My spouse and I visited The Peanut Bar for drinks and a
snack on a Saturday afternoon in late October 2016. The restaurant is located
on Penn Street in downtown Reading near the Santander Arena. The Peanut Bar is
open for lunch, dinner, and drinks Monday through Saturday (closed on Sunday).
The restaurant accepts reservations by telephone. The restaurant offers complimentary
parking in a lighted surface lot at the rear of the property.
Jimmie Kramer, a Russian immigrant, opened The Green Terrace
Hotel in the era of Prohibition. He later called the establishment The Central
Café, The Old Central Café, and finally, The Peanut Bar. The same family has
owned and operated the Peanut Bar for three generations. The Travel Channel has featured the
restaurant, and USA Today recognizes
it as one of the top restaurants in the United States that serves wings.
The restaurant seats about 225 + patrons in various rooms.
You enter the main area (which contains a long bar and many table
configurations) from either the front or rear doors. A second large dining
rooms lies adjacent and open to the bar room, with a small private dining room
at the street end. An additional (third) dining room is located through the
center dining area. Peanut shells litter the floors, and red-and-white
checkered tablecloths cover the wood tables.
The Peanut Bar menu features American cuisine that ranges
from casual to elaborate, from burgers to steaks. We had already eaten lunch,
so we stopped in for some drinks and dessert. The restaurant makes all of its
desserts in-house. We had a difficult time deciding on a sweet treat, narrowing
it down to either the coconut cake or the bread pudding. When we asked a
passing server for his opinion, he mentioned that the coconut cake is amazing
when fresh, but because the baker does not make the cake daily, it might be dry
depending on when she baked it. When he returned and mentioned the baking date
to us, we were astonished! Instead, we shared the rum-raisin bread pudding, which
the restaurant serves warm with a smidge of whipped cream. The Peanut Bar
offers a full liquor license, including beer, wine, and cocktails.
If you have time for a drink when you are in Downtown
Reading, stop in at Jimmie Kramer’s Peanut Bar!
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