The Pepperoni Roll

A West Virginia Tasty Tradition

By Candace Nelson

A beautiful golden-brown bun stuffed with spicy pepperoni is the perfect West Virginia snack.

Maybe add in some melted cheese or sweet peppers, too.

The pepperoni roll, the unofficial state food of West Virginia, is a shelf-stable, meat-stuffed roll that can be found in pockets all across the state. But its roots—much like those of the state itself—are traced back to the coal mining industry less than 100 years ago.

A Delicious History

In the early 1900s, Italians immigrated to North Central West Virginia to work in the coal mines. With them, they brought their culture, customs and, of course, food. Italian restaurants, bakeries and grocery stores popped up across the Fairmont and the greater Marion County area. Fine meats, cheeses and breads became commonplace, and that was reflected at mealtime.

During the work day, miners’ lunch buckets consisted of a large section for water, then a compartment on top of that would contain space for a meal. Often, that was a hunk of bread, a stick of salami and a sweet treat that would tide the men over until dinner time.

Bakeries From the Beginning

Enter Giuseppe “Joseph” Argiro.

Argiro was a former coal miner who, in 1927, went on to open what is now known as the iconic Country Club Bakery in Fairmont. Drawing on his experience underground, Argiro came up with the idea to use the extra bread dough from his bakery in combination with a cured meat—in this case, pepperoni—to create a new product: the pepperoni roll. The bakers hand cut giant blocks of pepperoni into sticks and rolled five to six sticks into fresh dough and let them bake to create a handheld, portable snack that was not only enticing to miners but the entire community.

The pepperoni roll transformed the miners’ lunches from multiple meal components to a one-handed eating experience that allowed them to chow down quickly while drinking water and get back to work.

You Say Roll, This Spot Says Bun

While Argiro is commonly credited with commercializing the pepperoni roll, many locals say it was Colasessano’s World Famous Pizza & Pepperoni Buns that perfected it.

The fellow Marion County institution opened in 1950 and took the pepperoni roll from a snack to a full-on meal by splitting it down the center and topping it with cheese, sauce, local Oliverio’s peppers—or all of the above.

Though Colasessano’s calls their pepperoni rolls “buns,” the heart of the food remains the same. It is a filling, tasty meal that pulls on the cultural heritage of the region.

The Pepperoni Roll Capital of the World

Marion County is the epicenter for all things pepperoni roll. From festivals and contests to history tours and food trails, the pepperoni roll is on full display in its birthplace.

A Legends & Lore historical marker, from the West Virginia Folklife Program and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, stands tall outside of Country Club Bakery, denoting the area’s significance in the development of the pepperoni roll. The marker reads: “Pepperoni Roll: West Virginia delicacy created by Italian families in Fairmont to feed local coal miners. Variants now popular statewide.”

A yearly festival held at Palatine Park in downtown Fairmont celebrates the pepperoni roll for days on end. The West Virginia Three Rivers Festival, which is held on Memorial Day weekend, invites home chefs to enter their best homemade pepperoni roll for a panel of judges. Plus, there is also a professional cook component that pits local bakers against one another in a competition to see which pepperoni roll comes out on top.

Perhaps the most popular event of the festival is the West Virginia Three Rivers Festival Pepperoni Roll Eating World Championship with professional Major League Eaters who race to see who can devour the most Country Club pepperoni rolls in 10 minutes. The current record was set by Joey Chestnut in 2019 at 43 pepperoni rolls.

To get a taste of your own, you can take a pepperoni roll tour created by the Marion County Convention & Visitors Bureau that includes Country Club Bakery and Colasessano’s World Famous Pizza & Pepperoni Buns, as well as the Bakers Nook, Mama Di Roma, Dairy Creme Corner, the Copper House Grill and more.

Pepperoni Roll Expansion

The love for the pepperoni roll has spread throughout Marion County and to each corner of the state and beyond. Here are just a few examples of how West Virginians have shared their passion for the pepperoni roll:

• On New Year’s Eve, when the clock strikes midnight, the town of Mannington drops a supersized plastic-wrapped pepperoni roll to ring in the New Year.
• School lunches throughout the Mountain State feature pepperoni rolls on a monthly basis, while adhering to nutritional guidelines, of course.
• The military has served service personnel MREs—or Meals Ready to Eat—that contain pepperoni rolls due to them being shelf stable and requiring no utensils.
• Pepperoni rolls can be found at bakeries, restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations. They also make appearances at weddings and tailgates and on road trips.
• They have also evolved in style, from slices and ground pepperoni to new additions like hot pepper cheese, ramps and jalapenos. There are mini, bite-sized versions, and there have been versions up to seven feet long.
• Many pepperoni roll producers—including Country Club Bakery and Colasessano’s World Famous Pizza & Pepperoni Buns—ship their pepperoni rolls near and far. Whether it is to someone who has moved out of state and craves the taste of home or a military member overseas who could use some comfort food, the pepperoni rolls are packaged and shipped overnight when possible so they arrive fresh and delicious.

The ubiquitous nature of the pepperoni roll speaks to how ingrained it is in West Virginia’s culture. What began as a simple, utilitarian snack has become a rallying cry for state pride. It has become part of celebrations and important moments in people’s lives.

It has evolved in terms of flavor, as well as where it is found. The variations of the pepperoni roll are endless, and it knows no bounds. While it is still mainly concentrated in North Central West Virginia and most often found within the borders of the Mountain State, the pepperoni roll has traveled far and wide and found celebrity fans in the likes of Anthony Bourdain, Andrew Zimmern and Vivian Howard, among others.

The pepperoni roll is emblematic of the culinary heritage of West Virginia. It is humble, yet impactful. It is delicious, yet simple. It is meaningful, yet straightforward. It is so much more than the sum of its parts in the eyes of Mountaineers, and its impact runs deep in the veins of the Mountain State.

Above all, it embodies West Virginia in one tasty bite.