The popular Lobster TrappN food truck has now opened a new brick-and-mortar location in Hurricane at the original of Bridge Café & Bistro at 44 Midland Trail in Hurricane.
Called The Trapp – which stands for Transforming and Reinventing Abilities into Praise and Prosperity – the new seafood-based restaurant is the brainchild of Lawrence Charles, better known as “Chef LB,” who got his start in the business by once cooking and serving food from his aunt’s back porch back in the day.
Since then, he’s built a successful food truck that has gained an army of supporters while roaming the Kanawha Valley’s streets and parking lots the past few years. That journey led to Friday night’s official ribbon cutting and grand opening, where a longtime dream of opening a physical restaurant finally became a reality.
And make no mistake, it’s a seafood restaurant through and through. Once you get past traditional apps like fried mushrooms, cheesesticks and hot wings, you move onto fried calamari, stuffed charbroiled oysters and a bounty of more creative options.
Specialty handhelds include classic Connecticut-style lobster TrappRolls with butter, The Uncle Donnie featuring three fish filets and the LB Classic stuffed with a deep-fried six-ounce Atlantic cold water lobster tail. Those last two sandwiches come on a butter-grilled brioche bun with signature sweet-and-tangy sauce, romaine lettuce and slices of salted plum tomatoes.
Entrees feature various combinations of lobster tails, snow crab, shrimp, whiting, salmon, scallops, mussels and Trappcakes (made with crabmeat, peppers and a blend of seasonings) plus sides like hush puppies, coleslaw, roasted broccoli, rice, mac ‘n’ cheese or fries, the latter two of which you can get loaded with shrimp, crab and lobster, of course!
Or you may opt to create your own boil by choosing from lobster, crab legs, shrimp, crawfish, black mussels or naked wings, which you can enhance with a long list of extras that include more of the same seafood above, plus ramen, andouille, potatoes, corn, eggs and broccoli.
Desserts come courtesy of fellow food truck Mohawk Cheesecake, which offers slices of its original, Oreo, lemon blueberry, crème brulee, key lime or strawberry lemonade creations.
I’ve heard great things about the food – both on the truck and from the new restaurant – but you should know ahead of time that it’s not, shall we say, inexpensive.
Sandwiches range from $22-30, entrees $20-50, combo dinners $30-80, boils $20-45, loaded fries or mac ‘n’ cheese $20-30, and cheesecakes are $10-11 a slice or $60-65 whole.
Those higher-than-expected prices, along with longer-than-expected wait times, are the only less-than-stellar comments I’ve heard about the food truck. Otherwise, folks swear the food’s quality and portion size make it well worth it.
IF YOU GO: The Trapp is located at 44 Midland Trail in Hurricane. For more information, including current hours of operation, call (304) 444-2812, email thetrappwv@gmail.com or visit the restaurant’s Facebook page.
A Hot Lead on Apple Dumpling Request
Reader Emma Browning recently reached out asking for tips on any regional restaurants that served apple dumplings, after her and her husband’s own searches were not fruitful.
(See what I did there? Apples. Fruitful.)
And sure enough, another reader came to her rescue.
“I saw that someone reached out to you for information about apple dumplings,” Karen Hall wrote me. “You can get the best apple dumplings in Charleston at Best of Crete on Beech Street. They are absolutely addictive – maybe the yummiest dessert in town.”
With an endorsement like that I wanted to go try them myself but, alas, they’ve been sold out each time I’ve tried. The trick is getting there earlier in the day before they sell out, so I have a renewed focus to make one of those babies mine!
If anyone out there has tried one, I’d love to hear your review.
IF YOU GO: Best of Crete at 816 Beech St. on Charleston’s West Side is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday. For more information, call 304-343-3292, visit www.bestofcretenet.wordpress.com or check out the restaurant’s Facebook page.
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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.