Adelphia Sports Bar and Grill, Charleston, West Virginia

Nancy and I got an early start on a trip to check off two more states in our quest to do 10k walks in all 50 state capitals. See the link here. We arrived in Charleston hungry and tried a barbecue place, but it was closed. We then proceeded to the Hampton Inn to pick up printed directions for the walk. The folks at the hotel told us that there would be a lot of places to eat on Capital Street, just a few blocks away, right on our route. Off we went.

As we walked, I got a Roll Tide! from a visiting labor lawyer from Pelham (miner’s union side). I was surprised me until he mentioned I was wearing my Alabama belt (see here). I actually had planned to wear my non-confrontational American flag belt, but apparently forgot. We talked a bit before he peeled off right right as we got to a huge Greek Orthodox cathedral, something I hadn’t expected in Charleston. I should have, though. West Virginia is loaded with people whose forebears immigrated from Europe. I remember going to a small grocery in Davis, West Virginia (population 660), to get some groceries for our stay at Blackwater Falls State Park. Fresh garlic there was sold in sealed packs of 12 heads. You don’t see that in Scots-Irish groceries.

We proceeded to Capital Street, a delightful tree-lined street with lots of places to eat and drink, including the Adelphia Sports Bar and Grill.

Coming across a Greek restaurant right after the Greek Orthodox cathedral definitely was a Sign. Nancy and I chose a table outside so we could watch the passing parade. We sat, perused the menu, and ordered.

Nancy chose a hummus salad topped with salmon, with Yia Yia’s house dressing on the side.

Pretty salad. Nancy said, “The hummus is better than the stores’ but not as good as yours. Put that in your article.” She speaks and I obey. Eventually. And the salmon was nicely cooked. The salad dressing, Yia Yia’s original recipe, also was good. They use a very good olive oil, extra virgin, I presume. The only issue is that if you order it on the side, as everyone seems to do, it comes in a little tub and all of the spices settle at the bottom. They do pervade the oil well, but it would be nice to be able to shake the dressing. (First world problem.) 

I chose the beef souvlaki with a side salad and dolmathes (their spelling).

The beef souvlaki came rare, as ordered, and very well seasoned. The meat was tender and flavorful, and the interstices vegetables added a nice flavor and texture to the dish. It was served over a mixture of rice and orzo and all sorts of other things — good stuff. The souvlaki came with a side salad with Yia Yia’s good dressing, again on the side unbidden, and in an unshaken tub. It was a pretty standard side salad, good but nothing extraordinary. I enjoyed the dolmathes, too. I’m not a big dolmathes guy, but they were out of spanakopita, and I hadn’t had some dolmathes in a while. Pretty darn good.

As we ate, we kept noticing people walking out of the Adelphia carrying putters. We traced the putters to a big golf bag in the restaurant. When we finished, we saw that a series of movable miniature golf holes lined the streets all around the Adlephia.

As we walked on, we saw families and couples putting away. Among the delights of Charleston is a periodic putt-putt meet-up. On specific dates, the streets are lined with holes and the Adelphia is ground zero for putters and balls. It reminded me of the occasional virtual mystery game we happened upon in Fort Myers, Florida. Both looked like fun, like community-builders. Do you know of other cities who have similar occasional participatory events? What a great idea!

This was a good meal in a pleasant setting, and it added to our appreciation of Charleston. The city has been hit hard by the movement of industry overseas, but there are a lot of positives in Charleston, and I admire their grit and persistence. This is a good city, and Adelphia is part of all of that. If you’re in or near Charleston, give them a try.

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