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Taste of Hamburg-er Festival 2018

festival-goers walk past white tents at the Taste of Hamburg-er Festival in Hamburg, PA

The 15th Annual Taste of Hamburg-er Festival filled the streets of Hamburg on Saturday, September 1.

It was our fourth year attending the event (Jakob’s first time), and Julie and I have a strategy that works for us: get there early, scope out the burgers while browsing the crafters, then enjoy some of the unique burgers only available at the event.

Then we each pick a burger of own and split a third so we can get some variety.

Our plan worked out well as we avoided (most of) the lines and enjoyed some truly unique burgers.

Scott’s Gyro Box – The Greek Burger

Food truck with the words "Scott's Gyro Box" on the side

Scott’s Gyro Box evolved from Scott’s Hot Spot, the longtime gyro stand at the Fairgrounds Farmers Market. Now a mobile food cart, you’ll find Scott’s Gyro Box at events around Berks County serving up gyros, spanakopita and other Greek favorites.

In a mashup of cultures, the stand was offering the Greek Burger at this year’s Taste of Hamburg-er Festival.

Menu board on a food truck advertising a Greek burger

The Greek burger was essentially a gyro on a bun – a hamburger patty topped with feta cheese, roasted red peppers, grilled onions and tzatziki sauce.

paper boat with a hamburger topped with feta cheese, roasted red peppers and tzatziki sauce

I love gyros and I really wanted to love this burger but it came up short for me. It was still good, but there was just a little too much tzatziki sauce – or at least it wasn’t spread evenly enough. And the burger patty was too processed and had little flavor on its own.

Still, the ingredients were there and it wasn’t a bad burger by any means. I guess I just had my expectations too high.

WOW Wagon – Poutine Burger

red food truck with yellow sun rays and the words "Wow Wagon" and a picture of Taz on the side

The WOW Wagon’s poutine burger was the one that both Julie and I had circled when we saw the list.

Featuring French fries, cheese curds and brisket gravy, the burger was a solid take on the French Canadian specialty.

burger topped with gravy, cheese curds and french fries

The gravy was the best part for me, but I have to say, biting into a burger with a cheese curd on top is a truly unique experience of taste and texture. The burger and gravy were hot (I never got both a fry and curd at the same time) but the cheese curd was cold and packed with flavor.

It was a little overwhelming for my tastes, but definitely a burger I was glad to try.

Video Burger – The Dandridge

food truck with a banner that reads "Video Burger" and an image of a TV with a zombie eating a burger

The final stop on our tour wasn’t Julie’s first choice. She had wanted to visit Spuds, but the line was just too long by the time we completed our loop and arrived back at the corner of Fourth and Windsor Streets.

Instead, we trekked back down the hill to Video Burger, a mobile food truck specializing in the outrageous.

burger topped with cheese, apples, bacon and sauce

The Dandridge took a typical barbecue-style burger and gave it a twist. Applewood smoked bacon and apple barbecue sauce gave it a familiar flavor, but the sliced apples added enough sweet to the sweet-and-savory combination to make this a real standout burger.

It was also the best bun and burger patty out of the three that we tasted and those were definitely part of the appeal.

2018 Taste of Hamburg-er Festival Contest Winners

Best Burger – Restaurant

Grand Prize Winner:  Spuds

Appearance:      Spuds
Taste:                 Spuds
Originality:          Spuds

Best Burger – Organization

Grand Prize Winner:  Salem Church

Appearance:      Boy Scout Troop #184
Taste:                 Leesport Lodge #141 I.O.O.F
Originality:         Salem Church

Best Burger – Mobile Unit

Grand Prize Winner:   Blazing Swine BBQ

Appearance:      Blazing Swine BBQ
Taste:                 Blazing Swine BBQ
Originality:          Wow Foods, LLC

Best “Newbie” Burger

The Smith Homestead’s Kitchen

People’s Choice Award

1st Place:            Deitsch Eck Restaurant
2nd Place:           Dawn’s Deli
3rd Place:            Christ Evangelical Free Church
4th Place:            Salem Church

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Review: Scoupe DeVille

white building with the front of a turquoise antique car sticking out above the door and a sign that reads "Scoupe DeVille"

Driving along Route 724 near Birdsboro it’s hard to miss Scoupe Deville. The building, with its distinct half-car sticking out the front, was built in the 1950s as a service station.

First opening as an ice cream parlor in 2001, Scoupe DeVille’s current owners took over the space in 2017.

retro toys on shelves next to the order counter at Scoupe DeVille

The 1950s has been brought back in all its kitschy glory inside Scoupe DeVille. Reproduction signs, old photographs, an old jukebox and a retro gas pump are among the hundreds of decorations found throughout the building.

Early rock ‘n’ roll played through speakers inside and outside the building. A small TV in one corner showed clips of the Three Stooges and I Love Lucy on rotation.

Pictures of Elvis and historic photos of Birdsboro, PA on a wall in Scoupe DeVille

In addition to ice cream, Scoupe DeVille does offer a very limited food menu that includes burgers, hot dogs, fries and barbecue sandwiches.

red tray with a boat holding a chili dog, a boat of crinkle fries and a coney island cheesburger

I ordered a Coney burger with onions and no cheese. I was a little puzzled when the young lady behind the counter told me that the Coney burger came smothered in gravy, but I rolled with it. Just like I rolled with it when the burger came out with a slice of white American cheese on top.

Coney burger in a basket with checkered paper

It was an okay burger. There’s no grill (at least that I saw) so I’m sure it was a pre-done patty that was just reheated.

chili cheese hot dog

Julie’s hot dog was a little better, though it was absolutely loaded with cheese and chili – probably a little overstuffed. It was good enough, if a little messy.

One thing we really enjoyed was the use of potato rolls for the hamburger and the hot dog. It’s a small touch, but it does make a difference in flavor.

crinkle fries in a paper boat

Another thing we enjoyed were the fries. The crinkle-cut fries were no different than you would find at similar places, but that didn’t make them any less enjoyable.

If I was going to grab dinner there again, I would either opt for a bowl of chili or a barbecue sandwich.

But we weren’t really there for the food. We were there for the ice cream.

various historic automotive memorabilia in a dining room with stainless steel tables and stools

The ice cream menu is vast, with hard and soft ice cream, four types of banana splits, milkshakes, sundaes, shimmies (kind of like a Blizzard but not copyrighted), and the Fat Elvis Ice Cream Challenge: a 10-scoop sundae (five scoops of banana ice cream, five scoops of peanut butter ice cream), seven toppings, whipped cream, a brownie, a banana and cherries. Eat it in 30 minutes, and you win.

I don’t know how long the challenge has been in place, but there was only one photo on the wall of fame.

Julie and I were only looking for one scoop each. Scoupe DeVille primarily serves Nelson’s Ice Cream (we most recently saw Nelson’s ice cream at Oley Turnpike Dairy), but they also offer select flavors from Schuylkill County favorite Leiby’s Dairy.

waffle cone with raspberry swirl ice cream

And it just happened that the flavors that caught our eyes were both from Leiby’s.

For me, it was cashew and raspberry. Not to be confused with black raspberry, the cashew and raspberry was a vanilla ice cream with raspberry swirl. No, this was better than any black raspberry. It was sweet and rich. If I had one criticism it would be that there weren’t enough cashews and I would have liked the nuts to have been salted. That would have put it over the top in my book.

ice cream cone dipped in chocolate and sprinkles with pink colored ice cream

Julie went with red velvet cheesecake, a new flavor (according to Scoupe DeVille’s Facebook page). The decadent ice cream featured chunks of red velvet with graham cracker crust. It was a unique flavor, and quickly became one of Julie’s favorites. She also splurged on a chocolate-covered waffle cone dipped in sprinkles. It’s hard not to love that.

Between dinner and ice cream, our total was just over $20. And while dinner certainly didn’t wow us, the ice cream had us leaving extremely satisfied.

BCE Rating
Food: Fair
Ice Cream: Excellent
Ambiance: Very Good
Service: Good
Value: Very Reasonable

Scoupe DeVille
3365 Main St
Birdsboro, PA 19508

Note: Scoupe DeVille is only open seasonally

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Dessert Drive-Ins Lunch & Dinner Reviews
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Review: Way-Har Farm Market

cars lined up in a parking lot outside a building with a sign that reads "Way-Har Farm Market"

Earlier this month, Visit PA (the official tourism agency for Pennsylvania) announced the PA Ice Cream Trail – a list of 12 “farm-to-scoop” creameries in the state. Each location offers passports to the Ice Cream Trail that can be stamped at the participating locations. Visit six creameries and win a t-shirt. Visit all 12 to earn a #PursueYourScoops ice cream scoop.

Two Berks County locations made the list: Twilight Acres Creamery & Bakery in Stouchsburg and Way-Har Farm Market in Bernville.

deli counter and ice cream counter inside Way-Har Farm Market

Way-Har is the older, more recognized name. Located along Route 183 between Bernville and Strausstown in the northwest reaches of the county, Way-Har has long been known for its milk, dairy and desserts – both baked and frozen.

various pies lined up on a table inside Way-Har Farm Market

The store also offers a variety of bulk foods and candies, jams and jellies, and country primitives. There is also a small deli section featuring a limited menu of hoagies and hot meals for dine-in or take-out.

We – Julie, Jakob and I – arrived for an early dinner on a rainy Sunday evening. The ice cream counter was already bustling, but our ice cream would have to wait until we had some real food in us. Among the hot food items are pork BBQ – my choice – and hamburger BBQ – Julie’s choice. I also ordered a cup of sausage stew, one of two soups of the day.

two wooden tables with mis-matched wooden chairs inside Way-Har Farm Market

The woman who waited on us was very kind and told us to grab a table and she would bring our food out. There are only eight or so tables, each seating between two and eight people.

When she brought out the food a short time later, our server was nervous that she had made our sandwiches too hot and my stew not hot enough. We had seen her bring the crock-pot out of the back with the stew so it was clear that the microwave got a lot of use for us.

pulled pork sandwich, sloppy joe and a cup of soup on a wooden table

Given the setup, I wasn’t expecting much so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the pork BBQ was actually pretty good. The hamburger BBQ was as well. Both were like something you would expect to find a church potluck – surprisingly satisfying but not anything we would go out of our way to order again.

The sausage stew, however, was very good, and it was all because of the sausage. Way-Har sells Peter Bros. Meats (locally made in Lenhartsville, Berks County) and I assume the smokey, flavorful sausage was one of theirs.

If it’s on the menu again, I would definitely get a quart to take home (but my own microwave would suffice for reheating).

Of course the soup and sandwich was just a precursor. We were there for the ice cream. I had seen a sign on the door advertising peach as the flavor of the week. That had me sold instantly.

man in blue shirt holding a baby and a waffle cone of vanilla ice cream

Peach ice cream was my absolute favorite growing up so there was a little nostalgia at play. But I thought it was absolutely delicious. There were no large chunks of fruit, but with more, smaller pieces it added flavor throughout.

Julie found an ice cream flavor that she had never tried before – tandy cake. It was vanilla peanut butter ice cream with the addition of pieces of tandy cake (think Tastykake’s Kandy Kake) and chocolate chips.

wooden holding a pretzel cone of chocolate chip ice cream in one hand a a "Visit PA Pursue Your Scoops" passport in the other hand

In this case, there were larger chunks of cake mixed in, and Julie absolutely loved it. Tandy cakes are one of her favorite desserts, and mixing it into an already creamy vanilla peanut butter ice cream made her day.

As Julie paid our roughly $25 tab, we got our first stamp on our passport. Our goal is to find a way to visit all 12 between now and when the promotion ends on October 31.

Way-Har Farms was certainly a great place to start. One down. Eleven to go.

BCE Rating

Food: Fair
Ice Cream: Very Good
Service: Very Good
Ambiance: Good
Price: Reasonable

Way-Har Farms

7701 Bernville Rd
Bernville, PA 19506

PA Ice Cream Trail

Twilight Acres Creamery & Bakery
Stouchsburg, Berks County

Way-Har Farms
Bernville, Berks County

Coventry Parlor at Laurel Locks
Pottstown, Chester County

Chester Springs Creamery at Milky Way Farm
Chester Springs, Chester County

Fox Meadows Creamery
Ephrata, Lancaster County

Lapp Valley Farms
New Holland, Lancaster County

The Milkhouse at Oregon Dairy
Lititz, Lancaster County

Patches Family Creamery
Lebanon, Lebanon County

Crystal Spring Farm
Schnecksville, Lehigh County

Freddy Hill Farms
Lansdale, Montgomery County

Merrymead Farm
Lansdale, Montgomery County

Perrydell Farm and Dairy
York, York County

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Dessert Ice Cream Lunch & Dinner Reviews Soup
menu cover for Oley Turnpike Dairy
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Oley Turnpike Dairy – CLOSED

sign with an image of a PA Dutch distlefink and the words "Oley Turnpike Dairy Diner Ice Cream"

Editor’s Note: The Oley Turnpike Dairy – the diner, ice cream bar and petting zoo – is now closed. The owners announced their retirement in August 2022 after more than 50 years serving the Oley Valley. The new Redvo Restaurant opened in the space in February 2023. Read our review of Redvo Restaurant.

Sometimes on Berks County Eats, I find a place that is just…unique. A place that has no real comparison in Berks County or elsewhere.

I found another one of those places when Julie, Jakob and I made our first visit to the Oley Turnpike Dairy Diner.

long white building with double doors and an open sign in the window

The Oley Turnpike Dairy Diner is about as old school as it gets. It’s a true diner in every sense – just with wood paneling where one would expect to find stainless steel. And there’s an ice cream parlor. And a small antiques store. And a petting zoo.

placemat with ads and a center ad taht reads "Oley Turnpike Dairy Diner" with an image of a classic car

OK, so maybe it’s not the stereotypical diner, but I think Julie said it best when she said, “This is Berks County.”

long tables with popsicle and fruit themed tablecloths and three chairs on either side

We arrived for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. Though not full, there was a steady “post-church” crowd filing through while we were there. We sat ourselves at one of the booths – the slightly tattered black benches were wide enough for Jakob’s car seat – leaving the eight-person tables with the popsicle tablecloths for someone else.

The service was quick. We had our order placed and our drinks on the table in no time. It wasn’t long before our lunches arrived, either.

menu cover for Oley Turnpike Dairy

The menu included all of the comfort food classics you expect from a diner – burgers, sandwiches, $12 steaks, etc. I went with one of those only-at-a-diner meals: an open-faced meatloaf sandwich with mashed potatoes.

open face meatloaf sandwich with side of mashed potatoes, both covered in beef gravy

I’m not going to a diner expecting anything more than a satisfying, high-Calorie meal. And that’s what I got. The open-faced sandwich had four slices of white bread and two slabs of meatloaf loaded with beef gravy. I enjoyed it and thought the gravy and (surprisingly) the bread were very flavorful. Meatloaf is meatloaf, but the other elements added to it. The mashed potatoes were fine, though I found them to be a little dry, and there wasn’t quite enough gravy to make up for it.

wrap with turkey and ham and a bag of Lays potato chips

Julie also went with a simple meal – an Italian wrap with a side of chips. The Italian wrap featured Capicola, cooked and hard salami, Provolone cheese, the option for LTO (Julie skipped the onion) and pickles on the side. It was a typical wrap on a larger flour tortilla. But it was done right, and Julie enjoyed it.

It was also served with a bag of Lay’s potato chips on the side that went unfinished.

We came to the Dairy not just for lunch but for dessert. And when we found out that they served Nelson’s Ice Cream – the same Royersford, Montgomery County, brand served at Sweet Ride in West Reading – we were excited. (Though we did find it ironic that a dairy had to bring in outside ice cream).

ice cream parlor with two round tables with four white wire chairs each

I can’t speak to whether there are more options at the ice cream counter, but in the diner, guests can enjoy cones or cups, milkshakes, floats, banana splits, sundaes and apple dumplings a la mode.

Both Julie and I decided on sundaes – hers was a dusty road sundae with chocolate raspberry chip ice cream, mine was a pineapple sundae with vanilla fudge.

sundae topped with malted milk, whipped cream and a cherry

The hallmark of a dusty road sundae is malted milk. The powder was dusted on top of the of the ice cream, which sat on a bed of chocolate syrup (with another helping on top). The chocolate raspberry chip is a delicious flavor on its own with black raspberry ice cream and chocolate chips. The syrup and whipped cream added more sweetness. The malted milk helped balance it out and add just a little bit of needed texture.

sundae topped with pineapple, whipped cream and a cherry

I haven’t had a pineapple sundae in a long time, but it seemed like a good fit for vanilla fudge ice cream. With the fudge already in the ice cream, there was no need to drench it in syrup. Instead, it played perfect with the pineapple. It was definitely a good fit and a great decision.

As an old-school diner, the Oley Turnpike Dairy Diner also offers all of this at great prices. For two lunches, two sundaes and an iced tea, our total was just $27. That’s hard to beat at a full-service restaurant.

Our only regret on the day was that Jakob was not cooperative enough for us to visit the petting zoo – another bargain with $1 admission and $1.50 feed. But knowing that we can enjoy a meal (and ice cream) at such a great price, there is no doubt that we will return when our little one’s attention span is a little longer.

BCE Rating
Food: Good
Service: Good
Ambiance: Fair
Price: Bargain

Oley Turnpike Dairy Diner
6213 Oley Turnpike Rd
Oley, PA 19547

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antique blue car atop a roof of a diner
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Bel-Air Ice Cream, Hamburgers & More – CLOSED

sign that reads "Bel-Air Ice Cream Burgers & More"

Editor’s Note: Bel-Air Ice Cream is closed. The restaurant announced it was closing for the season in September 2021 but never reopened for 2022. The space is now home to Aunt Nannie’s Bake Shop. 

Driving along Route 100 near Bechtelsville, it’s hard not to notice the bright blue Chevy Bel-Air on the rooftop of the namesake Bel-Air Ice Cream, Burgers & More.

I don’t drive that way often, but I happened to drive past it twice in one week, and the new restaurant caught my eye and had me intrigued. And neither Julie nor I can’t resist burgers and ice cream.

antique blue car atop a roof of a diner

The restaurant opened in late May in the former Woodside Family Restaurant. It’s one of a handful of restaurants that fall within Berks County along the Route 100 corridor. We pulled in on a Saturday night, and while the parking lot wasn’t packed, the restaurant was clearly busy.

Between the checkerboard floor, the stainless-steel accents and the tabletop jukeboxes, the Bel-Air is a callback to the 1950s and proud of it. Mini collections of retro collectibles line the walls, including a parade of Bel-Air die-casts and a shelf full of Coca-Cola merchandise.

napkin dispensers with the logo for Bel-Air Ice Cream

Based on reviews we saw – and based on what we witnessed at the restaurant – customer are confused about how it works. Unlike the Woodside which formally occupied the space, Bel-Air is not a full-service restaurant. Instead, customers are directed to grab a menu, order at the counter and seat themselves. The food will be delivered the table, but no one is going to come to the table to take an order.

So while Julie took Jakob out of his car seat to feed, I placed our order.

man ordering from the counter at a 50s style diner

The dinner menu at Bel-Air is primarily made up of burgers and hot dogs with a few other sandwiches and some fried appetizers thrown in. But that’s not to say there aren’t options. There are 15 different burgers and 10 hot dog creations on the menu plus build-your-own options for both. Both Julie and I went with burgers – the Hot Rod for me and the Billy the Kid for her.

basket lined with red and white paper with a burger and fries

The Hot Rod burger is topped with chili and Provolone cheese. The melted cheese actually did a reasonable job of sealing in the chili – a pretty good, mostly bean-filled sauce. I don’t know that Provolone was the best cheese to go with the burger (when I think chili, I think cheddar) but it worked. I thought the burger itself was very good and cooked perfectly. And the toasted roll was a great addition.

basket lined with red and white paper with a burger and fries

Julie’s burger came topped with onion rings, barbecue sauce and Swiss cheese. It was good combination, though in the bite that Julie gave me I thought the sauce was a little too sweet for the burger. But the onion rings were good and like mine, the burger was really well cooked.

Chips are the default side for all burgers, but both Julie and I spent the extra $1.50 for a French fry upgrade. And we were glad we did.

The fries were the fresh-cut variety, skins on and easily snackable (don’t be thrown off by the stock photo of chicken fingers and steak fries that appears on the menu). I thought they were very good, though I had to throw some salt and pepper on them for just a little added flavor.

After we finished, it was my turn to take care of our seven-month-old while Julie ordered our dessert. She came back to me for cash because, despite having an obviously full cash drawer, they wouldn’t break the $50 bill that she had in her purse. Thankfully I had a $10 so we avoided having to add $8 to our credit card.

cone of chocolate ice cream

Her frustration continued as she had ordered her ice cream in a pretzel cone, but instead saw it being dipped into a dish. But the situation was quickly fixed and she got her cone of Hershey’s chocolate moose tracks.

Hershey’s is the brand of choice in the ice cream freezer, though there was a Turkey Hill ice cream sign in one of the windows as well. Bel-Air also offers soft serve, which is what I chose as the base for my Kit Kat Delight sundae.

paper cup with the Hershey's ice cream logo filled with ice cream topped with whipped cream

The vanilla soft serve was topped with a whole Kit Kat bar, caramel sauce, hot fudge, whipped cream and the obligatory cherry on top. I was actually surprised by how many bits of Kit Kat were broken up in the sundae – it was hard to see what I was getting underneath the mountain of whipped cream.

In the end, we were both happy with our choices and left the restaurant very full.

Between dinner, dessert and our drinks, we spent about $30. That’s not a bad price at all for dinner for two.

50s style dining room with black and white checkered floor

Bel-Air’s closest comparison in Berks is probably Billy Burger and Bakery on the opposite end of the county. (Updated – Billy Burger closed after this post was written). Both restaurants specialize in burgers and fries, but don’t mistake them for fast food. The burgers are made to order, and at Bel-Air, they are cooked to your specification.

I don’t think Bel-Air is on the level of Billy Burger – the food isn’t quite up to that standard and the staff, mostly teenagers on summer break, could be a little friendlier and more polished. The restaurant management could also do a better job explaining to first-time customers that orders are to be placed at the counter. We saw many confused customers mistakenly waiting to be seated or questioning the process.

That said, the food was good. It was reasonably priced. They have great ice cream. And quite frankly, it’s a really cool place.

All those things make it worth the visit if you’re in the area.

BCE Rating
Food: Good
Service: Fair
Ambiance: Very Good
Price: Very Reasonable

Bel-Air Ice Cream, Burgers & More
913 Route 100
Bechtelsville, PA 19505

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Review: Stampede Barbecue

sign with an image of a bull and the words "Stampede Barbecue Established 2012"

I love to see a business prosper and grow, especially when its a local eatery.

One of the local restaurants that has grown and seems to be thriving is Stampede Barbecue.

Wooden building with wooden picnic tables with red umbrellas and an arrow-shaped sign pointing right with the words "Main Entrance"

Stampede Barbecue, formerly known as Stampede Smokin’ Barbecue, opened at a new location along Route 10 in Plowville. Technically, Berks County gained a new restaurant with the opening (the former location was a few hundred yards across the line in Lancaster County).

The restaurant now sits in what was once a garden store. It has been completely transformed into a two-story barbecue joint that looks like it could have been plucked out of the South and dropped in south-central Berks County.

staircase painted black with the words "no youngin's allowed unaccompanied on stairs/loft" on one of the risers

The new location, unlike the old trailer, will operate year-round. And so far it also seems to be a boon for business. The line was nearly out the door when Julie, Jakob and I arrived with her parents on a recent Wednesday evening.

Our wait time to get to the front of the line was about 15 minutes. By the time we ordered, we were told that the pulled pork and ribs were both sold out. I looked behind us at a line that was now out the door and wondered how these customers were going to feel about it.

man ordering from the counter at Stampede Barbecue

But that is the chance you take with barbecue – when you’re serving meats that are smoked for 12 hours or more, it’s not like you can just make more. It’s also a sign that the restaurant serves great food. And there was no denying that during our visit.

tray with two barbecue sandwiches, a boat of macaroni and cheese, a boat of coleslaw and a disposable Coke cup

Most of my visits to the previous location – a stationary food truck with more parking than seating – were grab-and-go, as I bought meals to take home with me. This was a rare opportunity to sit down and enjoy everything at its freshest.

close-up of a sandwich with smoked turkey on a potato roll

I had really wanted a pulled pork sandwich but instead “settled” on smoked turkey. The sliced turkey breast was dipped in an au jus before being set on the potato roll (think a Martin’s roll, only a lot larger and more fresh).

I tried both of Stampede’s signature sauces – one sweet and one sweet and spicy – on the sandwich. I liked the sweet, but I didn’t think it fit very well with the turkey. But the spicy sauce mixed with the potato roll (which itself was already sweet) and the smoked turkey made for a delicious combination. However, the au jus was enough on its own and I would have been happy eating it without any sauce.

chopped beef brisket sandwich on a potato roll

Julie’s beef brisket sandwich was no less enjoyable. The brisket was sliced fresh and very juicy. For my taste, the brisket was better with the sweet sauce. I also can’t speak highly enough about the rolls and how much they did for enhancing our meals.

boat of fresh-cut French fries

We decided to split an order of fries, something that I don’t remember being on the menu at the other location (if it was, I don’t remember it. I do remember getting bags of Charles Chips, which I didn’t see at the new place). While the rest of the meal was ready when we paid, the fresh-cut fries were delivered fresh a short time later. To me, they were worth the wait.

boat of macaroni and cheese

Julie and I also ordered sides of our own. She really wanted to try the mac and cheese and I wanted some of their slaw. Both were very good, though I wouldn’t say they stood out among others that we have tried.

boat of creamy coleslaw

I did have an opportunity to try some of the BBQ beans that my in-laws had ordered, and they were great. It was closer to a chili than baked beans as far as flavor (my mother-in-law found them to be a little too spicy for her. I didn’t find them to be very spicy).

For Julie and I, our two meals with drinks ran us right around $30. That’s about average for a good barbecue place. Stampede’s entire menu is a la carte, there are no meals, per se, but the sides are reasonably priced so it all works out.

hand-written sign on a door that reads "pickins are slim, folks. We will have everything tomorrow"

By the time we left around 7 p.m., they were hanging a sign on the door that read “Pickins are slim, folks. We’ll have everything tomorrow.”

Good thing we didn’t arrive any later than we did or we may have been very disappointed.

But selling out is a good thing for Stampede. It reflects well on the food, and it means that the restaurant is doing a great business.

And that’s always a good thing for Berks County.

BCE Rating
Food: Very Good
Ambiance: Very Good
Service: Good
Price: Reasonable

Stampede Barbecue
4372 Morgantown Rd
Mohnton, PA 19540

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Review: Calabria Italian Restaurant

sign that reads "calabria restaurant home made food"

There’s always an anticipation around a new restaurant opening. Sometimes there’s a lot of hype; sometimes there’s only a little. But there’s always people who are anxious to try it and anxious to taste it.

When the restaurant is reopening, that anticipation is even greater. A loyal customer base is waiting to return. And the longer the wait, it seems, the larger that customer base becomes as word spreads.

Calabria Italian Restaurant built up two-and-a-half years of anticipation for its reopening.

Exterior of Calabria Restaurant in Wernersville highlighting the stone facade

In December 2015, a fire broke out in the restaurant. It seemed like a small fire and that clean up and repairs wouldn’t take too long.

But days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and months turned to years. Instead of repairing the building, it had to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch. Driving between Wernersville and Robesonia on Route 422, we could watch the painfully slow progress that was being made.

In late April of this year, we drove past and for the first time in 29 months, the parking lot was filled with customers and not construction equipment. Calabria was back.

black tables and chairs with white linens in the dining room of Calabria

Fast forward to June, and we paid our first ever visit to Calabria. Despite growing up in Robesonia, I had never stepped foot in the old Calabria. I remember the building looking more like a dive, but the rebuilt restaurant is a thing of beauty. The outside is clean and modern with large curved windows and a hint of Old World in the brick facade.

a TV on a stone wall above a fireplace at Calabria

Inside, the bar and dining area are much nicer than I would have imagined. The black tablecloths with white disposable covers make it feel like a premium dining experience. While the blue uplighting at the ceiling and around the bar make it feel cool.

Julie, Jakob and I were joined by our friends Matt and Tori. Matt is a lifetime resident of Wernersville, and like me, had never eaten at the old Calabria.

It was a Wednesday evening, and the parking lot was packed. We didn’t have reservations, but we only had to wait a minute or two for a table to be cleared before we were seated.

basket of garlic bread

Our meals started with a basket of garlic bread, complimentary with the purchase of an entree. The bread was sliced small so the slices were easily snackable. Though not toasted to a total crisp, there was plenty of garlic and butter flavor throughout. We ate through them quickly and almost finished the entire second basket that came during our dinner.

basic salad with cucumbers and tomatoes and a cup of ranch dressing

Entrees were also served with a simple house salad or Caesar. The house salad came with mixed greens, two large slices of tomato and cucumber – the usual. It was topped with shredded mozzarella, a nice touch, and served with your choice of dressing. There were no complaints at all from the table about the salads.

Our entrees arrived relatively quickly. Each of us ordered a different Italian pasta dinner. For me, it was the tortellini in vodka sauce.

tortellini in a vodka sauce topped with herbs and cheese

Vodka sauce (a creamy tomato sauce infused with vodka) is not something that I normally order when I dine out, but it caught my eye and I had to give it a try.

It was a good dish. The tortellini (I choose meat instead of cheese) was small so it looked like I ate more than I actually did. The sauce was good and very creamy. There wasn’t a lot of herbiness to it, but it was still a good dish, overall.

baked ziti covered in melted mozzarella

Julie ordered her favorite Italian meal: baked ziti. This was different than most versions of the dish that she has tried. Normally, it’s a lot of the traditional red sauce with cheese on top. This version was cheesier with a mix of red sauce and ricotta that gave it a different texture and a slightly different flavor.

It was a good change of pace, something that definitely stood out. She wouldn’t call it her favorite version, but it was good.

manicotti stuffed with cheese and covered in red sauce

Matt’s manicotti was loaded with both ricotta and red sauce. The oversized stuffed pasta was a hit. I got to try a bite. I thought the red sauce was good, nothing outstanding, but the dish overall was good.

chicken cutlet topped with red sauce and cheese on a plate with fettucine with red sauce

Tori also enjoyed her chicken Parmesan. There was more than enough chicken – plenty of it went home – and the rest of the plate was filled with pasta. As far as our party was concerned, we had four meals, and four winners.

For Julie and I, our total bill came to about $35, average for what a similar meal would cost at Italian restaurants across Berks County.

I have to say, Calabria made a great first impression on us. The food was very good. The service was great. And the building, itself, just seemed to enhance the experience.

And judging by the parking lot every time we drive past, it’s made a good impression on a lot of others, too.

BCE Rating
Food: Very Good
Service: Great
Ambiance: Great
Value: Reasonable

Calabria Italian Restaurant
6646 Penn Ave
Wernersville, PA 19565

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Review: Hawaii Kitchen

First-floor retail space on a townhouse with a sign that reads "Hawaii Kitchen Sushi Burrito & Poke Bowl"

I can’t think of a place in America farther away from Berks County – both physically and culturally – than Hawaii.

Hawaii is a tropical paradise. Berks County sometimes gets hit with a tropical storm. Hawaii is a destination thanks to its pristine beaches. The “beaches” at Blue Marsh Lake just can’t compare.

So the last cuisine I expected to make its way to Berks County was poke bowls, the Hawaiian specialty dish usually consisting of seafood, rice, vegetables and sauce – think a deconstructed sushi roll.

black dry erase menu board for Hawaii Kitchen in front of a stone lined garden

But then Hawaii Kitchen opened in West Reading in early 2018 and a piece of the islands arrived in Berks.

Hawaii Kitchen opened earlier this year in the former Petite Milan – a children’s clothing store – in the 500 block of Penn Avenue.

The restaurant is roomier than it looks from the outside. Despite the narrow footprint, Hawaii Kitchen packs in tables of two and four with an additional row of counter seats. It’s not the biggest dining room in West Reading, but it serves its purpose.

long counter seating area along an unadorned wall

There were only a few others seated inside when we arrived on a recent Saturday night – Julie and I with little Jakob in tow. The restaurant’s owner fawned over Jakob when she saw him so I’ll give some bonus points there.

We ordered at the counter and grabbed a table for two at the front window.

bowl with greens topped with avocado and sesame seeds

The first item to arrive was my avocado salad. It was a simple salad with just three ingredients: mixed greens, avocado and sesame-ginger dressing. But it was absolutely delicious.

I loved the dressing. It was salty; it was a little sweet without the bitter aftertaste of a balsamic. And with the simplicity of the salad, it just worked. It was also more filling than I would have imagined for a side salad, mostly thanks to the avocado.

bowl with shrimp and fruit toppedw ith avocado and cheese

Our entrees arrived shortly thereafter. Julie was going to be the one to try a bowl, the avo-coco shrimp bowl, a summer special advertised on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

The bowl included mango, strawberry, pineapple, avocado and shrimp tossed in a coconut sauce. This is not a “traditional” poke, but Julie loved it.

Part fruit salad, part poke bowl, it was sweet and bright. Coconut and shrimp are always a winning combination, but the addition of the other fruits – including the avocado – added a little more flavor depth and really helped make it into a real meal. Julie was very surprised by how full she was after finishing it.

table with a bottle of snapple Peach tea and a Gold Peak green tea next to a wooden flower box

I skipped the bowl and went for the restaurant’s other specialty, the sushi burrito.

My first sushi burrito experience came courtesy of Hai Street Kitchen at the King of Prussia Mall. Hai Street has a few more than Hawaii Kitchen for its rolls, but the concept is the same: take sushi and supersize it to eat more like a burrito.

There are five sushi burritos on the menu – all but one of them are seafood based with shrimp, salmon, crab salad or a combination of the three. I skipped the fish and went with the vegetarian option instead.

burrito-sized sushi roll cut in half with black wrap filled with purple rice, lettuce, tofu and avocdo

My “burrito” included tofu, cucumber, avocado, spring mix and sweet chili sauce rolled in purple rice and seaweed wrap.

The purple rice made for great presentation but it was really just rice. And the first bite – mostly tofu and rice – was a bit disappointing. But the second bite hit home with the sweet chili sauce. Eventually all of the flavors started to mingle a little more and every bite was flavorful.

Tofu is mainly just filler, and that was fine with me. The other flavors – especially the delightful sweet chili sauce – were what really mattered.

Neither Julie nor I are experts in poke bowls, sushi or anything else on the menu at the Hawaii Kitchen, but we were both impressed with our meals. Though at $32 – with two bottles of iced tea included – I wouldn’t call it a bargain.

Still, we enjoyed it. And whether or not it was “authentic” doesn’t really matter to us. We liked it.

Also, it’s not like we’re going to Hawaii anytime soon so we’ll just enjoy what we have.

BCE Rating
Food: Good
Service: Very Good
Ambiance: Very Good
Price: Reasonable

Hawaii Kitchen
510 Penn Ave
West Reading, PA 19611

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Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe at the Shillington Farmers Market – CLOSED

food stand with a sign that reads "Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe"

Editor’s Note: Mi Casa Su Casa’s market stand closed in 2021. The stand is now home to That Burger Place.

Berks County is full of restaurant success stories. One of those stories is Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe, the downtown Reading restaurant that has been serving traditional Latin American cuisine for more than a decade.

We visited Mi Casa Su Casa’s Penn Street location for a review in 2015 and have enjoyed the cafe’s food many times since. When a second location opened in the Shillington Farmers Market in April, we were more than a little excited.

counter with a small menu card for Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe in Shillington Farmers Market

It’s not that we won’t go into the city, but the hours at the downtown cafe make it harder for me to get there (the cafe closes at 4 p.m. I get home at 6 during the week). But with the market open until 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, Mi Casa Su Casa just became a viable option for dinner.

And we took advantage of that recently with a Friday night visit to the market stand.

warming table with various Latin American dishes

We arrived around 6:15 and had nearly the whole market to ourselves. The warming table at Mi Casa Su Casa was still well-stocked with entrees and sides.

It’s a simple menu  with four proteins (baked or stewed chicken, peppered steak and roast pork), eight sides (rice and peas, rice and beans, mac and cheese, mixed vegetables, sweet or fried plantains, yuca fries and potato salad), empanadas, sorullos and desserts.

takeout dish with peppered beef, yellow rice and vegetables

I made a platter with peppered steak, rice and peas, and mixed vegetables.

The peppered steak, in my opinion, was the best thing that either of us tried. It looked like a hearty beef stew but with meat that pulled apart like pot roast. The beef was melt-in-your-mouth good in a gravy-like sauce. It was well-seasoned, slow cooked to perfection, and absolutely delicious. There was also one piece of potato. I’m sure other servings probably got more, but more meat is fine with me.

takeaway container with three compartments filled with rice and beans, vegetables, and peppered steak

The rice and peas were fine. I always like rice and beans but wanted to give the peas a try and it was good, but nothing real special. The mixed vegetables were very good with lots of cauliflower, root vegetables and squash.

One thing to point out, and Julie agreed with this, is that the food could have been a little hotter. It wasn’t cold, but it had definitely cooled off on the warming table. Had it been made to order, it would have truly made the meal great.

Julie’s meal consisted of baked chicken, plantains, and a guava and cheese empanada.

takeout container of baked chicken with plantains

She found the chicken to be very good. It was moist and coated in traditional Latin American seasonings to give it a salty and slightly spicy flavor.

The plantains were delicious as always. The empanada was a surprising hit. We’ve tried their savory empanadas before – the beef and chicken are both winners – but this was our first taste of a sweet empanada. Julie felt the best comparison was to a cheese Danish. I would tend to agree, but I think the fried dough made it feel less dessert-like, and more like a side or entree.

While there are three counter seats at the stand, we took our food to the small seating area at the other end of the market. Seating is at a premium at lunchtime, but at dinner, that wasn’t a problem.

With our two drinks, the total bill came to $32 (empanadas don’t count as a side when building a platter so Julie had to order it a la carte). The two platters, themselves, were $12 each which seemed like a very reasonable price for what was actually a lot of food.

Having another location for Mi Casa Su Casa is a great thing for Berks County and for the Shillington Farmers Market.

While we were there, Julie picked up a card for the Mi Cocina School, cooking classes that are held at the Penn Street location. I think the next time that I review Mi Casa Su Casa, it will be reviewing my own cooking.

BCE Rating
Food: Very Good
Service: Very Good
Ambiance: Good
Price: Reasonable

Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe
Shillington Farmers Market
10 S. Summit Ave
Shillington, PA 19607

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pulled pork sandwich topped with onions with a side of slaw
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Review: Smokehouse Food Truck

Smokehouse Food Truck

The Conrad Weiser Homestead in Womelsdorf, Pa., has always had special meaning for me. Growing up in the Conrad Weiser Area School District, we had many field trips to the site. In college, many research papers were dedicated Conrad Weiser the man (a pre-Revolution German immigrant who rose to prominence in the local community as an interpreter with local native tribes) and Julie and I had our engagement photos taken there seven years ago.

In 2016, a new event debuted called Artisans in the Park, bringing local crafters to the historic site on the first Saturday in May. This year was the first time Julie and I (along with Jakob) were able to attend the festival as it was our first time in recent memory that we were home on the first weekend in May.

small child in a bucket hat holding a stuffed fox
Jakob modeling his new bucket hat at the event

While we loved browsing the craft stands, and Julie picked up several nice Mother’s Day gifts, what you all want to know about was the food. Part of the draw of the event this year was the addition of food trucks, including The Perk-Up Truck, one of our favorites. The other two trucks in attendance were Fultz’s Pretzels and Smokehouse Food Truck.

The Smokehouse is a newer food truck, having debuted in 2017, serving Berks and Lehigh Counties from its home base in New Jerusalem.

(A few people at the festival also confused the truck with Johnny & Hon’s Smokehouse, located just a block from Conrad Weiser Park, but the two businesses are unrelated).

There was a long line for the truck around noontime when we arrived. It wasn’t surprising as the only other option for lunch food was pork barbecue and hamburgers from Zion Lutheran Church in Womelsdorf (my childhood church, which I love dearly, but a review of their food would be rather short).

Smokehouse Food Truck

What we didn’t realize was that the line was also so long because the truck was completely understaffed. As far as we could tell, there were only two people working. The owner, who was taking orders, and a cook was putting everything together, one at a time. Julie and I took turns standing in line to order, then took turns waiting even longer for our order to be ready.

In all, it was nearly an hour wait from the time we entered the line – we were probably about 10th in line to order – until our food arrived. And when the order came out, we were handed only half of it (thankfully, the other half was done and sitting on the counter and retrieved in short order).

I had the pulled pork sandwich; Julie had a beef brisket sandwich, and we shared a pair of sides – seasoned fries and cole slaw.

Smokehouse Food Truck Pulled Pork Sandwich

The pulled pork sandwich came topped with pickles, onions, Swiss cheese and Carolina gold sauce on a Kaiser roll. The menu listing the toppings was printed out and hanging in the window, but orders were being placed at the door where the sign board merely said “pulled pork.” We were only close enough to read the window sign while we waited for our food (which was served out the door as well).

I pulled off the pickles and the cheese – not my style when it comes to barbecue – and dug in. Maybe it was the hunger talking, but once I finally got to take my first bite, I thought it was a fantastic sandwich.

The pork was really well done with a decent spice rub. The caramelized onions were delicious. And the Carolina gold was a surprising hit. I normally shy away from mustard-based sauces, and probably would have passed on the pork had I known, but I thought it was the perfect sauce for this sandwich.

As hungry as I was, though, I didn’t take time to savor the flavor and instead finished off the sandwich very quickly.

Smokehouse Food Truck Beef Brisket Sandwich

Julie’s brisket sandwich was also a hit. It was topped with cheddar – not Swiss – and a sweeter, less tangy sauce. The meat was melt in your mouth tender and the sweet sauce really shone.

I think what I enjoyed most about my own sandwich was that it was different (at least from my usual). The brisket sandwich was good, but much more in line with what I would expect. Still, I can’t think of another barbecue joint in the area that puts cheese on their sandwiches.

While the mains were solid, the sides were a bit of a letdown. The cole slaw had a little pepper, but not a whole lot of flavor overall. It looked more flavorful than it actually was.

And the “seasoned fries” were generic French fries that were lightly salted. Maybe there were other spices, but I didn’t taste them.

And the fries were probably what slowed down our meal and others as they were the +only item on the menu that would be made to order. Unless the fries get a makeover, they’re just taking up space on an otherwise solid menu.

In the end, we spent about $30 on our two meals. Was it worth the wait? Probably not. But the barbecue, itself, was a definite hit. With a little faster service and a little more organization (and without the fries), it could be one of the best food trucks around.

But it’s not quite there yet.

BCE Rating
Food: Good to Very Good
Service: Poor
Ambiance: N/A
Value: A Little Pricey

Smokehouse Food Truck
Serving Berks and Lehigh Counties

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