BY MADDIE MARRIOTT | PHOTOS BY EMMA SYLVESTER
PENN AVENUE, THE BUSTLING CENTER OF WEST READING, has all the components for a perfect day on the town. Within just a few blocks, you’ll find dozens of unique shops, a diverse array of restaurants, and colorful displays of local art, including an endearing amphibian sculpture. Throughout, you’ll find people with a deep love for their hometown and a commitment to transforming it into a place where small businesses and restaurants flourish.
It’s the kind of place where people can fill their bellies with their choice of cuisines—from Jamaican to Mediterranean to Mexican—and the West Reading Farmers Market runs all year long. This is a town that takes its food seriously.
You might also have heard that this town of just over 4,500 people has inspired more than just a bustling food culture. It’s also the subject of the musical musings of Taylor Swift, pop superstar and native of the area. When she sings of her childhood “Christmas Tree Farm,” she is referring to the former Pine Ridge Farm, a Wyomissing mainstay that was home for the first decade of her life. When she recalls swinging high into the air with Pennsylvania underneath her in song “seven” from the album folklore, she is referring to the streets of West Reading, which have been home to a restaurant renaissance over the past decade. We can only wonder which of the new additions she’d stay, stay, stay at for a meal.
8AM
BREAKFAST AT FARMHOUSE KITCHEN
Start early with breakfast at the rustic Farmhouse Kitchen. Since its opening seven years ago, diners have fallen in love with its fully organic, locally sourced dishes from classics like meat and potatoes with their signature meat spice to eggs Benedict on house-made bread. No journey to the farm would be complete without a sampling from their drink menu. For a colorful twist, opt for the specialty blue matcha with blue spirulina powder. The red-brick interior, dark wood decor, and shelves overflowing with cookbooks will have you feeling the farmhouse energy—be sure to say hello to each of the three chicken paintings on your way out.
9:30AM
CAFFEINATE AT TASTE OF CREPES
Follow up your breakfast with an on-the-go treat from Taste of Crepes. Grab a specialty latte from the woman-owned, veteran-owned, family-run business to satisfy any sweet tooth—or skip the Farmhouse and start breakfast here! Customer favorites include the s’mores latte, decadently topped with whipped cream, drizzles of chocolate syrup, and graham cracker crumbles. Those looking to dive into the restaurant’s namesake dish will find a variety of sweet and savory options. For first-timers, managers recommend the Golden Delight: This crepe is stuffed with strawberries and bananas and topped with whipped cream, caramel, and brown sugar. Adding to the “delight” is the pastel cityscape that stretches across two of the restaurant’s walls.
10AM
WALK THE MURAL CORRIDOR
Armed with your latte, take the one-block stroll off Penn Avenue to the West Reading Mural Corridor, a multi-block art installation stretching as far as the eye can see down Cherry Street. The corridor features over 30 works by local artists, featuring everything from Starry Night in bacteria form to dragon tails breaking through layers of brick to brass-playing frogs in fancy hats. Art lovers can scan the QR codes alongside each piece to learn more about its creation and can download a full map of the borough’s murals on the Visit West Reading website. (If you want a more natural setting for your coffee walk, you can continue the Swiftie theme of the day with a 10-minute drive to Nolde Forest—it gives serious evermore vibes.)
NOON
GO INTERNATIONAL FOR LUNCH
Are you ready to eat again? For a casual dining experience, make a right on 7th Street and you’ll find Comālli Taqueria. New to the brick-and-mortar lifestyle after several years as a food truck (still in operation), Comālli’s worth stopping at for their signature taco, El Gallo, which combines chorizo, eggs, pico de gallo, and queso. Chef-owner Erik Arizmendi packs his scratch-made food full of flavor and El Brûlée, inspired by his childhood, delivers a surprising twist: jasmine rice, mole poblano, and bruleed bananas. Counteract the spice with some sweetness with their mango agua fresca, made onsite daily.
Or maybe Thai is more your vibe? At Spoonful Thai, the smell of simmering spices hits you as soon as you open the door. Hanging plants spill over shelves. You’ll be stuffed before the main course of coconutty, spicy khao poi with duck or fragrant basil fried rice stacked high with shrimp. Appetizers overflow from the open-concept kitchen, including the best-selling duck rolls and crispy-creamy crab rangoons.
2PM
FUEL UP WITH RISE UP
You may be feeling ready for a siesta, but that just means it’s time to combat the afternoon slump with one of Rise Up Nutrition’s colorful concoctions. Owned by health-coaches-turned-beverage-connoisseurs Alex Martinez and Lilly Oquendo, Rise Up’s mission is to change the way we think about fueling our bodies. Imagine the brightest pinkish-orange you can think of, and then magnify it by two. That’s what you’ll be getting with the tropical sunrise drink: a collagen- and vitamin-infused blend of green tea and black tea with passion fruit and strawberry.
2:30PM
SHOP!
No matter the season, there’s always time in the day to duck into any of West Reading’s one-of-a-kind shops. Satisfy your spiritual needs at Gem on Penn with its sprawling collection of crystals or tickle your sense of childlike wonder with the endless shelves of games, action figures, and other memorabilia at Symbiote Collectibles. If you’re low on soap, incense, or herbal remedies, make a pit stop at Betula’s Botanica, or if you need a new record on your turntable (or are looking to get some off your hands), walk down to Vertigo Music.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that it’s well worth your while to go a little out of your way to a specialty food shop. Pack your cooler and head to Dundore and Heister, the whole-animal butcher shop, which is technically in Wyomissing. Everything is delicious but don’t miss the chance to fortify yourself with their bone broth if they’ve got it available for sipping.
5PM
DINNER ON PENN
Say Cheese! Takes its name very seriously. After you buy some cheese-themed merchandise, a wheel of brie of your own, and a bottle of wine at its attached shop owned by Adam Cocuzza, there’s even more of it. The restaurant’s menu is every cheese lover’s dream. From classics like the tuna melt to twists on all-time favorites in smoked salmon mac ’n’ cheese, breakfast grilled cheese, and chicken parm grilled cheese, even the most fervent cheesehead will be satiated. Diners can enjoy an Aperol spritz on tap, and stop by on a Wednesday night to dine with the backdrop of a jazz trio.
West Reading Motor Club is the place to go if you want to end your dining on the classiest note possible. Since opening in September, owner Adam Cocuzza has made it his mission to honor the history of the building, which was home to the West Reading Motor and Hardware Company for over 50 years. Motorheads will note the classic car posters along the wall and even a hub cap mural, if you can believe it. The wedge salad makes the perfect shareable appetizer before you make your way up to the belle of the ball: pork chops on top of chive oil and a red pepper romesco.
8PM
NIGHTCAP
A prime nightcap spot is just upstairs at Nitro Bar, whose walls are covered in movie posters and whose taps are loaded with local beers. Try a signature drinks such as the Fallin’ Fruit, a pomegranate and vodka concoction; or the Spicy Daisy, a tequila cocktail featuring cayenne pepper and a tajin rim.
If you want to walk a little, head back down Penn to A Light in the Attic, West Reading’s own speakeasy with a contemporary twist, situated above The Barley Mow Craft Beer House. Owners Peter and Claire Starr expanded their operations with this second-floor restaurant and bar with dimly lit speakeasy vibes with a modern feel. Surreptitiously sip on faves such as the Green Virgin, with gin, yellow chartreuse, Peychaud’s bitters, egg white, fresh lemon, rosemary syrup, and—you guessed it—extra virgin olive oil.
YOUR DAY AT A GLANCE
The Farmhouse Kitchen
426 Penn Ave
484.869.5193
Taste of Crepes
617 Penn Ave
610.685.2001
Comālli Taqueria
701 Court St
484.869.2824
Spoonful Thai Bistro
615 Penn Ave
484.878.2941
Rise Up Nutrition
715 Penn Ave
484.944.6767
Gem on Penn
635 Penn Ave
610.927.5402
Symbiote Collectibles
514 Penn Ave
610.781.3859
Betula’s Botanica
412 Penn Ave, 484-516-2321
Vertigo Music
449 Penn Ave
610.320.9927
Dundore and Heister
1331 Penn Ave
610.374.6328
Say Cheese!
600 Penn Ave
610.406.5390
West Reading Motor Club
416 Penn Ave
610.743.5951
Nitro Bar
416 Penn Ave, 2nd floor
610.741.6521
A Light in the Attic
719 Penn Ave, 2nd floor
610.396.2842
West Reading Farmers Market
500 Block of Penn Ave + 6th Ave, between Penn & Cherry Every Sunday, 9am–1pm, May through December
