This Ain't Tucson: Pepperoni rolls, Primanti Bros. are West Virginia and Pittsburgh staples

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — For the last three-plus seasons, Arizona football beat writer Justin Spears (yours truly) has highlighted multiple restaurants and food spots that can only be found in the cities the Wildcats are playing in.

To honor our friends over at ThisIsTucson.com, which just promoted food writer Jamie Donnelly to editor, our multi-year series is called "This Ain't Tucson."   

From seafood and burritos in San Diego, to Skyline Chili in Cincinnati, to fried okra and catfish tails in Starkville, Mississippi, we've sampled a wide range of delicious food across multiple time zones since the 2023 season.

The first bite of the season was the famous "Cougar Tail" donut at BYU. The second trip at Washington State featured "The Old European Restaurant," followed by "Cougar Gold" cheese and a sweet treat at Ferdinand's Ice Cream Shoppe.

The next stop: Morgantown, West Virginia for the Arizona-West Virginia showdown — unofficially known as the RichRod Bowl.

In the days leading up to the game, the West Virginia media corps suggested multiple restaurants — most of them Italian — in the area, but they insisted on having a pepperoni roll, a must-have in West Virginia. 

Pepperoni rolls consist of two pieces of soft white bread with baked salami and mozzarella cheese in the middle. In 1927, Giuseppe "Joseph" Argiro first started selling pepperoni rolls at Country Club Bakery in Fairmont, West Virginia, which is located about 30 minutes from the WVU campus. 

Pepperoni rolls became a popular lunch item for coal miners — many of which were Italian immigrants. Coal miners often worked long shifts underground. Cured pepperoni was less perishable and could go days without refrigeration.

Pepperoni rolls are compact, filling and easy to eat. No utensils are needed and the only way a mess happens is if you took apart the sandwich yourself. Plus, it's a three-ingredient sandwich, so bakeries were mass-producing them for coal miners, steelworkers and railroad workers in the West Virginia-Pittsburgh area.

Minutes after landing at the Pittsburgh International Airport, within 50 feet of the Franco Harris "Immaculate Reception" exhibit, we spotted a "West Virginia Living Company" kiosk, where you can purchase WVU merchandise and, yes, "Julia's Original" pepperoni rolls, which were delivered from Chico's Bakery in Morgantown and kept in a freezer. 

When I initially heard "pepperoni roll," I imagined a calzone-esque meal — a hot sandwich. Instead, I was handed a simple and frozen pepperoni sandwich in a bag and was instructed to wait about 10-15 minutes before eating it.

The final verdict? Definitely worthy of your time, if you ever find yourself in the Pittsburgh-West Virginia area. It's a perfect airport meal. You can put some in your bag and eat it across the U.S. or somewhere around the world and it would still be just as tasty. It gets a 7.8 rating. 

We also tried "Primanti Bros." near downtown Pittsburgh, one of the most popular local chains in the Steel City. Here's some history on Primanti Bros. and how the meal was.  

Primanti Bros.

Food: Sandwiches, bar food

The rundown: Want fries with your sandwich? Why not just put them together? Primanti Bros., first owned by Joe Primanti, was originally a street cart, but it evolved into storefront in 1933 amid The Great Depression era. The first location opened on 46 18th Street in the heart of Pittsburgh's "Strip District."

The purpose of Primanti Bros. was to serve service workers and truck drivers who worked odd hours in the area. The Strip District is now a touristy location in Pittsburgh, but it was blue-collar pocket in Pittsburgh when Primanti Bros. first opened its doors.

The menu is simple: Italian bread, choice of protein (steak, capicola, pastrami, beef patty), provolone cheese, fries, vinegar-based coleslaw and tomatoes. 

According to the restaurant's website, the fries-on-the-sandwich idea stemmed from Joe Primanti's nephew, John DiPriter, frying up a batch of potatoes from a potato delivery truck and it became a hit for the customers. 

In 2019, Pittsburgh native and rapper Wiz Khalifa had his own "Black and Yellow" sandwich named after his hit 2010 song. The sandwich, which was sold for roughly two weeks, was made a half-pound of angus sirloin beef, a quarter-pound of roast beef, bacon, a special blend of Cheese Whiz (Wiz) sauce, fries, coleslaw and tomatoes on Italian bread

There are over 40 Primanti Bros. locations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and Florida. Even though Primanti Bros. spread locations across a few states, it's still one of the most popular game-day food institutions for Pittsburgh sports fans. 

The order: Pastrami sandwich with cheese

The final verdict: I went to the original location, which has a very cozy and intimate vibe. Think of the size of the original Primanti Bros. location as somewhere in the middle between "Bobo's Restaurant" and "Mi Nidito."

A compact restaurant that often requires a five or 10-minute wait with its restrooms down a flight of stairs in a basement? That's part of the charm.  

Some people picking up to-go orders were greeted like Norm Peterson from "Cheers." The clientele was a potpourri of families, tourists and longtime locals. Some Steelers fans bantered  The walls were covered in painted caricatures of Pittsburgh sports legends. 

As for the sandwich, the vinegar complemented the perfectly-cooked pastrami and provolone cheese. I should've requested no tomatoes, because tomatoes on a hot pastrami sandwich just isn't for me. After picking out the sliced tomatoes, the sandwich was perfect, especially with fries tucked in.    

The server being a "Yinzer" made it a true Pittsburgh experience. The score: 8.8/10.