— 4 Comments

Review: Romano’s Chicago Style Pizza & Grill

logo of Romano's Pizza & Grill in Reading, PA

Editor’s Note: The restaurant is now Romano’s Italian and Mexican Food. Chicago-style pizza is still on the menu.

Four years ago, I took my first trip to Chicago. It was a chance to enjoy another rich culinary scene, but more importantly, a chance to try some authentic deep dish pizza.

It’s a regional favorite that you just don’t find very often around here (we had an UNO Chicago Grill at one time, but that’s like saying we have authentic Tex-Mex food because we have a Moe’s Southwest Grill).

But a good deep dish pizza isn’t as hard to find as I thought. In fact, it’s the specialty of the house at Romano’s Chicago Style Pizza Grill.

Romano’s doesn’t have the best location in town. It sits on the corner of Lancaster Ave. and Grace St., south of the Bingaman St. Bridge, with no parking lot of its own. There are private parking lots all around it, but just a handful of spaces along the curb that are readily available for Romano’s customers.

On a rainy Tuesday night, that wasn’t a problem. We found a spot along Grace St. and rushed inside.

It was a slow night for Romano’s. Only the counter service area was lit up. The small dining room was shut down, the lights were out and the TV was turned off. But they fired everything back up for us so we had our own private dining area for the night.

Picture of the Brooklyn Bridge hangs on the wall of the dining area of Romano's in Reading

The decor is simple, just a couple of pictures hanging on the walls and a flat-screen in the corner. We made ourselves at home at one of the half-dozen tables in the room while we waited.

At the front counter, there were a few tired looking slices waiting to be claimed, but we ordered a whole pie so we knew ours would be fresh but would take time (25 minutes). To tie us over until it arrived, we ordered a few garlic knots to share.

aluminum foil pan with four garlic knots and a cup of marinara

The garlic knots were also sitting on the counter in a big bowl, but we were less concerned with the way they would heat up than the pizza. They turned out pretty well — maybe just a little chewy — but the flavor was good, especially with the marinara dipping sauce.

We ordered light on the appetizer because we knew we had a daunting meal ahead of us in the form of a 14″ Chicago deep dish pizza.

It was quite a sight to behold, a true pie with a tall crust, a thick layer of cheese, a light layer of tomato sauce and a dusting of Parmesan on top.

Deep dish Chicago-style pizza cut into six slices on a pizza tray

The pie was cut in six big slices. I grabbed my first slice and was surprised to find that I didn’t need a fork and knife. Instead, I was able to pick it up and eat it like any other pizza.

But this was not like any other pizza. The tomato sauce was sweeter; the cheese gooier. And the dusting of cheese on top added a nice saltiness to the dish and helped bring it all together.

When eating a more traditional pizza, I can usually force four slices if it’s good. This was great, but I could only manage two. It was too robust and filling to pack away any more. Julie struggled even more, making it through one-and-a-half slices before calling for a box.

We took what was left of our meal up to the front counter and had it packed up before moving on to the cash register to pay our bill. With two bottles of water thrown in, our bill was a little under $25, not a bad price considering the pizza could have comfortably fed four people.

Romano’s brought a fresh flavor to Reading when they opened for business in January. There are dozens of pizza places across the county, but only Romano’s is bringing the taste of Chicago to Berks County.

And it has certainly been a welcome addition.

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

Romano’s Chicago Style Pizza
501 Lancaster Ave
Reading, PA 19611

More Pizza in Berks County

More Restaurants in Reading, PA

Lunch & Dinner Pizzerias Reviews
white pizza with meatballs
— 3 Comments

Review: Paradise by the Slice

Editor’s Note: Paradise by the Slice was sold to new owners in 2019.

As part of National Pizza Month, I have spent four weeks sampling some of the most clever and unique pies in Berks County.

Each restaurant has impressed in a different way, taking pizza in completely opposite—but delicious—directions.

Still, the question remained: Who has the best pizza in Berks County?

Despite devoting my October to finding the answer (I stopped counting after my 15th slice), it’s a question that I would be hard-pressed to answer.

What I did know is that my research would not be complete until I tasted the pizza from the restaurant that was voted Best in Berks 2013 by the readers of Berks County Living: Paradise by the Slice.

Wernersville is no island paradise, and the restaurant’s logo—a pizza slice sitting on a beach chair underneath a palm tree—certainly seems out of place on a cool fall evening.

One of the things I am always looking for is the unique: unique food, unique experiences, or anything else that sets the restaurant apart from their competition. So when I found out that Paradise by the Slice has their own app, I didn’t hesitate to download it.

screenshot of an app with a logo for Paradise by the Slice

The app is just a cleaner version of the restaurant’s webpage with options to view photos, get directions, follow them on social media, learn about the restaurant, and order on your phone.

In all my times of ordering take-out on my phone, it has been the old-fashioned way (10 digits, speak to an actual person, hope they get the order right). But after using Paradise’s app, I’m hoping more restaurants offer online take-out ordering because it made it fast, easy and convenient—three of the four things you look for when ordering take-out.

screenshot of an app showing confirmation of a pizza order

The fourth thing, of course, is the food. And with a Best of Berks award in their back pocket, I wasn’t too worried about that when I walked up to the take-out counter (which, oddly enough, is completely detached from the rest of the restaurant).

I resisted the temptation to sneak a slice on the drive home, a difficult task when you’re trapped in a car that smells like cheese and garlic for 15 minutes.

After finally arriving home, I threw open the lid and got my first look at the White Meatball Pizza.

white pizza with meatballs and ricotta

The 14″ pie was topped with garlic butter sauce, sliced meatballs (cut to look more like pepperoni) and mozzarella with handfuls of ricotta, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes strewn about on top.

It’s rare to find any dish—pizza or otherwise—that doesn’t pair meatballs with marinara sauce (Swedish meatballs being the exception) so I was intrigued by the combination of them with the garlic sauce. But I can safely say that it worked.

The key was proportions: there was not too much of any one ingredient to overpower the rest. The sauce was very light, just brushed onto the crust before the toppings were added, and though you could certainly taste the garlic, it wasn’t overly strong. The meatballs, by virtue of being cut so thin, were also milder, and with the mozzarella in between, it wasn’t that much different than taking a bite out of a meatball sandwich.

If one ingredient did stand out over the rest, it was the ricotta, and I think it’s because it was such an unusual topping. The fresh cheese was dropped on in clumps, and while it is a very mild cheese by comparison, getting a mouthful of it really changed the flavor, making it a little sweeter with a light texture.

basket of fries topped with sesoning

Wanting to try more than just pizza, we added a side order of Paradise’s beach fries. Advertised as hand-cut to order, they were reminiscent of Boardwalk fries, thin-cut with potato skins clinging to the ends. Though they were very good, I wish we could have enjoyed them fresh from the fryer at the restaurant because the container had begun to sweat on the ride home, making them a little soggy. I’m sure they would have been even better on the table.

As has been the case with most of my pizza adventures, the meal was too much for two people so Julie and I had two slices and a serving of fries to put in the fridge so we could stretch our $20 across two days.

If you asked me if Paradise by the Slice is the “Best in Berks,” I don’t know that I could give you a definitive answer.

But if you asked me if I would go back again, the answer is a resounding “yes.”

BCE Rating
Food: Very Good
Service: Very Good
Ambiance: N/A
Price: Reasonable

Paradise by the Slice
63 E. Penn Ave
Wernersville, PA 19565

More Pizza in Berks County

More Restaurants Near Wernersville, PA

Lunch & Dinner Pizzerias Reviews
Best Pizza: Nonno Alby's
— 12 Comments

Review: Nonno Alby’s Brick Oven Pizza

sign that reads "nonno Alby's wood oven pizza" with a drawing of a pizza man in front of a brick oven

For many, food is a family affair.

Whether gathering the family around the dinner table at home or at your favorite restaurant or helping your mother or father in the kitchen as they make your favorite recipe, food has a way of bringing families together.

The same holds true for restauranteurs, where children are brought in to the family business at a young age in hopes that they will someday carry on their parents’ legacy.

In the case of the Nonno Alby’s Brick Oven Pizza, it means proud parents watching their children take what they have learned and create something uniquely their own.

Opened in 2013, Nonno Alby’s occupies the original G.N.A. Ristorante property in West Reading. The second generation of the Grande family named the restaurant for their father Alby, who still oversees operations at G.N.A., now located just a few blocks east.

While Nonno Alby’s and G.N.A. have a family connection, the two restaurants are vastly different. While G.N.A. offers a fairly expansive menu of Italian dinners, sandwiches and pizza, Nonno Alby’s is all about pizza and burgers.

Walking through the front door, you can see the heat glowing from the brick oven behind the bar at the far end of the dining room. Unfortunatley we lost site of the glowing coals once we were seated on the opposite side of the room divider.

The only deviation from burgers and pizza is found in the appetizers, mostly sharable salads, but a sign at the front door advertised the addition of baked wings to the menu. Our waittress read off the available flavors and suggested honey BBQ (which is not actually on the menu, but honey and BBQ are, and the two are easily mixed). It did not take much to sell us on it so a few minutes later we had a plate of 10 wings in front of us.

plate of bbq wings with carrots and celery and a cup of ranch dressing

Served on a plate with mixed vegetables and a cup of ranch (bleu cheese is also available, if you are so inclined), the wings were glistening with the honey-infused glaze.

Baking them gave them a nice crisp, but not as much as if they were fried. The honey came through more than the barbecue sauce, giving them a nice sweet flavor.

The wings were just a precursor to the pizza. While most pizza places offer small and large pies, Nonno Alby’s only serves individual 12″ pies, each with its own signature toppings, many of which are imported from Italy.

My eye did not have to travel far to find my pizza of choice as the namesake Nonno Alby’s pizza was at the top of the list. The Nonno Alby’s is topped with imported San Marazano tomato, buffalo mozzarella, fresh Italian sausage, sauteed rapini (broccoli raub) and red pepper flakes.

pizza with golden crust topped with mozzarella, broccoli rabe and sausage

Brick oven pizza has a crispier crust than traditional pies. Slices are rigid so you don’t have to worry about the toppings sliding off as it sags. Every bite included a healthy helping of toppings that hit on a wide range of flavor profiles. Sweet ground tomatoes, mild heat  from the ground sausage and buffalo mozzarella, and the slightly bitter rapini came together for a memorable pizza.

In the seat next to me, Julie had ordered something completely different: the Bianca (white) pizza. Her pie was topped with baby arugula, buffalo mozzarella, proscuitto di Parma, shaved Parmigiano Reggiano and extra virgin olive oil.

pizza with golden crust topped with prosciutto, arugula and shaved parmesan cheese

As much as I enjoyed my own pie, hers may have been even better. I have never been a fan of white pizza, but I think that’s because it usually comes sans toppings. This was something completely different. The proscuitto, and even the parmesan, gave it a salty flavor while the arugula leaves helped to tone it down just enough that instead of becoming overpowering, it was near perfect.

In hindsight, we did not need to order so much food. Though we certainly got our money’s worth for $40, we would have been fine skipping the wings, or we could have justed ordered a single pizza with the wings and been fine. As it was, Julie took home two slices while I cleaned my plate but probably shouldn’t have.

Nonno Alby’s continues a family tradition of serving great food in Berks County.

If I were Alby, I would be proud to have my name attached to the restaurant.

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

Nonno Alby’s Brick Oven Pizza
701 Penn Ave
West Reading, PA 19611

More Pizza in Berks County

More Restaurants in West Reading, PA

Lunch & Dinner Pizzerias Reviews
— 1 Comment

Review: Island Pizza

large building with a neon sign palm tree and the words "Island Pizza"

No one would ever confuse Berks County for the Caribbean.

Reading is a long way from Aruba. Birdsboro is very different from Barbados.

But there is a place in eastern Berks County that at least tries to make it feel a little more like the islands.

Island Pizza sits along Route 422, about 10 minutes east of the city. The building sits on an “island,” its neon palm tree shining bright atop a hill high above the highway.

With the divided highway, the only way to reach it from the west is through one of those jug handle turns that are a rarity in Berks County.

But there is more different about this place than turning right to go left.

mural with an iguana and parrot in an orange sky with the sun in the upper right

Inside, every square inch of the walls are covered in bright murals depicting parrots, flowers and iguanas. An underwater scene adorns the short wall at the kitchen counter, with crabs and clownfish and others brought to life in vivid color.

order counter with a painted mural of multi-colored fish

The menu is a lot larger than I would have thought. In addition to more than 20 specialty pizza options— most of them featuring island names like the Martinique (chicken, red onion, tomatoes, bell peppers and mozzarella) and the Bermuda (white pizza with fresh garlic, broccoli and spinach)—the restaurant features burgers, steak sandwiches and hoagies.

Island Pizza is also “crazy about fries” with 18 styles that range from Cajun and seasoned fries to ranch bacon cheese and pulled pork BBQ. We decided to go with something a little more Italian in nature with the Parmesan garlic fries.

basket of fries topped with parmesan and minced garlic

Too hungry to wait for our pizza, we asked to have our fries first. The crispy fries were dusted with in powdery Parmesan; a small pool of oil had gathered at the bottom of the basket. The fries at the bottom were too soggy to pick up without a fork, but using a fork was only a minor inconvenience.

The fries were greasy and good, and the garlicky sauce was doubly good, serving as a convenient dipping sauce for the pizza yet to come.

stuffed pizza with a cup of tomato sauce for dipping

For our pizza, we decided to go all-out with a gourmet stuffed pizza, the Aruba.

stuffed pizza with the top peeled back to show the sausage and cheese inside

Peeling back the doughy lid revealed a meat-lovers dream, filled with meatballs, sausage, pepperoni, ham, bacon and mozzarella.

Everything about it was excellent. All of the meats worked well together with the pepperoni adding just a hint of spice to the pie. The sauce, served in a bowl on the side, was thick marinara that added just a little sweetness. in the end though, I dipped more into the garlic sauce from the fries than I did in the marinara.

The pizza, which cost about $20, was enough to easily feed a family of four. After we each finished two of the oversized slices (mine were bigger than Julie’s, of course), we still had two slices left for lunch later in the week.

It may not be the Caribbean,  but Island Pizza is an oasis of sorts, a relaxing place friendly service.

And some darn good pizza.

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

Island Pizza
3060 Limekiln Rd
Birdsboro, PA 19508

More Pizza in Berks County

More Restaurants Near Birdsboro, PA

Lunch & Dinner Pizzerias Reviews Uncategorized