Just across the Pocahontas County line into Randolph County is the small town of Mingo and the Mingo Saloon and Lodge, where visitors can find comfy rooms, a restaurant featuring some of the best food in West Virginia, a bar and an outdoor stage for live entertainment.
Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Sometimes a wrong turn can take you down the right path. That was the case for Mingo Saloon and Lodge owners Joe Sells and JamiArbizu.
Three years ago, they were looking for a cabin in the area that they could fix up and rent as an Airbnb, but instead of a small cabin, they found themselves in the parking lot at the Brazenhead Inn in Mingo.
Sells told Arbizu to write down the phone number on the for-sale sign and after meeting with the owner, they made a plan, bought the place and named it Mingo Saloon and Lodge.
“I was like, ‘that’s not the kind of log cabin I was thinking,’” Arbizu said, laughing. “But we came up with an idea and we’ve been here ever since.”
The Saloon and Lodge has 20 rooms, a restaurant, bar, outdoor stage and more. It’s much more than a simple cabin, but it works for the couple, who wanted to turn the place into a destination for motorcyclists who love the windy roads of West Virginia.
“When we met with the previous owner, he said snow season was ultimately his money-making season and from the inception of this and pulling out of the driveway on our first trip down here, I said, ‘snow season should be slow season,’ because this has every element of a motorcycle destination,” Sells said.
Motorcyclists themselves, Sells and Arbizu knew they had all the elements needed. They tore down an old cabin that was between the inn and the river, opening up the outdoor area for stargazing and drinks around the fire pit. They also added an outdoor stage for live entertainment during the warmer months.
“There are plans to close in the pavilion to the point that we can open it and close it, make it four season and that way, we can utilize it all year,” Sells said.
Much like the famous mullet hair style, the Mingo Saloon and Lodge is business in the front and party in the back, with the outdoor stage located behind the main lodge, just off the back porch. The pavilion has room for dining – and dancing when musicians come to play. Beyond the stage is a relaxing area near the river, complete with fire pits for those late night hangouts.
There is also a conference room for groups to meet separate from other customers dining in the main restaurant.
For those who don’t want to stay in one of the inn’s rooms, there are four camper hookups with electric and water, as well as room for primitive camping.
“We have people who come in with their tents,” Arbizu said. “Some motorcyclists have these trailers that they pull behind that have a pop-up tent in them. We’ve had people utilize our property for that. There’s a lot of ground, so they can do what they want with it in the primitive sense.”
While the saloon and inn are motorcyclist friendly – evidenced by the Americana motorcycle parked on top of the entrance sign – that doesn’t exclude other travelers looking for a nice place to stay that has entertainment and great food.
“We have steak; a roast that will fall apart while you’re looking at it; we have a rib eye steak sandwich; we have burgers,” Sells said.
“We get our meats from a Mennonite butcher up in Pennsylvania,” Arbizu added. “He hand cuts everything.”
Sells swears by the menu and has the reviews to back it up.
“I walk around constantly, and I ask, ‘how is everything?’ and they’re like, ‘awesome,’” he said.
When he asks on a scale of one to 10, he usually gets a 10, except for one customer who never rates anything higher than a nine.
Sells joked that he asked the customer what he would rate Bo Derek – famous for her role in the movie “10” – and he said a 9.5.
“I’ve been told we need to call [the roast dinner] The Bo Derek,” he said, laughing.
“I think some people might not know who she was,” Arbizu added.
Rounding out the menu are staples such as wings with a variety of sauces, including peanut butter and jelly wings.
“It’s like a dessert and dinner all in one,” Sells said.
Arbizu, who is a vegetarian, says there are options that exclude meat, including one of her favorites, the tomato basil bisque and grilled cheese.
Mingo Saloon and Lodge is located just over the Pocahontas County line in Randolph County, less than 10 miles from the entrance to Snowshoe.
Information about lodging, the menu and upcoming events may be found on the website themingosaloonandlodge.com or on its Facebook page.
