Got good gumbo? If not, I know exactly where you – and reader Janet Price Rizzuto – should go.
“I was born and raised in Charleston, but now live in a suburb of Cleveland,” Rizzuto recently wrote to me. “We were traveling through Charleston a few years ago and had lunch at an old train station near St. Francis Hospital. It was an open market with really nice items and at the restaurant there we had this soup. It wasn't the usual offering of gumbo, but it was outstanding! Please share this recipe!”
Based on that description, I’m sure she’s talking about Soho’s at Capitol Market, which offers daily soup specials, including a tasty chicken and sausage gumbo soup every Wednesday.
I say “gumbo soup” because it’s a little thinner than a traditional, and somewhat thicker, Cajun gumbo.
I also told her, interestingly enough, that there’s some pretty amazing gumbo served at another former train station in another nearby river city in West Virginia.
You’ll find it at the excellent Gumbo Stop Café at the Shops at Heritage Station in Huntington.
You’ve heard me praise Gumbo Stop before, when I wrote about some of the restaurant’s delicious Cajun and Creole specials back in 2022, but its mouthwatering authenticity bears repeating. Owned and operated by Debbie and Steve Annett, the couple sources ingredients from well-known Louisiana suppliers to ensure their food is the real deal.
And its real, real good.
The small, colorful café offers dishes like gumbo, etouffee, jambalaya, po-boys, muffulettas, crawfish breads, savory sides and sweet treats that you do NOT want to miss!
IF YOU GO: Gumbo Stop Café, located at 210 11th St. inside Heritage Station in Huntington, is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. For more information, call 304-654-2240 or visit the restaurant’s Facebook page.
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Turns out readers Mike and Martha Chandler aren’t the only ones looking for recipes from the old Joey’s Bar & Grill on Quarrier Street in downtown Charleston.
“I just read your column and couldn’t help but reach out,” reader Austin Sutler wrote. “If you happen to get any leads on the Joey’s BBQ recipe, while you have their attention could you see if they happen to know the wing sauce recipe?”
He went on to share that when he was a kid his brother and him would split 12 wings and a BBQ sandwich when they visited the former restaurant across from the Civic Center.
“I used the wing sauce on the sandwich and the wings. I can’t quite remember clearly, but the wing sauce was different than a traditional buffalo wing sauce,” he said. “Even though Joey’s has been gone for a while, I hated to see the building get demolished recently.
Thanks for the solid food and beverage coverage of Charleston. My wife and I really enjoy catching your column each week to get the latest on the food and beverage scene.”
Sure enough, the Joey’s building that once sat behind Goldfarb’s Electric was recently raised and I’ve had several people ask if I know what is now planned for that space.
I do not, but enquiring minds want to know.
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Speaking of BBQ, here’s another request from reader Jean Allen of Hurricane.
“I would love to have the recipe for the dressing on the macaroni salad from L&R BBQ in Hurricane! It’s the best I’ve ever eaten,” she wrote. “Even if you could only provide the ingredients and not the exact amounts of each, I could experiment and maybe figure it out. Thank you. I enjoy your column.”
I haven’t been to L&R yet, but when I asked readers to vote for their favorite BBQ spots in the Metro Valley a few years ago, that spot in Hurricane got several passionate votes.
Sounds like a trip there is finally in order.
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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 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.