sign above a restaurant reads "Kutztown Tavern"
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Review: Kutztown Tavern

sign over a large picture window that says "Kutztown Tavern"

Kutztown’s Main Street is one of the busiest in Berks County. An array of storefronts: shopping, services and restaurants (with a few residences thrown in) line the blocks from the edge of Kutztown University’s campus to the railroad tracks that bisect the town.

The more than a dozen eateries along Main Street cover just about every type of cuisine you could want: Chinese, Italian, sushi, barbecue, sandwiches, salads: you name it, and you’re likely to find it.

One of the most popular restaurants downtown, the Kutztown Tavern offers one of the most diverse menus in town.

Known simply as “The Tavern” to residents and students, alike, the Kutztown Tavern is housed in one of the largest buildings on Main Street. With a seemingly endless bar, a nice sized dining room and large upstairs event space, the restaurant is expansive. In addition, the building (which is actually two connected buildings) includes Shorty’s Bar, the Tavern Take-Out counter service and the Golden Avalanche Brewing Company.

Brewery equipment becomes part of the decor in the bar area as the system of vats and pipes that create the signature brew are in plain view just inside the front door.

bottle of Kutztown Red Cream Soda

Not being a fan of beer, myself, I was pleased to see Kutztown Red Cream Soda—a personal favorite of mine—on the beverage list.

A deep menu provides a wide range of appetizers, sandwiches and entrees. Everything from soft pretzels and 10 flavors of wings to Black Diamond steaks and seafood scampi. For me, a 9-ounce burger topped with Avalanche chili sounded like a winning combination.

close-up photo of curly fries and a burger topped with chili

The burger arrived on a toasted sesame seed bun. Chili poured over the edges and onto the plate below. All tavern burgers are served with lettuce, tomato and onion on the side, and I was more than happy to pile them on.

The burger was cooked perfectly with a nice little char around the outside. The mild chili added more flavor without being overwhelming (messy, yes; overpowering, no). And I certainly did not regret the curly fries, perfectly crisped, zesty additions to an already full plate.

Among the multitude of menu options are the “house smoked” offerings, three barbecue selections that are smoked in-house at the tavern. One of those—the brisket, cheddar and onion—caught Julie’s eye immediately.

brisket sandwich and fries from Kutztown Tavern

Meat and cheese more than filled the toasted ciabatta roll. The brisket was flavorful, with a fair amount of fat left on for extra flavor. The sharp cheddar worked well with the sweet barbecue sauce and grilled onions to create a delicious sandwich.

The only part of our meal that I thought could have been better was the price. The $2.89 charge for fries (instead of the standard potato chips) brought our total bill up to $35.00 for the two of us. I guess that is the cost of quality, however, as we were treated to excellent food and surprisingly speedy service.

For the past 15 years, the Tavern has been a popular go-to spot along Main Street. After our visit, it was easy to see why. When food, location, ambiance and service come together all come together, it makes for a great restaurant.

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

Kutztown Tavern
272 W. Main St
Kutztown, PA 19530

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Review: Frank & Diannah’s Arbor Inn

sign that reads "Frank & Diannah's Arbor Inn Est. 1999"

When looking for a new place to try, there is no shortage of places to find information.

Sites like Urbanspoon, Yelp and Trip Advisor are invaluable when looking for a new place you may have overlooked.

On a recent Thursday night, I found myself searching Trip Advisor for ideas.

With 84 reviews and an average rating of 4.5, Frank and Diannah’s Arbor Inn is the No. 1 restaurant in Reading according to Trip Advisor. That’s against nearly 300 restaurants that have been rated.

That sounds like a place I need to try.

A full parking lot was just another hint that we were heading to a popular spot.

horseshoe-shaped bar with customers sitting all around it and a tv on the wall in the background

Through the doors, the Arbor Inn looked much smaller than it does from the outside. The entrance opened into the bar room, where about a dozen diners were lined up on stools with a handful of others shoehorned into tables along the wall.

On the wall were three framed articles – one of them was a recent review from the Berks Barrister, the official newsletter of the Berks County Bar Association. The writer raved about burger night, and it just so happened to be burger night tonight.

Frank, one of the two namesake owners, was doing the hosting duties, greeting customers at the door and stopping by their tables to chat during their meals.

A second couple entered behind us as we were waiting, and Frank came up to us and asked our permission to seat them first.

“We’re clearing a corner table for you, a little more romantic,” he said. “You’ll also have our best waitress. They’re all good, but she’s the best.”

How could we argue with that?

We couldn’t see the dining room from where we stood in the bar, so it almost felt like a big reveal when we were finally led through the small doorway and toward our seat.

red rose in a glass on a table for two in a restaurant

The room was small, and I don’t think they could have squeezed in any more seats. Each of the tabletops, including our own, was adorned with a single red rose in a simple glass vase to add just a little extra touch to the ambiance.

The Arbor Inn’s menu is also not very large (one page, front and back), but there wasn’t a single item that did not sound appealing. Everything had an international flare, from the Asian-spiced duck breast, Middle Eastern-inspired chicken and schnitzel done four ways.

As much as I wanted to try everything, I decided to take advantage of burger night and order the week’s burger special: the Italiano, a burger topped with spicy capicola, roasted red peppers and provolone cheese.

burger topped with peppers and onions and a bed of fries

At times, it was easy to forget that I was eating a hamburger as the combination of toppings were more akin to a pizza, or in the case of the red peppers, a meatball sandwich. But then I would take another big bite into the thick, meaty patty and quickly remember that this was no sandwich, but a burger. And an exceptional one at that.

Burgers are served with a side of fries, cooked to a beautiful golden hue and topped with coarse-ground salt. The Italiano was filling, but the fries were too good to stop eating, and I managed to force them all.

While I thoroughly enjoyed my burger, I couldn’t help but feel a little jealousy at the beautiful rib eye steak sitting across the table from me.

grilled steak atop a bed of green beans, peppers and carrots

Larry’s Rasta Rib Eye Steak is rubbed in Caribbean jerk seasoning with a pepper and onion sofrito. My wife allowed me a bite, and my jealousy increased. The steak absorbed a lot of flavor, both from the spice rub and from the sofrito, the onion in the latter giving it a little extra sweetness, making it one of the best steaks I have tried in a long time.

mixed green salad topped with shredded carrots

The entrees all come with a starter salad with house-made Asian vinaigrette dressing. Though the flavor was very good, a little salty with a hint of sweet, I found myself puckering up from the strong vinegar flavor. But watching Julie finish off hers in half the time, I am going to say that I was just overly sensitive to it.

Dessert sounded delicious—semifreddo is one of my favorite words in the English language—but neither of us could handle any more food (half of the steak went home with us) so we got our check and called it a night.

Our bill was about $40, though it would have been a little higher had I ordered an entree instead of the lower priced burger option.

I would never be able to rank one restaurant ahead of all the others that I have visited during my time on Berks County Eats. But if Trip Advisor is going to rank the Arbor Inn No. 1, I’m certainly not going to argue.

BCE Rating
Food: Very Good
Service: Fair
Ambiance: Good
Price: A Little Pricey

Frank & Diannah’s Arbor Inn
47 S. Bingaman St
Reading, PA 19606

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Review: Ozgood’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar

Exterior of a restaurant with a witch's hat dome and a sign that reads "Ozgoods Neighborhood Grill & Bar"

The building is hard to miss as you drive west into Robesonia. Between the maroon paint with green trim and the tall spire above the entrance, Ozgood’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar is unmistakable.

Ozgood’s location has served as a restaurant since the 1930s with the White House Restaurant operating on the spot. Once the White House left, it seemed nothing could replace it: the Furnace Creek Inn, the Furnace Inn, the Toll Gate Inn and the Blue Velvet (which I vaguely remember from my youth) all came and went before Ozgood’s came to stay in 1997.

Robesonia was built as a company town, and there are reminders of that on every wall. A large painting of the iron works hangs in the corner with enlarged postcards of the furnace surrounding the dining room.

Stained glass lamps hang throughout, casting a dim light on every table. For a little brighter experience, Ozgood’s offers an outdoor patio and bar along the slow trickling Furnace Creek.

Ozgood’s menu is lengthy and includes a long list of hearty entrees like steaks, burgers and an entire section devoted to pretzel sandwiches. And of course the menu at a “neighborhood grill and bar” wouldn’t be complete without a beverage list to match.

bowl of creamy chicken soup

Despite the summer heat, the soup du jour, a chicken, potato and herb chowder, sounded too good to resist. The presentation would have been beautiful, if not for the two packs of Club crackers that it was served with. However, that did not take away from the soup itself, a thick, creamy chowder with big chunks of potato and a delicious blend of herbs (parsley, dill and more).

Then it was on the main course, a one-pound chopsteak smothered in onions and mushroom gravy called “The Worley.”

plate with a chopped steak smothered in gravy with a side of fries, assorted vegetables and a dinner roll

One pound is a lot more than it sounds on a menu meaning about half of it was still remaining on my plate when I had finished, but that was not to say it wasn’t good. The steak was cooked perfectly and the gravy was good, though it could have used one or two more ladles of gravy to cover the large piece of meat.

My sides for the day were “shoestring” fries and mixed vegetables. Though called shoestring on the menu, the fries were more like McDonald’s than the shoestrings at places like Austin’s. They were still good, just not what I was expecting. Meanwhile the vegetables were very tasty thanks to being cooked in a generous amount of butter.

Every weekend, Ozgood’s has a certain theme for their specials, and on our trip, it happened to be shrimp weekend.

plate with fried shrimp and crab-stuffed shrimp

As such, my wife decided to try a little bit of everything with the shrimp sampler platter. The sampler included shrimp done three ways: fried, broiled and stuffed with crab. All three were good and done just right, but the crab-stuffed was her favorite as the crab added even more flavor to an already good piece of shrimp.

Unfortunately the generous portions left no room for dessert, but we still left satisfied. Our meals were a little pricey, coming in at more than $35 for the pair, but we certainly felt like we got our money’s worth out of them.

Nearly two decades after Ozgood’s ended the musical chairs of restaurants in Robesonia, it is trying to do the same in Kutztown, where it recently opened a second location in the former TC’s Food & Spirits building.

And if the new location is serving the same good food as in Robesonia, Ozgood’s will have another success story to brag about.

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

Ozgood’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar
319 E. Penn Ave
Robesonia, PA 19551

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