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.Â
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.
For a small town, Bowers offers a lot to the culinary scene in Berks County. Most notably, the tiny village of 326 residents is home to the Bowers Chile Pepper Festival, one of the largest festivals of its kind in the country.
But it is more than just a once-a-year destination for foodies. Like all small communities, Bowers has its own gathering place, one that serves great food and drinks to neighbors and strangers alike.
The Bowers Hotel has a long history that dates back to 1820 when Jonas Bower (of the family from whom Bowers is named) built a small log cabin that served as a tavern.
More than 100 years have passed since the log cabin was replaced by the current two-story structure, but the hotel does not show its age. It maintains some 19th century charm in the wallpaper (red with beautiful white scrolling) and dim overhead lighting with votive candles on the tables, but the tables and chairs are much newer and add a modern feel to the historic property.
We were seated in the first of what are three partially divided dining rooms with a more “early bird” crowd while later arrivals were seated in the far room where a jazz band kicked off their set toward the end of our meal.
The menu also recalls the past with traditional dishes like liver and onions, shepherds pie, oyster pie and chicken pot pie (not the Pennsylvania Dutch favorite, but the baked-in-a-crust kind). And like most traditional restaurants, all meals are served with a basket of warm baked rolls.
The result was a cross between a pierogi and a baked potato, deep-fried and delicious. It had the perfect mix of texture, the crispy outer shell and bacon mixed with the fluffy potatoes and dense, creamy sauce made for an exceptional appetizer.
For my main course, I didn’t go in looking for something simple, but upon seeing pork and sauerkraut on the weekend specials, my decision was made.
Pork and sauerkraut may be the most quintessential of German American dishes, one that is normally reserved for New Year’s Day. But there’s no rule that says you can’t get some good luck in mid-November. And while I can’t confirm that the pork and sauerkraut brought me good luck, I can tell you that the Bowers Hotel brought me some darn good pork and sauerkraut.
The key to the dish is the sauerkraut: too sour and it leaves a poor taste in your mouth, not sour enough and you lose the flavor. This sauerkraut was done just right, injecting a jolt of acidity into the pork. Adding mashed potatoes to every forkful made it even better.
Also opting for traditional, Julie decided on chicken Parmesan for her main dish. The chicken and spaghetti were covered in a thick tomato sauce and a layer of melted cheese. It was just about as good as any Italian restaurant.
We were tempted to continue our meal with dessert, but I managed to show restraint and leave on a full stomach instead of an overly full one. With Julie’s addition of an apple cider sangria, our total bill came to just over $40.
I always love things that are new and different, but sometimes it is good to remember that the classics are classics for a reason. And the Bowers Hotel does classics as well as anyone.
BCE Rating Food: Good Service: Good Ambiance: Very Good Price: Reasonable
Berks County Eats crosses the county line to bring you some of the best dining both near and far. This edition takes us 23 miles southwest of Reading to East Earl, PA.
I think everyone has a birthday tradition.
For myself, and many people who live within driving distance of Lancaster County, that tradition includes a birthday feast at one of the best buffets in the entire country.
Every year on May 30, my wife and I make the short drive south to East Earl to join the throngs of thousands that pour into Shady Maple Smorgasbord daily.
East Earl, a community of just over 1,000 people, doubles in size during the evening dinner rush. That’s the way it has been since Shady Maple expanded its smorgasbord more than a decade ago to create the glorious food paradise it is today.
The only exceptions are on holidays and every Sunday when the restaurant is closed, perhaps so we can all atone for committing the deadly sin of gluttony during our visit.
It’s easy to get lost among the food, which is why signs point the way to both the east and west buffet. Combined, there are 10 islands, four carving stations and three drink stations. A pair of dessert stands bookend the room. Walking from one end to the other is nearly impossible as you bob and weave your way around a hundred other people, all seemingly waiting in line for the same thing you are.
But with limited stomach to work with, scoping out the entire buffet is a must. Otherwise you may miss the carved-to-order prime rib or the ICEE machine.
As much as I appreciate a good salad, the two stations full of greens are off-limits during my visits. I can get a free salad with a meal anywhere.
Instead, my first plate included a cup of tomato basil soup, broccoli, a pierogi and a sweet and sour meatball. The soup was a beautiful shade of light orange, a result of the added cream that gave it its rich flavor. A heaping helping of peppers and onions came along with the pierogi, but it could easily stand on its own. And the meatball was more like a miniature meatloaf, packed with spices in a ketchup-based barbecue sauce. I also added on an onion biscuit, just for good measure.
Plate number two was all about the meat as I took a slab of beef brisket and a heaping helping of roast beef. A fistful of carrots and a drop of bread filling helped balance out the plate. The brisket was a featured meat at one of the carving stations. Unfortunately the heat lamps at carving stations rarely keep meats hot, and this was no exception. It was lukewarm, and the fact that it was oven-roasted made it taste more like an ordinary slice of beef. The actual roast beef, however, was amazing. It was tender and moist, everything the brisket was not.
My third plate was my “healthy” vegetable plate. It featured baked lima beans, which were done in a very nice, thick barbecue sauce (I wish I that for the brisket); mashed potatoes; mashed sweet potatoes, which were topped with raisins and nuts; and some of the best (and wettest) dried corn I have ever tried. All the juice you see on the plate was from the dried corn, and it was excellent.
Dessert was a (small) slice of shoofly pie and a dish of raspberry and vanilla soft serve. The wet-bottom pie was alright, but it had obviously been chilled which hurt the filling a little bit.
After dinner, Shady Maple encourages their guests to work off their dinners and shop off some dollars in the expansive gift shop, located beneath the smorgasbord. The store is as large as the buffet, filled to the brim with everything from wind chimes and bird houses to Elvis collectibles and Pennsylvania Dutch cookbooks.
If you’re looking for a little taste of Shady Maple to take home, the farmer’s market offers a large selection of fresh produce and many of the smorgasbord’s famous desserts.
Even if you don’t have a birthday coming up, Shady Maple is worth the price of admission. Dinner buffets vary depending on the featured entrees, but average around $20.00 per person. If you do happen to be celebrating, all you need is your ID and a paying guest and you’ve got your very own birthday feast on the house.
