GoggleWorks Announces April 10 Grand Opening of Thorn Alley Kitchen

Ambitious Restaurant to Feature Craveable, Feel-Good Food and Full Bar
at Downtown Reading Art Center

GoggleWorks Center for the Arts announced today the upcoming opening of Thorn Alley Kitchen, a new restaurant located at its downtown campus, blending culinary creativity with the spirit of art, community, and craveable food. The restaurant will officially open on Friday April 10, 2026 and offer a vibrant dining experience centered on delicious, feel-good meals that comprise a globally inspired menu of sophisticated comfort foods.

The concept for Thorn Alley Kitchen was shaped through an extensive research and development process led in close collaboration with GoggleWorks Board Chair and Sweet Street founder Sandy Solmon, whose discerning vision helped guide the restaurant toward something truly unique. GoggleWorks said the goal was never simply to open another restaurant, but to create an art experience that engages all five senses. 

The menu emphasizes real ingredients, local sourcing, and farm-fresh foods that are decadent and craveable. At the center of the menu is a Korean Fried Chicken dish unlike anything most visitors will have experienced before: exceptionally crisp, surprisingly light, gluten-free, and prepared without seed oils, so prized by the team that it will quite literally be served on a pedestal. Colorful salads utilize seasonal veggies and savory soups help the kitchen thoughtfully utilize every part of the chicken. Kimchi arancini, tostones and guacamole, and butternut squash hummus is offered alongside familiar handhelds like a crisp-edged smashburger, handmade flatbreads, a savory Sweet Street pretzel dog, and pork belly or sweet potato tacos, balancing comfort with sophisticated flavor. In fact, for those ready to truly treat themselves, Thorn Alley Kitchen offers The Royal Nugget, a single double-fried chicken oyster topped with premium caviar.

“We were incredibly intentional in developing Thorn Alley Kitchen,” said Solmon. “We wanted to create something undeniable: food made with real ingredients, full of flavor, artistry, and surprise. It was important to us that the menu feel indulgent and craveable while also reflecting a better way of eating. This is food with integrity, imagination, and joy.”

Situated on the first floor of the enormous art center’s main building, leaders sought to design a space for both everyday meals and special gatherings. GoggleWorks Executive Director Levi Landis credited the impressive potential for the new restaurant to Solmon’s vast expertise in the food industry, along with a dream team of culinary talent, including Philadelphia-based chef John Taus, seasoned front-of-house operators Dave and Natalie Eselgroth, and Chef Harley Eighmey-Uss, who recently relocated to Reading from Nashville. “They have opened and operated acclaimed restaurants all over the globe,” stated Landis. “We expect Thorn Alley Kitchen to be a gem for area residents and visitors.”

In addition to its culinary offerings, Thorn Alley Kitchen will feature a full beverage program designed with the same level of care and creativity as the food menu. Guests can enjoy a full bar featuring craft beers, curated wines, sangria and prosecco on tap, all intended to complement the restaurant’s distinctive flavors and convivial atmosphere.

In addition to regular lunch and dinner service, the restaurant will include a morning café menu serving signature and custom breakfast sandwiches, delicious pastries from Solmon’s own Sweet Street, and craft coffees with every detail considered. GoggleWorks said they prioritized even the smallest elements of the guest experience, including handmade fixtures and wares within the restaurant, curated audio playlists, and a lively front-of-house environment. In keeping with GoggleWorks’ artistic mission, Thorn Alley Kitchen will even incorporate interactive elements that invite guests to engage with creativity at the table.

The restaurant is part of GoggleWorks’ broader vision to transform its campus into a dynamic downtown cultural hub where food, beverage, art, and community intersect. Thorn Alley Kitchen is connected to the newly constructed Thorn Alley Stage, an outdoor café seating area, and is adjacent to a variety of other experiences on the art center’s ground floor.

“Visitors can enjoy a private meal or choose to engage with a remarkable burst of cultural activities: renowned concerts and plays on the Thorn Alley Stage, exhibitions in the Irv and Lois E. Cohen galleries, daily films in the Albert and Eunice Boscov Film Theatre, festivals and signature events, and hundreds of classes, workshops, and art experiences that make up an entire city block,” said Landis. April 25th will feature a Jazz Brunch with the Lars Potteiger quartet, part of Berks Arts’ new Jazz Appreciation Month programming. On May 1st, nationally-recognized Frog Holler will officially launch the nighttime, seasonal concert series, coinciding with the opening of GoggleWorks’ National Juried Art Exhibition.

Designed to complement the Phase 1 construction of the outdoor Art Park, the restaurant will feature indoor seating for 75 along with outdoor café seating that roughly doubles this size. In addition to hosting the national and regional performances, kids events, and walk-in films, the Thorn Alley venue and stage can be rented for weddings, community events, and other gatherings. The restaurant also complements other food programs and partners on and around the campus, including the GoggleWorks Gardens at Lauer’s Park, the new satellite location of the Helping Harvest food bank, the Berks County branch of The Food Trust, and Centro Hispano’s nearby Senior Center.

Visit ThornAlleyKitchen.com for menu, hours of operation, and other details.