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5 Favorite Appetizers of 2014

December is a time to look back and reflect on the year that was. Berks County Eats is taking a look back at the best of the best from more than 50 restaurants and 10 festivals we visited in 2014. This week: Our Top Five Favorite Appetizers. 

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. For a foodie, that means the first taste you get at a restaurant is usually an appetizer. Here’s a look back to our five favorite appetizers we tried in the past year:

IMG_3347

Fried Hot Peppers – Mom Chaffe’s Cellarette

Unique is almost always better when it comes to appetizers and I don’t think I had anything more unique than the Italian fried hot peppers at Mom Chaffe’s Cellarette. Pan-fried chile peppers served atop a bed of Mozzarella, tomatoes and lettuce were well-worth the few extra TUMS I had to take that night. The hot and creamy appetizer was infinitely better than an ordinary jalapeno popper.

flatbread cut into triangles topped with lamb sausage and cheese

Lamb Sausage Flatbread – Emily’s

There was so much to love about this dish, from the crispy base to the chunks of spicy lamb to the blend of Fortina and Mozzarella cheese to the caramelized onions. But what really brought this together was the red currant sauce which took what would have been delicious already and gave it a sweet, berry flavor that brought everything together to create a perfect starter.

bowers-hotel-pierogies-au-speck

Pierogies au Schpeck – Bowers Hotel

Pierogies are a great side dish, but how do you turn them into an amazing appetizer? Wrap them in bacon, deep fry them, and serve them atop a bed of sour cream, chives and sautéed onions. The result was less a pierogi, and more a loaded potato with fried dough. I savored every crunchy bite of this beautiful creation.

sausage-diavolo-pizza-viva

Sausage Diavolo Flatbread – Viva Bistro & Lounge

The second flatbread dish on our list was completely different from the first, but just as delicious. Viva’s sausage diavolo flatbread was more of a traditional pizza served atop the thin, crispy crust. Topped with chunks of sausage, strips of red peppers and more cheese than the plate could handle, I could have stopped the meal right there and been very happy.

sweet-potatos-rings-willoughby-s

Sweet Potato and Pub Rings – Willoughby’s Bar & Grill

If you’re ordering an appetizer at a bar and grill, fried food is almost mandatory. The sweet potato fries and onion rings combination at Willoughby’s was one of the best fried appetizers I have found. It’s a good dish that was made great by the sweet maple dipping sauce. The only downside was I couldn’t stop eating them, as the two of us were sharing enough for four people. (Note: Willoughby’s has changed their menu and sweet potato fries have been removed. Pub rings are still available as a stand alone appetizer).

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Review: Tosco Pizza & Italian Restaurant

Lighted sign that reads "Tosco Pizza & Italian Restaurant"

When you see an Italian restaurant in a strip mall, it’s easy to dismiss it as just another pizza shop.

We have been conditioned to believe that sit down restaurants are found in stand-alone buildings while strip malls are nothing more than take-out counters, a place to grab dinner on the way home, not to pull up a chair and enjoy a nice meal.

But if you discount these restaurants all together, you are missing out.

When Tosco Pizza & Italian Restaurant opened up between Robesonia and Wernersville (it has a Wernersville address, but is barely outside the Robesonia borough limits), it looked to be just another pizza shop.

Prior to Tosco’s arrival in 2011, the space housed a Chinese restaurant, and before that, a sandwich shop. Both were standard, non-descript restaurants offering nothing but counter service.

mural on a wall depicting a coastal town in Italy in the 18th century

Tosco took a different approach. Renting out the adjacent space, the restaurant created a connected dining room.  Paintings of the Italian coast adorn the walls above the wooden booths. It’s a rustic feel throughout, except for out-of-place flat screen TV on the back wall.

In addition to pizza, the menu includes a wide range of pastas as well as wings, cheesesteaks, hot and cold sandwiches, burgers and an entire line-up of sandwiches served atop garlic bread.

basket of garlic knots

While garlic bread is reserved for sandwiches, each meal is served with a basket of fresh-baked garlic knots. These little beauties are exactly what they sound like: knots of dough that are slathered in butter and minced garlic. If only they were served with a side of marinara, I could make these delicious bites into a meal.

Catching my eye on the way in was the daily special, written on a chalkboard at the entrance to the dining room.

tri-color tortellini topped with a light red sauce

The tri-color cheese tortellini was tossed with chicken and rapini in a creamy tomato sauce. I tried to get a little bit of everything, but there wasn’t room on the fork for much more than the little pasta pockets. Still, the tortellini were small enough that the cheese filling did not overpower the pasta. As I dug in to the seemingly endless bowl, each bite was better than the last as the tortellini soaked up the rich flavors of the sauce.

Along with the garlic knots, each meal also comes with a starter salad. With as large as the bowl of pasta was, I almost wish they would skip the salad because the last thing I needed was something to fill up on before my tortellini arrived.

But if you are craving salad for dinner, Tosco’s specialty salads are perfectly sized for a hearty meal.

In the mood for something  “healthy,” Julie opted for a cheesesteak salad, one of nearly 20 salad options on the menu.

salad topped with steak meat and cheese

The base salad was similar to mine, a bed of lettuce topped with shredded carrots and ribbons of onions. The difference is the pile of shredded beef and melted American cheese on top, which turned this from an oversized appetizer into a legitimate main course.

With large menus comes a wide range of prices. Our meal came in around $25, but you can easily spend less if you are willing to split a large sandwich, or a little more if you are looking only at entrees.

If you were driving past Tosco, you probably wouldn’t even guess that entrees were an option. From the outside, it looks like a typical pizza and sandwich shop.

But looks can be deceiving. A strip mall is an unlikely place for a real Italian restaurant, but sometimes you find great things in unexpected places.

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

Tosco Pizza & Italian Restaurant
6889 Penn Ave
Wernersville, PA 19565

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Review: The Hitching Post Restaurant and Bar – CLOSED

door sign highlighting weekly specials at the Hitching Post Restaurant & Bar

Editor’s Note: The Hitching Post is now closed. The restaurant closed in March 2024 after 13 years in business, and the property has reportedly been sold. Renovations are ongoing, though there has been no official word about when a new restaurant may open. The owners of the Hitching Post still operate Willoughby’s on Park and Telia Perfect Greek, both in Wyomissing.

Everyone loves a comeback story.

We see them all the time: a sports star returns from a devastating injury; an actor lands a starring role years after their last hit movie.

The same thing can happen in the restaurant business. Just look at The Hitching Post Restaurant and Bar.

I’m old enough to remember the original Hitching Post in West Lawn, but not old enough to remember anything about it. The only thing I really know is that it was replaced by a Wawa more than decade ago. To tell the truth, I can count on one hand the number of times my parents took me to the Hitching Post, but I could not venture to guess how many Shorti hoagies I’ve eaten in the years since.

Three years ago the Hitching Post rose from the ashes, this time in Bern Township along Route 183.

The building formerly housed the Classic Cafe, then Chill Lounge before the Hitching Post took over the location in 2011. The restaurant has been doing well every since. So well in fact that a sister restaurant, Willoughby’s Bar & Grill, opened last year in Wyomissing. (Editor’s Note: Willoughby’s Bar & Grill is now Willoughby’s on Park, a fine dining steakhouse).

When you first pull in to the parking lot, it is hard to gauge the size of the restaurant. The dining area is expansive. Split by a small step in the middle, there is easily enough room to seat a few hundred people.

Our table was near the crowded bar. There was not a stool to be had on this Thursday night, nor were there any high-top tables left around it.

It was an older crowd in the barroom, though not as old as the jazz duo who were performing in the corner. But I have to compliment them: the first song we heard was a rendition of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” that could have easily passed for the original.

Slice of bread and a cup of oil for dipping

I don’t know what the menu was like at the original Hitching Post, but if it was anything like the current one, I can see why it was so popular. There were at least a dozen items that I debated between, including the Filet Alfredo Bleu (filet medallions topped with gorgonzola and cream sauce of pasta) and chicken pecan (chicken breast topped with cashew pecan and brie spread with mixed berry amaretto sauce). There is also a section of Greek specialties that includes a souvlaki, spanakopita and gyro (with shaved lamb).

After a lengthy dialog with myself, I opted for the filet tip wellington.

plate of steak Wellington with a baked potato and vegetable medley

Normally I think of “tips” as small slices of meat, but these were closer to whole filets. The meat was done perfectly before being stuffed in a flaky pastry. The whole thing was topped with caramelized onions and mushrooms with a thick au jus of Madeira wine, sage and gorgonzola cheese.

The sauce had a flavor unlike any that I have tried before. The gorgonzola was strong, giving the sauce a slightly sour flavor that was tempered by the wine and herbs. It was delicious from the first bite through the last.

prime rib sandwich smothered in cheese with a side of fries

Wanting something a little “lighter” that wouldn’t result in a to-go box, Julie ordered a prime rib sandwich with French fries. The sandwich was topped onions, mushrooms, provolone and for a little change of pace, horseradish aioli. The aioli really took a good sandwich to another level, adding just a little extra zing without overpowering it with horseradish.

Of course half of it ended up coming home with us anyway, but that’s only because I had my heart set on ordering dessert.

cup of creme brulee topped with whipped cream

For the finale, we had orange creamsicle crème brulee. Like all crème brulee, it was nicely caramelized and topped with a mound of whipped cream. But it tasted exactly like an orange creamsicle, just warm and melty. I felt a little like a six-year-old while eating a very grown-up dessert.

The Hitching Post may not be fine dining, but it’s very good dining in a fine atmosphere. And at $40 for our entire check, the prices are certainly not fine dining either.

I wish I could remember the old Hitching Post so I could definitively say the new restaurant is “better than the original,” but I can’t.

What I can say is that The Hitching Post is really good and, like the original, should be sticking around for a long time.

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

The Hitching Post Restaurant & Bar
2747 Bernville Rd
Leesport, PA 19533

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Sign reading "Bowers Hotel"
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Review: Bowers Hotel

Sign reading "Bowers Hotel"

For a small town, Bowers offers a lot to the culinary scene in Berks County. Most notably, the tiny village of 326 residents is home to the Bowers Chile Pepper Festival, one of the largest festivals of its kind in the country.

But it is more than just a once-a-year destination for foodies. Like all small communities, Bowers has its own gathering place, one that serves great food and drinks to neighbors and strangers alike.

The Bowers Hotel has a long history that dates back to 1820 when Jonas Bower (of the family from whom Bowers is named) built a small log cabin that served as a tavern.

More than 100 years have passed since the log cabin was replaced by the current two-story structure, but the hotel does not show its age. It maintains some 19th century charm in the wallpaper (red with beautiful white scrolling) and dim overhead lighting with votive candles on the tables, but the tables and chairs are much newer and add a modern feel to the historic property.

We were seated in the first of what are three partially divided dining rooms with a more “early bird” crowd while later arrivals were seated in the far room where a jazz band kicked off their set toward the end of our meal.

two seeded dinner rolls in a basket

The menu also recalls the past with traditional dishes like liver and onions, shepherds pie, oyster pie and chicken pot pie (not the Pennsylvania Dutch favorite, but the baked-in-a-crust kind). And like most traditional restaurants, all meals are served with a basket of warm baked rolls.

rectangular plate with four pierogies sitting on cream sauce

We started our meal with the most interestingly named appetizer on the menu, pierogies au schpeck. The potato-filled pierogies were wrapped in strips of bacon and served atop a bed of sour cream, chives and sautéed onions.

The result was a cross between a pierogi and a baked potato, deep-fried and delicious. It had the perfect mix of texture, the crispy outer shell and bacon mixed with the fluffy potatoes and dense, creamy sauce made for an exceptional appetizer.

For my main course, I didn’t go in looking for something simple, but upon seeing pork and sauerkraut on the weekend specials, my decision was made.

plate with pork and saurkraut and a side of mashed potatoes

Pork and sauerkraut may be the most quintessential of German American dishes, one that is normally reserved for New Year’s Day. But there’s no rule that says you can’t get some good luck in mid-November. And while I can’t confirm that the pork and sauerkraut brought me good luck, I can tell you that the Bowers Hotel brought me some darn good pork and sauerkraut.

The key to the dish is the sauerkraut: too sour and it leaves a poor taste in your mouth, not sour enough and you lose the flavor. This sauerkraut was done just right, injecting a jolt of acidity into the pork. Adding mashed potatoes to every forkful made it even better.

plate of chicken parmesan with garlic bread

Also opting for traditional, Julie decided on chicken Parmesan for her main dish. The chicken and spaghetti were covered in a thick tomato sauce and a layer of melted cheese. It was just about as good as any Italian restaurant.

We were tempted to continue our meal with dessert, but I managed to show restraint and leave on a full stomach instead of an overly full one. With Julie’s addition of an apple cider sangria, our total bill came to just over $40.

I always love things that are new and different, but sometimes it is good to remember that the classics are classics for a reason. And the Bowers Hotel does classics as well as anyone.

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

Bowers Hotel
298 Bowers Rd
Bowers, PA 19511

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Exterior view of a restaurant at night with blue lights that read "Coastal Grille"
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Review: Coastal Grille

brick wall with a blue-lit sign that reads "Coastal Grille"

As a general rule, I will never visit a restaurant during their first month in business.

It’s not that I’m not anxious to try new places. I am.

It’s not that I don’t want to give them business. I do.

It’s that I don’t want my opinion of a restaurant to be clouded by a bad experience early in its life. I hear stories all the time from people who go to a restaurant during its first two weeks, and all they talk about is how long the wait is, and how long it took to get drinks, and how long it took to get food.

So I wait. Not in an hour-long line to get in, but until the restaurant has had some practice. No amount of mock service days can prepare you for when the open sign comes on for the first time and you have customers waiting out the door.

That’s why I waited until recently to make my first trip to Coastal Grille.

Coastal Grille opened in late September in the Broadcasting Square Shopping Center, taking over a building that has seen Uno Chicago Grill, Mason’s Chophouse and, most recently, Seafood Shanty come and go.

Like Seafood Shanty before it, the new restaurant plays heavily toward the seafood lover. The connection to the ocean is apparent from the moment you walk through the door and see the large aquarium that separates the main dining room from the bar. Silver sculptures of deep sea fish hang on the wall, shimmering brilliantly between the windows.

More than a month removed from their opening, Coastal Grille was still packed on this Saturday night. Many more people streamed in behind us during our 30-minute wait until we were escorted to our table.

loaf of ciabatta bread with a cup of butter

The menu is heavily inspired by the sea, but it does borrow a few favorites from its sister restaurant, Austin’s, including baby back ribs and shoestring fries. And like Austin’s, you have the option to begin your meal with a loaf of bread. In this case, it’s a warm, fresh-baked ciabatta that required all the willpower we had not to devour before our food arrived.

As someone who prefers animals that graze to those that swim, I passed on the surf and opted instead for turf with the Reggae Ribeye.

steak smothered in sauce on a plate with green beans and potato chips

The menu describes the Reggae Ribeye as a 12 oz. steak that was marinated and basted in a sweet and spicy sauce. I was expecting a typical steak that had maybe been brushed once or twice during cooking. What I got was a beautiful cut of meat, glistening from the reflection of the light on the sticky sauce.

A rush of flavors hit my tongue on the first bite. The sauce tasted like a mixture of teriyaki, barbecue and chili oil, a mild kick tempered by the cooling sweetness, with a hint of salt besides. Cooked medium well, with just a hint of pink in the middle,  it was one of the best restaurant steaks I have ordered.

All of their grilled specialties, and most of the entrees on the menu, are served with the vegetable of the day and a choice of side. While I love Austin’s shoestring fries, I knew I needed to change things up so I opted for house-made chips instead. The kettle-cooked chips were extra dark—not burnt—sealing in the flavors absorbed during the cooking process.

Caesar salad topped with large croutons and shredded parmesan

While none of the entrees include a starter salad, you can substitute a salad as one of your sides. That’s exactly what Julie decided to do, opting for Caesar. The leafy greens were piled high on the plate and topped with deliciously flavorful croutons that were obviously homemade.

baked haddock from Coastal Grille

Deciding that at least one of us had to order seafood, she decided on the Boston baked haddock for her entree. The fish was topped with a garlic cream sauce with lumps of shrimp and crab. The dish offered a mix of flavors and textures, with the cream sauce bringing everything together in a coherent dish.

Sadly, dinner proved too much for me and dessert was not in the cards. It was especially disappointing after seeing a Chocolate Bag walk past me. The Chocolate Bag is a dessert unique to Coastal Grille: hardened chocolate in the shape of a small bag, filled to the brim with whipped cream and topped with cherries. I may or may not have let out an audible “oooh” when it came near.

Instead we called it quits after our entrees, our total bill coming out to about $45.

After waiting a month (and an extra 30 minutes) my first visit to Coastal Grille did not disappoint.

I’m happy we waited, and will be even happier when we go back again soon.

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

Coastal Grille
2713 N. Meridian Blvd
Wyomissing, PA 19610

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Photo Blog: Iron Chef Hamburg

competitors on stage with makeshift kitchen setups for a cooking competition

Editor’s Note: The Hamburg Area School District no longer hosts the annual Iron Chef competition

Ever since I left the first annual Wilson Iron Chef competition stuffed and smiling, I was counting down the days until November 2.

That was the date of the fourth annual Iron Chef Hamburg, the longest-running such competition in the area, and my next chance to experience an amazing culinary event.

And of course, my next chance to sample all of the amazing food.

Like others that have mimicked its style, Iron Chef Hamburg is really four events in one. The People’s Choice competition, food tasting and auction lead into the main event, the Iron Chef competition.

People’s Choice

Our first stop was the People’s Choice room. Nine area restaurants were set up inside the high school gym, each one with their own unique dish created using the year’s secret ingredient: apples.

Up for grabs for the two top vote-getters were places in next year’s Iron Chef competition so all of the chefs brought their best, most creative dishes.

puff pastry topped with cheese

First in line was the Bernville Eagle Hotel, who had what was probably the most original of the nine items. The chef was busy plating more when I bit into mine, and he busted out laughing when I said, “This is really good, but I have to ask. What did I just eat?” What I ate was a puff pastry topped with Swiss cheese, apple and mushrooms, drizzled with balsamic. It was a flavor that stayed with me as I made the rounds.

small sample cup of pulled pork with bbq sauce

Next up was a stop at It’s Just BBQ, a Deer Lake restaurant known for the famous “Pink Pig.” With a limited menu of brisket, ribs, pulled pork and chicken, they had little room for adaptation, so they used the apples in the best way they could: in the sauce. Their already sweet barbecue sauce was infused with chunks of apples and drizzled atop their tender pulled pork. It was delicious, but it’s nothing I hadn’t tasted before.

plate with a business card for Pappy T's and a small sampling of duck in sauce

Stop number three was Hamburg’s Pappy T’s Pub & Lounge, who opted for roast duck topped with apples and bacon. I can honestly say that I never expected to taste duck on this trip. The duck was good, though it was a little chewier than I like, but that was probably because it had to sit in a warmer for an extended time.

small cup with seafood bisque in front of a sign that reads "Adelphia Seafood"

Moving on, we arrived at Adelphia Seafood, who made the trip from West Lawn with their apple and cheddar bisque topped with crab and/or bacon. Not being a fan of crab meat, I opted for bacon-only, and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t find myself wanting more.

plate with a meatball and a business card for the Schuylkill Country Club

One dish that I would have really loved to have tasted when it was fresh was the meatballs being served by the Schuylkill Country Club of Orwigsburg. By the time I got mine, it was lukewarm, though the flavors still popped, a combination of sweet and savory with the apple really shining through.

plate with a small tasting of chicken and apple on a fried wonton

The Indian Fort Inn went for a dish that was both simple and complex. The Hamburg restaurant gave us chicken and apple atop fried wontons. The only thing that hurt this dish was that the wonton was a little too strong, throwing off the balance just enough that the wonton was the only flavor that stayed with me.

The biggest disappointment of the day came from the Virginville Hotel, not because their food was bad, but because their food was already gone by the time we got there. What made it worse was seeing the description of their pork-based dish sitting on the table in front of an empty warming tray.

plate with cubes of ham and a dumpling and apples

Apparently knowing I was coming, the Bowers Hotel prepared traditional Pennsylvania Dutch schnitz und knepp. I was almost forced to vote for it on principle, especially as the chef kept scooping more onto my plate in an effort to ensure I got a dumpling. It was everything I could have hoped for, I only wish I would have had a bowl so I could have better enjoyed all the juice that had pooled on the plate.

plate of pulled pork topped with bbq sauce

Last, but certainly not least, was the Kempton Hotel. The restaurant came in with the same idea as It’s Just BBQ, opting for pulled pork with an apple-based barbecue sauce. It was good, but tasting the same thing twice turned me off to voting for both dishes.

In the end, Julie and I split our votes between the Bernville Eagle and Bowers Hotels. I won’t tell you which side my votes fell two days later during the election, but I can tell you that we did not cast the winning votes in the People’s Choice. Instead, it was announced that Adelphia Seafood earned the top honor with It’s Just BBQ coming in runner-up. In all honesty, I would not have been shocked by any of the eight dishes we tried earning the nod.

Food Vendors

With such great participation in the People’s Choice competition, I was a little disappointed with the vendor area. Of the 25 vendors, only a handful were restaurants. The rest were a mix-and-match of food-related businesses that included Pure Wild Tea, Solude Coffee, Tastefully Simple and Dove Chocolate. The Hamburg School District also prepared a multitude of dishes using their kitchen’s vendors like Tyson chicken and Jennie-O-Turkey.

small cup of tortilla soup with tasting spoon

But there was good food to be had, including white chicken chili from the Bowers Hotel.

sample size piece of peach pie

Deitsch Eck also brought some of their housemade pies. Having already sampled the shoo-fly pie on my visit, I grabbed a piece of peach pie. I’m looking forward to going back to the restaurant for a full slice.

scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate fudge swirl

Keeping with the sweets, Way-Har Farms had three flavors of ice cream to sample: strawberry, peanut butter and my choice, vanilla fudge.

three chicken nuggets with hot wing sauce

Penn Werner Hotel was also there, though all that was left when we arrived were chicken bites that you could use to sample hot wing sauce and promote the 2015 Pepper Jam.

Benefit Auction

Between the end of the food tasting and the start of the Iron Chef, guests could buy raffle tickets or bid in the live auction.

The big prize was the opportunity to be the fourth judge for the Iron Chef, a prize that went for well over $500.

There was also a door prize raffle, and I was glad my number wasn’t called because it seemed that every prize package included two tickets to see Tony Orlando.

Iron Chef Competition

competitors at three tables prepare for a cooking competition

The grand finale of the day was the Iron Chef competition. Three chefs were competing for the title of 2014 Iron Chef: Paul Weitzel of Haag’s Hotel, Ron Liszcz of Stirling Guest Hotel, and defending champion Tim Twiford of Prime Steak and Wine (at the Crowne Plaza).

The three chefs had 35 minutes to make and plate their dishes, using all of the three secret ingredients: top round steak, Brussels sprouts and Ramen Noodles.

competitors on stage cooking in a competition

Chef Twiford came well-prepared, bringing his own cart full of gadgets, including a smoker gun which got the audience’s attention as soon as he lit it.

With the steak serving as the entree, chefs had to get creative with their sides and the required salad that would be presented with it. Chef Weitzel, stationed on the opposite end of the auditorium stage, took his Ramen noodles and used them to garnish his salad.

big screen shows a close-up of a plate of food

When the 35 minutes passed, the chefs presented their dishes to the judges, and the crowd had a chance to bid for a taste as two plates from each chef were auctioned off for a combined $600.

After the votes were tallied, Chef Twiford was declared the winner, successfully defending his title and earning him a place in next year’s competition.

It was a fun day to be a foodie, an event that I’ll be anticipating again next year.

I already circled November 1, 2015 in my calendar.

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white pizza with meatballs
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Review: Paradise by the Slice

Editor’s Note: Paradise by the Slice was sold to new owners in 2019.

As part of National Pizza Month, I have spent four weeks sampling some of the most clever and unique pies in Berks County.

Each restaurant has impressed in a different way, taking pizza in completely opposite—but delicious—directions.

Still, the question remained: Who has the best pizza in Berks County?

Despite devoting my October to finding the answer (I stopped counting after my 15th slice), it’s a question that I would be hard-pressed to answer.

What I did know is that my research would not be complete until I tasted the pizza from the restaurant that was voted Best in Berks 2013 by the readers of Berks County Living: Paradise by the Slice.

Wernersville is no island paradise, and the restaurant’s logo—a pizza slice sitting on a beach chair underneath a palm tree—certainly seems out of place on a cool fall evening.

One of the things I am always looking for is the unique: unique food, unique experiences, or anything else that sets the restaurant apart from their competition. So when I found out that Paradise by the Slice has their own app, I didn’t hesitate to download it.

screenshot of an app with a logo for Paradise by the Slice

The app is just a cleaner version of the restaurant’s webpage with options to view photos, get directions, follow them on social media, learn about the restaurant, and order on your phone.

In all my times of ordering take-out on my phone, it has been the old-fashioned way (10 digits, speak to an actual person, hope they get the order right). But after using Paradise’s app, I’m hoping more restaurants offer online take-out ordering because it made it fast, easy and convenient—three of the four things you look for when ordering take-out.

screenshot of an app showing confirmation of a pizza order

The fourth thing, of course, is the food. And with a Best of Berks award in their back pocket, I wasn’t too worried about that when I walked up to the take-out counter (which, oddly enough, is completely detached from the rest of the restaurant).

I resisted the temptation to sneak a slice on the drive home, a difficult task when you’re trapped in a car that smells like cheese and garlic for 15 minutes.

After finally arriving home, I threw open the lid and got my first look at the White Meatball Pizza.

white pizza with meatballs and ricotta

The 14″ pie was topped with garlic butter sauce, sliced meatballs (cut to look more like pepperoni) and mozzarella with handfuls of ricotta, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes strewn about on top.

It’s rare to find any dish—pizza or otherwise—that doesn’t pair meatballs with marinara sauce (Swedish meatballs being the exception) so I was intrigued by the combination of them with the garlic sauce. But I can safely say that it worked.

The key was proportions: there was not too much of any one ingredient to overpower the rest. The sauce was very light, just brushed onto the crust before the toppings were added, and though you could certainly taste the garlic, it wasn’t overly strong. The meatballs, by virtue of being cut so thin, were also milder, and with the mozzarella in between, it wasn’t that much different than taking a bite out of a meatball sandwich.

If one ingredient did stand out over the rest, it was the ricotta, and I think it’s because it was such an unusual topping. The fresh cheese was dropped on in clumps, and while it is a very mild cheese by comparison, getting a mouthful of it really changed the flavor, making it a little sweeter with a light texture.

basket of fries topped with sesoning

Wanting to try more than just pizza, we added a side order of Paradise’s beach fries. Advertised as hand-cut to order, they were reminiscent of Boardwalk fries, thin-cut with potato skins clinging to the ends. Though they were very good, I wish we could have enjoyed them fresh from the fryer at the restaurant because the container had begun to sweat on the ride home, making them a little soggy. I’m sure they would have been even better on the table.

As has been the case with most of my pizza adventures, the meal was too much for two people so Julie and I had two slices and a serving of fries to put in the fridge so we could stretch our $20 across two days.

If you asked me if Paradise by the Slice is the “Best in Berks,” I don’t know that I could give you a definitive answer.

But if you asked me if I would go back again, the answer is a resounding “yes.”

BCE Rating
Food: Very Good
Service: Very Good
Ambiance: N/A
Price: Reasonable

Paradise by the Slice
63 E. Penn Ave
Wernersville, PA 19565

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Best Pizza: Nonno Alby's
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Review: Nonno Alby’s Brick Oven Pizza

sign that reads "nonno Alby's wood oven pizza" with a drawing of a pizza man in front of a brick oven

For many, food is a family affair.

Whether gathering the family around the dinner table at home or at your favorite restaurant or helping your mother or father in the kitchen as they make your favorite recipe, food has a way of bringing families together.

The same holds true for restauranteurs, where children are brought in to the family business at a young age in hopes that they will someday carry on their parents’ legacy.

In the case of the Nonno Alby’s Brick Oven Pizza, it means proud parents watching their children take what they have learned and create something uniquely their own.

Opened in 2013, Nonno Alby’s occupies the original G.N.A. Ristorante property in West Reading. The second generation of the Grande family named the restaurant for their father Alby, who still oversees operations at G.N.A., now located just a few blocks east.

While Nonno Alby’s and G.N.A. have a family connection, the two restaurants are vastly different. While G.N.A. offers a fairly expansive menu of Italian dinners, sandwiches and pizza, Nonno Alby’s is all about pizza and burgers.

Walking through the front door, you can see the heat glowing from the brick oven behind the bar at the far end of the dining room. Unfortunatley we lost site of the glowing coals once we were seated on the opposite side of the room divider.

The only deviation from burgers and pizza is found in the appetizers, mostly sharable salads, but a sign at the front door advertised the addition of baked wings to the menu. Our waittress read off the available flavors and suggested honey BBQ (which is not actually on the menu, but honey and BBQ are, and the two are easily mixed). It did not take much to sell us on it so a few minutes later we had a plate of 10 wings in front of us.

plate of bbq wings with carrots and celery and a cup of ranch dressing

Served on a plate with mixed vegetables and a cup of ranch (bleu cheese is also available, if you are so inclined), the wings were glistening with the honey-infused glaze.

Baking them gave them a nice crisp, but not as much as if they were fried. The honey came through more than the barbecue sauce, giving them a nice sweet flavor.

The wings were just a precursor to the pizza. While most pizza places offer small and large pies, Nonno Alby’s only serves individual 12″ pies, each with its own signature toppings, many of which are imported from Italy.

My eye did not have to travel far to find my pizza of choice as the namesake Nonno Alby’s pizza was at the top of the list. The Nonno Alby’s is topped with imported San Marazano tomato, buffalo mozzarella, fresh Italian sausage, sauteed rapini (broccoli raub) and red pepper flakes.

pizza with golden crust topped with mozzarella, broccoli rabe and sausage

Brick oven pizza has a crispier crust than traditional pies. Slices are rigid so you don’t have to worry about the toppings sliding off as it sags. Every bite included a healthy helping of toppings that hit on a wide range of flavor profiles. Sweet ground tomatoes, mild heat  from the ground sausage and buffalo mozzarella, and the slightly bitter rapini came together for a memorable pizza.

In the seat next to me, Julie had ordered something completely different: the Bianca (white) pizza. Her pie was topped with baby arugula, buffalo mozzarella, proscuitto di Parma, shaved Parmigiano Reggiano and extra virgin olive oil.

pizza with golden crust topped with prosciutto, arugula and shaved parmesan cheese

As much as I enjoyed my own pie, hers may have been even better. I have never been a fan of white pizza, but I think that’s because it usually comes sans toppings. This was something completely different. The proscuitto, and even the parmesan, gave it a salty flavor while the arugula leaves helped to tone it down just enough that instead of becoming overpowering, it was near perfect.

In hindsight, we did not need to order so much food. Though we certainly got our money’s worth for $40, we would have been fine skipping the wings, or we could have justed ordered a single pizza with the wings and been fine. As it was, Julie took home two slices while I cleaned my plate but probably shouldn’t have.

Nonno Alby’s continues a family tradition of serving great food in Berks County.

If I were Alby, I would be proud to have my name attached to the restaurant.

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

Nonno Alby’s Brick Oven Pizza
701 Penn Ave
West Reading, PA 19611

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Review: Bella’s Subs & Pizza – CLOSED

small building with red and white siding and a sign that reads "Bell's Subs & Pizza"

Editor’s Note: Bella’s has closed. The location is now home to San’s Sushi, Poke, Ramen.

The great thing about pizza is that there is no “right way” to do it.

A Yelp search for pizza shows more than 250 results for Berks County, and that means more than 250 different styles of pizza to choose from.

Most of the differences are subtle: lighter or heavier sauce, spicier or milder pepperoni, thicker or thinner crust.

But then there are the places who are serving something that strays a little farther from the round pie with canned sauce and shredded mozzarella.

Bella’s Pizza opened in 2013 in a small location along State Hill Road. The building, which had previously housed a Coney Island hot dog stand (and before that, a patio store) is actually connected to the much larger Kwik Stop convenience store.

Seating is limited, especially when the weather renders the outdoor picnic tables useless. Thankfully delivery is available for those of us fortunate enough to live close enough to the restaurant, and I will happily trade the 45-minute wait for the convenience of delivery.

The restaurant offers more than pizza. Their menu boldly proclaims the “best cheese steaks in town.” There are also plenty of hot and cold sandwich options, six flavors of wings, burgers, salads and traditional Italian dinners.

While all of those sound appealing, one item on the menu stood out to me: grandma pizza.

Maybe it was the yellow highlights around the three grandma pizza options, or maybe it was the description (“THIN CRUSTY SICILIAN Delicious!“). Either way, I was having a Tony’s Special Grandma Pizza delivered to my door.

I knew from the description that I was getting a Sicilian pizza with roasted peppers, tomatoes, mozzarella and spinach, but that does not begin to describe the beautiful pie that was inside the box.

Like all Sicilian pizzas, it was a large, square pie, but that was where the similarities ended.

square pizza topped with cubes of mozzarella, chunks of tomato, and spinach leaves

Fresh ingredients meant bright colors as the golden brown crust was topped with alternating bursts of milk white, bright red and deep green. The fresh mozzarella was dropped on in chunks, too big to melt during its trip through the oven. Large slices of tomato and whole spinach leaves were scattered about as well.

Though every bite included the crunch from the crispy crust, the layering of ingredients meant each was different. Sometimes it was the creamy taste of the mozzarella, or the sweetness of the tomato, or the mild bitterness of the spinach, or a combination of all three. In any case, every bite was enjoyable.

Nervous that a single pie would not be enough for myself and my three hungry friends, we added a Bella’s Special to our order.

pizza topped with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions and peppers

A more traditional round pie, the Bella’s Special was loaded with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions and green peppers. Everything about it was very good, from the slightly spicy pepperoni to the generous helpings of veggies (I have never had a pizza with too many onions), but after experiencing the uniqueness of the Grandma pizza, this pie just could not compete.

Sadly, two pies proved to be too much for us, but we could all agree that the pizzas, especially the Grandma , were well worth the price (just over $40 after tipping our delivery guy).

Our two pizzas could not have been more different. And while I would like to say they were equally enjoyable, one was clearly a notch above the other.

There may not be one “right way” to make a pizza, but Bella’s Grandma pizza was definitely done right.

BCE Rating
Food: Good
Service: Good
Ambiance: N/A
Price: Reasonable

Bella’s Subs & Pizza
1912 State Hill Rd
Wyomissing, PA 19610

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Food & Festivals: Oktoberfest at Reading Liederkranz

polka band onstage at the Reading Liederkranz

Germany is my blood.

Like so many Berks Countians, I can trace my family history back to the Fatherland. Before we were Pennsylvania Germans, we were just Germans.

One night every year, I take the time to celebrate my family heritage with a visit to the Oktoberfest celebration at the Reading Liederkranz.

Though it is a private club, the Liederkranz welcomes the public for special events throughout the year, but none are bigger than Oktoberfest.

And Oktoberfest is a big deal. An article on BusinessInsider.com rates it among the nine best places in the world to celebrate the annual event. So many people attend the event each year that the Liederkranz has to sell reserved parking spaces at their Mt. Penn headquarters.

For the rest of us, that means a 10-minute ride on a school bus from the Antietam Valley Recreation & Community Center. With the twisty turns on the mountainside, the trip feels a lot longer than it actually is (the 1.5-mile trip feels like it takes 10 minutes).

blue and white sign reads "Welcome to Reading Liederkranz Oktoberfest Celebration"

Stepping off at the top, a large banner hangs above the entrance to the grove and beer garden. Record crowds walked beneath that sign this year, according to the Liederkranz website. Even on our trip Thursday, day two of the five-day festival, the lines for food and beer were lengthy.

When it comes to the food options, there is no wrong choice, but if you are looking for something different, this event is the one place I have found for a delicious bowl of goulash.

bowl of beef over noodles in gravy

Even in a disposable bowl, it’s easy to see why the goulash is such an appealing dish. The beef cubes are slow cooked in a slightly spicy sauce, served over a bed of egg noodles, which sop up the sauce so well.

With separate lines for each food option, Julie and I had to divide and conquer to get our food. While I was feasting on goulash, she picked up a roast pork meal with German potato salad and sauerkraut.

roast pork, sauerkraut and German potato salad on a disposable plate

The pork was juicy and tender, but for me, the best part are the sides. The potato salad, with large chunks of spuds and plenty of herbs is the best that I have tried. And the sauerkraut is just as good with a sourness that’s noticeable, but not too overpowering.

potato pancakes

Patrons must buy tickets for all food and drink purchases, and if you do the math wrong (like food bloggers tend to do), you either end up with too few or too many tickets. In this case, we had enough extra tickets for an order of potato pancakes. Three large pancakes are served with cups of applesauce and sour cream for dipping.

man playing accordion at the Reading Liederkranz

As we sat and enjoyed our dinner, we were serenaded by the polka sounds of The Continentals, and in between sets, the accordion stylings of Kermit Ohlinger, who wandered through the crowd playing polka versions of “Margaritaville” and “Hot Dog Man.”

After dinner, we took a brief walk through the German market, a collection of vendors selling German-made and -inspired products.

Really, this short walk was just a way to kill time before my favorite part of the evening: dessert.

slice of german chocolate cake

The Liederkranz offers an assortment of goodies to choose from, including a decadent chocolate cake with rich, creamy chocolate ice cream.

apple streudel with ice cream and custard

But for me, no trip to Oktoberfest is complete without their famous apple strudel.

Served atop a bed of warm custard and (optionally) topped with vanilla ice cream, the strudel is a culinary masterpiece. The ice cream melts quickly, mixing with the custard to create a sweet, soupy pool for the light, flaky pastry. The strudel is so popular that there is often a line waiting for the next batch to emerge from the clubhouse.

Of course, there is also the beer (and wine) and lots of it. It is Oktoberfest, after all.

But for me, Oktoberfest is a celebration of my heritage and a celebration of delicious food.

And it’s why I will continue to return each year.

Check out the details for the 2025 Oktoberfest at the Reading Liederkranz

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