As fun as Pittsburgh is to wander around in, finding the different little areas, and their classic restaurants, Ben and I decided we needed a little vacation. I'd been working my tail off all summer, so it was time to take off and get out of the city for a few days. Now usually West Virginia wouldn't be our top choice, but we decided it was close enough to make a good weekend, and we could finish off the entire gamut of Triple D West Virginia in one weekend--since there are only two places! A lot of people thought that we were crazy for driving 4 hours just to go to a couple restaurants, but if we're serious about this thing we've gotta be willing to travel a little bit, and this was the first chance to really do a road trip like Guy--unfortunately we rolled out in a Ford Fusion not a '67 red Camero. We took off on a Friday afternoon and headed straight for Old Central City, Huntington, WV to discover the comfort food of the Central City Cafe.Old Central City is the old downtown of Huntington, home to the old factories, 100 year old buildings, and tons of antique shops. Right in the heart of this cozy district, right across from a revamped, white gazebo is a brick building, highlighted by its green bunting, with old Eng
lish lettering declaring you've reached the Central City Cafe. Open since 1993, Dave and Sherry Louther opened up the cafe after Dave retired from working on the railroad for 17 years. He was in charge of the railcar, cranking out 11 meals a week for 85 men--so now he cranks out just as many meals for all the Huntington locals looking for some heart-warming, just like Mom made food. This was probably one of the biggest places we've been in. Triple D has made us get used to cramped quarters, but at the Central City you've got plenty of room from the bar area in front to the full dining room attached to it. A shrine to Marshall University's Thundering Herd dominates the bar area, and you know that everyone in the place is devoted to the Herd and can't wait for football season. Inside the dining area, the walls are covered with old newspapers, antiques, Frank Sinatra's mug shot, and if you're a fan of the show Chuck like we are, a huge plastic marlin. They're famous for their homemade food, and our waiter--possibly the owner's son--gave us the low down on all the food Guy tried. Oddly enough we mentioned that we were checking out the other places in the area, and it turns out our waiter's sister is dating the son of the couple who own Hillbilly Hot Dogs--our other place to visit (check back in for their post 'cuz it'll be crazy). Guy didn't try a ton here--at least not that was aired, but the menu isn't huge, so we didn't have too tough of a choice. In pure cafe style they have about 9 hot dinners, 8 homemade soups, and tons of sandwiches...we opted for soup and some dinner.
lish lettering declaring you've reached the Central City Cafe. Open since 1993, Dave and Sherry Louther opened up the cafe after Dave retired from working on the railroad for 17 years. He was in charge of the railcar, cranking out 11 meals a week for 85 men--so now he cranks out just as many meals for all the Huntington locals looking for some heart-warming, just like Mom made food. This was probably one of the biggest places we've been in. Triple D has made us get used to cramped quarters, but at the Central City you've got plenty of room from the bar area in front to the full dining room attached to it. A shrine to Marshall University's Thundering Herd dominates the bar area, and you know that everyone in the place is devoted to the Herd and can't wait for football season. Inside the dining area, the walls are covered with old newspapers, antiques, Frank Sinatra's mug shot, and if you're a fan of the show Chuck like we are, a huge plastic marlin. They're famous for their homemade food, and our waiter--possibly the owner's son--gave us the low down on all the food Guy tried. Oddly enough we mentioned that we were checking out the other places in the area, and it turns out our waiter's sister is dating the son of the couple who own Hillbilly Hot Dogs--our other place to visit (check back in for their post 'cuz it'll be crazy). Guy didn't try a ton here--at least not that was aired, but the menu isn't huge, so we didn't have too tough of a choice. In pure cafe style they have about 9 hot dinners, 8 homemade soups, and tons of sandwiches...we opted for soup and some dinner.Like I mentioned with LoBello's we had to try the soup that Guy tried even though
we aren't really soup people--plus the soup came with their famous, brick sized cornbread, so we really couldn't say no. We went with the White Chili, which was spicy and warm, the type of thing you'd love to have a huge bowl of in the middle of December. The cornbread is literally the size of a small brick, super dense, and super moist. It isn't necessarily a sweet cornbread, but the texture was perfect and it was a good start to the meal. Now in terms of dinner, Ben and I had different opinons. He wasn't a huge fan of his dinner, and it's true the portions are kinda small, but it's a cafe so it comes with the territory a bit. He had the hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and cottage cheese. I opted for the meatloaf with mashed potatoes, peas, and cornbread. Now unfortunately they forgot my peas, but the mashed potatoes were absolutely insane. Hands down some of the best that I've ever had, very crea
my, awesome seasoning, a great side to the meatloaf. The meatloaf had a very interesting seasoning, what we think was sage, which isn't usually how meatloaf tastes, but it was really really good--plus it was topped with ketchup so you can't go wrong. Overall, I liked my meal, but like Ben, I would say it was a one time stop--it was worth the visit, but there isn't anything that screams at me that we had that would made me itch to go back, but hey this was the first place that was a little rough for us, and that ratio isn't that bad, and we'd still recommend it to anyone who wants to do the Triple D rounds. Oh and try to get there early before they run out of the homemade desserts which we missed out on.
we aren't really soup people--plus the soup came with their famous, brick sized cornbread, so we really couldn't say no. We went with the White Chili, which was spicy and warm, the type of thing you'd love to have a huge bowl of in the middle of December. The cornbread is literally the size of a small brick, super dense, and super moist. It isn't necessarily a sweet cornbread, but the texture was perfect and it was a good start to the meal. Now in terms of dinner, Ben and I had different opinons. He wasn't a huge fan of his dinner, and it's true the portions are kinda small, but it's a cafe so it comes with the territory a bit. He had the hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and cottage cheese. I opted for the meatloaf with mashed potatoes, peas, and cornbread. Now unfortunately they forgot my peas, but the mashed potatoes were absolutely insane. Hands down some of the best that I've ever had, very crea
my, awesome seasoning, a great side to the meatloaf. The meatloaf had a very interesting seasoning, what we think was sage, which isn't usually how meatloaf tastes, but it was really really good--plus it was topped with ketchup so you can't go wrong. Overall, I liked my meal, but like Ben, I would say it was a one time stop--it was worth the visit, but there isn't anything that screams at me that we had that would made me itch to go back, but hey this was the first place that was a little rough for us, and that ratio isn't that bad, and we'd still recommend it to anyone who wants to do the Triple D rounds. Oh and try to get there early before they run out of the homemade desserts which we missed out on.No website, but if you Google "Old Central City" you'll get a little information on the cafe.
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