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THOMAS -- This week's Restaurant Road Trip takes us to a venue whose atmosphere is far more popular than the food. One of the meccas of live bluegrass music lies deep in Tucker County at the Purple Fiddle.
Deep in the heart of outdoor life in West Virginia lies an eclectic venue of sorts that serves healthy food, complex coffee, and a hearty serving of down home hospitality from an honest beginning.
"What brought us to Thomas was this space, this building, this old 90-year-old general store that had a for-sale sign in the window," said co-owner John Bright. "We couldn't pass it up."
On September 11, 2001, Bright was evacuated from the state capital, where he worked.
He called his long distance girlfriend immediately, and they decided it was time to get away from the city.
“When we got out of the car and were looking in the windows, we were talking about the possibilities and we were like, cafe, coffee shop, live music with an Appalachian twist, and we both agreed on that, that's what our vision was,” recalled Bright. “I said, ‘And also, really good beers,’ and my wife at the time was like, ‘I'm not going to raise my kids in a bar!’ I said, “Well, maybe if we just serve fancy beers, maybe it won't be a drinker's establishment. Maybe it'll be more like a restaurant and a café.’”
Bright has maintained an old-fashioned feel in the restaurant with unique antiques from decades past that extend into the hostel upstairs.
“We try to make it so that people can stay on the property if they have a few beers and don't want to drive,” he elaborated. “So we keep them here so they're not doing anything they shouldn't be.”
The Purple Fiddle offers fresh, made to order food, made with a variety of ingredients.
But the real draw for patrons is the live music - every night. Read on.
THOMAS -- This week's Restaurant Road Trip takes us to a venue whose atmosphere is far more popular than the food. One of the meccas of live bluegrass music lies deep in Tucker County at the Purple Fiddle.
Deep in the heart of outdoor life in West Virginia lies an eclectic venue of sorts that serves healthy food, complex coffee, and a hearty serving of down home hospitality from an honest beginning.
"What brought us to Thomas was this space, this building, this old 90-year-old general store that had a for-sale sign in the window," said co-owner John Bright. "We couldn't pass it up."
On September 11, 2001, Bright was evacuated from the state capital, where he worked.
He called his long distance girlfriend immediately, and they decided it was time to get away from the city.
“When we got out of the car and were looking in the windows, we were talking about the possibilities and we were like, cafe, coffee shop, live music with an Appalachian twist, and we both agreed on that, that's what our vision was,” recalled Bright. “I said, ‘And also, really good beers,’ and my wife at the time was like, ‘I'm not going to raise my kids in a bar!’ I said, “Well, maybe if we just serve fancy beers, maybe it won't be a drinker's establishment. Maybe it'll be more like a restaurant and a café.’”
Bright has maintained an old-fashioned feel in the restaurant with unique antiques from decades past that extend into the hostel upstairs.
“We try to make it so that people can stay on the property if they have a few beers and don't want to drive,” he elaborated. “So we keep them here so they're not doing anything they shouldn't be.”
The Purple Fiddle offers fresh, made to order food, made with a variety of ingredients.
But the real draw for patrons is the live music - every night. Read on.
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