Editor’s Note: Billy Burger & Bakery is now closed. The restaurant closed in February 2019 after initially announcing that they were going to make changes, but not close.

Morgantown is an area that I have not explored nearly enough on Berks County Eats.

Every day, I get on and off the Pennsylvania Turnpike at the Morgantown exit, but my destination is always in the opposite direction.

So I decided to do something about it. And while browsing ideas for dinner in the area, one restaurant stood out: Billy Burger and Bakery.

Billy Burger is located along Route 23 heading east from Morgantown toward Elverson, Chester County, in the Morgantown Crossings shopping center.

The building is distinctly fast food, a former Dairy Queen that still maintains the profile of its former tenant.

Inside, you would never recognize it. The DQ menu boards have been replaced by handwritten chalk boards. At the counter, a display case of tantalizing baked goods beckons.

Desserts include black cherry blondies, carrot cake sandwich cookies and an assortment of gourmet cupcakes: peach cobbler, chocolate mountain, Boston cream and cookie dough to name a few.

But bakery is just part of the name. You can’t overlook the burgers.

Billy Burger offers four burger choices: the Billy with ketchup, mustard and pickle; the Truck Stop, with coleslaw and waffle fries on the burger; the Twin Valley, featuring pepper jack, lettuce, tomato and horseradish; and my choice, the Ranch Burger.

The Ranch Burger starts with mesquite seasoning on the patty and the standard lettuce and tomato. Then it gets crazy with the addition of a grilled poblano pepper and buttermilk peppercorn ranch dressing.

I was expecting spicy, but was pleasantly surprised to find that, while flavorful, the poblano pepper was not mouth-burning hot. Instead, the de-seeding and grill had made it quite pleasant with all of the flavor and just a hint of the heat.

The ranch dressing and veggies were cool and refreshing providing depth of flavor and texture. Overall, it was a great burger that I would be happy to enjoy again.

I would also enjoy the fries again. They were fresh-cut, served fresh out of the fryer and easy to eat.

Julie went with the build-your-own option for her burger, topping it with lettuce, tomato, American cheese and bacon. The bacon was well-done, and the American cheese was melted nicely onto the patty.

And her waffle fries were delicious as well. There was a hint of extra seasoning added to the golden brown fries making them quite addictive.

Not wanting leave without the full experience, we needed to take at least one baked good home with us to try. Our cashier talked us into the freshly made strawberry shortcake.

What sold it for us was that it was truly a “from-scratch” dish. Not only was the cake baked onsite, but the whipped cream is also made in-house at Billy Burger.

Tasting it for the first time the next day, I was a fan. The shortcake was light and airy. The whipped cream was fluffy and sweet, but not too sweet.

I will definitely be back to try more from the bakery.

For dinner and dessert, our total was about $30. I thought that was very reasonable for the amount and quality of food that we got.

One thing to note, while Billy Burger is located in a former fast food restaurant, it is not fast food. Everything is cooked to order so there is a wait until it is delivered to your table, inside or out on the patio.

Billy Burger is a new addition to my short list of favorite burger places in Berks, one that I’m excited to visit again.

All I have to do is go the extra mile – literally – into Morgantown.

Billy Burger and Bakery
650 Crossings Blvd
Elverson, PA 19520

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