West End Eats | Wert’s Cafe

If you’ve been starving for a real burger—a burger with substance and flavor the likes of which no fast food drive thru can match—it’s high time you parked your butt in a big booth at Wert’s Café, 515 North 18th Street in Allentown.

Wert’s has been feeding the West End since 1968, when the restaurant started with only 12 tables and a family-run kitchen. Today, Wert’s has 25 tables and their staff has increased to 36 people (just try to find friendlier waitresses in all of Allentown). In the process of growing, the restaurant has now also become an integral fixture to Allentown’s West End. The walls are decorated with numerous accolades touting Wert’s as a favorite of The Morning Call, Lehigh Valley Magazine, and customer thank you notes. Wert’s gives the love right back, too, with art and photographs of Allentown’s historic downtown.

But enough with the scene-setting, right? Onto the burgers! Wert’s, unlike the Micky D’s down the street, takes time to construct their burgers. Their classic Wert’s Burger or Wert’s Cheeseburger, comes stuffed with mushrooms and onions. Packing the ingredients inside the beef patty makes for the perfect balance of juicy meat, savory mushrooms, and piquant onions bite after bite after bite. The bun, a large pillowy tuffet, is built to support the heft of the burger, but flavorful enough in its own right to savor.

Each burger comes with potato chips and a pickle, but you’d be missing out to skip on another Wert’s specialty: a basket of Wert’s Famous Onions Rings. They should really be called onion “strings,” as this side dish has a more ribbon-like appearance than the thick, beer-battered onion rings you’re used to. One big handful (go ahead, it’s okay to dig a bunch straight from the basket) and you’ll understand. The thin strips allow you to taste more onion, and less fried batter, creating an amazing complement to the rich taste of your stuffed burger.

There are other highlights on Wert’s vast menu: a gloriously cheesy crock of French onion soup, their triple-decker club sandwich, and an astounding dessert menu (if they have the peach cobbler, don’t even think about ordering something else). But if you’ve never been to Wert’s—or if it’s been a while since you’ve been back—order yourself a Wert’s burger and strings. You’ll remind yourself of what a real burger should taste like.

Wert’s Café
515 N 18th St, Allentown, PA 18104 (Click here for map)
610.439.0951
www.wertscafe.com

Want to suggest a restaurant for My West End to review? Want to write a review yourself? Email us at AllentownWestEnd@gmail.com.