bowl with pulled pork, avocado, grilled onions and peppers, and corn topped with green sauce and crumbled cheese
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Review: Morning Fuel – West Lawn

Building with copula and words over the door reading "Morning Fuel"

There are a lot of brunch spots in Berks County – places that serve breakfast and lunch only with the full menu available all day. And I’ve enjoyed trying many of them while exploring Berks County. 

One that has caught my eye – and my tastebuds – recently is Morning Fuel in West Lawn. 

bar seats on the left with a chalkboard sign that reads "Happy New Year 2026"

Morning Fuel occupies the former Friendly’s along Penn Avenue in 2024. The parking lot always looks bustling during breakfast and lunch, the two meals that Morning Fuel offers. And on our visits, we can confirm that the dining room fills up fast. (The restaurant has been popular enough that they opened a second location near Harrisburg in late 2025). 

booth at a restaurant with a wooden honeycomb on the right separating it from the booths on the other side

It still has the diner vibe to it – especially with booths accounting for most of the seating – but it feels much more refined with a full bar at the front entrance, large murals on the white walls, and a menu that is more curated than Friendly’s ever had. 

close-up of a grilled chicken sandwich topped with lettuce and tomato with a side of fries topped with garlic and parmesan

Our most recent visit came in January with Julie and I getting together for a weekday brunch date. I ordered the chipotle grilled chicken sandwich, grilled chicken with tomato, lettuce, avocado and chipotle mayo. To be honest, I was a little disappointed to see that the grilled chicken wasn’t a chicken breast but the sliced chicken you can get in a bag at the grocery store (except cut thicker). That said, everything else about the sandwich was very good – even the chicken had a good flavor. I also liked the little kick out of the chipotle mayo, and the avocado went well with it. 

The fries were great. They were loaded with garlic and Parmesan, my favorite fry toppings. There was no way I was going to leave any of them. 

bowl with pulled pork, avocado, grilled onions and peppers, and corn topped with green sauce and crumbled cheese

Julie’s meal was much more impressive. She ordered the Tex Mex bowl with carnitas – it started with a bowl of purple rice that was topped with black beans, corn, onions, and peppers. That was topped with the carnitas along with avocado-cilantro sauce, sliced avocado, and queso fresco. 

I really liked the bite I got to try. The carnitas were tender and flavorful, and I liked the brightness of the sauce. Grilled onions and peppers are always good in my book, and the purple rice was a nice touch. 

There was way too much to finish in a single meal so Julie brought half of it home, and we shared the rest in a breakfast bowl with some egg the next morning. 

white plate with chorizo, potatoes, and avocado topped with scrambled egg and a chipotle drizzle

My previous visit to Morning Fuel was for breakfast in late December. I met my friend Justice for breakfast where I got my favorite menu item: the breakfast chorizo bowl. It included chorizo sausage, potatoes, black beans, eggs (I ordered them scrambled), pico, cheese, avocado, and chipotle crema. 

For me, chorizo is the best meat for a breakfast bowl or burrito. It has the right level of heat to add flavor to complement the eggs. Add on the chipotle crema and it’s a breakfast with a bite to it, but I loved it. 

two plates, one with a breakfast burrito and a side salad, one with homefries, from Morning Fuel in West Lawn, PA

Justice ordered a breakfast burrito which came filled with many of the same items as my bowl – the only difference is no pico de gallo and it comes wrapped in a tortilla instead of a bowl. 

I had ordered the burrito on my first visit to Morning Fuel, and while it was good, I found it didn’t have the level of flavor as the bowl, probably because the tortilla tones it down a little. 

matcha latte with floral milk design from Morning Fuel in West Lawn, PA

My go-to drink order at Morning Fuel is their matcha latte. Normally, I’m a chai guy, but I tried the matcha at Morning Fuel and really enjoyed it. It’s sweet, but not like drinking a dessert, and the latte art is a nice touch. 

The vast majority of the menu items at Morning Fuel are priced at $15 or less with only a couple burgers, two steak-based dishes priced higher. For our lunch, Julie and I spent $38, which included a matcha with our lunch platters. Breakfast items run a little less, but still in the $10-$15 range.

menu for Morning Fuel in West Lawn

I’ve also never had bad service at the restaurant, which is impressive based on how busy it gets. For our brunch, Julie and I arrived just after 11 a.m. and were seated right away. But by the time we left, there was not a seat to be had. 

Morning Fuel is a solid stop with a lot of good dishes and a few great ones with solid service and a cozy atmosphere. It’s easy to see why it’s so popular. 

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

Morning Fuel
3024A Penn Avenue
West Lawn, PA 19609

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Breakfast & Brunch Reviews
White plate with enchiladas topped with red sauce, refried beans with a sprinkle of cheese, and yellow rice.
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Review: Castaneda’s Mexican Restaurant

large inflatable skeleton with smiling skull standing in front of an order counter at Castaneda's Mexican Restaurant.

There are times when I go back through my old blog posts and marvel at just how much things have changed since I started this blog 11 years ago. Yes, there have been industry-wide changes, but I’m talking about changes at individual restaurants. 

Castaneda’s Mexican Restaurant in Robesonia is a great example. 

The first Castaneda’s opened in August of 2017 and our first blog came a few months later. Castaneda’s has grown exponentially since. They opened a second location in Denver, Lancaster County, in January 2019 before moving that location to a larger space two years later. 

a hand holding a takeout dish of tacos in front of a food truck

The restaurant operates a fleet of food trucks, including the newly introduced La Botanera Mexican snack truck that debuted in 2025. 

And the original Robesonia location? That also outgrew its original space. In mid-2021, the restaurant moved to the opposite end of Robesonia to the corner of Penn Avenue and N. Linden Street.

(Another Mexican restaurant, Paraiso Rosel, now occupies the original location at 141 W. Penn Avenue). 

Parking is available on the street and in a private lot across Linden Street, a not-so-busy road that’s safe to cross (as long as you look both ways). 

small flags, each a different color of the ranbow, hang from a black ceiling in a room with green walls.

Inside, the restaurant spreads out, with floor-to-ceiling windows on two walls to let in the last of the evening sun. Above our booth, a collection of 20 fanciful hats hang on the wall as if waiting to be claimed by a mariachi performer. 

white menu with black text laminated with a heading that reads "Castaneda's" with an image of a Mexican sugar skull

The menu at Castaneda’s offers few surprises. It’s a collection of Mexican staples like burritos, enchiladas, and fajitas. But Castaneda’s does all of them really well. 

white plate with shredded pork, yellow rice, refried beans and a cup of pico de gallo.

One of the best items on the menu is the carnitas dinner. The slow-roasted pork was melt-in-your-mouth good, perfectly seasoned and cooked to perfection.

The dinner comes with rice, beans, pico de gallo, and tortillas. I got two corn tortillas with mine and built a couple amazing tacos with everything on the plate. Then I finished off the refried beans and took a little bit of the pork and rice home to have tacos the next day. 

White plate with enchiladas topped with red sauce, refried beans with a sprinkle of cheese, and yellow rice.

Julie ordered the enchiladas rojas (red sauce) with shredded chicken. It also came served with rice and beans. She enjoyed it – the sauce was good and not too spicy – but I think she was a little jealous after she tasted the carnitas. 

white plate with a taco topped with lettuce and cheese next to a helping of yellow rice and refried beans.

Jakob loved his kids taco. He ordered it with beef topped with lettuce and cheese, his standard order. The taco was gone in no time – so was the rice – but he’s not yet a fan of refried beans so he didn’t finish his plate. 

(He probably ate half a basket of tortilla chips on his own, as well). 

white plate with four chicken nuggets, rice, and refried beans topped with a sprinkling of cheese

And even though we knew he probably wouldn’t eat it, we still ordered Lukas a kids meal. We played it safe with chicken nuggets with rice (Lukas actually really loves rice). The nuggets are nothing special, but anything we can get a two-year-old to eat is good in our book. 

white plate with a quesadilla cut in half and a small salad

We had my mom along for the trip. If you didn’t know, she is Lori of Lori’s Candy Station, another Robesonia institution. She joined us after closing up for the evening and really liked her quesadilla. 

For the five of us, our total came to around $70 which was very reasonable for the portions and quality. 

I’m glad to see that Castaneda’s is continuing to grow, but I’m also glad that the growth included Robesonia. 

And I can’t wait to see what they do next. 

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

Castaneda’s Mexican Restaurant
225 E. Penn Avenue
Robesonia, PA 19551

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Original Review: January 2018

exterior of Castandea's Mexican Restaurant in Robesonia, PA

Editor’s Note: Castaneda’s Mexcian Restaurant has moved. A new, larger location opened in mid-2021 on the other side of town at 225 West Penn Avenue. The original location is now home to Paraiso Rosel Mexican Restaurant.

My childhood home of Robesonia has undergone a lot of changes over the years, oftentimes in ways that I would have never expected.

For example, 25 years ago, I would have never imagined a Mexican restaurant would open in town. But that’s exactly what happened in August 2017 when Castaneda’s Mexican Restaurant debuted.

The location doesn’t have a great track record – restaurants have come and gone over the years. Most notably, Muddy’s Smokehouse BBQ occupied the space for about two years. Castaneda’s is trying to turn that around.

mariachi outfits and a large vinyl decal of mariachi singers hang on a wall at Castaneda's

Visitors may recognize owner James Castaneda as one of the business partners who began La Abuela Mexican Restaurant in West Reading.

Castaneda’s menu is smaller with a greater emphasis on lighter fare – tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, fajitas, burritos and salads.

the menu at Castaneda's Mexican Restaurant

We visited on a Saturday evening in December, and the dining room was about half-full. Castaneda’s has a handful of tables for four in the small storefront. There was also a steady stream of customers picking up take-out orders while we – Julie, Jakob, my parents, and myself – sat at a table by the front window.

With a relatively small menu, it didn’t take long to decide on our meals. Before our meals were delivered, we were served our complementary chips and salsa.

basket of tortilla chips with a cup of salsa from Castaneda's

The salsa is pureed, not chunky, making for easier dipping and more consistent flavor in every bite. It was good, though I don’t think I could ever complain about free chips and salsa.

Our meals arrived a short time later. Looking for more of a meal than a snack, I ordered the enchiladas Verde – three hefty beef enchiladas in homemade green sauce and queso fresco.

enchiladas with green salsa with yellow rice and refried beans from Castaneda's Mexican Restaurant

Verde isn’t normally my go-to, but I wanted to switch it up from my usual order of enchiladas with mole sauce.

The sauce gets its distinct green color from the tomatillos. It had a very mild spice, but was full of flavor. The ground beef was also well-seasoned, and the two worked very well together. And the cool creaminess of the queso fresco added a nice finish.

Enchiladas at Castaneda’s are served with yellow rice and refried beans. I have always preferred black beans to refried – the texture of refried beans leaves a lot to be desired – but these were fine. I found myself scraping for as much of the salsa Verde as I could get to mix with the rice and beans to give them some of the great flavor that the enchiladas had.

enchiladas with creamy white sauce from Castaneda's

Julie also ordered enchiladas, but for her it was enchiladas Suizas, one of several daily specials advertised on the menu board.

Enchiladas Suizas literally means “Swiss enchiladas.” The name comes from the dairy used to make the creamy white sauce (thank you, Google).

Choosing chicken as the protein, Julie really enjoyed the dish. It was a heavier sauce (Julie had to bring one of the three enchiladas home with her because they were so filling).

Suizas sauce was also out of her comfort zone (ranchero sauce is her favorite), but this dish got her approval, and she said she would definitely order it again.

quesadillas with a small side salad from Castaneda's

My parents each enjoyed their meals as well – my mom had a quesadilla with a side salad while my dad had the chile rellano – a stuffed pepper also served with rice and beans.

But despite all of us being full, we couldn’t leave without trying the fried ice cream. By that, I mean Julie couldn’t leave without trying it. We just had to help her eat it.

fried ice cream with crispy tortilla chips topped with whipped cream, sprinkles and chocolate chips from Castaneda's

The vanilla ice cream was coated in a corn cereal, and deep-fried. It was served with cinnamon tortilla chips and whipped cream, and topped with chocolate syrup and sprinkles.

It’s probably the highest calorie menu item in western Berks County, an indulgence that is great once every five years or so. But it’s so good. The contrast in texture and temperature between the hot, crunchy shell and cold, smooth ice cream never gets old. Everything else is unnecessary (but delicious) window dressing.

It’s also a lot of food, especially after a full meal. We all left feeling way too full. But while we certainly packed on pounds, our wallets didn’t lighten much. Castaneda’s is reasonably priced. The four of us were able to eat for less than $50, even with the dessert and some sodas.

It’s still crazy to think that there is a Mexican restaurant within walking distance of my parents’ house, but Castaneda’s is here. And based on what I saw – and tasted – it might just be hanging around for a while.

BCE Rating:

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

Castaneda’s Mexican Restaurant
141 W. Penn Ave
Robesonia, PA 19551

Lunch & Dinner Mexican Reviews