Burger and Fries from the Pike Cafe
— 2 Comments

Review: The Pike Cafe

Yellow building with red awning and a sign that reads "The Pike Cafe"

We’ve spent a lot of 2017 visiting restaurants that are new to Reading and Berks County.

I couldn’t wait to visit highly anticipated restaurants like Gettin’ Crabby at the Crab Barn and Fork & Ale.

But sometimes, you have to also experience the classics that we’ve neglected, places like Reading’s Pike Cafe.

The “World Famous” Pike Cafe is a true gem in the city. The corner of Pike and Moss isn’t exactly in a part of the city that sees a lot of outside traffic – except for those coming to the Pike.

One of the best parts about the Pike is that it has one of the largest parking lots in the city. And it needs it. We arrived at about 5:15 p.m. on a Saturday night and got the last available table.

Take my advice and make a reservation, especially for the weekend dinner rush.

We were led around the U-shaped bar and into the back corner where they packed in the two-seat tables.

White plate of wings with carrot and celery sticks and a cup of ranch for dipping

It was our first time at the Pike so we had to try the wings – a perennial contender in every “Best Of” competition.

After my first bite, I get it.

The wings are advertised as Bell & Evans organic wings. Anytime you are ordering an organic protein, you can expect it to be smaller – without the growth hormones, the animals are a more natural size.

But what the organic wings lacked in size, they made up for in flavor. It’s everything that chicken should taste like, and without the excess meat, there’s a crunch to every bite. The wings were also able to absorb more of the flavor from the Montreal dry rub we chose.

Sauces and dry rubs aside, these are the only wings in Berks County that I would order naked (the wings, not me).

plate with a chicken sandwich and fries. the top bun has the word "Pike" burnt in

I got another taste of Bell & Evans chicken with my entree, the chicken bruschetta sandwich.

The sandwich featured a grilled chicken breast with house-made bruschetta, asiago cheese, balsamic drizzle and a bun branded with the Pike logo, just so there are no doubts where the sandwich came from.

First, the chicken was excellent. It was juicy, flavorful and clearly not processed. The bruschetta was very good, though I would have preferred smaller pieces of tomato (the large chunks tended to fall out of the bun). The asiago cheese was the perfect choice for the sandwich, and it had just the right amount of balsamic.

Toasting the bun didn’t just add branding, it added a crunchy texture that the sandwich needed to make it truly feel like bruschetta.

I almost forgot to mention the fries. Hand-cut, skin-on, golden brown – this is how fries are supposed to be. I wouldn’t call them the best in town, but I definitely enjoyed them.

Wrap filled with pepperoni and steak meat with a side of chips

Julie went with another Pike Cafe original dish, the pepperoni cheesesteak supreme wrap.

Ribeye chipped steak, pepperoni, mushrooms, caramelized onion, marinara and Provolone were combined in a flour wrap.

It tasted exactly as I imagined it would. While the steak was the base, the pepperoni came through strong. In the one bite Julie allowed me to have, I could pick up the onion and mushrooms, and the melted Provolone helped pull everything together.

Skipping the fries, Julie opted instead for the potato chips – Sweet Maui onion flavored. If you like onions, you’ll appreciate this as a refreshing change from a typical kettle chip. If you don’t like onions, get the fries.

plate of fried ice cream topped with whipped cream, cherry and chocolate drizzle

We were comfortably full after our entrees, but I couldn’t leave the Pike without dessert, or more specifically, the Pike Crème Cafe.

The crème cafe features deep-fried ice cream with whipped cream, honey and chocolate syrup served on a powdered sugar tortilla. Admit it, you couldn’t pass that up either.

We probably would have been more than satisfied with the fried ice cream. The addition of a crisp outer shell is always welcome with vanilla ice cream. The tortilla was good – a fried tortilla shell like you would get in a taco salad – but it was almost too much fried food for dessert.

Still, I didn’t regret it.

That was more than enough for us to leave the Pike Cafe satisfied. Our total was just shy of $40 (one iced tea was also included in that). All told, it felt like a reasonable price for everything that we had.

I don’t know if the Pike Cafe really is “World Famous,” but it’s definitely famous in Reading and Berks County for good reason.

Once you visit for the first time, you’ll get it, too.

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

Pike Cafe
930 Pike St
Reading, PA 19604

More Bar Food in Berks County

More Restaurants in Reading, PA

Bars & Pubs Dessert Lunch & Dinner Reviews
— 2 Comments

Review: White Palm Tavern – CLOSED

exterior of an old small-town hotel

Editor’s Note: The White Palm Tavern is now closed. The location is now home to The Tavern at Centre and Main.

If you had asked me a few years ago to point out Topton on map, I don’t think I could have done it.

All I knew about it was that it was somewhere in the general vicinity of Kutztown and that I had played a Junior Legion baseball game there 15 years ago.

But as I continue eating my way across Berks, I continue to become more familiar with the place I call home, finding the best restaurants in every corner of the county.

Topton was a town that was still missing from my map 16 months after I began my weekly blog posts, but what better way to check it off my list than with a stop at one of the highest rated restaurants, not only in Topton, but in all of Berks County.

With no less than 4 1/2 stars across every review site, I had to try White Palm Tavern on my first trip to Topton.

White Palm Tavern is filled with subtle nods to the Caribbean. A copy of Islands magazine sat on the hostess stand atop the latest Berks County Living. Island-themed artwork hung from the light green walls in the dining room.

Much like Island Pizza in Birdsboro, White Palm Tavern has an island-themed menu: a hot roast beef sandwich becomes the Fiji; the Bora-Bora is actually a French dip.

White Palm Tavern promises patrons will “escape the ordinary,” and there are several menu items that enable you to do just that. We decided to start our meal with one of those one-of-a-kind appetizers: pretzellas.

mozzarella sticks battered in pretzels on a plate with marinara suace

Pretzellas are mozzarella sticks that are battered in crushed pretzels—a delicious mashup of two bar food favorites. The pretzel flavor was subtle, but it made for a crunchier, slightly saltier version of mozzarella sticks. With the marinara dipping sauce, it made for an excellent start to the meal.

The Tavern’s menu is dominated by sandwiches and burgers, but there are a select number of entrees that allow you to “escape the sandwich.” At the top of that list is a dish inspired, not by Latin America, but southeast Asia: Thai riblets.

ribs in Thai hot sauce over noodles

Don’t confuse these riblets with those at Applebee’s (which are actually button ribs); these are meaty, individual pork ribs that White Palm Tavern serves over rice noodles with a cup of sweet ginger sesame sauce on the side.

Without the sauce, the riblets reminded me of barbecue chicken (actually surprisingly close to Kauffman’s). Adding the sauce gave it a whole new flavor, sweet and spicy with a little saltiness thrown in. Ginger is one of my favorite spices, and I loved it with this dish.

Rice noodles absorb flavors very well so they already had the strong ginger flavor from the start. They were an excellent accompaniment, one that very much stood on its own.

While Julie didn’t escape the sandwich, her dinner was anything but ordinary as her eyes were set on the fruit wrap.

wrap filled with fruit on a plate with sliced kiwi, blueberries and strawberry

A fruit wrap is exactly what it sounds like: a tortilla shell filled with fruit—grapes, strawberries and bananas with cream cheese spread. As an added bonus, kiwi slices were served on the side.

The dish was sweet and delicious, one that could work well as breakfast or dessert. Somehow it even worked as a dinner entree. Served without a side, it was filling enough that you didn’t miss one.

We both left full, and my wallet left only a little lighter than when we arrived. Our dinner came in under $30, a little price for a lot of food.

It may not have been the Caribbean, but White Palm Tavern deserves its place as one of the hottest restaurants in the county.

I don’t know how the rest of Topton can top it, but with all the restaurants we passed on our way, the town has plenty of opportunities to try.

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

White Palm Tavern
5 Centre Ave
Topton, PA 19562

More Country Inns in Berks County

More Nearby Restaurants

Closed