The summer was a busy one for our family. It started with baseball tournaments as Jakob and his teammates took on the world (or at least, Berks County) for two full weekends in June. Exhausted after their last game, the parents decided to get together to celebrate the season. The chosen destination: Sly Fox Wyomissing Taphouse.
Sly Fox Brewing Company started in Phoenixville in 1995 and now has four locations, including the Wyomissing Taphouse which opened for business in 2019.
The Taphouse is one of the cornerstone businesses in the Knitting Mills complex, formerly home to the VF Outlet Center and before that, Wyomissing Industries. In addition to the restaurant and bar on the main floor, the location is home to the Foxkeller, a lower-level bar with golf simulators, and the neighboring event space, Eight-Twenty at the Mills.
Julie and I had visited Sly Fox once before, shortly after they opened. Sitting in the industrial-looking main dining room, we only ordered some drinks and wings – very good, but not enough to write a blog about.
This time, we had the whole family in tow, sitting amongst the other families from Jakob’s baseball team. Jakob sat with half a dozen other eight and nine year olds at one table while we sat nearby with some of the other parents.
I was impressed by Sly Fox’s organization and service. Including parents and players, there had to be close to 30 of us on the patio. The servers started tabs for each family using the player’s uniform number to keep track of who ordered what.
The only hiccup was that I was charged for two iced teas because two different servers added it to our tab.
Otherwise, it was as flawless as could be expected, and food started pouring out of the kitchen, one family at a time, with ours toward the end of the group.
I ordered the Main Line cheesesteak and fries. It came with grilled onions and Cooper sharp cheese – my go-to cheesesteak toppings – served on a seeded roll. It was everything I wanted out of a cheesesteak.
It wasn’t as large as you would get at a true cheesesteak shop – much more manageable for a single person – but with the fries, it was more than filling.
The fries were also very good. They were battered and fried golden and crispy. Julie, Jakob and I each had fries with our meals, and we ended up taking a good amount home for the next day.
For her meal, Julie went with their chicken and guacamole wrap. It features grilled chicken, bacon, guacamole, chili lime ranch and pico de gallo wrapped in a tortilla.
The wrap was very good. The chili lime ranch had a little kick to it, but not too bad. The guacamole was flavorful and the bacon gave it nice savory and salty notes.
Jakob ordered their chicken fingers and fries which came with four big tenders and a heap of the same delicious battered fries.
The chicken fingers were good, though nothing particularly noteworthy. He enjoyed it (and the leftovers), and that’s all that mattered.
For Lukas, we got a plain cheese pizza. With him, we knew we would be taking slices home for later.
I first tried Sly Fox pizza at their flagship location in Pottstown and was pleasantly surprised. Lukas’ pie had the flavor I remembered, but the crust was way too big with the toppings stopping well short of the edge (especially for a two-year-old who doesn’t eat crust).
Overall, though, our meal was very good. And I have to give credit to the servers who handled a rush of families as best as they could.
The meal was north of $80 for the four of us, but that included drinks – a mixed drink for Julie and soft drinks for the boys and me. And while their meals were kid-friendly, Jakob and Lukas had adult portions (hence the leftovers). So I would say it was fair for the amount of food that we had.
Overall, Sly Fox delivered quality in both the food and the service. I look forward to taking the boys there again in the future for a (hopefully) quieter family meal.
BCE Rating
Food: Good
Ambiance: Good
Service: Excellent
Price: $$
Sly Fox Wyomissing Taphouse
820 Knitting Mills Way
Wyomissing, PA 19610
