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Review: The Angry Anvil – CLOSED

brick facade of a strip mall with a logo over the door that features a red circle with a black anvil

Editor’s Note: The Angry Anvil closed in 2022. La Familia Mexican Restaurant opened in the space in November 2025.

I always appreciate a restaurant that has a sense of place.

There are many restaurants that have a concept first, then force fit that concept into a location. But there are others that naturally flow with their environment and their location.

The Angry Anvil, which opened in Birdsboro at the end of 2018, certainly fits the town.

blue wall behind a red host stand - the wall feaures oval portraits from the 18th or 19th century

It’s not just the historic photos and portraits on the wall or cleverly named menu items like the Birdsburger.

The restaurant sits at the end of a strip mall, overlooking the town from a slope on the south side. The spacious dining room – larger than it looks from the outside – features high- and low-top tables made of metal, an homage to the steel industry that once thrived in Birdsboro.

red tables and chairs in a restaurant dining room painted blue

Serving American pub fusion food with American craft beers – with a few imports – the menu isn’t small, but it is focused.

Dinner options include sandwiches and burgers, wraps, flatbreads and salads, with a range of appetizers that includes four kinds of specialty fries. It’s blue-collar food for a blue-collar town, just elevated.

food basket lined with blue and white checkered paper with a chicken sandwich with oversized lettuce and fries

Looking over the menu, I was drawn to the ranch fried chicken sandwich: topped with bacon, spring mix, bruschetta and sweet corn ranch, and served with a side of beer-battered fries.

There was a lot to love about this sandwich. The fried chicken was flavorful on its own. The bruschetta, which seemed to be featured on half of the menu items, was fresh and bright. But what really separated this was the sweet corn ranch.

I’ve had ranch on corn before but never corn infused into the dressing. It’s a great flavor combination that led to a little sweeter dressing, one that paired perfectly with the rest of the sandwich ingredients.

The sandwich was served with a half-pound of beer-battered fries. Battered fries always seem to go down easier, even after I am already full. There wasn’t a piece left by the time I had finished.

food basket lined with blue and white checkered paper with a burger topped with diced tomatoes next to homemade potato chips

Julie opted for one of the Angry Anvil’s burgers – the balsamic bleu burger. It came topped with bruschetta, spring mix, balsamic reduction and bleu cheese spread.

It was another hit. The balsamic was strong without being overpowering and played really nicely with the bleu cheese. If anything was lacking it would be a little crunch from the toppings. But there were zero complaints about the flavor.

On the side, Julie swapped out her fries for an order of the Angry Anvil’s homemade chips. They were very good – crispy and lightly seasoned – in line with what we’ve found of similar offerings elsewhere.

menu with the words "THE ANGRY ANVIL" in all capital letters at the top

Along with a glass of wine and an iced tea, our total for the night was $33. When the highest-priced food item is $14, it’s easy to splurge on drinks without breaking the bank.

As we were getting ready to leave, the Angry Anvil’s owner stopped by our table (I recognized him from a photo from when the place opened) as he made his rounds. He was surprised that Julie and I had made the trip from Wyomissing to Birdsboro (it’s 15 minutes) but was glad to hear we enjoyed our meal.

We were glad, too. Glad to know that the Angry Anvil has added another quality option to Birdsboro and Berks County, and one that we will happily return to again.

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

The Angry Anvil
200 W. 1st St
Birdsboro, PA 19508

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Signatures by Angell Cafe Morgantown – CLOSED

Editor’s Note: The Morgantown Farmers Marketplace closed at the end of March 2019, just a few months after opening. Signatures by Angell is now a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Delaware County.

In early November, a newspaper story caught my attention. It wasn’t in the Reading Eagle, but in LNP, Lancaster’s local paper.

The article announced the arrival of the Morgantown Farmers Marketplace, a 25-vendor market located behind the Dollar General and Kog Hill Winery – just over the border in Lancaster County.

What caught my attention more than anything wasn’t the farmers market, itself, but the paper’s mention of a stand selling Southern comfort food.

A couple months later in early January, Julie, Jakob and I made the drive down I-176 and the Morgantown Expressway to check it out.

a couple sits at a picnic table covered with a red tablecloth inside an indoor farmers market

The Marketplace is an eclectic group of vendors. There were hemp products, sports figures, soaps and vintage arcade games, all under one roof. It’s not much of a farmers market, though.

There’s a small produce stand and a deli. And then there’s Signatures by Angell Cafe.

Banner with a photo of a woman and the words "Signatures by Angell eclectic soul fusion"

Chef Angell is a celebrity chef from the Greater Philadelphia area, teaching classes and hosting cooking demonstrations around southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware – where her catering business is based.

The Morgantown cafe is an extension of the catering, a place to get her “signature” soul food every Thursday through Sunday. It features a limited menu that rotates weekly, but two items that seem to be on the menu every week are fried chicken and southern smothered chicken.

takeout container with chicken and gravy over biscuits, collard greens and sweet potato mash

Smothered chicken is slow-cooked chicken served in sausage gravy. It’s a simple dish, but Angell does it very well. It’s fresh chicken, not processed strips, and there was plenty of it. The sausage gravy was heavy but good. I was surprised by how well the sausage and chicken worked together. And the potato roll hiding underneath the gravy – while a small touch -added a mild sweetness to the dish.

I would definitely order it again.

For my two sides, I ordered the braised collard greens and sweet potato soufflé. The collards were tossed with smoked turkey, giving it a savory and salty flavor to go with the bitter greens. The soufflé was excellent: sweet and hearty.

Julie was really hoping to try an order of fried chicken, but they were sold out for the day by the time we arrived. (When she didn’t see a fryer in the open kitchen, she was ok with not having any).

takeout container with chicken over biscuits, sweet potatoes and mac and cheese

Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on your point of view – Julie also ordered the smothered chicken. She also doubled on the sweet potatoes (the cafe has a very limited menu of three entrees and three to four sides each week) but for her second side chose the macaroni and cheese.

The idea was to share the mac and cheese with our one-year-old son Jakob, but he was too busy watching everything going on around him to eat. The Hunger Games  was playing on the TV behind us, just what we wanted him to watch.

Julie enjoyed it, though. Because mac and cheese is one of Jakob’s favorite dishes, Julie has also eaten a lot of macaroni lately. This was one of the better ones that she has had recently.

The only real negative we had about our meal is that we had to hold Jakob throughout the meal. There was plenty of seating – picnic tables and cafe seats – but no high chairs and no chairs with backs where we could secure his portable chair we carry with us. That’s on the market, though, not the cafe.

Everything about the Cafe was very good – even the $35 price tag felt reasonable for the quality of the food that we received.

The Morgantown Farmers Marketplace could use a little work yet, but Signatures by Angell Cafe is a great anchor to have. Our meal certainly makes me want to go back.

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

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Review: Park Road Cafe – MOVED

strip mall space with the words "Park Road Cafe" on the marquee

Editor’s Note: Park Road Cafe moved to West Reading in 2020 a changed the business name to Simply BOLD Cafe. The menu has changed, though the Aww Brie remains. The space is now home to Lafaver Family Farms, a local beef producer.

The Park Road Cafe is one of Berks County’s newest restaurants. Named for the Wyomissing street where it sits in a shopping center, the restaurant took over the former Green Bean Cafe (later, Meat Up Delicatessen)

Both of its predecessors were short-lived. The former – an all-organic cafe – lasted about nine months. The latter – a New York-style deli – made it two more.

By mid-summer, the space was vacant and the transformation into the Park Road Cafe began. And you wouldn’t recognize the space from the inside. The new look is clean and bold. (The murals of vegetables had already been removed with the changeover to the deli).

The only “problem” we had with the change is the lack of seating. There are only about eight tables plus a small loveseat and matching chair in the corner. And to be fair, there wasn’t a lot of seating before, either.

coffee machines behind the counter of Park Road Cafe in Wyomissing

Another couple claimed the couch and Julie took the chair – the last seat available in the room. That left me sitting on the window ledge. (There are more tables outside, but winter has arrived early so they’re not getting much use).

The menu isn’t large, but that’s not a bad thing. I’ll take quality over quantity any day. And the food at the Park Road Cafe is definitely quality.

grilled sandwich with chicken, mozzarella and tomato with a side of chips

With only seven sandwich options to choose from at lunch, our decisions were easy. For me, it was the Sleasy Caprese. It’s a dirty-sounding name, but a delicious sandwich with grilled chicken, basil pesto, mozzarella, tomato, balsamic glaze and rosemary butter served on wheatberry oat bread.

I didn’t get much of a taste for the rosemary butter, but I loved everything else. The ingredients tasted fresh and vibrant and there was just enough balsamic to give it the distinct flavor without overpowering everything. And the bread held up nicely and never got soggy, always a bonus.

turkey sandwich on brioche bun with potato chips

Julie’s Aww Brie sandwich came served on an equally sturdy brioche bun. Sliced turkey, melted brie, garlic aioli, arugula and berry jam made for a unique flavor experience.

Sure, it was reminiscent of a Thanksgiving-inspired sandwich, but the garlic aioli added depth of flavor that made it different enough to stand out.

Both sandwiches were served with kettle chips, an expected but enjoyable side.

We cleared our plates but neither of us felt like we had been cheated – comfortably full is how we felt after we had finished.

And we didn’t feel cheated on the price either. At a little more than $20, it was a fair price to pay for a lunch. I will say that it is not the fastest lunch that you are going to find in Berks County – it was a solid 20 minutes from the time we arrived until our food was brought to our table.

But I will take that wait when the food is this good.

Hopefully Park Road Cafe has hit on the recipe for success that it’s predecessors couldn’t.

So far, so good.

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

Park Road Cafe
840 N. Park Rd
Wyomissing, PA 19610

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Review: Shillington Farmers Market Cafe – CLOSED

menu on a sandwich board at Shillington Farmers Market Cafe

Editor’s Note: The Market Cafe at Shillington Farmers Market is now closed. The stand is currently home to Mission Washoku.

In the past year, Berks County Eats has experienced the re-emergence of the Shillington Farmers Market through great meals. We’ve fallen in love with the Brocmar taco at Brocmar Smokehouse and rekindled our love of empanadas at Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe.

Among the dining options added to the market in past 12 months is the Shillington Farmers Market Cafe, a no-frills eatery tucked in a corner of the market behind Max Crema’s Coffee.

two patrons sit at the counter at Shillington Farmers Market Cafe

The Cafe feels like a small diner. You can watch the meals being prepared in the tiny kitchen behind the counter as a wait staff of two takes care of the customers in front. It had a decent crowd during our visit, though there were tables available in the small dining room throughout our meal.

Julie, Jakob and I settled in at a table for four and menus were dropped off promptly and we were served soon after.

red and white picnic tablecloth on a table at Shillington Farmers Market Cafe

I ordered three blueberry pancakes (the plan being that I would share my meal with Jakob, my nearly year-old son who recently discovered his love for pancakes).

The pancakes were thick and fluffy with large whole blueberries inside. It was served with a cup of butter on the side (or on top, rather) and syrup. The pancakes were very good and there was plenty of fruit, but I did need the syrup. It was sweet enough without it, but a little dry. The syrup took care of that and the pancakes were a hit with both myself and Jakob.

Two-thirds of the way through, Jakob and I both had enough. It was then that our server said, “I’ve never seen anyone eat the whole thing.” I’m half-tempted to return now just to try to take on the three-pancake stack myself.

bacon egg and cheese sandwich with hashbrowns

Julie was able to finish her fried egg, bacon and cheese on toast. From-scratch sandwiches like this are always better than the fast-food versions and Julie certainly enjoyed hers. She also was a fan of the hash browns which she said were done perfectly.

My corned beef hash – hash browns with sliced corned beef – were not cooked as perfectly. While I enjoyed the use of fresh sliced corned beef, the potatoes were burnt. Thankfully, I didn’t need it anyway.

corned beef hash

Also, and I can’t believe this, but our meal was only $15. That was with an apple juice and an orange juice in addition to our food. That’s a good value, especially considering neither Julie nor I were hungry for lunch after such a robust breakfast.

The Cafe may not be the fanciest restaurant in Berks County, and it’s only open three days a week (Thursday through Saturday) with the Farmers Market, but it’s a good little spot for a no-fuss meal.

And with Brocmar Smokehouse and Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe, the Shillington Farmers Market is definitely worth a visit.

BCE Rating
Food: Good
Service: Very Good
Ambiance: Fair
Value: Bargain

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

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Brickstone’s Mighty Fine Food & Spirits – CLOSED

archway over a door with a sign that reads "Brickstone's"

Editor’s Note: Brickstone’s is now closed. The restaurant was a casualty of the pandemic. The space is now part of the Block on Wyomissing Square, which is home to multiple restaurants including Cafe Folino and Vintner’s Table.

At the end of 2017, Berks County lost a mainstay of the finer dining scene when ViVA Good Life Bistro (then known as Fields Kitchen & Bar) closed its doors.

The Wyomissing restaurant had been ahead of its time – at least by Berks County standards – with a modern menu and a younger vibe.

When the restaurant closed, I had concerns about whether a replacement would appear. Sure, it had high visibility from Penn Avenue, a large parking lot and a hotel next door. But it was also one of the largest spaces in the county (that means a larger staff) and the construction (or is it deconstruction?) across the street at the former VF Outlet doesn’t help the ambiance.

large waiting area in a restaurant with a long leather seat

But my fears were unfounded and a new restaurant has taken over the space: Brickstone’s Mighty Fine Food & Spirits.

Brickstone’s is the newest offering from the owners of Austin’s, Coastal Grille, and the region’s J.B. Dawson’s restaurants (Select Grille LLC).

Inside, it hasn’t changed much since the days of ViVA. From the main dining area to the bar and lounge, it feels very much like the former restaurant.

menu with a logo at the top that reads "Brickstone's"

The menu is a great complement to Austin’s. There is some crossover, and the types of foods offered are similar, but Brickstone’s has built upon the familiar to create something new.

And the menu knows no cultural boundaries. Tikka masala, pad Thai, enchiladas and the South Philly spaghetti and meatballs can all be found in one place at Brickstone’s.

egg rolls with dipping sauce from Brickstone's

Julie and I started our meal with the Tex-Mex egg rolls, a delicious cultural mash-up with chicken, corn, black beans and cheese.

I’ve had similar before, but that didn’t make this any less appetizing. Everything about it worked, especially the avocado ranch dipping sauce. It added a nice, cooling touch to the mild spice.

For our main courses, we went in completely different directions.

pasta in cream sauce tossed with kale and topped with shredded cheese

I went Italian with the Tuscan pasta. It featured penne pasta with chicken, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes in a Parmesan cream sauce.

It felt like a dish I had before at Austin’s – maybe it was a special once, I’m not sure – but it was very good.  I love sun-dried tomatoes, and Julie and I are always looking for recipes that use them. The sauce was rich and creamy. Even the spinach was a nice little throw-in.

All in all, it was one of the best pasta dishes that I have had outside of a traditional Italian restaurant. And it’s definitely one that I would order again (perhaps for Julie and I to split as half of it went home with us).

curry bowl topped with green beans and chicken

Julie’s dish was more reminiscent of south Asia. Her coconut curry bowl included chicken, carrots, broccoli, onions, green beans and zucchini in a Thai red curry sauce, served over rice.

The vegetables were fresh, the chicken was done well, but the real flavor in a dish like this comes from the sauce.

At first, she didn’t even notice the heat. But as the dish went along, her bites got more and more spicy. Now, neither of us will ever claim to have a high tolerance for spicy food so this may taste milder to others. The spice level was certainly high for Julie, but not high enough that it made the dish unenjoyable.

She brought some of her dish home, but not as much as I did.

Julie also added a drink (not pictured). This being a date night, and one of the few evenings where Jakob – now 10 months old – was not with us, it seemed the perfect opportunity for us to unwind a little.

With entrees, appetizer and drinks (I had an iced tea), our total was between $45 and $50. Our service throughout the night was very good, though it seemed to take a while for us to get our check (we were happy to savor the alone time so we didn’t mind).

It was a great night at what is surely to be another hit for the popular restaurant group.

And it certainly is a great fit for a location that could have easily fallen away with the closure of ViVA.

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

Brickstone’s Mighty Fine Food & Spirits
901 Hill Ave
Wyomissing, PA 19610

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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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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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DarrylZ Hometown Grille – CLOSED

building that looks like a house with gray siding with a sign over the door that reads "Darrylz Hometown Grille"

Editor’s Note: DarrylZ Hometown Grille is closed. The owner now operates the Messy Pig BBQ Company out of Womelsdorf.

I’ve written this story before: a restaurant closes and a new one takes its place. Generally, one of two things happens.

The new restaurant can try to be the old one or the new restaurant takes a different direction.

In Stouchsburg, at Berks County’s western edge, we’ve seen the former. When Risser’s Family Restaurant closed, a new diner, the Blue Star Family Restaurant, took its place. The only real difference was the dropping of Pennsylvania Dutch specialties. Otherwise, it went from one diner to another.

It started off well for Blue Star, as I wrote about in the blog. But it was never Risser’s, and the restaurant eventually closed.

sign hanging from a light post that has a drawing of a chicken and the words "Back Forty Bar & Grill"
DarrylZ Hometown Grille occupies the former Back Forty Bar & Grill location in Stouchsburg.

Not far from the Blue Star was the Back Forty Bar & Grill. Back Forty, itself, had taken the place of a long-standing restaurant, the Black Dog Cafe. Back Forty did elevated bar/pub food, and was very good at it. But the Back Forty closed late in 2017, and a new restaurant has taken its place.

DarrylZ Hometown Grille has taken a whole new direction, offering value priced lunch and dinner with a menu that more closely resembles a diner than the former bar that it replaced.

Julie, Jakob and I visited on a Saturday night where we were joined by my brother, his wife Lauren and daughter Leah, as well as my parents.

table with the words "Darrylz Hometown Grill"

Our first impression wasn’t great. We had made reservations for six plus two infants. When we arrived, there were only four chairs. Whoever took the reservation apparently had written four plus two infants.

Two more chairs were brought in and it was no big deal – the round table was plenty large enough for all eight of us – but there were also no place settings. So when salads and appetizers arrived, we had to ask for silverware.

I don’t normally look too closely at the silverware (except to make sure that it’s clean) but I couldn’t help but notice that everyone had a different size steak knife wrapped in their napkins.

But things definitely got better, starting with the appetizers, which arrived very quickly.

fried mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce

Julie and I ordered the fried mozzarella. The four mozzarella sticks were served with a cup of marinara on a bed of a single lettuce leaf.

I can’t say that there was anything out of the ordinary, but it was very good. The mozzarella was fried to a nice crisp. The marinara was chunky and flavorful. It was just well-executed mozzarella sticks.

corn nuggets with dipping sauce

Being out with the family, there was a chance to try another appetizer – the corn nuggets that my parents ordered.

Corn nuggets are nothing exciting, but these were dusted with powdered sugar and served with cup of syrup. The end product was somewhere between a funnel cake and pancakes.

Our entrees  didn’t take very long, either. DarrylZ menu is very diner-esque with a lot of burgers and sandwiches, like the hot roast beef and fryz (DarrylZ, like Sheetz, uses the “z” for its French fries).

roast beef sandwich covered in gravy with fries

I had low expectations for the sandwich, but was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Roast beef sandwiches are hit-or-miss depending on how they definite “roast beef.” At some places, it’s heated up deli meat slices. At DarrylZ, I was happy to find the roast beef done pot roast-style with tender chunks of meat that pulled apart easily. The whole sandwich was smothered in a good beef gravy.

The fries – sorry, fryz – were very well done. They were thick-cut and very lightly seasoned.

I ate as many as I could, but after having the mozzarella sticks, I just didn’t have room to finish mine off.

ham and cheese sandwich with fries

Julie had an even larger pile of fryz with her hot ham and cheese on a pretzel roll. The sandwich is normally served with chips, but Julie upgraded. She would have liked a little more seasoning on them. I tend to agree, especially with so many, they could have used a little something more.

The ham and cheese was also very good. Both the ham and American cheese were pouring out the sides. And with a fresh roll, a hot ham and cheese on a pretzel bun is hard to beat.

DarrylZ also has a nice selection of desserts, but none of us had room for any (though my dad got a slice of peanut butter cream pie to take home).

baby bottle in a metal tray

One other note: while we were waiting for our meals to arrive, Jakob started to get hungry so we asked for a bowl of hot water to heat up his bottle. The staff happily obliged us and Jakob enjoyed his meal as well. (The restaurant doesn’t have a changing table, though).

DarrylZ prices are also a big plus. For Julie and I, our appetizer and two entrees (including the fryz upgrade) was $25. It would have been under the $20 mark if we hadn’t splurged on the mozzarella sticks.

DarrylZ is definitely not the Back Forty, and it doesn’t try to be. That’s probably the best thing that the new restaurant could do is take the location in a new direction.

And other than a few hiccups before the meal even started, it seems like it’s on the right path.

BCE Rating
Food: Very Good
Service: Poor Preparation, Good Service
Ambiance: Good
Price: Very Reasonable

DarrylZ Hometown Grille
116 Main St
Stouchsburg, PA 19567

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The Steak Shack – CLOSED

sign on a building that reads Steak Shack

Editor’s Note: The Steak Shack closed in August 2021. At the time, it was said the owner was looking for a new location, but that has not materialized.

Some restaurants take a while to figure things out – they go through changes in management, update their menus, redesign the dining room.

On rare occasions, restaurants move, getting a fresh start in a new location. But I only know of one restaurant in Berks County that has made three moves in less than a decade.

Steak Shack is a well-traveled restaurant. The Lancaster Avenue location is the fourth where I have enjoyed their signature steak sandwiches.

The first was a small stand along Route 61 in Leesport – a frequent stop of mine during the four years I worked in the area. (The only other lunch options – and therefore the only others in my rotation – were Andali’s, Burger King, McDonald’s, Subway and Sheetz).

stand inside a building with a sign that says "Steak Shack"
One of Steak Shack’s previous locations was inside Body Zone in Spring Township.

The second was inside Body Zone in Spring Township. I wrote about this experience in 2013, before Berks County Eats evolved into what it is today. The third was another roadside stand, this one in the parking lot of what is now Tractor Supply in Spring Township.

order counter at the Steak Shack featuring a sign that says "Drive Thru"
The inside of the new Steak Shack location

It’s new home may be the nicest of all four. Yes, it’s a gas station, but Steak Shack’s area is nicely carved out with plenty of seating – mostly mismatched tables for four with a counter overlooking the parking lot.

Seating area inside Steak Shack

Steak Shack’s new location also has a larger kitchen, which has led to an expanded menu that includes salads, wraps, wings and New York thin crust pizza.

I stopped in on a Wednesday night on a whim. There was one gentleman sitting at a table when I got there and placed my order. By the time I left, a steady stream of phone-in orders had come and gone.

condiments and napkins on a counter

My wait was between 15 and 20 minutes (next time I’ll call ahead). From the restaurant, it’s just a short drive home so everything was still hot when I arrived.

I ordered a Shack Pack, Steak Shack’s meal deal that includes a cheese steak, fries and a soda for $8.75. I like my steaks the Berks County way with marinara sauce. It also was topped with mozzarella cheese and fried onions – pan fried, not deep fried.

cheesesteak and a cup of fries from the Steak Shack

This was everything that I remembered from my last Steak Shack visit. The meat was juicy and tender and the roll was perfectly suited to hold it. The right amount of cheese, sauce and onions made for an amazing sandwich.

One of the things that has changed as the restaurant has evolved is the fries. I can remember the “race track” fries at the original location. They were fresh-cut, short and thick. After a bath in the fryer, they were crispy, golden brown and as good as any around.

At the Body Zone location, the fries were still fresh-cut, but much thinner, more along the lines of a fast food restaurant. Good, but not the same.

Today, the fries are similar to the latter, but I found them to be a little less flavorful. Maybe they needed a few more seconds in the fryer. Maybe the oil has changed. But I felt a little let down because I can still taste those fries from nearly a decade ago.

steak sandwich wrapped up in a to-go package
Only nine more to go…

Still, less than $10 for a cheese steak, fries and a soda is a great price and Steak Shack is still delivering on the namesake steaks.

And even better than that, it feels like Steak Shack has finally found a home that will work out in the long term.

At least, I hope so.

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

The Steak Shack
1235 Lancaster Ave
Reading, PA 19607

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