Hurricane - Attached to a Marathon gas station on Teays Valley Road is Fairways, one of Putnam County's unexpected treasures.
Although it doesn't look it from the outside, Fairways is an upscale restaurant with a menu influenced heavily by Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Californian cuisine.
Once Sheetz set up shop down the road, owner Osh Assi knew he had to find a competitive edge to keep his business afloat. As a Lebanese immigrant, Assi always dreamed of running a restaurant on the beach, and when Wal-Mart threatened to develop down the road in 2015, Assi knew he had to do something.
"We had to start the restaurant because of the big corporate competition," Assi said. "We had to compete and change our way of doing business. It's getting tougher and tougher for small business to accomplish what they're doing."
Although Hurricane isn't exactly his ideal oceanfront location, Assi worked with what he had and opened Fairways next to his gas station in 2015. Wal-Mart never opened a second location in Putnam County like the business had planned, but Assi still found success in Fairways.
"I find out some of the best places to stop and eat are connected to a gas station," Assi said. "A lot of people look down on the place because it's connected to a gas station."
A few naysayers haven't stopped the success of his restaurant. Most people hear about Fairways through word of mouth, after friends rave about delicious crab cakes and Sangria.
Due to the success of Fairways, Assi will be opening his second restaurant, Adventures Bar and Grill, at Eagle View Apartments in the beginning of August.
He also has plans to renovate the Marathon gas station to which Fairways is attached. He wants to take the gas station atmosphere out of the location by adding a coffee shop. There are already tables and a large selection of wine inside the gas station.
Assi is considering opening another restaurant on Main Street in Hurricane, but nothing is definite yet. Assi said he "can't multiply himself" as a small business owner, and is taking things one step at a time.
At Fairways, almost all of the food is prepared from scratch and bought locally. Call's Meat Market delivers fresh meat to the restaurant sometimes as close to 20 minutes before the restaurant opens at 4 p.m. for dinner.
Out of the 150 wines to choose from, most of them come from California. When asked why, Assi responded, "Because - USA, baby!"
Fairways also has more than 200 different types of beer in bottles, and 20 on tap. The tap beers rotate to increase variety, Assi said.
Greg Bird, a regular customer at Fairways, said he lives less than a mile from the restaurant, but feels like he's much further from home when he visits.
"It's the only place I know of in this area where I feel like I'm on vacation," Bird said. "I don't feel like I'm in West Virginia. I feel like I left West Virginia when I go eat there."
The new restaurant at Eagle View will have a stronger exotic feel to it, with a theme centered around animals and adventure.
Fairways is open from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit www.fairwayswv.com.
Reach Laura Haight at laura.haight@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow @laurahaight_ on Twitter.