Category: Bars & Pubs

In September, Julie and I made our first visit to the Black Sheep Tavern. As is the case with nearly all of our blogs, we went unannounced so we could get a true feel for the experience and the food. No special treatment. No free meals. 

When the owners saw the review, they invited me in for a second visit to meet with them and to learn more about the history of the building. (And they did offer us a free meal this time). 

So on a Sunday in early October, we drove out Fritztown Road once again, this time to meet with Darrell and Carol. From the first introduction, it was clear how much the tavern and its history means to them. 

A Deep Connection

Darrell’s personal connection with the building goes back to his childhood. His father was a friend of the owner so he spent a lot of time during his childhood hanging out at what was then Die Scheier (“The Barn” in Pennsylvania Dutch). 

Standing in the main dining room, he points to the patches of lighter color on the wood-paneled walls. A small strip by the bathroom door was where the pool cues hung. Photos of Italy hung in a row along the opposite wall. After the walls were cleaned, it left these small hints to old decor, the places where the wall protected from the cigarette smoke that filled the room decades ago. 

Cleaning the space was no easy task, nor bringing the building back to life after 25 years of sitting vacant. Darrell said that it was 22 months from the time he bought the building until the Black Sheep opened in the spring of 2025. 

And that doesn’t include the months it took just to get in touch with the right people about purchasing it. Spring Township had all but given up on finding someone to fix up the property and at first wouldn’t answer Darrell’s calls. 

But thankfully they did because the owners have taken great care of the century-old property that served as a speakeasy 100 years ago. 

The Original Speakeasy

While upstairs is a gorgeously remodeled bar and restaurant, the downstairs is where men gathered in secret to enjoy drinks and other illicit activities during prohibition. (The owners joke that in the 1920s, “it offered drinking, gambling, and prostitution but today it only offers two out of three, you decide which two”). 

Back then, the property was owned by Ralph and Anna Riffert. They operated a legitimate business, as well, installing a gas pump to make it one of the only service stations along the stretch of Fritztown Road while Anna’s ham sandwiches drew in repeat customers. The Black Sheep upholds that tradition with Anna’s ham and cheese sandwich as a staple of the menu.

Darrell and Carol took us on a tour of the downstairs where the original bar still sits. According to Darrell, the last time the basement was used was during the 1970s, and that was only for band practice. It hadn’t served a drink for decades at that point. 

The original wooden bar looked like it could use some TLC but otherwise had survived rather well. Behind it was the metal sink and a wooden back bar that was looking a little worse for wear. 

A staircase on the right dead-ends now, hitting the floor of the dining room. A hidden door would have opened here 100 years ago, letting thirsty patrons downstairs to their true destination. 

Attention to Detail, Rooted in Community

While the family is working to clean up and restore the downstairs, it won’t quite be original. That’s because much of the usable material from the basement was incorporated into the upstairs remodel. The original floorboards – the usable ones at least – are now the floor of the game room. The sink from the downstairs bathroom was also moved upstairs (the antiquated style required a variance). And wood panelling from the walls became the front of the upstairs bar. 

Hearing Darrell talk about every detail, it’s clear how much he cares about the building. Restoring it has been a labor of love for Darrell, Carol, and Darrell’s 91-year-old father who has done much of the woodwork, including customizing the server stand by the kitchen door. The stand, which he cut from eight foot to six foot, came from the former American House which operated just up the road in Fritztown. (Darrell told me that the American House had its own hidden history as a stop on the Underground Railroad). 

And the dining room tables? Look closely because they are made from the alleys of the former Berks Lanes, now Bowlero. The lanes were repurposed into tables for the bowling alley’s onsite restaurant then known as Gilligan’s Pub. The pub’s former cutting boards are also now serving as tables inside the Black Sheep. 

The Black Sheep obviously takes pride in local history. That extends to Wilson High School where Darrell is an alumnus. (His father graduated from the former Sinking Spring High School). When they found out Julie was also a Wilson grad, they insisted that she sign the alumni book, an old black-and-white covered notebook where line after line of Wilson and Sinking Spring graduates have signed their name and year. 

Another Fine Meal

The challenge for the restaurant and bar is to live up to the building’s rich history, and so far, they are succeeding. In addition to our tour, we also had another great meal. 

It started with an order of sweet potato fries as an appetizer. Julie had tried them when she came with some work colleagues a few weeks prior, and they were very good. The waffle-cut fries were served with a sweet maple dipping sauce. It was almost like eating sweet potato pancakes. 

Our meals came out a short while later. On our last visit, I had enjoyed the rumrunner burger but I wanted to switch it up this time. So I decided to try the Virginia Hill burger. Named for the former girlfriend of mobster Bugsy Siegel (who also has a sandwich named after him), the Virginia Hill is a blended burger with onions and jalapenos cooked into the patty, topped with pepperjack cheese. 

It was flavorful, but I wouldn’t say it was spicy. The peppers didn’t overpower the burger, just adding little hints, enough that I quickly went through my glass of iced tea, but not enough that I ever felt a burning. It was a very, very good burger. 

Even though we had the sweet potato fries, I still got regular fries as my side. They were crispier than last time, maybe slightly overdone, but still good. 

Julie passed on chips and fries with her sandwich, the Bugsy Siegel. (Look at us making the perfect pair). Julie chose grilled chicken for the protein, saying she wasn’t feeling a burger that day. And the sandwich that came topped with pastrami and kraut. 

The chicken and pastrami played better together than she expected, and everything on it was cooked well. The sandwich also came with mobster sauce, which she described as like a Thousand Island but with a little kick to it. But it was a good kick that helped pull the whole sandwich together. 

Even though we were offered dessert, we had to pass, and instead spent another 20 minutes or so talking about little details about the tavern – like the original supporting posts and beams, the nearly hidden stained glass window by the front the door (custom fitted by Darrell’s father), and the digital fish tank that is framed out by the historic fireplace in the corner. 

As much as we enjoyed our first visit to the Black Sheep Tavern, we appreciate it so much more now. 

We will definitely be making more visits. There are more stories to hear, and a lot more food to try, too. 

Original Review: September 16, 2025

Speakeasies hold a fascination in the American mind a century after prohibition came and went. 

Last year, we visited A Light in the Attic, which bills itself as a “modern speakeasy.” It’s a fun concept. They did up the theme with a bookcase at the top of the stairs and a curtain keeping the restaurant “hidden.” But that’s all it is, a concept.

The Black Sheep Tavern really was a speakeasy. 

The restaurant and bar opened at the former Camelot Inn on Fritztown Road in the spring of 2025. The building’s story is told at the bottom of the menu. Apparently it was owned by Ralph and Anna Riffert during the 1920s, and they operated a speakeasy throughout Prohibition, “despite paying fines for selling alcohol, gambling, and other illicit activities.” 

It’s certainly ironic that 100 years later, guests not only can pony up to the bar for a drink but sit down at a skills machine. 

The skills machines are set in a back room off the main dining area which is filled with low- and high-top tables with a banquette along the wall. The U-shaped bar takes up most of the second half of the space.

It was quiet when we arrived for lunch on Friday, just one other table filled, though a few people arrived later during our visit. Our server was fantastic throughout, and I suspect she would have been great even if she would have had a full dining room. But she came to our table quickly to get our drink order and answered all of our questions about the menu. 

And we did have a few questions because all of the sauces have names that are connected to the restaurant’s theme, like sheep sauce, rumrunner sauce, and mobster sauce. 

My burger came topped with rumrunner sauce, which is their homemade version of A1. It also featured Cooper Sharp cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion. 

The burgers are listed as hand-patted, and you can tell by the thickness. It was a hearty meal, and a delicious one. The sauce was really good – I love steak sauce on a burger – and it worked well with the creamy Cooper cheese. 

I opted for fries on the side which were also very good, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. 

Julie had fries with her burger, the Bulger, which came topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and sheep sauce. Sheep sauce is their ketchup-mayo mashup and Julie enjoyed every bite of her burger. 

And while Julie also found the fries to be OK, she had the opportunity to go back a few days later with some of her coworkers. Her recommendation: get the sweet potato fries with the dipping sauce. They are totally worth it. 

Our visit ended up being a perfect lunch. The food was out quick, too, so we were in and out of the restaurant before anyone could miss us at work. And at $40 for burgers, fries and drinks, it felt like a fair price, too.  

Maybe the experience is a little different during busier times – we drove past on a Sunday afternoon and there wasn’t a space to be had in the parking lot – but we really enjoyed our experience. (Obviously, Julie already went back for more). 

The history of the building is fun, but thank goodness we’re not living with prohibition because it means I can blog about it without risking a raid. 

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

Black Sheep Tavern
665 Fritztown Road
Sinking Spring, PA 19608