— 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
— 4 Comments

Review: Cafe Sweet Street

large block letters spell the word "Cafe" above a small garden area

If you live in Berks County, chances are you’ve indulged in a Sweet Street dessert at least once.

Sweet Street’s cheesecakes, pies, cakes and other tasty treats are well-known around here, and with distribution in more than 60 countries, it’s safe to say that they’re known worldwide.

But what is less well known is Cafe Sweet Street.

Steps lead to the front door of a building with four windows with awnings that say "Cafe Sweet Street"

The Cafe is attached to Sweet Street’s corporate office building on Hiesters Lane. While the parent company is all about the sweets, the cafe is more in-tune with savory foods, offering a range of hearty options for breakfast and lunch.

That doesn’t mean it escapes its roots altogether. Just inside the front door, you are bombarded with the desserts that have made Sweet Street famous. In addition to serving fresh-prepared meals, the cafe serves as a retail store, with tables full of temptations.

We saw dozens of customers come through the door while we were there, and the vast majority of them were passing through simply for the desserts.

But we were there for something more, and when it comes to lunch, there are plenty of options to choose from.

The dessert counter at Cafe Sweet Street in Reading, PA

The menu is scrolled across the entire wall, only broken up by a tall TV screen that displays the weekly specials. The wall was filled with burgers, sandwiches and salads, each one sounding more tempting than the next.

It was hard to know where to begin until we saw a sign on the counter telling of the in-house flavored sodas. The first decision was made.

While Julie grabbed a high-top table by the window, I watched as our cashier became a barista of sorts. Our drinks were not pre-made but mixed on the spot. After scooping a full cup (16 oz.) of ice, she poured in the flavored syrup. Then she sprayed in the unflavored soda and stirred it with our straws.

two plastic cups filled with red-colored sodas

I was a little put off when I saw the cups full of ice, especially after paying $3.00 ea. for the sodas, but I was actually glad to have it once I started drinking. The sodas were a little too syrupy at first, but once the ice began to melt, it helped tone it down. By the end, the flavors were just right and only a few ice cubes were left sitting at the bottom of my cup.

After a short wait, my food was the first to arrive. I had decided on the lamb gyro with a side of fries. It was something completely different for me—I had never so much as thought about eating a gyro before—but yet it seemed like the right thing to order on this day.

a gyro wrapped in foil with a bag of fries from Cafe Sweet Street

The pita was packed with grilled lamb, tomatoes, and a mound of onions. And the whole thing was oozing with tzatziki, the white Greek sauce that I mistakenly took to be melted cheese when I first saw it.

gyro meat topped with tzatziki sauce, onions and peppers

Instead I found that tzatziki is actually a yogurt-based sauce that is quite refreshing, especially given the hints of mint that work so well with lamb. It was a messy meal for sure, but one that I happily devoured.

The fries were much more familiar, but Cafe Sweet Street put a unique twist on it. The menu touted them as world famous, hand-cut, double-fried and seasoned to perfection. While I don’t know about “world famous” (I had never heard about them), they were certainly seasoned to perfection and quite addicting.

As much as I loved eating them, I was still happy that I only got a “baby” order because the regular order is a full fryer basket.

Julie munched on a few of my fries while we waited for her Caprese salad. After a few minutes, she went back to the cashier to check on it and was told “they are still working on it.” That’s restaurant code for, “sorry, we forgot to make it.”

caprese salad with red and green tomatoes drizzled with balsamic

When it arrived, it looked beautiful: red and yellow heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella slices and a balsamic drip. There’s no denying that it was delicious, but we were both expecting something a little bit more for the money ($9.00).

The one saving grace about having such a light lunch was that she had more than enough room for dessert.

Ordering dessert was another cause for confusion as there was a dessert counter (sparsley filled) with individual servings plus all of the aforementioned desserts at the entrance: the whole pies, cakes and sheets. In between is the cash register which had a list of the week’s featured desserts.

As it turns out, the featured desserts are the latter, not the ones meant for consumption at the table (though it would have been quite entertaining to watch us open an 8-inch square box of the salted caramel stack and dig in).

chocolate bundt cake topped with chocolate sauce and pecans from Cafe Sweet Street

Once we got this figured out, we ordered a turtle Bundt cake to share. All previous grievances disappeared with the first bite.

The cake was topped with pecans and caramel and drizzled with chocolate sauce. The molten center was rich and gooey. In a word, it was divine.

Cafe Sweet Street, like the desserts they serve, is an indulgence. Our lunch was more than $30.00, certainly not a bargain by Berks County standards.

But there’s no denying the quality of the cafe, the same quality that goes into every goodie that rolls off the assembly line next door.

Besides, it’s good to indulge sometimes.

BCE Rating
Food: Excellent
Service: Fair
Ambiance: Very Good
Price: A Little Pricey

Cafe Sweet Street
722 Hiesters Ln
Reading, PA 19605

More Restaurants in Reading, PA

Cafes & Coffeeshops Dessert Lunch & Dinner Reviews
— 3 Comments

Review: Plein Air at Judy’s on Cherry

sign advertising the opening of Plein Air dining at Judy's on Cherry

Editor’s note: Plein Air has not been offered as a unique experience at Judy’s since 2019.

Al fresco dining is a tradition as old as the restaurant business.

On a beautiful day, no one wants to be constrained to a dining room. And whether it’s a full patio or just a handful of seats, many of the area’s most popular restaurants have expanded their seating area into the open air.

But there’s one Reading restauranteur that has taken the concept and created a whole dining experience around it.

The 300 block of Cherry Street is the domain of Judy Henry. She opened her first restaurant, Judy’s on Cherry, in 2002. Next came the Speckled Hen Cottage Pub & Alehouse, located in the historic log cabin on the corner of 4th and Cherry Streets.

The third piece of the puzzle came in 2009. That’s when Plein Air was born.

Located in a narrow alley adjacent to the cottage, Plein Air is an outdoor extension of the Speckled Hen. The alley is decorated to feel like a garden terrace in Europe, with a large pergola hanging over the bistro seats.

Plein Air’s location creates unique challenges. First, it’s weather dependent (though there are a handful of seats inside). It’s also small, with only a few tables and seating for 20 outside.

The alley is also uneven so they have to get a little creative in balancing the tabletops: a handful of coasters under one leg, a piece of stone under another, just to keep your plates from sliding off.

Both Plein Air and the Speckled Hen serve out of the same kitchen. And for those dining outside, the Speckled Hen menu is also available (I would imagine that this also works in reverse, though I can’t say for sure).

The two menus are vastly different. The Pub side was big on comfort foods—pot pie, shepherd’s pie, wings and the signature Scotch egg. Plein Air’s menu  is more fully developed, with tartines (single-slice sandwiches), salads and entrees, all of which feature fresh, seasonal ingredients.

One of the specialties at Plein Air is chilled soup. Gazpacho is a permanent fixture on the menu, but the standard tomato-based version had been replaced by beet for our visit.

chilled beet soup in fluted cup

Looking more like a smoothie than a soup, it was a vibrant purple with white creamy swirls and strips of basil on top. The basil helped sweeten the slightly sour soup. It was a delicious and refreshing way to start our meal.

four quarters of a small bread loaf witha red cup of whipped butter

Along with my soup, the waitress delivered our fresh-baked bread, quartered and served with a dollop of butter.

While Plein Air’s menu is quite a bit larger than the Speckled Hen, there are only a handful of large plate dinner entrees. One of those is the flat iron steak.

steak topped with butter on a bed of potatoes with greens on the side

The seared steak is topped with garlic herb butter and served with fingerling potatoes and a side salad. The butter melted quickly, coating both the steak and potatoes in a blanket of white. With the steak, it was very good. The herbs really came through and added to the seared-in flavors of the meat. With the potatoes, it was even better, turning them into miniature baked potatoes that melted in your mouth.

The side salad was topped with a citrusy vinaigrette dressing that felt right on a warm August night.

Another large plate offering is the crab cake. The rich entree is topped with a choice of lemon pesto, avocado lime butter or tomato basil corn relish, which is what Julie decided on.

crab cakes topped with corn with a skewer of zucchini and side green

Fresh was the word we kept coming back to when describing our food to each other, and that was the case with everything on Julie’s plate. The crab cake, the relish and the skewer of zucchini that accompanied the dish.

Everything at Plein Air is well-portioned, and though we would have walked away happy after dinner, we decided to splurge for dessert.

Angel food cake is not normally my dessert of choice, but when our waitress told us that it was topped with strawberry reduction and served with whipped cream and pistachio sorbet, it immediately climbed to the top of my list.

Everything was delicious, especially the sorbet. I wish I could have eaten a whole bowl of it, but I was happy enough to enjoy the other sweet delights on the plate.

Our total food bill came to $42, but being thrifty, I had purchased $30 gift certificate for $15 on LocalFlavor.com when I saw it in June so we really only paid $27 for two entrees, an appetizer and dessert.

Enjoying a meal outside is a great way to enjoy a beautiful summer night, but it is even better with great food, like what Plein Air is serving during the spring, summer and fall.

Don’t waste these beautiful days and nights sitting inside, get out and get yourself something to eat.

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

Plein Air
30 S. 4th St
Reading, PA 19602

More Fine Dining in Berks County

More Restaurants in Reading, PA

Dessert Finer Dining Lunch & Dinner Reviews
— 3 Comments

Review: Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe

sign hangs outside a yellowish-orange building that reads "Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe"

Downtown Reading is probably one of the most underrated food hubs in Berks County.

Penn Street alone offers a wonderful variety of options. Yet for those of us who don’t live or work downtown, making the trip into the city for a meal seems like a lot of work.

Sometimes all it takes is a little push to get us suburbanites to head into town. For me, that push came in the form of a half-price gift certificate for Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe.

While the Peanut Bar may be Penn Street’s most famous eatery, it is far from the only option. Just two doors down from the Reading landmark is a restaurant that has been building a legacy of its own for the better part of the last decade.

A display case just inside the front door of Mi Casa Su Casa shows off the accolades that the restaurant has earned in its first eight years of business. The restaurant’s success has led to a second location, as Mi Casa Su Casa also operates a cafe inside the Goggleworks.

Because of its location, Mi Casa Su Casa is perfect for breakfast and lunch for those working downtown. When we walked in, it was clear that Saturdays were a much slower time. But for a couple people sitting at the counter, we had the dining room to ourselves.

Mi Casa Su Casa’s menu isn’t very big, but it is varied, reflecting both American tastes and the Caribbean heritage of the owners.

Did you ever have one of those days when you just couldn’t make up your mind? That was us on this day. There were just too many delicious-sounding options that we decided to create our own mini-buffet by ordering four sides to split between the two of us.

Our waitress delivered our meal, one plate at a time until our table was no longer visible under a sea of white plates.

plate with yucca fries and two dipping sauces one mayo ketchup, the other garlic butter

The first item set down in front of us was the yuca fries. Yuca is a distant relative of the potato, a starchy root vegetable native to South America and a staple food for millions of people. The thick-cut yuca were deep fried to a light yellow and served with two options for dipping: mayo ketchup and garlic butter.

Yuca is much starchier than a potato so the fries maintained a lot more substance through the frying process. But after a nice soak in the garlic butter (which I claimed for myself while Julie happily took the house-made mayo ketchup), the fries went down smooth. Though I have to say they were much more filling than I had expected.

rice topped with beans from Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe

Our rice and beans were next to arrive. When it was presented, the rice was neatly piled on the plate with the beans in a small bowl. The use of red beans (I wrongly assumed black when I read ‘rice and beans’) made it look like a bowl of baked beans, but the flavor was altogether different. There was no brown sugar or bacon. Instead it used mild spices that let the natural flavor of the beans come through.

empanada and fried plantains on a plate from Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe

A pair of beef empanadas served as a stand-in for our main course. The trip through the fryer made the outer pastry crispy and delicious. I was expecting cheese to come oozing out after my first bite, but was pleasantly surprised that the filling was mostly beef, with just enough cheese to hold it together. It was about as perfect as I could have hoped for.

plantain chips from Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe

Completing our make-shift four-course meal was an order of tostones, fried plantains. Plantains contain more starch than a banana, making them perfect candidates to join the rest of our meal in the deep fryer (only now do I realize how much of our meal was actually fried). They were delicious, and despite having had more than my fair share of food already, I could not stop popping them in my mouth.

After adding on a couple bottles of soda to our final bill, our lunch was still just $17, a bargain for what appeared to be an endless amount of food. The best bargain Mi Casa Su Casa offers, however, may be the free parking in the lot behind the restaurant, which will save you a little money and a lot of hassle.

Our meal at Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe was well-worth the drive downtown. It was a great meal at a great price. You can’t ask for much more than that.

It took a little motivation to get there, but the food is more than enough motivation to go back.

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

Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe
320 Penn St
Reading, PA 19602

More Latin American Cuisine in Berks County

More Restaurants in Reading, PA

Caribbean & Latin American Lunch & Dinner Reviews
sign that reads V&S Sandwiches
— 5 Comments

Review: V&S Sandwiches

retro neon sign that reads "V&S Sandwiches Italian Steak Pizza"

“u no u luv it. lol :-)”

That’s the tagline pasted on the homemade posters throughout V&S Sandwiches on Lancaster Avenue, one poster promoting the shop’s chili cheese fries, another advertising hamburger and chicken sliders, limit 125 per order.

There is a lot of love to go round at the many V&S locations scattered throughout Greater Reading. Hot and cold sandwiches, salads and pizzas that have made V&S one of the most popular restaurant chains in Berks County.

A neon sign hangs high in front of the Lancaster Avenue location, beckoning diners to try the shop’s Italians, steaks and pizzas. The retro-looking sign fits perfectly in front of a restaurant that is very much a time capsule, itself.

Red picnic benches sit atop sheets of Astroturf in front of the building. Inside, a large sign reminds patrons of the restaurant’s cash-only policy, another leftover from a bygone era of dining.

During peak hours, V&S operates more like a New York City deli, with customers taking a number and waiting to be called just to place their order. Be ready when your number is called as indecisiveness can back up the line quickly.

Though there are about two dozen sandwiches to choose from, my eyes never left the “specials” board. The steak special is a simple sandwich: steak, sauce, onions and peppers (the cheesesteak special is available for an extra $0.10).

close up photo of a steak sandwich covered in sauce

Delivered on a cafeteria tray, the steak special looks less like a sandwich, and more like a pile of steak meat. The roll is stuffed so full that it is nearly impossible to close.

The onions and peppers are mixed in with the steak, but the thick sauce is heaped on afterward. Some bites are heavy on the sauce, others are lacking, but all are delicious.

The meat is very flavorful on its own, not like the frozen steaks you would pick up at the grocery store. I also caught the hint of a banana pepper or two mixed in, adding just a kick of sweet heat.

It was only after I finished that I noticed the puddle that had formed on the table, the combination of a soft roll and a thin paper plate having done very little to dam the flow of grease.

closeup photo of fries

Of course no sandwich lunch is complete without an order of fries. The small bag holds a deceptively large amount of the fast food staples.

Compared to a chain like Subway, V&S is a steal. The steak special costs right around $3.50—that for a sandwich that is longer than a standard six-inch with twice the meat. For our two sandwiches, a shared order of fries and two drinks, our bill was right around $13.00.

receipt with the words "u no u luv it lol" printed on it

And there again, printed on my receipt: “u no u luv it. lol”

It’s true. I do love it.

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

V&S Sandwich Shop
1621 Lancaster Ave
Reading, PA 19607

More Cheesesteaks in Berks County

More Restaurants in Reading, PA

Classics Lunch & Dinner Reviews Sandwich Shops