Two of summer’s most enduring pastimes are ice cream and movies. Though rarely consumed together – at least not in theaters – they share some characteristics: They’re frequently enjoyed with others, they’re often paired with dinner, and they can include a twist ending.
Whether you like yours hand-scooped or served soft, in a dish or a cone, in traditional flavors or unorthodox varieties, Berks County has an abundance of options for ice cream connoisseurs.
Pop’s Malt Shoppe
Joel Seidel opened Pop’s Malt Shoppe because he felt Kutztown needed an ice cream shop. He wasn’t the only one who felt that way: The ’50s-themed shop celebrates 20 years in business this year. Treats are served with a side of nostalgia, including a vintage soundtrack and décor, perfect for wearing your sundae best. Initially, Pop’s menu was basic, but its options have grown along with the business. Today, it offers burgers, fries, paninis and shakes, along with its initial offerings of soft serve, sundaes, flurries and hot dogs. Active in the community, Pop’s takes pride in getting involved with events in the area.
208 W. Main St., Kutztown
popsmaltshoppe.com | Facebook: popsmaltshoppe
The Cherry on Top
Ann Marie Lander opened The Cherry on Top ice cream truck in the fall of 2019, six months before the world ground to a halt, melting her business model. Since customers couldn’t come to her, she went to them, spending much of 2020 doing her part to brighten the mood by bringing her treats to neighborhoods. It worked, and the outpouring of support allowed Lander to purchase a small lot on Shelbourne Road in Exeter Township at the end of the year, where she has resided ever since. Her neighborly manner remains, as she invites other food trucks to join her on the property, which features picnic tables and cornhole boards. Despite the new digs, Lander continues to hit the road, traveling to private parties and businesses.
25 Shelbourne Rd., Exeter
thecherryontoppa.com | Facebook: thecherryontoppa
The Great American Creamery
Many couples celebrate Valentine’s Day by visiting a food establishment. Husband and wife Balasios (Saki) Lahaniatis and Lucine Sihelnik marked Valentine’s Day 2022 by opening one. The couple was spurred into action after learning how to make ice cream during a course at Penn State’s Department of Agriculture. The Great American Creamery serves products from the Penn State Berkey Creamery and other establishments in the area. Its first year of business was such a success, the owners opened a second location across the street in Santander Arena. And that wasn’t the only thing they had to celebrate: In February, former Reading City Council member Sihelnik was named to temporarily fill the vacant Berks County Commissioner position. Perhaps she marked the occasion with some ice cream?
645 Penn St., Reading
greatamericancreamery.com | Facebook: greatamericancreamery
Jenn & Jessie's Ice Cream Parlor
In 2005, Jeffrey and Kathy Updegrove decided to do something with the open space in front of their landscaping-supply business, now known as JKU Trucking & Landscaping Supplies. The choice to complement their business was unorthodox, but Berks Countians have complemented the owners on the decision ever since. “I think what is different about us is you can pick up mulch or stone and get a burger and a cone at the same time,” Kathy Updegrove says. Named after the couple’s daughters, Jenn & Jessie’s offers numerous varieties of Leiby’s soft-serve and hand-dipped ice cream, along with sundaes, ice cream cakes and assorted novelties. Hot food includes hot dogs, barbecue, burgers, nachos, soups, salads and homemade waffles, which can be topped with ice cream.
798 Memorial Hwy., Oley | Facebook: jennjessies
Sweet Ride Ice Cream
Reading High grads Chris and Angie Farrell started Sweet Ride Ice Cream in the summer of 2014 as an ice cream bike — hence the name. The duo built a reputation catering at weddings and private parties, which led to the business adding a mobile ice cream parlor in 2015. A year later, it opened a brick-and-mortar shop along Penn Avenue in West Reading. An additional truck was added in 2018. Despite only having been in existence for less than a decade, Sweet Ride has experienced quite a bit of sweet success. It was named Best Ice Cream, Best Place to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth and Best Place for Dessert by Berks County Living, and twice won Reading Eagle's Readers Choice Award for best ice cream. The shop hosts many events throughout the year, including visits from Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
542 Penn Avenue, West Reading
sweetrideicecream.com | Facebook: sweetrideicecream
Kwik Shoppe Drive-In
One of the oldest ice cream establishments in the area, Kwik Shoppe was founded by Nicholas Porcaro, Sr. in 1968 and has been a family-run venture ever since. Its extensive stable of sweets includes numerous flavors of hand-dipped and soft-serve ice cream, milkshakes, gelatis, flurries, sundaes, banana splits, soda floats, ice cream cake, ice cream sandwiches and cho-chos (malted ice cream served in a Dixie cup with a wooden stick handle). Non-frozen menu options include hot dogs, burgers, beef, barbecue, fries, cheese balls, duck products (BBQ, sausage and fries, which are fried in duck fat) and Firehouse Coffee. There are also seasonal and special treats, such as peach and blueberry sundaes, pumpkin pie flurries, and the Irish Cream Dream, a St. Patrick’s Day confection that features cool-mint soft-serve ice cream layered with hot fudge and brownies and topped with whipped cream, green sprinkles and a Hershey Kiss. During the holiday season, the 12 Days of Kwikmas features discounts and giveaways, including a candy guessing contest.
555 Shoemaker Avenue, Shoemakersville
Scoupe DeVille
With its wonderfully punny name referencing a classic car from yesteryear, Scoupe DeVille revels in the past. And that old-is-new-again mantra extends to its location, a remodeled service station from the 1950s. Original owners Doug and Sandy Paris opened the business in 2001, decorating the site with their extensive collection of nostalgia pieces. They sold it in 2017, and new owner Melanie West hasn’t skipped a beat. Scoupe features more than 40 flavors of hand-dipped ice cream, soft serve, gelatis, banana splits, malts, ice cream sodas, sundaes, floats and shimmies (similar to Dairy Queen’s Blizzards). Hot food includes burgers, barbecue, chili dogs and crinkle-cut fries. Its most notable offering is the Fat Elvis, which features 10 scoops of ice cream, seven toppings, whipped cream, a brownie, a banana and cherries. The price tag of $50 is fitting for a venue that celebrates the ’50s, but any customer who consumes it in fewer than 30 minutes gets a gift card, a T-shirt and a picture on the wall of fame. And likely a stomachache fit for The King.
3365 Main St., Birdsboro | scoupedeville.com
Plum Creek Farm Market & Creamery
Since founding a small operation about a decade ago, the owners of Plum Creek Farm Market and Creamery have had a good problem: They’ve kept outgrowing their digs. First it was a small farm on the banks of Plum Creek and a corresponding roadside wagon selling produce at the Bern Church picnic grove. The wagon was then moved up the road, and the owners — Keith and Kendra Zimmerman, and Ken and Audrey Nolt — added a creamery with ice cream, hot food and soft pretzels. After a few years, a larger facility was needed. The newly constructed Plum Creek location opened in April 2020 on the land just behind the original farm market and creamery, which were then removed. The creamery serves a variety of hot foods, ice cream treats and soft pretzels, which became so popular that Plum Creek began selling them in stores in and around southeastern Pennsylvania. Its artisanal soft-serve ice cream is created using fresh fruit, cookies and other baked goods. The site’s farm market sells produce, deli items, homemade baked goods, freezer meals, ice cream cakes and much more.
5035 Bernville Rd., Bernville | plumcreekfarmmarket.com | Facebook: plumcreekfarmpa
Way-Har Farm Market
This third-generation dairy farm produces all of its ice cream, up to 90 flavors per year. Year-round options include Bing cherry, brownie sundae, chocolate rainforest, coconut, malt fudge, orange pineapple, rum raisin and teaberry. Seasonal offerings are maple walnut, pumpkin cheesecake, caramel apple nut, pumpkin, eggnog and hot chocolate. There are also milkshakes in any flavor, ice cream floats, sundaes and banana splits. Still not satisfied? Then take matters into your own hands. Way-Har’s Designer Ice Cream events allow customers to create their own special flavors for special occasions. Way-Har also caters events, and its fully stocked ice cream wagon is available to rent.
7701 Bernville Rd., Bernville
wayharfarms.com | Facebook: wayharfarms
Candy’s Homemade Ice Cream
When a business has Candy in its name, it’s almost obligated to sell confections. And Candy’s does that in spades. Its extensive menu of hand-dipped ice cream includes Almond Joy, birthday cake, Boston cream, Cookie Monster, caramel brownie, Hawaiian delight, Milky Way, snickerdoodle, teaberry, tiramisu, graham cracker and jalapeño. It also offers all kinds of ice cream sandwiches, ice cream cakes and to-go sundaes. Its hot-food menu is just as loaded, featuring hot dogs, hamburgers, wings, fish sandwiches, barbecues, beef briskets, chicken fingers, shrimp baskets, fries, corn nuggets, broccoli bites, beer battered onion rings, mac and cheese bites, spicy fried pickles, breaded mushrooms, mozzarella sticks and loaded tater tots.
1085 Pottsville Pike, Shoemakersville
Facebook: candyshomemadeicecream
Schell’s Restaurant Dairy Swirl & Miniature Golf
Since 1952, Berks Countians have been shelling out cash at Schell’s. As its full business name implies, the Muhlenberg Township landmark is much more than a place to snack on some frozen treats. You can get dinner, dessert and an evening’s worth of entertainment in one place. The Dairy Swirl features numerous flavors of hand-dipped and soft-serve ice cream, hand-spun milk shakes, water ice, frozen yogurt, sherbet and cho-chos. The restaurant offers barbecue, hot dogs, hamburgers, fried chicken, fried Cheese Cubes, ham and fish sandwiches, and fries. A 27-hole mini-golf course awaits for post-meal fun.
4625 Fifth Street Hwy., Temple
The Nesting Box Market & Creamery
What do chickens have to do with ice cream? In the case of The Nesting Box Market & Creamery, quite a bit. In 2016, Timi and Keith Bausher launched a cage-free egg operation on their Albany Township farm. It quickly became a smashing success, so the couple decided to try their hand at another farm-based delicacy. The Nesting Box’s ice cream is handcrafted, allowing the duo to assert complete control over the flavor combinations. And they go all out. Some recent examples: piña colada, strawberry rhubarb, orange creamsicle, lemon blueberry, root beer float, pumpkin gingersnap, caramel apple streusel, pumpkin cheesecake, salted caramel chocolate pretzel and banana peanut butter fudge. Along with its farm market, the Baushers operate a mobile event trailer specializing in scoop service for weddings and festivals. They also sell their concoctions to restaurants and local parlors throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
230 Snyder Rd., Kempton | The-Nesting-Box | the_nesting_box
YOGO Crazy
The owners of YOGO Crazy caught on to a self-serve frozen yogurt concept and brought it to Berks, but added in some extra doses of fun. They explain, “The more outrageous we could think, the more fun the concept idea became – almost as if it was something out of Willy Wonka. We adopted what became the standard toppings you would find at most fro-yo stores, but that just wasn’t enough for us.” Sixteen flavors are now the standard at the sweet shop, along with 30+ toppings. New flavors pop up all the time; the music is fun, and the events and promos are, too.
2733 Papermill Rd., Wyomissing
yogocrazyfrozenyogurt.com | Facebook: yogocrazy
Wertz Ice Cream Cone
This iconic establishment’s name is quite literal and meta, as anyone who has seen it can attest. Employees sell soft-serve ice cream cones — and a smattering of other menu items — out of a massive soft-serve ice cream cone nestled just off Penn Avenue in Wernersville. On summer nights, the line frequently stretches out to the sidewalk. Along with a variety of soft-serve and hand-dipped flavors, “The Cone” also offers sno cones, sundaes, hot dogs, Coney Island dogs, pork barbecue, soft pretzels, nachos and its famous banana splits. Outside seating features a miniature playground for the little ones.
55 W. Penn Avenue, Wernersville | Facebook: TheIceCreamConeWernersville
Hamburg Sweet Treats
Located in a historic building in the spine of the borough, Hamburg Sweet Treats does its part to prop up the town. The store, which sports vintage ice cream collectibles, serves Leiby’s ice cream, custom cakes, cupcakes, doughnuts, ice-cream cakes and cho-chos, along with a small menu of hot foods, including Smokin Bray’s BBQ on the weekends. Owner Bee Moyer acts as a borough promotor, publicizing nearby car cruises, advertising fundraisers and hosting pictures with the Easter Bunny.
234 State St., Hamburg | Facebook: hamburgsweettreats
Fiore’s Chill & Grill Cafe
The “Chill” in this establishment’s name has a double meaning. Plentiful indoor and outdoor seating allows customers to chill while enjoying their chilled (or grilled) treats. Hand-dipped and milkshake flavors include vanilla malt, chocolate malt, caramel, orange creamsicle, chocolate strawberry, pineapple and bananas foster. There are also plentiful varieties for sundae and granita/smoothie lovers: sour melon face, green slime or root burpin’ melon, anyone? Burgers, fries, chicken tenders, cheesesteaks, mozzarella sticks, pierogies, jalapeño poppers, corn nuggets, onion rings, broccoli bites and wraps are among the hot options.
833 Park Rd., Blandon | fioreschillngrill.com
