Collegiate Times

Two mornings ago, I noticed that every calendar in my apartment (and I have a quite a few) still said March; and it made me realize that I can barely keep up with how fast those calendar months are passing this year.

On that note, with hardly having realized it, I have less than one month left before I graduate and leave Virginia Tech; and only someone like me, someone who writes a column solely dedicated to food as this one, would think of my waning time left in Blacksburg in terms of how many unique, local restaurants I might not have time to try.

It's true, Blacksburg may still be in need of more than one entertainment spot or favorite chain restaurant, but one thing it hardly lacks is an abundance of original restaurants unique to our area.

So, upon realizing how fast time has been passing me by and just how many of these original restaurants I have failed to frequent during my years at Tech, I made a list of the places I've been and the places I still needed to go. I came up with around 20 restaurants unique to Blacksburg and a list only half as long of the places I'd tried.

So, with little time left to say "I'll try that place next weekend," I went out that night to one of the restaurants on my "need to eat there" list - and it turned out to be a winning gamble.

Sure, I'm as big a fan of Buffalo Wild Wings as the next person, but I couldn't help feeling as though my often weekly dinners there had been a waste, when I could have been trying more of these unique eateries instead of simply ordering the same basket of wings every week.

But if you're like me, and you'd like to "think outside of the Bdubs," but you're wary of spending your precious pennies at a place that might turn out to be a flop, here are a few recommendations from the places I have managed to visit.

I've been to The Cellar as often as the rest of the places on my list combined, as I find their pizza, pasta, and hammertime special little short of irresistible. I thought trying to find good pizza in Blacksburg was as futile as trying to find something healthy at West End, but The Cellar's pita pizzas are a treat I discovered much too late into my college career.

I've never once remembered to go to PK's during the Tijuana Toss, but the pizza's pretty good and its wings are even better.

Backstreets also has pretty good pizza and stromboli, and the prices are comparable to The Cellar; though again, I'd have to say nothing beats that pita pizza in taste or price.

For sit down Italian, Zeppoli's is the place to go, as the staff makes their own pasta from scratch, and I could probably eat the Cajun chicken alfredo any day of the week. Of course, they have an extensive wine selection to compliment the food, and if you're looking for something pretty inexpensive and very fruity to go with your Cajun alfredo, I recommend a white wine called Hogue.

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