In the Lehigh Valley, there is a hot dog war: Potts’ vs. Yocco’s. There are 14 locations between the two rival companies. And while Yocco’s has yet to find a home in our area, Potts is back in Berks County thanks to Potts’ Top Dog in Topton.
Potts’ has been here before with Potts’ U operating in Kutztown from 2014 to 2016. That was a counter-service restaurant. The new Potts’ is very different.
Located in a parking lot along Weis Street, Potts’ Top Dog is a small red shack facing the street. The location serves drive-through only from two lanes, one coming and one going.
The menu is limited but there is some variety. In addition to hot dogs, the drive-through serves pulled pork, soup, pierogies and macaroni and potato salad.
Of course the stars are the hot dogs, and you can customize yours with nine different toppings. I ordered two dogs with chili sauce and onions and a side of pierogi and took them back to Ktown Hall, the coworking space in Kutztown I was working out of that day.
The hot dogs had been wrapped up and weren’t as photogenic by the time I got them out, but they were still good. I enjoyed the sauce, which added flavor and only a little heat.
I thought the pierogies were really good. They came three to an order, sauteed with onions. I love pierogies so they were gone in no time.
The price was right, too. The whole meal was $8.75 making it one of the most reasonable lunches around.
With good food at the right price, I hope Potts’ is here to stay this time.
BCE Rating Food: Good Service: Excellent Ambiance: N/A Price: $
Potts’ Top Dog 330 W. Weis Street Topton, PA 19562
Comb Coffee Co.
If you make the trip, consider stopping at the adjacent Comb Coffee Co. They offer coffee and tea as well as breakfast items like hash browns and pastries. (I grabbed a really good chai from them before getting my hot dogs). Comb also has a small outdoor seating area to enjoy your meal if it’s a nice day.
Starting a business is a milestone for entrepreneurs. And hopefully for them, there are many more milestones along the way.
UpDog Hot Dogs started out as a mobile hot dog cart in 2020. Four years later, the business celebrated a milestone with the opening of a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Blandon.
The location in the Maidencreek Towne Center along Fleetwood-Blandon Road was most recently Mad J’s BBQ. That restaurant closed in early 2023, leaving the space vacant.
After some work inside including a fresh coat of paint (although the Fleetwood Tigers logo on the wall remains), UpDogs celebrated its grand opening in August 2024.
I visited for a quick lunch in mid-September, a few weeks after the restaurant opened.
The menu is focused – just hot dogs, fries and mini donuts – but there are eight specialty dogs to choose from plus a dozen toppings to customize. You can also order a regular sized hot dog or a quarter-pound “Big Dog.”
I went with a Big Memphis BBQ dog and a side of fries.
The dog was topped with shredded cheddar cheese, bacon crumbles, BBQ sauce and green onions. First, a quarter-pound dog doesn’t sound like much, but it’s huge. And it was delicious. The hot dog was perfect and the bacon and BBQ sauce added a little sweet and salty flavor. The bacon and onions also added a delightful crunch.
The fries were really good, too – perfectly crispy fast-food style fries with a little bit of seasoning beyond the standard salt and pepper.
And it was a quick meal – perfect in-and-out for a no-fuss lunch on a workday – at a reasonable price for around $10 for the hot dog and fries.
Overall, I was really impressed. I didn’t know northeastern Berks County needed two hot dog joints (the other being Potts’ Top Dog in Topton just 15 minutes up the road), but I’m glad UpDog is here.
BCE Rating Food: Good Ambiance: Good Service: Excellent Price: $
Editor’s Note: The Circle S Ranch House is now closed. The restaurant closed on April 8, 2022 after 49 years in business. The owners cited a desire to spend more time with family in the closing announcement. A new restaurant, Lilli’s Ranch House, has opened in its place but is unaffiliated with the original.
Anyone who has driven along Penn Avenue in West Lawn has undoubtedly noticed the Ranch House.
At night, the neon sign beams in bright orange. During the
day, the sign and the building itself, with faux fence posts on the roof and a
giant wagon wheel on the wall, catch the eye of passersby.
I remember visiting the Ranch House as a kid with my parents and grandparents. Thirty years later, it still feels the same with an interior that is almost exclusively made of wood – wood-paneled walls, wooden booths, exposed wood beams and wooden ceilings. It’s a similar look to the Ranch House’s sister restaurant, Schell’s, the Muhlenberg Township drive-in.
Green cushions and cream curtains are an interesting – and
tired looking – accent. The dining room could probably use an update, but
change isn’t really welcomed by the more mature crowd that frequents the Ranch
House.
And it’s really not a surprise that their primary clientele
skews older – the menu is simple and cheap. The most expensive item on the menu
is an eight-ounce steak, served with two sides for less than $15. The cheapest
is a two-ounce burger for $2.55.
My Wagon Wheel hamburger and fries was middle-of-the-road
when it came to price at $5.59. For that price, the burger is Plain Jane – even
more so than I realized. The only option for the Wagon Wheel is cheese or no
cheese. For lettuce, tomato and onion, you need to order the Ranchburger, which
also is served with their special ranch sauce. (Both burgers are also on the
menu at Schell’s).
I probably should have remembered that , but I didn’t so I
ended up with a plain hamburger. I have to say, though, their hamburger patties
are pretty good. It reminds me of a Burger King patty, a similar flavor only
thicker and served on a sesame seed bun. It was pretty good for what it was,
but I do wish I had the LTO and understood the difference when I ordered it.
The fries were simple but good. They’re not fresh-cut or
anything fancy, just thicker cut French fries that needed salt and pepper. But
there was plenty of them for the money.
Julie also had a plateful of fries on the side with her grilled
pretzel bun sandwich. The sandwiches are prepared with a choice of turkey, ham
or roast beef, with or without cheese. She opted for the turkey with cheese (at
almost $9 with the 75-cent upcharge for cheese, it was the highest priced
sandwich on the menu).
Pretzel buns are always good. This was no exception. Otherwise, it was your typical turkey melt. Enjoyable, but unremarkable.
One of the positive things about the Ranch House for Julie
and I – other than the price – is that it’s really kid-friendly. They have a decent kids menu with 10 entrees
and two kid-themed desserts – all with western-themed names – so we have no
problem bringing our son Jakob, now 18 months old.
Whenever we can, we placed his order before our own so it
arrives early and we can begin feeding him before our meals are served. It
allows us to give him our full attention and get him busy eating before he gets
impatient in his high chair.
Jakbo’s half-eaten dinner.
On our recent visit, we ordered him “The Lone
Ranger,” a hot dog served atop a plate of baked beans. It’s two things
that Jakob loves and two things that heat up fairly well which is important because
he can’t finish an entire meal yet.
Before we arrived, we had already decided that we were going
to finish our meal with ice cream. After debating back-and-forth for a few
minutes, we decided on one of the Ranch House’s signature ice cream treats –
the Bull Dog.
Named for the Wilson School District’s mascot, the Bull Dog
is a beast of a sundae: four scoops of ice cream (vanilla and chocolate) with
crushed peanuts, strawberries, peaches, pineapple and whipped cream – and a cherry
on top, of course.
When it arrived at the table, our jaws dropped at the size
of it. But it was actually much more manageable for the two of us than we
original thought, working out to a two-scoop sundae each.
(Full disclosure: we thought Jakob would share some but he
filled up on his hot dog and beans and actually refused ice cream).
There was no question that this was the best thing we ate
during our meal. I especially loved the mix of chocolate ice cream with the
fresh strawberries. But the pineapple topping
and the peaches were also very good with both the vanilla and chocolate.
It was a very satisfying end to our meal.
Even with the addition of the sundae, our total bill was
only $28. You can’t argue with that price for a full-service restaurant.
The Ranch House may not be “cool.” At more than 40
years old, it’s not new either. But for a young family like ours, it’s not a
bad choice.
BCE Rating
Food: Good
Service: Very Good
Ambiance: Fair
Price: Very Reasonable
Circle S Ranch House
2738 Penn Ave
West Lawn, PA 19609
Driving along Route 724 near Birdsboro it’s hard to miss Scoupe Deville. The building, with its distinct half-car sticking out the front, was built in the 1950s as a service station.
First opening as an ice cream parlor in 2001, Scoupe DeVille’s current owners took over the space in 2017.
The 1950s has been brought back in all its kitschy glory inside Scoupe DeVille. Reproduction signs, old photographs, an old jukebox and a retro gas pump are among the hundreds of decorations found throughout the building.
Early rock ‘n’ roll played through speakers inside and outside the building. A small TV in one corner showed clips of the Three Stooges and I Love Lucy on rotation.
In addition to ice cream, Scoupe DeVille does offer a very limited food menu that includes burgers, hot dogs, fries and barbecue sandwiches.
I ordered a Coney burger with onions and no cheese. I was a little puzzled when the young lady behind the counter told me that the Coney burger came smothered in gravy, but I rolled with it. Just like I rolled with it when the burger came out with a slice of white American cheese on top.
It was an okay burger. There’s no grill (at least that I saw) so I’m sure it was a pre-done patty that was just reheated.
Julie’s hot dog was a little better, though it was absolutely loaded with cheese and chili – probably a little overstuffed. It was good enough, if a little messy.
One thing we really enjoyed was the use of potato rolls for the hamburger and the hot dog. It’s a small touch, but it does make a difference in flavor.
Another thing we enjoyed were the fries. The crinkle-cut fries were no different than you would find at similar places, but that didn’t make them any less enjoyable.
If I was going to grab dinner there again, I would either opt for a bowl of chili or a barbecue sandwich.
But we weren’t really there for the food. We were there for the ice cream.
The ice cream menu is vast, with hard and soft ice cream, four types of banana splits, milkshakes, sundaes, shimmies (kind of like a Blizzard but not copyrighted), and the Fat Elvis Ice Cream Challenge: a 10-scoop sundae (five scoops of banana ice cream, five scoops of peanut butter ice cream), seven toppings, whipped cream, a brownie, a banana and cherries. Eat it in 30 minutes, and you win.
I don’t know how long the challenge has been in place, but there was only one photo on the wall of fame.
Julie and I were only looking for one scoop each. Scoupe DeVille primarily serves Nelson’s Ice Cream (we most recently saw Nelson’s ice cream at Oley Turnpike Dairy), but they also offer select flavors from Schuylkill County favorite Leiby’s Dairy.
And it just happened that the flavors that caught our eyes were both from Leiby’s.
For me, it was cashew and raspberry. Not to be confused with black raspberry, the cashew and raspberry was a vanilla ice cream with raspberry swirl. No, this was better than any black raspberry. It was sweet and rich. If I had one criticism it would be that there weren’t enough cashews and I would have liked the nuts to have been salted. That would have put it over the top in my book.
Julie went with red velvet cheesecake, a new flavor (according to Scoupe DeVille’s Facebook page). The decadent ice cream featured chunks of red velvet with graham cracker crust. It was a unique flavor, and quickly became one of Julie’s favorites. She also splurged on a chocolate-covered waffle cone dipped in sprinkles. It’s hard not to love that.
Between dinner and ice cream, our total was just over $20. And while dinner certainly didn’t wow us, the ice cream had us leaving extremely satisfied.
BCE Rating Food: Fair Ice Cream: Excellent Ambiance: Very Good Service: Good Value: Very Reasonable
