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LAVALETTE — The Snak Shak of Lavalette takes its name from a historic drive-in restaurant once located in Barboursville.

The family of current owner Harry Burgess opened the original Snak Shak back in 1947. It was lost in a fire in the 1970s. Burgess runs the current restaurant with his wife, Vi.

“I had what was probably one of the better restaurants in the state,” Harry Burgess said. “We lost everything in the fire 30 years ago and ended up moving to North Carolina. I found a new job working for Compass USA, one of the largest  food companies in the world. They supply canteens, cafeterias, hotels and restaurants in 95 different countries. After I retired, we decided to come back to West Virginia.”

Despite retirement, the restaurant business still called.

“This was originally Elmer’s Family Restaurant,” Burgess said. “The original owners of this place went too far, too fast.  I came in one day to visit and noticed it was empty. I contacted the original owners and went about the process of reopening the place about four months ago. It was a real process.” We didn’t have to do much remodeling, but the building didn’t have any heating last winter, and there were, like, 20 water leaks. It took about three weeks to get those taken care of. Then, we put in new tile and carpeting. Thankfully, the kitchen was almost fully prepared. We had almost everything, but there were no forks. We eventually reopened about a week ago.”

The Snak Shak has some decorations of its drive-in roots, including an original menu. The modern menu is very much the same as the original. Only the prices have changed. Originally, you could buy a hot dog for 20 cents and shrimp dinner for $1.45. Today, a hot dog costs $1 and a five-piece shrimp dinner goes for $8.49.

Customers also can try a quarter-pound hamburger for $1.99 or a barbecue sandwich for $2.99. An assortment of dinner plates are available ranging from a hot roast beef for $6.49 to a rib eye steak for $8.99. Slices of cherry, apple and peanut butter pie are available for $2.79.

“We kept the menu mostly the same,” Burgess said. “Everyone loves our country steak, spaghetti and roast beef. We also have our original “Iron Heads” hot dog, which we had in Barboursville and we must have sold millions of.”

The hot dog is served with sauce, mustard, onions and cole slaw.

“We cut our own roast beef and make our own country fried steak,” Burgess said. “I also try to make the spaghetti in a real Italian style. We basically try to make everything from scratch.”

The Snak Shak is located at Camp Creek Plaza near Lavalette on 4388 5th Street Road. It is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Cash and most major credit cards are accepted.

The restaurant offers catering for parties. All catering orders must be picked up at the restaurant site. Contact the restaurant one week ahead of time for large catering orders. To place a take out or catering order or for more information, call 304-781-0097.

Paul Sebert/For The Herald-Dispatch

The recently-opened Snak Shak in Lavalette is owned by Vi and Harry Burgess. The restaurant serves what Harry Burgess calls "Country cookin.'"

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Paul Sebert/For The Herald-Dispatch

The recently-opened Snak Shak is located at Camp Creek Plaza in Lavalette. It is owned by Harry and Vi Burgess and features much of the menu of the Snak Shak that Burgess' family owned in Barboursville more than 30 years ago.

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