By Dan Geohagan
Parsons, WV- A lot of restaurants have a history in town, but the Dugout is made from local history.
When you first walk in you can feel the friendly attitude of the atmosphere. The walls are covered in fandom of our local sports teams. The back room is covered with stories past and a mural to tell of a different time in town. The feeling of being home covers your heart and with all this, you haven’t even ordered yet.
“We’re big sports fans,” said Amy Wagner, who along with her husband, John own The Dugout. “We have two teenage sons and a ten year old, with a tribe of teenagers at our house all the time that kind of inspired us to give them a place to hang out.”
Not only is The Dugout geared toward giving the youth a place to hang, but it will be bringing nostalgic feels for the rest of the crowd as well.
“There’s good music on all the time,” said Wagner. “Wednesdays will be our 60s night, our waiters and waitresses will be in 60s attire and from 4 p.m. to close. We will, also, probably have an 80s night. If there is a game on like Monday night football, we will be open after normal hours. If you’re here with a group of people we will stay open for you.”
The restaurant has lots of space and has a backroom available for parties and special events. The party room will seat up to 30.
The menu won’t be lacking either, bringing in things such as specialty burgers, foot long hot dogs, fresh cut French fries, specialty milkshakes and many other home feeling foods from the deep fryer to the oven. The kitchen will be providing a seafood Saturday which is another unique dish for us here in the mountains. I spoke with who was able to give us a little more about what to expect in terms of deliciousness.
“I have worked in a lot of fine dining restaurants,” stated Chef Jason Van Horn. “I have a very strong background in seafood, Cajun cooking and French cooking,
so we are hoping to get in to a little of that and integrate that into a lot of Homestyle cooking dishes. I learned to cook from my mother and grandmothers when I was six or seven years old so my base of cooking came from things like meatloaf, homemade meatballs, chicken and dumplings and that sort of thing, so we will be seeing a lot of that here, too. Ultimately we want to be able to provide something different for the people, I know that is what Amy and John want to do.”
The Dugout offers an opportunity to get into conversation about all Tucker County sports as they are all highlighted throughout the restaurant. The Wagners keep on with family traditions as the restaurant was once Amy’s dad’s shop, which they converted to help better serve the youth and community that they love. The hopes of the Wagners is make a place that is fun for both youth and family. Also offering in the future are things such as live bands and an ice cream window in the spring. The opening date for the Dugout will be Jan. 20. Hours of operation for the winter are as Tuesday thru Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday. The Dugout is located at 14 Mill St. in Parsons. They can be reached at 304-478-BUNT.
