Country Club Bakery

Country Club Bakery is the original home of the pepperoni roll, a contribution to American food that Fairmont takes considerable pride in. The bakery has been operating since 1927 and has changed very little: the pepperoni rolls here are made to Giuseppe Argiro's original recipe, with spiced cured pepperoni baked into a soft white roll that releases a satisfying quantity of red-tinged grease when you eat it.

The pepperoni roll became the essential lunch food of West Virginia's Italian immigrant mining community and then spread through the broader state population. It is now sold across West Virginia but nowhere with more historical legitimacy than here. The bakery also makes standard bread products, but the pepperoni rolls are the only reason to come. Take some with you on the road.

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A story
Giuseppe Argiro, an Italian immigrant working in the coal mines around Fairmont, wanted a way to carry lunch into the mine that was portable, filling, and didn't require refrigeration. In 1927 he baked spiced pepperoni into a roll of soft bread dough. The result was the pepperoni roll — now recognised as West Virginia's official state food. Country Club Bakery, which Argiro founded, still operates from the original recipe.