What Former Boyertown Area Restaurants Do You Miss the Most?

[Editor's Note: Mike hopes you will take some time to remember the dining establishments that were once part of the local landscape and he will post memories and photos on The Boyertown Area Expression's Facebook page if you share them. He hopes they will bring back fond memories for Expression readers.]

by Mike Strzelecki

When I think back at my Boyertown childhood in the late 1960s through the 1970s, some of my fondest memories revolve around eating out with families and friends. This was an era when dining out was a less frequent, but more cherished event than it seems to be today. I have not lived in Boyertown since 1985, but on a recent trip to town, I decided to visit some of my favorite restaurant haunts from my childhood that no longer exist, and see what is in their places instead. Here are twelve eateries from my youth that I miss the most.

Feel free to fill in the gaps where my 60-year-old memory has failed me or let us know what former restaurants you still pine for.

Charcoal Fireplace

This was my family’s go-to dining spot when I was in elementary school. I remember red walls, red booths, and I always ordered fried chicken that was served in a red plastic basket. It was located on Route 100, on the site of the current Americana Diner. It lacked the glittery patina of the Americana, but I remember a large black cauldron hanging on the inside. I know it has gone through many dining iterations in the intervening years, and was Stahl’s for a while. The Charcoal Fireplace may have been my most-visited non-pizza eatery in town.

The Hookies

Firehouses around town used to serve meals to raise money and encourage socializing. None were more memorable to me than Sunday breakfast at “The Hooks,” or the Friendship Hook and Ladder Company firehouse. Best sausage in town, I can still taste the flavor 50 years later. I vaguely recall a sausage soup. Also, on certain Sundays, did they serve mackerel? This was our regular post-church hangout. Here is a picture of what used to be the back entrance to the Hook’s dining hall.

Dinner Bell

I recall the Dinner Bell as a special occasion eatery - sports banquets, organization get-togethers, family reunions. I think wedding receptions were held there? My only memories there were for tennis and soccer team banquets, but the memories are fun-filled. Based on research, it later became The Gardenia until a fire leveled it, and then it rose from the ashes as Christoper’s. What stands at that location now is the car dealership below.

Trout’s

Trout’s was a tiny grocery store and deli located in an alley off of 4th Street, just a rock’s toss from the old front entrance to Boyertown Area Senior High School. It was a popular lunchtime hangout for students, and was crowded and smokey. The alley would be awash with loiterers. My memories of Trout’s were not sneaking away for quick lunches while at school, but rather going there on weekends with my family for top-notch hoagies. The store has been razed and a small parking lot is there now.

Burger Chef

I grew up a block from Burger Chef and was a steady consumer of their wafer-thin hamburgers. It sprang up at Town Plaza just as fast food was taking a stronghold. It was probably my first foray into fast food. I worked there for a total of one day, but was fired for testing the combustibility of various non-food products in the fired burger grill. I read where Hardee’s bought out the Burger Chef franchise and I vaguely remember a Hardee’s there for some time before becoming Argento’s Pizza.

Vince’s Pizzeria

Vince’s Pizzeria was where my friends and I spent a substantial chunk of my weekends in high school. Every Friday night, we would take two dollars into town. The first was spent at Vince’s where we would get two slices of plain cheese pizza (35 cents each) and a soda (30 cents). The second dollar was for whatever movie happened to be playing at the State Theater. It is now Carmelo’s, but looking in the window, I can still imagine the soccer team taking over the booths - and probably leaving Vince with a disastrous mess to clean up.

Talarico’s Sandwich Shop

Not much needs to be said about Talarico’s. It was home to some of the best sandwiches in the region. My family spilled a lot of money at this eatery, and I recall grooving on their Good’s potato chips. I have not eaten there since the 1990s, but when I think of Talarico’s, my memory moves to the taste of their onions and the special sauce put on the hoagies. Talarico’s was a Boyertown institution like no other eatery on this list.

Hoffman’s Farm

Boyertown was blessed with many great handmade ice cream stands and I certainly frequented them all, but none as much as Hoffman’s Farm. It was located on County Line Road, just north of where it intersects Hoffmansville Road. What I recall from the farm stand is that it sold milk in bags and that you could see the cows in the barn when buying ice cream cones. I recall the smell of cow poop permeating when I sat and noshed my fresh-dipped cone. To this day, I still equate the smell of cow dung to eating tasty homemade ice cream in the most Pavlovian way possible. I was not sure of the exact location of Hoffman’s Farm when I initially did my research, so here is a pretty picture of a farm pond in that general vicinity. The ice cream stand and farm store now is apparently a machine shop that fabricates parts for trains.

Rax

Rax was a fast food eatery located in Gilbertsville, at the site where the Dairy Queen is today. I recall fantastic roast beef sandwiches, and I had a few friends that worked there. In researching what happened to the Rax franchise, it appears that in the 1980s they spread their nets too wide, foraying into the dining concepts of endless salad bars, taco bars, and Asian-themed foods, and customers moved on to other burgeoning fast food outlets. All I recall were roast beef sandwiches and great ones at that.

Penny Candy

Growing up, there was a tiny corner grocer on 2nd Street and Washington Street, just across from Suggs, that specialized in penny candy. Even though it was over a mile from my house, we would trek there often for sweet snacks. I have heard it called Gerhart’s but cannot confirm that. As a youngster, whenever I would walk through town, all roads would lead there. The location of the penny candy stand is now a private residence.

Bull and Barrel

The Bull and Barrel was a beaten-down tavern located on North Reading Avenue, just before where it meets Route 100. I have walked past the Bull and Barrel many times and routinely rode my bike past it en route to favorite fishing holes in the hills north of Boyertown. I honestly have no memories of ever eating there but it was such an important landmark in my youth that it deserves mention . It was supposedly called the New Berlinville Hotel in earlier times and was razed in 1986 after sitting empty for two years. A convenience store is now on the property.

The Globe

The Globe is not located in Boyertown but I included it on this list since our family would pilgrimage there regularly for special events - good report cards, birthdays, etc. It is located in a back street in Pennsburg, just down Route 663. I recall it being a smorgasbord restaurant and I remember crushing the Swedish meatballs there. I assumed that it has long since disappeared, but when I drove there to research this article, it remains a well-tended-to restaurant, inn, and events facility. My family’s other special event eatery was Seven Stars Inn, near Phoenixville, which remains today.

Mike Strzelecki is a freelance travel and outdoor writer, and 1981 graduate of Boyertown Area Senior High School. He writes from his house in Baltimore, Maryland. In his spare time, he joins his wife on adventures around the country observing and photographing birds.

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