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Where to Get the Best Cheesesteak in Berks County

The Berks County shops whose customer reviews are about the cheesesteak itself, grouped by geography and by what kind of place they are, with the caveats attached.

Berks Connect Blog|Published August 27, 2026
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For a cheesesteak in Berks County, start with the shops whose reviews are about the sandwich itself: Esterly's Sandwich Shop in Mertztown, JD's Steaks in Sinking Spring, Spenny's on Centre Avenue and Redvo Restaurant in Oley Township. Tony's of West Reading, Mark's Sandwich Shop in Kutztown and Nuse's Deli in Morgantown belong in the same conversation. Plenty more good ones come out of pizza shops, delis and drive-in windows, and some of those sandwiches are the best in this post.

One question sorted the whole county: when people talk about a place, do they talk about the steak? The answer produced a list that looks nothing like a list of the county's most popular restaurants. Some very busy pizza rooms did not make it. A cash-only take-out counter attached to a house did.

The cheesesteak argument Berks County is already having.

This post did not invent the question. A thread on r/ReadingPA asking for the county's best cheesesteak runs more than eighty comments deep and keeps circling the same two names, Tony's of West Reading and JD's Steaks, with Spenny's right behind and V & S never far from the conversation. The thread's sleeper pick is Mike's Sandwich Shop on Centre Avenue. A Berks small-business Facebook group ran the same debate this spring with Tony's, V & S and Saylors on the ballot, and Dan's Deli in Boyertown took the top comment. Berks County Living published six favorites in 2024, led by Spenny's and Tony's. Yelp's ranking for Reading currently leads with Tony's of West Reading.

One of the longest-standing answers on the internet is older than all of that: a Reading Eagle reader poll from March 2019, 527 votes, won by V & S over The Steak Shack and Mike's. Seven years later, that podium has moved. The runner-up has closed both of the locations it operated, the poll's fourth-place shop on Revere Boulevard now operates as Salvatore's Pizza Pasta Subs, and the names the county argues about today, JD's and Spenny's among them, are not in it at all. The one constant across every era of the argument is V & S.

The reviews in our listings land on the same core names the arguments do. Tony's, JD's, Spenny's and V & S are all in this post, with what reviewers actually say about each.

The four cheesesteaks in Berks County to start with.

Four shops whose steak reviews outrun everything else around them. Order it plain the first time. Get clever on the second visit.

Esterly's Sandwich Shop in Mertztown.

Reviewers at Esterly's talk about two things: how much meat is in the sandwich, and how little grease comes with it. One reviewer put theirs on a scale and reported over a pound and a half. Another writes that without the grease you can taste the meat and the cheese.

Know what you are walking into. It is cash only and take-out only, with a small indoor waiting area, and one reviewer notes the building is part of someone's house. One reviewer calls them third-generation cheesesteak makers, and the pierogies get their own praise.

JD's Steaks in Sinking Spring.

JD's is all-in on the steak, and the room follows through: one reviewer describes throwback jerseys and sports memorabilia on the walls. The steaks draw the kind of review that names a specific sandwich, like the "Philly Philly," and the hot pepper Cooper whiz gets singled out for what it does to the original.

Hand-cut fries and pastelillos come up as reasons to order past the sandwich. One reviewer describes the buffalo chicken version as chicken breast rather than chopped steak, with bleu cheese and a honey buffalo sauce.

Spenny's, at a Reading address on Centre Avenue.

Spenny's is where the Philadelphia transplants in the review data land. One reviewer raised outside Philadelphia calls it the best cheesesteak of a 55-year life.

The house sandwich people name is the "It's Always Honey," a sweet and hot build that reviewers plan return trips around, and the seasoned fries have their own following. The menu leans into the theme with cheesesteak totchos over tater tots and a chicken steak you can order with American, Whiz, Cooper Sharp or Provolone Sharp.

Redvo Restaurant in Oley Township.

Redvo's steak reviews land in the same place over and over: juicy meat, cheese melted through, the right roll. One reviewer calls it the best cheesesteak they have ever had. Another describes the balance of meat, sauce, onions and cheese, which is a more useful compliment than a superlative.

Fries come hand-cut or curly. One reviewer recommends the Comeback steak with spicy pesto and Cooper Sharp.

Cheesesteaks worth the drive, from Kutztown to Morgantown.

Mark's Sandwich Shop has been an old-school sandwich counter on West Main Street since 1966, and its reviewers keep coming back to the rolls: soft, fresh, and holding up under a lot of meat. The bacon ranch chicken cheesesteak gets named as a first-timer's order, and the onion rings and corn nuggets have their own fans.

South of everything, Nuse's Deli in Morgantown draws the word immaculate for its cheesesteak and "best in years" from a second reviewer. One reviewer points newcomers at "The Weston," a cheesesteak topped with fried pickles and a spicy sauce.

The Hot Spot on North Fifth Street Highway leads with cheesesteaks in its review highlights, including one reviewer who calls theirs the best in several years and credits the roll, the flavor of the meat and the lack of grease.

Tony's of West Reading, and the Tack's sauce that keeps showing up.

Tony's of West Reading works out of a window behind Penn Avenue, and the Passyunk Prime is the sandwich its reviewers name, one of them calling it the best cheesesteak they have ever had. The menu builds the original on freshly chopped ribeye. The garlic parmesan fries and the fresh pretzels have their own highlights.

Two practical notes. There is no indoor seating, so bad weather means standing outside, and reviewers advise ordering ahead.

Tony's also lists a Witchy Cheesesteak whose menu description says that if you like Tack's Original Sauce, you will like this one. That name travels: Pennside Drive-In on Carsonia Avenue is where reviewers go for the Tack's legacy items and that sauce, and its own cheesesteak reviews center on the sauce and the soft rolls.

V & S Sandwich Shop, the constant in the Berks cheesesteak argument.

The V & S at 1558 North Ninth Street (V & S Sandwich Shop) draws "arguably the best steak sandwiches in the area" from one reviewer and a California cheesesteak that another calls the best of a 60-year run. One reviewer notes the shop now carries a new name, and another says it is the only V & S in the county using the original ATV rolls. Reviewers mention Angie by name.

It is also the shop the county's argument keeps returning to: the winner of the 2019 Eagle poll, on this spring's Facebook ballot, and never far from the Reddit thread. Whatever else changes about the conversation, V & S stays in it.

Mike's Sandwich Shop, the cheesesteak the Reddit thread calls a sleeper.

Mike's Sandwich Shop has been part of this argument longer than most of the shops in it. The r/ReadingPA thread treats it as inside knowledge, the 2019 Eagle poll put it third, and WFMZ marked the shop's sixty-plus years on Centre Avenue when it changed hands in 2019 with a promise that the tradition would not.

The menu carries its own evidence: a cheesesteak built with Mike's Sauce, a California cheese steak, and a Philly-style build called The Godfather, all orderable through the shop's own site. A sleeper with a poll podium and six decades of counter service is not much of a sleeper.

Pizza shop cheesesteaks in Berks County that earn their own reviews.

Plenty of the county's cheesesteaks get made in a pizza shop. In a handful of them the steak earns its own reviews alongside the pie, and those are the ones here.

Two of the Topton shops in this post are named Tony's, on different streets. At Tony's Pizza Shop on West Franklin Street, one reviewer opens with "holy big cheesesteak" and the buffalo cheesesteak is a named favorite. At Tony's Italian Restaurant-Pizzeria on North Home Avenue, one reviewer calls it the best outside Philadelphia in a while and another says the cheesesteak cannot be beat. Parking is tight; one reviewer says the lot holds about six cars.

Sebastiano's Italian Restaurant And Pizzeria on Perkiomen Avenue is an Italian restaurant whose cheesesteaks get singled out by a reviewer from Philadelphia as the best they have found anywhere. Another describes fresh bread, tender meat and no grease.

Cheesesteaks in Berks that are not sandwiches.

Kitchens around here put cheesesteak into anything that will hold it. Bella's Subs and Pizza in Wyomissing makes a deep fried cheesesteak wrap, and one reviewer writes that it does not look like much and is packed with steak.

Soft Pretzel Corner at the Wyomissing Farmer's Market wraps it in a soft pretzel, and one reviewer names the cheesesteak wrap as their favorite of the fillings. Carlos Pizzeria Restaurant on Penn Avenue gets specific praise for its cheesesteak stromboli, and its homemade bread is a highlight in its own right.

The menus carry the rest: cheesesteak egg rolls, cheesesteak totchos at Spenny's, and Philly cheese steak pizza in more than one shop.

More Berks County cheesesteaks to look at.

Jake's of Mt. Penn on Carsonia Avenue, where one reviewer calls the cheesesteaks the best east and west of the Mississippi. Saucony Cafe' in Kutztown, a breakfast-first room whose cheesesteak one reviewer calls one of the best they have tasted. Oliviero's Pizzeria and Ice Cream in Douglassville for the chicken bacon ranch cheesesteak. G&J Pizzeria & Bakery for its repeat buffalo chicken cheesesteak praise. 10 West Pizzeria in Wernersville, where the buffalo chicken cheesesteak gets named for its hot sauce and bleu cheese ratio. Mena Cibao Deli & Grocery on South Tenth Street for the spicy cheesesteak at a corner deli.

More cheesesteak listings across the county live on our Berks County cheesesteaks category page, and the menu-indexed cheesesteak dish page is built from published menus. For the wider view of eating out around here, there is our Dining Out in Berks County guide.

What makes a good cheesesteak in Berks County: cheese, grease, sauce and the roll.

Four things decide a cheesesteak around here, and the reviews fight over all four.

Cheese comes first, and the county has a clear favorite: Cooper Sharp turns up over and over, on menus and in reviews, from Sinking Spring to Oley Township.

Grease is the second argument, and Esterly's built its reputation on the right side of it: its reviewers treat greaseless as the feature rather than a compromise. One reviewer at The Hot Spot and one at Sebastiano's each make a point of saying their sandwich was not greasy.

Sauce is the third argument, and the most Berks County thing about the whole subject. The Reading Eagle polled its readers in 2019 and 66 percent wanted sauce on a cheesesteak, which is backwards from Philadelphia, where sauce turns it into a pizza steak. The Philly transplants in the Reddit thread warn each other the same way: around here the sauce goes on unless you say otherwise.

The roll settles it. Mark's reviewers name the soft rolls as the reason the sandwich works, Redvo's name the roll in the same breath as the meat, and one reviewer at The Hot Spot leads with it.

How we chose these cheesesteaks.

We read the customer review themes for every Berks County business with a cheesesteak in its category or on a published menu, and picked the places whose reviews are about the sandwich itself. Nothing here is ranked, nothing is paid placement, and where one person said a thing, we wrote that one person said it.

Frequently asked questions about cheesesteaks in Berks County.

Who has the best cheesesteak in Berks County?

It depends what you are optimizing for. For weight of meat with no grease, Esterly's in Mertztown. For the widest cheese options on a classic build, JD's Steaks in Sinking Spring.

For a Philadelphia-style build that transplants vouch for, Spenny's. For the version reviewers describe as balanced rather than enormous, Redvo in Oley Township. Those are the same names Reddit threads, Facebook debates and the county's older polls keep arguing over, which is its own kind of confirmation.

Where can I get a cheesesteak in Berks County late at night?

Chef David's Pizza & More in West Reading is the late option in our data. One reviewer describes it as open until 4 a.m., and another who stopped in at 2:30 a.m. expected little and was surprised by the quality; the cheesesteaks draw praise for size and a fresh roll.

Which Berks County cheesesteak shops are cash only or takeout only?

Esterly's in Mertztown is cash only and take-out only, with a small indoor waiting area and parking along a busy road. Tony's of West Reading serves through a window with no indoor seating, and its reviewers recommend ordering ahead.

What is a California cheesesteak, and who makes one?

On Berks menus, a California cheesesteak is the steak and cheese built like a hoagie, with lettuce, tomato and mayo added, plus onion at some shops and not at others. It is listed at Louie's Kitchen and Bar, and the V & S named above draws a reviewer who calls its California version the best they have had in sixty years.

Do you have to drive to Philadelphia for a good cheesesteak?

The reviews say no, and the people saying it are from there. One reviewer raised just outside Philadelphia calls Spenny's the best cheesesteak of a 55-year life. A reviewer at Sebastiano's who says they are from Philly calls its cheesesteak the best they have found anywhere.

Sources.