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The Donut Shop Wins Best Pepperoni Roll in West Virginia!
Best Pepperoni Roll in West Virginia (2017)
Step into just about any bakery or convenience store in the Mountain State, and you'll likely find a fresh batch of a much-beloved food item, the pepperoni roll. This sandwich-like snack consists of a soft yeast bread roll with pepperoni slices baked inside.
The sandwich was first crafted by Giuseppe Argiro, who came from Italy to work in the West Virginia coal mines near Clarksburg. Giuseppe noticed that many immigrant miners would eat a slice of bread with some pepperoni on top for a quick lunch, and he decided to try baking the pepperoni right into the bread. A legend was born.
10Best and Sandwich America set out to find the best pepperoni rolls in the state, and to do so, 10Best editors joined forces with a local West Virginia food writer with a passion for pepperoni rolls and The Food Channel to nominate 20 worthy shops across the state. For the past four weeks, our readers have been voting for their favorites. The results are in.
The top 10 winners in the category Best Pepperoni Roll in West Virginia are as follows:
- Terra Cafe - Morgantown
- Home Industry Bakery - Clarksburg
- D'annunzio's - Clarksburg
- Country Club Bakery - Fairmont
- Colasessano's Pizza - Fairmont
- Tomaro's Bakery - Clarksburg
- Pasco's Pizza - New Martinsville
- Boggs Pizza and Grill - Middlebourne
- Dragon Mart - Cameron
- The Donut Shop - Buckhannon
No. 11:
Terra Cafe, one of Morgantown's top spots for pepperoni rolls, makes their award-winning variation from scratch daily.
Photo courtesy of Home Industry Bakery
No. 10:
Everything at Home Industry Bakery is made from scratch daily in their Clarksburg kitchen, including their popular pepperoni rolls.
Photo courtesy of justgrimes / Flickr
No. 9:
D'annunzio's in Clarksburg has a loyal following of fans who'll drive out of their way to pick up some fresh-baked pepperoni rolls from this popular bakery.
Photo courtesy of Country Club Bakery / Facebook
No. 8:
Giuseppe “Joseph” Argiro, the man who invented the pepperoni roll, opened the Country Club Bakery 1927, and they've been serving fresh-baked rolls ever since.
Photo courtesy of Colasessano's Pizza
No. 7:
Hungry diners can order hot and fresh pepperoni rolls from Colasessano's Pizza in Fairmont, or purchase frozen or fresh-baked rolls to go. They come with cheese only, sauce and cheese, or meat sauce, provolone and peppers.
Photo courtesy of Tomaro's Bakery / Facebook
No. 6:
Located in the historic Glen Elk section of Clarksburg, Tomaro's Bakery has become famous for its pepperoni rolls. Those who can't make it into the shop to have them fresh can order them online for delivery anywhere in the U.S.
Photo courtesy of Thinkstock
No. 5:
At Pasco's Pizza, the pepperoni rolls are called buns instead, but they're still some of the best around, with quite a loyal fan base.
Photo courtesy of Thinkstock
No. 4:
The town of Middlebourne gets their pepperoni roll fix at Boggs Pizza and Grill. Some enthusiasts drive miles for these warm and tasty morsels.
Photo courtesy of Dragon Mart / Facebook
No. 3:
Dragon Mart, a small convenience store in the town of Cameron, has earned a reputation for serving some of the best pepperoni rolls in the valley.
Photo courtesy of derek rose / Flickr
No. 2:
The Donut Shop in Buckhannon specializes in two things, donuts and pepperoni rolls. Unlike other rolls in the state, The Donut Shop's pepperoni rolls use shredded pepperoni instead of sliced (and they don't skimp on it either) and melted cheese.
Congratulations to all our winning pepperoni roll bakeries!
Editors' Note: The list of winners was corrected on March 7, 2017 after a nominee was removed for violation of the Official Rules.
About 10Best Readers' Choice Awards
Nominees are submitted by a panel of experts. 10Best editors narrow the field to select the final set of nominees for the Readers’ Choice Awards. Readers can vote once per category, per day. For any questions or comments, please read the FAQ or email USA TODAY 10Best.
The Experts
Candace Nelson
Candace Nelson, a West Virginia native, is a... Read More
Candace Nelson, a West Virginia native, is a marketing and public relations professional. She writes about Appalachian food culture on her blog candacelately.com and authors a food column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail. In addition, her book The West Virginia Pepperoni Roll is available for at WVUPressOnline.com or Amazon.com.
Candace Nelson
Candace Nelson, a West Virginia native, is a marketing and public relations professional. She writes about Appalachian food culture on her blog candacelately.com and authors a food column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail. In addition, her book The West Virginia Pepperoni Roll is available for at WVUPressOnline.com or Amazon.com.
Jennifer Daskevich
After winning the World Sandwich Championships,... Read More
After winning the World Sandwich Championships, Jennifer took her love of America’s first and still favorite “hand held device” better known as the sandwich, and founded Sandwich America, America’s comprehensive sandwich driven meal occasion platform. Jennifer believes that “a sandwich is the only food genre that is good for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or a snack.” Jennifer has won numerous cooking competitions and is a restaurateur, wine sommelier, award winning food photographer, TV food personality with NBC Affiliate WFLA in Tampa and appeared on FYI’s original series World Food Championships. She looks forward to embarking on The Great American Sandwich Trail this summer. Socialize with Sandwich America on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Jennifer Daskevich
After winning the World Sandwich Championships, Jennifer took her love of America’s first and still favorite “hand held device” better known as the sandwich, and founded Sandwich America, America’s comprehensive sandwich driven meal occasion platform. Jennifer believes that “a sandwich is the only food genre that is good for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or a snack.” Jennifer has won numerous cooking competitions and is a restaurateur, wine sommelier, award winning food photographer, TV food personality with NBC Affiliate WFLA in Tampa and appeared on FYI’s original series World Food Championships. She looks forward to embarking on The Great American Sandwich Trail this summer. Socialize with Sandwich America on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Kay Logsdon
Kay serves as Editor in Chief of The Food Channel,... Read More
Kay serves as Editor in Chief of The Food Channel, developing food-related stories, videos, recipes and more for the website and its distribution network. She speaks and consults on food trends, working with some of the biggest food brands in America. Her favorite thing to do is work with chefs across the country as they do menu development, since she gets to taste and critique the dishes.
Kay Logsdon
Kay serves as Editor in Chief of The Food Channel, developing food-related stories, videos, recipes and more for the website and its distribution network. She speaks and consults on food trends, working with some of the biggest food brands in America. Her favorite thing to do is work with chefs across the country as they do menu development, since she gets to taste and critique the dishes.
10Best Editors
USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original,... Read More
USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original, unbiased and experiential travel coverage of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world.
10Best Editors
USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original, unbiased and experiential travel coverage of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world.
