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Review: Cafe Sweet Street

large block letters spell the word "Cafe" above a small garden area

If you live in Berks County, chances are you’ve indulged in a Sweet Street dessert at least once.

Sweet Street’s cheesecakes, pies, cakes and other tasty treats are well-known around here, and with distribution in more than 60 countries, it’s safe to say that they’re known worldwide.

But what is less well known is Cafe Sweet Street.

Steps lead to the front door of a building with four windows with awnings that say "Cafe Sweet Street"

The Cafe is attached to Sweet Street’s corporate office building on Hiesters Lane. While the parent company is all about the sweets, the cafe is more in-tune with savory foods, offering a range of hearty options for breakfast and lunch.

That doesn’t mean it escapes its roots altogether. Just inside the front door, you are bombarded with the desserts that have made Sweet Street famous. In addition to serving fresh-prepared meals, the cafe serves as a retail store, with tables full of temptations.

We saw dozens of customers come through the door while we were there, and the vast majority of them were passing through simply for the desserts.

But we were there for something more, and when it comes to lunch, there are plenty of options to choose from.

The dessert counter at Cafe Sweet Street in Reading, PA

The menu is scrolled across the entire wall, only broken up by a tall TV screen that displays the weekly specials. The wall was filled with burgers, sandwiches and salads, each one sounding more tempting than the next.

It was hard to know where to begin until we saw a sign on the counter telling of the in-house flavored sodas. The first decision was made.

While Julie grabbed a high-top table by the window, I watched as our cashier became a barista of sorts. Our drinks were not pre-made but mixed on the spot. After scooping a full cup (16 oz.) of ice, she poured in the flavored syrup. Then she sprayed in the unflavored soda and stirred it with our straws.

two plastic cups filled with red-colored sodas

I was a little put off when I saw the cups full of ice, especially after paying $3.00 ea. for the sodas, but I was actually glad to have it once I started drinking. The sodas were a little too syrupy at first, but once the ice began to melt, it helped tone it down. By the end, the flavors were just right and only a few ice cubes were left sitting at the bottom of my cup.

After a short wait, my food was the first to arrive. I had decided on the lamb gyro with a side of fries. It was something completely different for me—I had never so much as thought about eating a gyro before—but yet it seemed like the right thing to order on this day.

a gyro wrapped in foil with a bag of fries from Cafe Sweet Street

The pita was packed with grilled lamb, tomatoes, and a mound of onions. And the whole thing was oozing with tzatziki, the white Greek sauce that I mistakenly took to be melted cheese when I first saw it.

gyro meat topped with tzatziki sauce, onions and peppers

Instead I found that tzatziki is actually a yogurt-based sauce that is quite refreshing, especially given the hints of mint that work so well with lamb. It was a messy meal for sure, but one that I happily devoured.

The fries were much more familiar, but Cafe Sweet Street put a unique twist on it. The menu touted them as world famous, hand-cut, double-fried and seasoned to perfection. While I don’t know about “world famous” (I had never heard about them), they were certainly seasoned to perfection and quite addicting.

As much as I loved eating them, I was still happy that I only got a “baby” order because the regular order is a full fryer basket.

Julie munched on a few of my fries while we waited for her Caprese salad. After a few minutes, she went back to the cashier to check on it and was told “they are still working on it.” That’s restaurant code for, “sorry, we forgot to make it.”

caprese salad with red and green tomatoes drizzled with balsamic

When it arrived, it looked beautiful: red and yellow heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella slices and a balsamic drip. There’s no denying that it was delicious, but we were both expecting something a little bit more for the money ($9.00).

The one saving grace about having such a light lunch was that she had more than enough room for dessert.

Ordering dessert was another cause for confusion as there was a dessert counter (sparsley filled) with individual servings plus all of the aforementioned desserts at the entrance: the whole pies, cakes and sheets. In between is the cash register which had a list of the week’s featured desserts.

As it turns out, the featured desserts are the latter, not the ones meant for consumption at the table (though it would have been quite entertaining to watch us open an 8-inch square box of the salted caramel stack and dig in).

chocolate bundt cake topped with chocolate sauce and pecans from Cafe Sweet Street

Once we got this figured out, we ordered a turtle Bundt cake to share. All previous grievances disappeared with the first bite.

The cake was topped with pecans and caramel and drizzled with chocolate sauce. The molten center was rich and gooey. In a word, it was divine.

Cafe Sweet Street, like the desserts they serve, is an indulgence. Our lunch was more than $30.00, certainly not a bargain by Berks County standards.

But there’s no denying the quality of the cafe, the same quality that goes into every goodie that rolls off the assembly line next door.

Besides, it’s good to indulge sometimes.

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

Cafe Sweet Street
722 Hiesters Ln
Reading, PA 19605

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Road Trip: The Chocolate Avenue Grill – Hershey

logo for the Chocolate Avenue Grill in Hershey, PA

Berks County Eats crosses the county line to bring you some of the best dining both near and far. This edition takes us an hour west of Reading to Hershey, PA. 

For those of us living in Central Pennsylvania, Hershey is a favorite destination in summer.

A day in Hershey usually includes an afternoon of roller coasters and water rides. A stop at Chocolate World to ride The Ride and get your free candy sample is a given.

But if your trip to Hershey never takes you outside the entertainment complex, you are missing out.

Earlier this month, Julie and I decided to take a day off together and make a road trip to Hershey. But instead of doing “the usual,” we took the opportunity to explore parts of town we had never been before.

flowers growing in the garden outside the Chocolate Avenue Grill

We started our day with a morning stroll through Hershey Gardens. The gardens sit high upon the hill overlooking town, tucked between the Hotel Hershey and the Milton Hershey School’s Catherine Hall.

The one-mile trail takes you through the rose garden, the arboretum, the Japanese garden and the butterfly house on a floral world tour.

Our afternoon took us downtown to the Hershey Story Museum. The family-friendly attraction chronicles the life and work of Milton Hershey and his chocolate company through interactive exhibits, like hand-wrapping Hershey kisses (I failed miserably) and the Chocolate Lab, where visitors can create their own sweet treats (for an extra fee).

In between stops, I wanted a true taste of Hershey. Passing over the Chocolate World food court and seeking something a little heavier than the museum cafe, we pulled in to the Chocolate Ave Grill.

The Chocolate Ave Grill opened in 2007 in what was once a fast food restaurant, though you wouldn’t know it if not for the distinctive layout of the dining area that wraps around what was once the counter.

It would be easy for a Hershey restaurant to go overboard with a chocolate theme, but the Grill is more subtle. The wall lamps at each table, vaguely shaped like Hershey Kisses, are the only real reminders of where you are (except for the chocolate-colored restrooms).

a cup of lemonade a cup of iced tea from the Chocolate Avenue Grill

Needing a little sugar rush to get through the afternoon, we both decided to treat ourselves to a sugary drink—peach lemonade for Julie and mango iced tea for me.

The full menu is quite impressive. Dinner options include blackberry BBQ chicken, beef brisket flatbread and lobster risotto. At lunch, the menu is more narrowly focused, but still offers plenty of options including eight signature sandwiches, 10 different wraps and a collection of Philly Hoagies.

There is also a section of burgers, chicken and portabellas where you get your choice of a half-pound hamburger, portabella mushroom patty or chicken breast in one of six combinations.

Some are familiar, like the smokehouse with BBQ sauce, bacon and cheddar, but others were a little more creative.

One of those was the Tuscan: fresh mozzarella, Roma tomatoes and basil pesto on garlic herb focaccia bread. As much as I would have liked to have tried it on a burger, the chicken breast sounded a little more manageable on this day.

chicken sandwich and fries from the Chocolate Avenue Grill

I made the right choice. The chicken breast—not a chicken patty but a whole breast—was the perfect base for this delicious sandwich. It soaked up the flavors of the pesto so that every bite was seasoned beautifully. And the Roma tomatoes were juice and fresh, but what really made the dish was the mozzarella.

Even though it said fresh mozzarella on the menu, part of me was still expecting to see pizza cheese melted over my sandwich. Instead, it was as advertised: fresh cut chunks of mozzarella layered on top of the sandwich to provide a creamy texture and a little bit of sweetness to a wonderful sandwich.

The only thing I was wrong about was my thought it would be more manageable. It wasn’t. The chicken breast was just as big and equally filling, leaving me with half the sandwich to take home.

Julie did the same thing with her sandwich as well, cutting it in half and saving it for later. Also opting for chicken, Julie went with the Italiano: grilled onions, tomato sauce, provolone and pepperoni on a white bread roll.

chicken sandwich topped with onions, cheese and marinara sauce on a plate with fries from the Chocolate Avenue Grill

Her toppings were exploding from the sides of the sandwich. Tomato sauce dripped over the edge, grilled onions and pepperonis fell onto the plate.

It ate like chicken Parmesan on a sandwich, with excellently seasoned chicken serving as the base. And the addition of pepperoni was perfect because pepperoni makes everything better.

Both of our sandwiches were served with a side of fries. They were very good, done Boardwalk style with skins left on for a little extra flavor. If that’s not to your liking, you can substitute chips, pasta salad, coleslaw, fruit or a side salad instead.

In addition to being a little healthier than hamburgers, chicken sandwiches are also a little cheaper (about $1 less than the burger or portabella). Together, they were just a little more than $20 plus another $5 for our drinks. Not a bad price considering we essentially got four sandwiches.

Hershey is a road trip worth making, no matter what you have planned for your day. But next time you make the drive west to the Sweetest Place on Earth, remember that there is much more to Hershey than the park.

And there is so much more to eat than chocolate.

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Review: Plein Air at Judy’s on Cherry

sign advertising the opening of Plein Air dining at Judy's on Cherry

Editor’s note: Plein Air has not been offered as a unique experience at Judy’s since 2019.

Al fresco dining is a tradition as old as the restaurant business.

On a beautiful day, no one wants to be constrained to a dining room. And whether it’s a full patio or just a handful of seats, many of the area’s most popular restaurants have expanded their seating area into the open air.

But there’s one Reading restauranteur that has taken the concept and created a whole dining experience around it.

The 300 block of Cherry Street is the domain of Judy Henry. She opened her first restaurant, Judy’s on Cherry, in 2002. Next came the Speckled Hen Cottage Pub & Alehouse, located in the historic log cabin on the corner of 4th and Cherry Streets.

The third piece of the puzzle came in 2009. That’s when Plein Air was born.

Located in a narrow alley adjacent to the cottage, Plein Air is an outdoor extension of the Speckled Hen. The alley is decorated to feel like a garden terrace in Europe, with a large pergola hanging over the bistro seats.

Plein Air’s location creates unique challenges. First, it’s weather dependent (though there are a handful of seats inside). It’s also small, with only a few tables and seating for 20 outside.

The alley is also uneven so they have to get a little creative in balancing the tabletops: a handful of coasters under one leg, a piece of stone under another, just to keep your plates from sliding off.

Both Plein Air and the Speckled Hen serve out of the same kitchen. And for those dining outside, the Speckled Hen menu is also available (I would imagine that this also works in reverse, though I can’t say for sure).

The two menus are vastly different. The Pub side was big on comfort foods—pot pie, shepherd’s pie, wings and the signature Scotch egg. Plein Air’s menu  is more fully developed, with tartines (single-slice sandwiches), salads and entrees, all of which feature fresh, seasonal ingredients.

One of the specialties at Plein Air is chilled soup. Gazpacho is a permanent fixture on the menu, but the standard tomato-based version had been replaced by beet for our visit.

chilled beet soup in fluted cup

Looking more like a smoothie than a soup, it was a vibrant purple with white creamy swirls and strips of basil on top. The basil helped sweeten the slightly sour soup. It was a delicious and refreshing way to start our meal.

four quarters of a small bread loaf witha red cup of whipped butter

Along with my soup, the waitress delivered our fresh-baked bread, quartered and served with a dollop of butter.

While Plein Air’s menu is quite a bit larger than the Speckled Hen, there are only a handful of large plate dinner entrees. One of those is the flat iron steak.

steak topped with butter on a bed of potatoes with greens on the side

The seared steak is topped with garlic herb butter and served with fingerling potatoes and a side salad. The butter melted quickly, coating both the steak and potatoes in a blanket of white. With the steak, it was very good. The herbs really came through and added to the seared-in flavors of the meat. With the potatoes, it was even better, turning them into miniature baked potatoes that melted in your mouth.

The side salad was topped with a citrusy vinaigrette dressing that felt right on a warm August night.

Another large plate offering is the crab cake. The rich entree is topped with a choice of lemon pesto, avocado lime butter or tomato basil corn relish, which is what Julie decided on.

crab cakes topped with corn with a skewer of zucchini and side green

Fresh was the word we kept coming back to when describing our food to each other, and that was the case with everything on Julie’s plate. The crab cake, the relish and the skewer of zucchini that accompanied the dish.

Everything at Plein Air is well-portioned, and though we would have walked away happy after dinner, we decided to splurge for dessert.

Angel food cake is not normally my dessert of choice, but when our waitress told us that it was topped with strawberry reduction and served with whipped cream and pistachio sorbet, it immediately climbed to the top of my list.

Everything was delicious, especially the sorbet. I wish I could have eaten a whole bowl of it, but I was happy enough to enjoy the other sweet delights on the plate.

Our total food bill came to $42, but being thrifty, I had purchased $30 gift certificate for $15 on LocalFlavor.com when I saw it in June so we really only paid $27 for two entrees, an appetizer and dessert.

Enjoying a meal outside is a great way to enjoy a beautiful summer night, but it is even better with great food, like what Plein Air is serving during the spring, summer and fall.

Don’t waste these beautiful days and nights sitting inside, get out and get yourself something to eat.

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

Plein Air
30 S. 4th St
Reading, PA 19602

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Gourmand Food Truck
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Review: Gourmand Artisan Street Food

Gourmand Food Truck

The food industry is all about trends. Fads come and go.

Berks County has seen it many times in recent years. We are just coming out of a boom period for barbecue where it seemed every other restaurant that opened was serving smoked meats.

We saw the same thing with fro-yo. Just the other year, Berks County saw a half-dozen or more frozen yogurt spots open up around the county.

But while the industry ebbs and flows, its the innovators that thrive.

One of the hottest culinary trends today is food trucks. The restaurants on wheels have become increasingly popular in the last two years.

And the truck that truly started the revolution in Berks is Gourmand.

Advertising itself as “artisan street food,” Gourmand wasn’t the first food truck in Berks County, but it is arguably the most recognized. Its success has spawned two brick-and-mortar locations: one inside Body Zone in Spring Township and another on Berkshire Boulevard in Wyomissing.

The Gourmand Food Truck at West Reading Farmers Market

It seems like the distinctive two-tone truck with the gray hex sign is at every major outdoor event or concert.

Though the Gourmand truck makes its rounds across the county, we found it close to home, set up along Penn Ave in West Reading for the West Reading Farmers Market where the truck is a regular fixture.

One of the great things about food trucks is that the menus are ever-evolving. Menu boards are erased every day, allowing for daily innovation and creativity. And creativity certainly describes Gourmand’s menu on this day.

Gourmand Food Truck Menu

The day’s menu included a lot of things that you won’t see anywhere else in Berks County, like truffled goat cheese fries, lobster tacos and The Berks, one of Gourmand’s signature sandwiches.

The Berks Sandwich

The Berks is a work of pure genius. It starts with fried sweet bologna on a toasted hamburger bun. Then it’s topped with cream cheese, apple butter, and potato chips.

It’s a delicious combination of savory, sweet and salty. Fried Lebanon bologna will always be a favorite of mine (thanks to the Kutztown Fair), but cream cheese and apple butter add a layer of creaminess. And who doesn’t love putting potato chips on their sandwich?

Gourmand Fries

Another of Gourmand’s signature concoctions is the Gourmand fries. The truck’s standard fries are tasty, fast-food-style fries, but this takes them to a whole new level.

The standard fries are topped with fried pastrami, crispy bacon, provolone, pico de gallo and chipotle aioli. Pastrami sounds like the odd-man-out in this dish, but it makes a great substitute for a more expected meat, like pulled pork. It’s a side dish that eats like an entree, and a very good one at that.

Gourmand Trio Cheese

Everything on Gourmand’s menu gets turned up a notch, even their take on grilled cheese. The “Trio Cheese” sandwich featured mozzarella, provolone and gruyere on Italian bread. It was grilled to perfection and the three cheeses blended perfectly together. Unbeknownst to Julie, her grilled cheese sandwich also came with fries, but we happily added them to our other pile, half of which went home with us.

In French, gourmand literally means glutton or gluttony. And that’s pretty much how we felt when our meal was over.

Gourmand’s sandwiches are all less than $10 apiece (both of ours were priced at $7) so a meal won’t break the bank. Even with our additional fries and a pair of drinks, our total was less than $25.

The food truck craze is still going strong in Berks County, but it’s hard to say for how long it will last. Fads come and go; it’s just the nature of the business.

One thing I can say with confidence: when food trucks are no longer the talk of the town, you’ll still be able to find artisan street food at Gourmand. It’s just too good to go away.

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A bowl filled with vegetables and pork topped with soft baked bread
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Review: Shirley’s Cafe & Tequila Bar

Illuminated sign for Shirley's Cafe & Tequila Bar

One of the best ways to experience a new restaurant is with friends, especially ones who are already regulars there. Knowing you can lean on their expertise helps ease the angst of trying something new.

So when some friends asked us to join them for dinner at Shirley’s Cafe & Tequila Bar, we couldn’t turn it down.

Shirley’s is a little off the beaten path, set in the middle of what was once a thriving industrial district in Laureldale. An abandoned factory sits rotting across Duke Street. Our friends have claimed the vacant driveway as their personal “VIP” parking space.

The building that houses Shirley’s blends in with the neighborhood. Utilitarian in appearance, only the glowing sign above gives away that it’s a restaurant.

Inside the front door is the crowded bar area. Hang a left, and you’ll find the patio (and after a few seconds, you might also find the button that opens the sliding glass door). That’s where our group of six relaxed for a pleasant evening.

frozen margarita in a sugar-rimmed glass from Shirley's Cafe & Tequila Bar

Being that Shirley’s is a tequila bar (and being that I don’t drink), Julie had to try one of their margaritas. The Coco Cobana was one of eight fruity margaritas and featured a lot of coconut, a little mango, and just enough tequila.

We were dining a little later than usual, so we were excited when our chips and guacamole arrived at the table.

basket of homemade tortilla chips and guacamole from Shirley's Cafe & Tequila Bar

The chips were advertised as fresh “made locally,” and it showed. The corn chips were fried and much thicker than the store-bought variety. The guacamole was also fresh, topped with a wedge of lime and slices of jalapeno peppers.

Once I ate the first chip, I couldn’t stop. The chips could not have been any better, and the guacamole was excellent, with diced red onions and the occasional chunk of tomato.

I wasn’t expecting a tequila bar to have such variety on its menu. Of course there were tacos and quesadillas, but the Latin American influence was strong throughout the rest of the menu. Along with seven traditional pizza varieties, there were three pizzadillas: pizzas done quesadilla style.

But my eye stopped at something I had never come across before: cazuelas.

bowl of black bean stew topped with bread from Shirley's Cafe & Tequila Bar

The word cazuela comes from the Spanish for “cooking pot,” and refers to a variety of South American dishes. Shirley’s offers three varieties including the “Shrimp Vera Cruz” (shrimp, tomatoes, assorted vegetables and rice) and the “El Cioppino” (an ocean of seafood like clams, mussels, and calamari mixed with sausage, vegetables and rice).

But if I’m going to try something for the first time, I’m going to go with the one called “The Classic.” Here’s a look at everything that was packed into it:

  • black beans
  • red beans
  • white beans
  • hominy
  • sautéed tomatoes
  • garlic
  • carrots
  • celery
  • onions

Add to that my choice of meat—carnita style pork shank—and three pieces of flatbread and it was one hearty meal.

pork shank in a bowl with beans and other vegetables from Shirley's Cafe & Tequila Bar

And Shirley’s doesn’t skimp on the portions either. It was served in a seemingly bottomless terra cotta bowl. The dish looked like chili, but lacked the heat of the chili powder. That’s not to say it was without spice, as it got a little bit of a kick from the chipotle seasoning.

Digging beneath the surface, I found my three pork shanks. The meat pulled right off the bone and blended nicely with the beans and vegetables. Half of the stew and one of the pork shanks came home with me, but I enjoyed every bite I had at Shirley’s.

pulled pork sandwich topped with coleslaw from Shirley's Cafe & Tequila Bar

Julie went with something a little lighter, but no less flavorful. The Texas pulled pork sandwich was topped with Colby Jack cheese and sweet and sour slaw. The top of the roll was lightly buttered like a slice of garlic bread or Texas toast. The pork was lightly sauced, which helped the other elements truly blend well to create a delicious sandwich.

All of the sandwiches are served with a choice of beer battered fries or a salad. Julie opted for the healthier, lighter option with a cup of ranch.

When the meal was over and the checks were split, our total came to $30 (that did not include the $7 chips and guacamole). It was worth every penny.

A great night out with friends is always worth the cost.

But when that night out includes an introduction to a new restaurant, it makes it all the better.

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

Shirley’s Tequila Bar
1615 Duke St
Laureldale, PA 19605

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PJ Whelihan's is Chickie's and Pete's kid brother
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Review: P.J. Whelihan’s – Reading

close-up of a sign that reads "PJ Whelihan's Pub & Restaurant"

The arrival of P.J. Whelihan’s to Berks County in 2014 was a big deal.

In the past year, search terms like “PJ Whelihan’s Reading” and “PJ Whelihan’s Wyomissing” have driven hundreds of clicks to news articles on this blog.

It’s not really a surprise. Since the first P.J.’s opened in Allentown in 1994, they have built their brand throughout greater Philadelphia. The Spring Township location was the 15th and farthest west for the franchise, finding a clientele that was obviously looking for them.

Doorway entrance with the words "PJ Wheelihan's Pub & Restaurant" on an archway

And if P.J. Whelihan’s wanted to go big with its Berks County location, they picked the right spot. Toscani had built the restaurant into one of the largest in the area, with a spacious dining room complimented by the semi-enclosed outdoor patio.

Julie and I were seated at an oversized booth along the wall, one large enough to comfortably fit six or more.

Dead Jimmy was performing throughout the evening. His acoustic songs were mostly subtle background noise, but when he really let loose, our conversations had to turn to shouting just to be able to hear each other.

The menu is printed on the paper placemats, and is your typical bar food staples like burgers, sandwiches, fried appetizers and P.J.’s famous wings (the official wings of Wing Bowl).

Julie decided to start her night with a little drink (it is a bar after all). While P.J.’s is heavy on the beer selection, it did have a few frozen drinks available, including the creamsicle margarita, which looked more like a milkshake topped with whipped cream.

glass with a creamy drink topped with whipped cream

While Julie happily sipped it all night, she was hoping for orange creamsicle. Instead, it was slightly tart, like original frozen yogurt. It was good, but probably could have used just a little more sweetness.

On the back of the frozen drinks menu were the specials for the evening. One of them caught my eye more than anything on the regular menu: the avocado chipotle burger.

burger topped with chipotle cream in a basket with seasoned crinkle fries

When the burger arrived, it looked great, but I had to dig to find the avocado. There was a roasted tomato slice and plenty of chipotle cream on top, but no avocado. Thankfully I found them, hiding beneath the large (probably 1/3-pound) patty.

The chipotle sauce was a little overpowering, and while I certainly enjoyed every bite, I thought it could have gone from good to great with a little less sauce and a little more avocado.

The burger was flanked by an order of P.J.’s “Famous Fries.” Crinkle-cut with an Old Bay-like seasoning, Famous Fries look and taste a lot like another Philadelphia-area favorite: Chickie’s and Pete’s Crabfries. The only differences being that P.J.’s is thicker cut and—at least this batch—a little saltier. They were still good, it just took a little more ice tea to wash them down.

Julie also ordered a side of Famous Fries to go with her entree of the choice, the short rib melt. The braised beef was topped with three kinds of cheese, but it was the provolone that really shined and made it an excellent meal.

short rib sandwich with a mound of crispy onion straws

P.J.’s short rib sandwich comes served with a mound of onion tanglers. Smaller and thinner than typical onion rings, the tanglers were more like something that would normally be served on a sandwich, not as a side. They were really good, but so rich that it was impossible for Julie to finish them.

Half of Julie’s fries and most of her onion tanglers came home with us so she could enjoy them throughout the week with her lunches. So for less than $25, we got more than a couple meals (our drinks brought our total over $30 for the night).

P.J. Whelihan’s doesn’t try to hide what it is. It’s a Philly sports bar, a place to catch the game with friends, enjoy some drinks, and eat lots of fried food.

It’s your local bar, just a lot bigger.

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

PJ Whelihan’s
1101 Rocky Drive
West Lawn, PA 19609

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Tlacuani Rice and Beans
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Review: Tlacuani Mexican Restaurant and Grill

Metal sign hanging from a building with the words "Tlacuani Mexican Restaurant & Bar" carved in it

Since I started Berks County Eats as a part-time hobby in 2012, I have only had two dinners that didn’t live up to my expectations.

One of those was La Cocina Mexicana in Kutztown. It was one of my earliest reviews, and one of the most disappointing, with food that our party of four all found to be bland and tasteless, the complete opposite of what Mexican food should be.

La Cocina notwithstanding, there are still plenty of places in Berks County to get great Mexican food. One of those is Tlacuani Mexican Restaurant in Temple.

Tlacuani literally means “someone who eats things” or “glutton” in the Aztec language of Nahautl (thank you Google Books search). That suits me just fine because if the food’s good, I have no problem being a glutton when I go out to eat.

Dining room filled with brightly colored tables and chairs - one set is green, one set is red, one set is orange

The dining room is vibrant. Some would call it gaudy. The tables, each one carved with a scene of life in Mexico, are painted in bright colors with matching chairs. Shades of orange, blue, red, green and pink pop against the off-white tile floor.

Carving on the back of a chair depciting a man in a sombrero riding a bull in front of a small village

Our six-person table, which felt empty with just the two of us, had a scene set outside an old adobe building. The sides and all of the chairs were painted green, with alternating scenes of rural towns and a man riding a ox.

It’s a stark contrast from the homey feel of the building overall. Our table was directly in front of the original fireplace. Above it, behind a sculpture on the mantle, is a metal plate that reads, “Temple Hotel. 1853.”

Basket of tortilla chips lined with white paper with chili pepper images and a blue cup filled with salsa

Like many (all?) Mexican restaurants, the meal began with free chips and salsa, but Tlacuani’s was unlike any we had tried before. The salsa was not the standard red tomato mixture. Instead, there were two options: a slaw-like mixture with green chilies mixed in, and a green syrup-like sauce.

Both packed a serious punch and had us refilling our drinks before we had got through half of our chips. Any worries we had about our meal being bland were quickly thrown out the window.

Tlacuani offers a more varied menu than some other Mexican restaurants we have tried before. Sure, there are plenty of options for enchiladas, burritos and tacos, but there seemed to be more entree options, or at least more than appealed to me, including the chiles en nogada.

Blue plate with rice, beans and stuffed poblano peppers

Two stuffed poblano peppers arrived, each one stuffed with a mixture of steak, pork, almonds and fruit, topped with white sauce and dried cranberries, and served with four tortillas.

The peppers easily peeled apart into strips that laid nicely on my shells. I piled on the filling (and rice and beans for good measure) and dug in. It was love at first bite. Poblanos are on the mild end of the heat spectrum, but that was enough spice to cut through the sweetness of the filling. The sauce was delicious, and though simple, the dried cranberries were a pleasant surprise every time I found one on my fork.

Sopes were another dish that I had not seen before. Perhaps I’ve skimmed over it in other places, but Julie spotted it on the menu at Tlacuani and decided to order it.

Plate with two sopes topped with tomatoes, lettuce and cheese

The description was rather vague, only saying that there would be two soft corn sopes topped with choice of meat, with beans, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese, but no mention of what a sope is. I blame my ignorance on the Pennsylvania Dutch in me.

It turns out that sopes are little corn pockets that look like hollowed-out waffles but are crispy like a taco salad shell. The meat (in this case, chorizo), was buried inside with the veggies loaded on top. It was close to a taco, but the sopes were heavier with more corn flavor. And the chorizo added all of the spice needed to make it a perfect dish.

We had really hoped to finish our meal with some fried ice cream, but neither of us had any room for dessert so we asked for our check—just under $30 for the two of us.

Three years ago, I walked out of La Cocina disappointed.

This trip to Tlacuani definitely did not disappoint.

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

Tlacuani Mexican Restuarant
5005 Kutztown Rd
Temple, PA 19560

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Road Trip: Stephen’s on State

metal stamped logo for Stephen's on State in Media, Pa

Berks County Eats crosses the county line to bring you some of the best dining both near and far. This edition takes us an hour southeast of Reading to Media, PA.

As much as I love exploring (and tasting) Berks County, sometimes life takes me to faraway places.

That was the case last week as Julie and I ventured to Media, Delaware County, where her brother now calls home, and where we met her family for dinner on the town.

Media is one of Philadelphia’s most happening suburbs with a bustling downtown and a big city feel. There’s a lot to do, but more importantly, there’s a lot of places to eat.

A restaurant they always mentioned among the popular spots in Media was Stephen’s on State. On a recent visit, they suggested it for a nice dinner. They’re the experts so we just followed along.

State Street is essentially a row of restaurants packed one next to the other, and if you look at the review sites, Stephen’s has received mixed reviews.

One of the common complaints I see about Stephen’s on State is that the service is slow, but our waitress, who introduced herself as Julie (easy enough to remember), was very attentive all evening, constantly returning to refill our water and check on us throughout our stay.

We were seated at a round table tucked in a small alcove between the bar room and the more formal dining area. It was a tight squeeze for a table of six, but it never felt uncomfortable.

steak with butter atop a bed of mashed potatoes and green beans

Stephen’s dinner menu is not very big. There are 10 entrees to go with six choices of steak. Being at a steakhouse with a manly appetite, I chose one of Stephen’s “signature steak” options, a spice crusted steak with garlic shallot butter.

The big, beautiful cut of meat was served atop a bed of mashed potatoes and French cut green beans in a red wine sauce. And it was delicious.

The steak had a beautiful crust from the spices which helped seal in the juicy flavor. The spice combination reminded me a little of a Memphis rub—a little sweet, a little salty with the slightest kick at the end.

With every bite-sized piece that I cut, I soaked up as much of the red wine sauce as I could, especially as the steak began to shed its spicy coat.

As flavorful as the steak was, the mashed potatoes were a tad bland, but they did soak up the au jus which greatly helped.

Having few entrees to choose from and a much smaller appetite, Julie decided to create her own meal with a pair of appetizers.

crock of french onion soup overflowing with cheese

She started her meal with a cup of French onion soup. The presentation was beautiful with the bubbly cheese on top melting over the sides of the crock. It tasted just as good as it looked with a flavorful broth and plenty of onions and bread pieces throughout.

quesadilla cut in four quarters topped with avocado and diced peppers

Part two of her meal was very different, but just as cheesy: a smoked chicken quesadilla. The cheesy pocket was topped with salsa, guacamole and chipotle sauce. It was good, but we both agreed that the French onion was better.

basket of bread with sesame seed topping

Along with our meals, Stephen’s also gave us complimentary loaves of sesame seed-topped bread with olive oil dipping sauce, a delicious pairing that helped hold us over until our dinners arrived.

The other common complaint on review sites is related to price. Stephen’s is not inexpensive—my steak cost more than $30 and Julie’s pairing came to $15—but it didn’t feel unfair, especially for the amount of food and the quality of it. At the time, I did wish I had a starter salad, but I still left on a full stomach.

Stephen’s on State may not be a darling on Internet review sites, but the menu proudly proclaims 13 years in business in downtown Media. Our experience was great, and the busy bar area showed that it certainly has a loyal following among the locals.

Media is not a destination that many Berks Countians are likely to find themselves in. But those who go will surely not go home hungry. If Stephen’s on State is any indication, you’ll be going home happy too.

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Review: Laxmi’s Indian Grille

exterior of a strip mall business with a sign that reads "Laxmi's Indian Grille"

Berks County has been going through a restaurant boom for well over a year now. It seems like new restaurants have been popping up constantly in recent months.

And nowhere is that more evident than Wyomissing. For a while it felt like I was reporting weekly on a new restaurant coming to or opening in the Reading suburb.

Among those restaurants are a Philly-area sports bar, an Irish pub, a retro hamburger chain and two barbecue restaurants. But to me, the most intriguing of all of the new openings had to be Laxmi’s Indian Grille.

The State Hill Road location is the third for the Philadelphia-based operation. The first location in Manyunk led to a second in East Falls in 2013. Now, the micro chain has expanded west, all the way to Berks County.

Laxmi’s opened in January in a State Hill Rd strip mall that also included Mama’s Original Pizzza and Alebrije Mexican Restaurant (which has since moved).

A surprisingly large number of seats are squeezed inside the restaurant. Booths line the outside with four-person tables running through the middle.

brass holder with three small bowls of chutney - one gree, one red, and one dark brown

The tables are all pre-set with plates for appetizers and cloth napkins. Three chutney sauces are set in in the middle of the table waiting for the complimentary basket of papadum, a wafer-thin dish that is similar to a tortilla, but crispier.

a basket with two papadum from Laxmi's Indian Grille

It was light and airy, but did well to soak up the flavors of the chutney. Chutney is a very general term for a lot of different condiments, and the three on the table could not have been more different.

The first was a dark, reddish-brown sauce that was very runny. It was similar to a chili sauce, but thinner and with a little bit of fruity flavor to it. The second was the green chutney, which was close to a green taco sauce but the spice was more tolerable. The third, my favorite of the three, was tomato based and closer to salsa, but with bits of carrots. It was more sweet than spicy and the chunky texture was great for the papadum.

Laxmi’s menu is not very big, but it is diverse in its offerings. There are nine curry dishes, all of which can be served with vegetables, paneer (a type of south Asian cheese), chicken, lamb or seafood. There are also several tandoor-prepared items including kababs and tandoori chicken.

All of the items sounded delicious, but I finally decided on one of the curries: chicken jalfrezi.

metal bowl of chicken jalfrezi in red sauce with sliced peppers

Jalfrezi looks very similar to the more well-known tikka masala, but the two are very different dishes. Despite its red color, jalfrezi is onion-based. Green peppers, ginger and garlic are also listed as ingredients in the menu description.

The dish was very flavorful. The onions were easy to pick up, but more for the sweetness they added than for any potency. I dumped every last drop that I could onto my plate, dousing my pile of rice in the sweet red sauce.

white bowl with white rice topped with two green peas

Back in April, when I took a road trip to Saffron in Ambler, I thoroughly enjoyed their korma. I guess it sounded good to Julie because at Laxmi’s, she ordered the chicken korma.

metal bowl of chicken korma with slivered nuts on top

The two versions of the cashew-based dish were very similar. Both were creamy with a nice nutty flavor. The spices were a little stronger with Laxmi’s dish, making just that much better than what I tried a month ago.

Along with our main dishes, we ordered a side of naan. While Laxmi’s offered eight versions of the bread, but we went with the plain version.

basket with four pieces of buttered naan

It was anything but plain. It was soft and buttery, like pillowy pitas. They were perfect for soaking up the last of the jalfrezi on my plate.

Our total for the visit was just over $30, but we were probably closer to the low end of the price range (some of the tandoori entrees are in the $20-$25 range). Still, the food packs flavor that is well-worth the price.

Laxmi’s Indian Grille is one of many restaurant chains that have expanded into Berks County, but it may be among the best. If all of the new restaurants are of the quality of Laxmi’s, there’s going to be a lot of happy customers to go with them.

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

Laxmi’s Indian Grille
1806 State Hill Rd
Wyomissing, PA 19610

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Vegetarian Mango Chicken from Chen Vegetarian House
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Review: Chen Vegetarian House

exterior of a restaurant with a light orange awning that reads "Chen Vegetarian House"

It is very hard for a Chinese restaurant to set itself apart. With so much competition—it seems as though there is at least one in every town—there has to be something unique, a hook that separates it from the pack.

One West Reading restaurant found a way to make its mark on the Berks County food scene by taking Chinese food in a new direction by giving it a vegetarian twist and making it more healthy.

That’s what makes Chen Vegetarian House different from the rest.

In addition to healthful foods, Chen offers a range of healthful drink options including 18 fruit and vegetable juices, five dairy-free smoothie flavors, and four kinds of hot teas.

large glass with a papaya smoothie

I was craving something sweet so I went with a papaya smoothie. Papaya has always been one of my favorite fruit flavors, but it’s one that isn’t readily available. The fruit has a light sweetness, a perfect base for a refreshing drink.

large glass with pineapple juice

Of the 18 juice bar options, more than half start with carrot. The rest are pure fruit, most mixed with ginger to add a little spice to the sweetness. Julie’s juice cocktail was a combination of apple and pineapple with a hint of ginger.

Chen Vegetarian House has some familiar sounding entrees on its menu: General Tso’s chicken, beef teriyaki, and sweet and sour chicken. But as a vegetarian restaurant, all of the “meat” is made from soy  and wheat. The shapes and textures are meant to resemble the real thing because sesame chicken sounds a whole lot more appealing than sesame tofu.

My original plan was to try the vegetarian version of General Tso’s, but the description of the mango chicken sounded so good that I changed my plans. And it was the right decision.

sliced mangos with a bowl of rice

The dish included strips of mango, “chicken,” onions and peppers tossed in citrus sauce and served inside a mango shell. The best part of the dish was the fresh mango, which took center stage over the tofu that was there strictly to absorb the sweet sauce and make the dish more filling.

I was actually happy that there was no meat in this dish because chicken would have made it too heavy. It was hard enough to finish the giant plate of food as it was, but I couldn’t let any of it go to waste.

plate with broccoli topped with vegetarian version of orange beef

Across the table from me, Julie went with the orange flavored beef. The tofu in this case was made to look and feel more like strips of steak and served atop a bed of broccoli. The orange tangerine glaze was thick and stuck to the tofu.

The flavor was spot on, sweet and tangy with just a little spice. The tofu came close to the right consistency, though it was a little chewier, closer to beef jerky than steak. Still, it was a great dish, one that Julie got two meals out of (it was just as good heated up as it was fresh, the mark of good Chinese food).

Not only are Chen’s dishes comparable to its meatier counterparts, but the prices are similar as well. Entrees are all in the $10-12 range. Our two specialty drinks put our final bill right at the $30 mark.

Chen Vegetarian House is truly unique in Berks County, a place that serves one-of-a-kind dishes not found anywhere else around.

And it’s meals like this that make Chen as good as, if not better than, all of the other Chinese restaurants out there.

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

Chen Vegetarian House
709 Penn Ave
West Reading, PA 19611

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