At 35 N. 6th Street, the old bank vault is still behind the teller stand. The Berks County Trust Company built the building, and its former teller area is now a second dining room. There's also a row of seats two steps above the main floor, looking out over Washington Street. In October 2025 a Berks County Eats review of Clean Plates found only two stands open in the whole space. A third had "we are closed" on a hand-drawn sign, and the sandwich board at Sixth and Washington still advertised stands that no longer existed.
A year later the same rooms have a new name, Food Hall at 35, and a new plan. The first version was built around businesses that hadn't found their footing yet. The second is built around businesses that already have, and around a closing time every tenant has agreed to keep.
The first version was a starting point for new businesses
The food court opened with a ribbon-cutting led by Alan Shuman on April 23, 2024. The Reading Eagle described it as a food court in the renovated bank in Reading's Central Business District. Its purpose was to give new businesses a place to grow. Shuman Development Group property manager Michelle Lopez told WFMZ that some of those businesses then moved into bigger locations.
On Sixth Street, stalls opened up for two reasons. Some tenants outgrew the space, and others stopped operating there. Here is how the first version wound down:
- Spring 2024: The food court opens and grows to as many as seven eateries, including a pizza shop, a donut bakery and an ice cream stand.
- Between 2024 and 2025: Sunset Mexican Ice Cream, which sold from the old teller area, moves to a larger space on Lancaster Avenue.
- October 2025: Only Clean Plates Cafe & Juice Bar and The Pulse Cafe are still serving. Sizzling Island is dark.
- July 6, 2026: Clean Plates announces it is closing its storefront. It keeps offering catering and juice cleanse packages while it works out a new business model.
- The next day: The Pulse Cafe announces it is closing at the food court too.
That left a food court with seven stalls' worth of space and nothing cooking in it.
Where the graduates went
The Pulse Cafe shows what the old model was good at. After leaving Sixth Street it began a soft opening on October 16 at 1714 State Hill Road in Wyomissing, in the space that used to be Sam's Wyomissing Bistro. The soft opening runs through November, with a grand opening celebration scheduled for December 4. Sunset Mexican Ice Cream is on Lancaster Avenue. Clean Plates' owners said they plan to come back "stronger than ever."
So the incubator did produce businesses that kept going. It just didn't keep them downtown. A downtown office worker who liked a Pulse Cafe lunch now has a drive to Wyomissing to get one.
Food Hall at 35 starts with operators who already have kitchens
Shuman Development Group renamed the space Food Hall at 35. "We created that to make it more of a focal point and more of a destination spot for everyone to come," Lopez told WFMZ. In the same report, WFMZ noted that established restaurants are now joining the mix. Meet Greater Reading shared the story on November 4.
The change in who is moving in is the main difference. The four confirmed eateries are:
- ROQ Wings. The first eatery to open in the rebranded hall. ROQ started in New York City and serves wings, fries, tacos and quesadillas, with indoor seating and takeout.
- Chef David's Pizza & More Downtown. Opened November 3. It's the third Chef David's in Berks County, joining Chef David's Pizza & More in West Reading and Chef David's Star City Diner in Shoemakersville. Expect pizza and sandwiches.
- D'Flordeliz Restaurant. American and Latin sandwiches and comfort food, which Berks County Eats reports is advertised on Instagram as "the best of both cultures." Lopez told WFMZ it serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- JJJJ Moo Family Sushi. The fourth confirmed tenant, with sushi and poke bowls on the menu.
A startup stand is a bet on whether one owner can make a new idea work. A third location of a West Reading pizza shop, or a New York wing brand opening in Berks, is a different kind of bet. Those operators already have a menu, suppliers and a kitchen routine. For them, the hall is one more location.
The 8 p.m. agreement fixes the hours problem
The second change is about time. WFMZ reported that management negotiated with the businesses to stay open until 8 p.m. so customers have "a schedule they can count on."
That fixes what the 2025 visit described. A hall where each stand keeps its own hours, and where one stand has a closed sign taped up, gives people no reason to plan a stop. A hall where every counter is open until the same time works for a whole group. One person can get wings, another can get pizza, and a third can get a D'Flordeliz plate, all at the same tables.
The building's location helps with the later hours. The hall is a few steps from the Berks County Services Center. An 8 p.m. close means it can serve dinner as well as the lunch break.
The stage is the reason to stay after you eat
The third change is the room. Food Hall at 35 has a stage for weekend entertainment, and Lopez listed the kinds of acts she has in mind in her interview with WFMZ:
"We want to do jazz, we want to do mariachi, we want to do open mic night, we want to do poetry slams."
Drinks are part of the plan too. Lopez told WFMZ, "we're going to have the Ugly Oyster here, serving drinks." The hall is in a soft-opening phase, and more restaurants are on the way.
In the first version, each stall had to draw its own customers. In the food hall, the building does more of that work: one set of hours, a weekend program and a drinks partner. The tenants benefit from foot traffic that none of them has to create alone.
The same few blocks gained more this fall
Food Hall at 35 isn't the only new opening within walking distance of Sixth and Washington this fall.
Island Ember opened on Washington Street with a grand opening on September 26. It's a Caribbean spot serving jerk chicken, oxtail, curry shrimp and other island dishes, with indoor seating and takeout.
Equis Pica Pollo held its grand opening on October 2 at 503 Penn Street, in the space that used to be the Reading Distilling Guild.
A bit farther out, El Sabor De La Vida held its grand opening on November 6 at 1131 Muhlenberg Street, the former El Rincon Dominicano. Berks County Eats counts more than 35 restaurants opened across Berks County so far in 2026.
From the hall, Island Ember is a short walk down Washington Street and Equis Pica Pollo is around the corner on Penn. A lunch at Chef David's and a dinner of oxtail on Washington now fit into the same downtown afternoon.
The Michael Orta Team keeps up with openings like Food Hall at 35 because buyers ask what's within walking distance of a home. If you own a home near Reading's center and want to know what your place is worth this season, get your free home valuation from our team and we'll walk you through the number.
