By Zach Brown, Berks County Eats
We’ve spent a lot of time reviewing restaurants in West Reading. The Penn Avenue corridor has long been a dining destination. While there are some long-standing spots, the Avenue has seen a lot of restaurants come and go, and in a few cases, it’s seen restaurants grow.
That’s true of Taqueria Comalli.
It is hard to believe that it has already been seven years since our review of Comalli. Our visit in September 2019 came just a short time after they opened their original brick-and-mortar restaurant on Court Street in West Reading. It was a cozy space with limited seating. We didn’t dine in much in the years that followed, but we picked up plenty of tacos and horchata in the years since.
Fast-forward to 2025 and Comalli moved into a new space on Penn Avenue, taking over the former Beer Wall on Penn adjacent to Baldwin Brass.
Julie and I visited on an unseasonably warm Friday afternoon in October. It was the middle of the lunch rush, but there were still plenty of seats available as we were shown to our table.
The interior is a study in contrasts. One wall is painted a dark shade of gray with fanciful, but equally dark paintings of astronauts with skulls inside the visor. The opposite side of the room creates a literal night-and-day contrast with brightly painted skateboard decks hanging on a pale yellow wall.
All throughout are the whimsical touches Comalli is known for — a bike hanging sideways over the bar, potted cacti flanking the bathrooms, and strands of paper skulls and butterflies and poofs of paper in orange and purple and blue.
The menu remains eclectic as well, with topping combinations that go far beyond any other Berks County taqueria.
I have two favorite tacos at Comalli: the el gallo (chorizo and egg with pico) and el brulee (pulled chicken with brulee bananas). I thought about ordering one of each, but opted instead to recreate the el gallo in bowl form.
Using mixed greens and Mexican rice as a base, I ordered it topped with chorizo and egg, pico de gallo, and queso fresco. Other than the blue corn tortilla, the only thing missing from the taco was avocado, but there was already plenty of protein, so I didn’t miss it.
I always gravitate toward chorizo when I go out for breakfast because I love how the egg balances out the spicy sausage. Comalli’s has a milder flavor, but still very good. It worked well with everything else in the bowl. It was a hearty and filling meal, probably the equivalent of three tacos without the shells.
Julie had a bowl with a salad green base topped with steak, black beans, avocado, pico, and cheese. (Julie opted for the extra add-on.) The steak was very good — tender, well-seasoned, and cut into small bite-size strips.
She loves avocado, and it worked well with the flavors in the bowl. It also adds some creaminess, sort of taking the place of salad dressing.
Normally, I stick to iced tea, but we both splurged and ordered horchata with our lunch. It came served in a glass jar, dusted with cinnamon and topped with a whole cinnamon stick. The rice drink was naturally creamy, and the cinnamon provided a little spice to the otherwise sweet
mixture.
We spent about $45 for our bowls and drink, not the cheapest meal in the county but not an outrageous price for the amount of food. I finished the bowl, but I could have stopped sooner and been satisfied. (Had I ordered rice as the base to my bowl instead of spring mix, I probably
would have split it into two meals.)
Overall, Comalli still feels like Comalli. Table service is a step up, and the flavor remains top-tier.
We’ll be making more visits for tacos and bowls soon, I’m sure.
BCE Rating
Food: Very Good
Ambiance: Very Good
Service: Good
Price: $$
Taqueria Comalli
619 Penn Ave.
West Reading, PA
This story was contributed courtesy of Berks County Eats, a local resource for food and dining information. Berks County Eats is dedicated to promoting the dining scene in Reading and Berks County, PA, offering restaurant reviews, news, and events, and a comprehensive Berks County restaurant directory. You can read more at berkscountyeats.com.
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