By Zach Brown, Berks County Eats
Image: Lemon Cheesecake Pancakes
Quality is a word you’ll see in the marketing materials of many restaurants, but in Kutztown, one restaurant puts it in their name.
The Quality Shoppe is located off Main Street in the Dollar Tree strip mall on Constitution Boulevard. It takes up the corner space in the strip, the words Quality Shoppe over the door are the only hint that there’s a restaurant inside.
Quality Shoppe’s dining area is bigger than it looks like from the outside, partially because the grill is located at the counter service area at the front of the shop. The back half of the space opens into a dining room with booths lining the walls on both sides and tables spread out in between.
My first visit was for breakfast. We were seated at a booth not far from the counter seating at the front of the restaurant. The service was quick – it has to be because the food is coming in and out of the kitchen quickly.
The breakfast menu is fairly extensive but rooted in traditional diner favorites like pancakes, eggs, and French toast. But within each there is plenty of variety plus daily specials.
One of the daily specials on my visit was lemon cheesecake pancakes – a dish that sounded so sweet that I couldn’t resist.
Two heaping pancakes arrived topped with creamy cheesecake frosting, lemon sauce and a large helping of whipped cream on top. I immediately regretted ordering a side of potatoes, but I did not regret getting this sweet treat.
The lemon sauce had the sour notes you expect, but mixed with the incredibly sweet cheesecake and whipped cream, it wasn’t overpowering. In fact, they balanced out very well. Quality Shoppe does these special cheesecake pancakes and French toast often and I would definitely try another flavor in the future.
I mentioned the side of homefries. While I should not have had them, I was almost glad to have something non-sweet just to break up the sweetness bite after bite. They were good, too. They had a nice crispy edge to them. Nothing fancy, just a diner staple done really well. The same could be said about the crispy bacon strips. These came with the pancakes – though they were also completely unnecessary with how large the stack was.
I finished most of my meal, which totalled around $18 with a drink.
The next time I stopped in at the Quality Shoppe, in early May, it was lunchtime. Like breakfast, the lunch menu is mostly no-frills diner food with a few daily and weekly specials. There are sandwiches, wraps, burgers, and entrees.
I decided on a burger for my meal – the Texas BBQ burger to be specific. It came topped with fried onions, cheddar cheese and barbecue sauce.
It’s not the fanciest burger you’ll find in Berks County, but it was good. The BBQ sauce was simple but did the job to give that little bit of smokey sweetness.
All of the burgers come in either four-ounce patties on a regular roll (like mine) or an eight-ounce on a Kaiser roll. The four-ounce burgers also come with a side of fries, which I really liked. They’re fresh-cut and sliced thin. And there was no skimping on the portions.
The burger meal was actually a really good deal: it was less than $10 (my drink put it over that mark) and like all good diners, it came out quickly, which is exactly what I’m looking for at lunch time.
I would say that breakfast was my favorite of the two, but for a reasonably priced meal, good service, and quality food, the Quality Shoppe is a great option.
BCE Rating
Food: Good
Service: Very Good
Ambiance: Good
Price: $
Quality Shoppe
45 Constitution Blvd
Kutztown, PA 19530
This story was contributed courtesy of Berks County Eats, a local resource for food and dining information. Berks County Eats is dedicated to promoting the dining scene in Reading and Berks County, PA, offering restaurant reviews, news, and events, and a comprehensive Berks County restaurant directory. You can read more at berkscountyeats.com.
The post Friday Food Feature with Berks County Eats: The Quality Shoppe appeared first on BCTV.
Source: bctv
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