guy’s “Best Overall Menu” at the event, it definitely would’ve gone to Summit Bechtel Reserve for the pumpkin chili I just told you about, along with a smoked pork slider with apple butter aioli and crispy onions, plus a chicken bacon cheddar pot pie and glazed donut bread pudding with homemade whipped cream.
It was a solid lineup from start to finish.
But after all of the judges’ separate scorecards were tabulated, here are the winners we chose as a group:
Best Snack: smoked pork sliders from Summit Bechtel Reserve
Best Appetizer: whipped herb goat cheese with cranberry toast, blistered tomatoes and honey from Smokey’s on the Gorge
Best Entrée: wood-fired Mexican street corn pizza from Lost Paddle at ACE
Best Dessert: New York-style lemon cheesecake from Bumbler Bee Baker
A special Youth’s Choice Award went to Mountain Table’s apple granola bites and the event’s Sponsor Award was given to Smokey’s for those whipped goat cheese toasts.
Capital Cocktail Classic guests pick their winners
The very next night I was strolling through downtown Charleston on WV Fund for the Arts’ annual Capital Cocktail Classic, a fundraising pub crawl offering food-and-drink pairings at four different restaurants and bars.
Based on what was served that night, my favorite cocktail was Hagy’s Irish Pie Pub’s Rusty Plum (featuring Drambuie blended with allspice and plum juice) and my favorite tapas was Sam’s Uptown Café’s beef tenderloin with mushroom sauce over a crispy potato cake.
And after all public votes were tallied at the end of the event, participants crowned Hagy’s for Best Cocktail and Sam’s for Best Tapas.
You all clearly have good taste!
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Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. He can be reached at wvfoodguy@aol.com.