Drover's Inn Near Wellsburg, West Virginia

Drover's Inn in known throughout the Ohio Valley and Pittsburgh regions as a premier place for chicken wings. The atmosphere is quaint, and has the feel of going to your rich aunt's for dinner. There is a tavern in the basement, and the restaurant also features several rooms for rent which are maintained by the inn keepers Mark and Karen Cooper.

The rooms are small, but the area is very scenic and it's only 10 minutes away from several shopping centers. Some employees hint at a ghost in the cellar, but few have first hand accounts.

It is advised that you call their reservation line at 304-737-0188 in the mid-afternoon to reserve a table as they fill up quickly nearly every night. There is optional outdoor seating which can be impractical in the winter and unpleasant in the summer as Drover's is surrounded by farmed areas.

The chicken wings are to die for. Some disagree on whether blue cheese or ranch is best on them, but everybody gets celery and a large order of Drover's bacon cheese fries to munch on between wings. Most people go for the medium wings, though long-time customers would be ashamed if they didn't at least go for the Suicidal. Real wing-pros will settle for nothing less than the "Hurt-Me" wings, an order that will surely elicit awe and respect from their fellow dinners and the staff (providing the guest finishes the order). Drover's also has a well-stocked salad bar and unusual appetizers like Deep Fried Pickles for the brave of heart.

Drover's Inn is several decades old, and central to several northern West Virginia attractions. It's two miles from Brook Hills Park, where there is an active theater in the summer and a haunted house in the fall as well as a golf course and paddle boats. The Festival of Lights in Oglebay Park in Wheeling, WV is about 20 minutes away and features the most advanced light displays in the state. Drover's is only about an hour outside of Downtown Pittsburgh, PA and 10 minutes away from Steubenville, OH which holds the Dean Martin festival every year.

Overall:

Drover's has excellent (if not a little rich) food for a very reasonable price. The house specialty is Chicken Wings, but they have many unusual menu options. Drover's lends itself to meeting up with friends for a few drinks, but is also a family-friendly environment. If you are in the area, you need to try it once.