Cal’s Brick Oven Pizza
When hot and savory pizza made in a brick oven, meets cool, housemade ice cream created in small batches with a passionate owner doing it all by hand, it’s sure to make you smile.
“My favorite part about ice cream is eating it.”
And you can get 'em all under one roof at Cal’s.
Set on Main Street in Reading, Cal’s has customers coming and going for their delicious brick oven pizzas and their small batch ice cream. Owner Jared Palladino is the man behind these side by side venues- combining two things he adores.
“I've always had a passion for food. My favorite things are ice cream and pizza. So I thought it'd be a great way to share what I love with everybody else.”
So he took over the former location of Calareso’s Farm Stand, and to pay homage, he called the new place Cal’s- creating that same family feel.
“We wanted a place for people to be outside, get together, have some pizza, get some ice cream, you know, try to one stop shop. It's a rustic barn. It was a barn they built a while back, wooden floors, antique signs on the wall, you know, keep it as traditional as possible. We wanted to pay tribute to something that was such a staple in Reading. So we came up with the name Cal’s.”
On the Brick Oven side of the Cal’s compound, you’ll find crispy pizzas made to order.
“The pizza is a hand-tossed Italian pizza, cooked right on the stone right in the oven. Nice and thin, crispy crust, lots of toppings. That's the pizza I've grown up to love. And I think it's unique because not a lot of people do that.”
And there’s something for everyone with offerings like the traditional, satisfying margherita to unique pies like the shrimp scampi pizza topped with fresh shrimp, tomatoes, and plenty of garlic.
“You're gonna get the taste of the white wine, the sauteed shrimp, some garlic, some butter, and a little bit of tomato as well. Smells just like your shrimp scampi dish and it's the perfect pizza.”
For a mash up of hot pizza and golden arches, get the Biggy Mac.
38’28 Biggie Mac pizzas as a special sauce base, pickles, tomatoes, onions, some cheddar cheese top with lettuce as it comes out of the oven. It's like getting big mac at McDonald's. It’s just like eating a burger.”
But if you ask Jared, he’ll always recommend the Stella pizza. A pie so near and dear to him, he named it after his dog.
“Stella's pizza is a pizza with basil, chicken cutlet, fresh mozzarella and roasted red peppers. Stella is actually my dog. And she loves food, so it was the perfect name for it. It's traditional Italian pizza. I mean, you hit it all cutlets, roasted reds, fresh mozzarella. It’s the perfect Italian pizza.”
You can't spell Calzones without Cal- and at Cal's, they're a fan favorite. There’s the BBQ Chicken Calzone packed with breaded chicken, bacon, a blend of cheddar and mozzarella and house honey barbecue sauce or the Steak Bomb- a true flavor explosion.
“Steak Bomb Calzone is shaved steak, mushrooms, peppers, onions, some salami and lots and lots of cheese. It's a baked half moon and you cut it open and the cheese just oozes out of it. Just like eating a steak and cheese sub. It's delicious.”
Other favorites include enormous burgers stacked with onion rings, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and honey barbecue sauce, chicken parm overloaded with gooey mozzarella and oversized arancini.
“We make our arancini in house. It's ground beef, peas, cheese, garlic, a little bit of sauce. They’re about the size of a softball. There's no question. You can make a meal out of them.”
Once you’ve cleaned your plate, dessert is in order. And that’s when you mosey on over to Cal’s Creamery to get some of their house made ice creams.
“So we make our ice cream. It's all small batch. We use the finest ingredients that we can get. We put the ingredients in the machine. The machine runs its cycle and freezes the ice cream. And then you extract it and hand mix toppings in as it comes out. We load our ice cream with as much ingredients as possible. So every bite you take, it's loaded with Oreos and loaded with M&Ms. It's just super creamy. It's a super creamy, very dense ice cream.”
There are big banana splits topped with all the good stuff and for the indecisive, Cal’s even offers flights.
“It's a great way to start to try us out. That way you can taste a few different things at once.”
And then there’s the house made Ice Cream Cakes.
“Our ice cream cakes are two different layers of homemade hand packed ice cream. You can choose both your flavors. You can have any candy or topping of your choice. And they're just a great staple for a birthday party. I mean, you walk in with one of those and everyone goes crazy.”
And whether you're there for lunch, dinner or dessert, you’d be crazy not to stop at Cal’s.
