Exton’s Eagleview Town Center is a great place to grab a bite to eat at longtime favorites like Nudy’s Cafe and Brickside Grille. Now, two more eateries are open in Eagleview’s brand new restaurant row—Al Pastor and Bella Vista.
Al Pastor is a modern Mexican cantina-style eatery with a focus on farm-fresh ingredients and bold flavors. Bella Vista puts an Italian-American twist on the traditional trattoria concept. The menu includes housemade pastas and pizzas with 48-hour slow-fermented dough.
Although both restaurants have distinctly different concepts and menus, they are both owned and operated by the same duo—executive chef Joe Monnich and general manager Justin Weathers.
Weathers and Monnich are seasoned culinary veterans. During the past seven years, Monnich has helmed several Starr Restaurants, including his most recent stint as the executive chef of Parc Brasserie in Philadelphia. Previously, he served as the executive chef at Dandelion, also in Philadelphia. Prior to joining Starr Restaurants, he was the chef de partie with Jean-Georges in New York and a sous-chef at Susanna Foo in Philadelphia.
Even though he is serving in the front of the house now, Weathers is a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef. In 2006, he started working with Steven Starr Restaurants at the newly opened Parc Brasserie. Weathers quickly advanced to a regional manager for Starr Restaurants and managed some of the best restaurants in Philadelphia, including Buddakan, Dandelion and the Continental Midtown.
Most recently, the pair opened the highly regarded Stove & Tap in Landsdale.
Weathers and Monnich share more than a pedigree at some of the region’s top dining destinations. They also both share a passion for creating a truly special eating experience in comfortable, casual community spaces with fun, fresh and approachable menus.
Monnich shared, “I hate stagnant menus. I like to use hyper-seasonal ingredients and I love to create new menu items as often as possible.” Rather than having daily or weekly specials, both restaurants change their menu as often as possible. The menus are printed in-house and presented on clipboards, allowing for culinary creativity to flow with the only constraint being chef Monnich’s imagination and the ingredients currently available.
Current menu highlights at Bella Vista include the creamy house whipped ricotta with olives, served with rosemary flatbread; the pillow-like sheep’s milk gnocchi; hearty veal shank and crimini mushroom ragu.
The current standout dish is the seafood “cioppino.” It’s a large plate that can easily be shared by two and includes large head-on prawns, clams, mussels and swordfish. The seafood is served on a bed of housemade toasted bread that soaks up all of the delicious sauce, and the dish is topped with pearls of fregola sarda and a fresh salad of fennel and confit lemon.
Don’t miss the classic cocktails like the old fashioned made with bourbon, simple syrup and aromatic bitters and the Moscow mule made with Lansdale’s Boardroom Vodka and freshly juiced lime and ginger. Italian-made wines are available by the glass or bottle, and there is a small, rotating bottled beer list including some local breweries and Italian beers.
At Al Pastor, menu favorites include fresh big eye tuna ceviche made with orange, prickly pear and serrano pepper; several types of queso fundito; grilled steak al pastor and Iberico pork skirt steak; and chorizo, nopales and poblano quesadilla.
The nachos are a definite menu highlight. Baked on a large tray, they include house-fried tortilla chips topped with a mix of Chihuahua and Oaxaca cheeses, charred corn, pickled jalapenos, Mexican crema and petite cilantro.
There are several varieties of delicious tacos including the roasted pork belly with pineapple salsa and lime and menu favorite crispy cauliflower. Monnich created the dish with a friend and called it a “3 a.m. guilty pleasure idea.” He quickly batters and fries the cauliflower until crisp and then tosses it in a sweet chili aioli. Avocado and black beans complete the dish.
Additionally, the chicken enchilada is a must-have plate. The chicken is slowly braised, then pulled and wrapped in a tortilla. It is topped with Oaxaca cheese, red mole and pickled red onions—creating a meal that is comfort food at its finest.
The bar at Al Pastor includes several house margaritas made with fresh-pressed juices. For a bit of extra fun, the margaritas and sangria can be served by the glass or in pitchers. Don’t miss the blackberry mojito made with Boardroom Rum and freshly muddled blackberries or Fidel’s Revenge, also made with Boardroom rum, guava and ginger. Al Pastor also has wines by the glass or bottle and a bottled beer list.
Both restaurants have also introduced a happy hour Monday–Friday from 4–6 p.m. At Bella Vista, enjoy $5 glasses of wine and $5 specialty cocktails. At Al Pastor, the standard margarita, wines, beers and guacamole are all just $5.
Other ideas that should be coming soon include taco takeovers at Al Pastor—inspired by recipes of Monnich’s favorite local chefs. At Bella Vista, look forward to “gravy Sundays” with a more traditional Italian coursed meal served family-style. Additionally, a lunch menu with more sandwich and salad options will be introduced soon at Bella Vista.
As both restaurants are quite small—Bella Vista seats 55 and Al Pastor seats 65 patrons—it is highly recommend that patrons use the OpenTable reservations system available on both websites. Look forward to expanded seating options outside once the weather warms up.
As with any new restaurant, there have been some initial hiccups, but the owners are listening to their customers and making changes daily to make improvements. They are already redesigning some lighting, have added menu items due to demand and corrected a heating and cooling issue.
When asked, “Why Exton?” Weathers shared that Joe grew up in the area and had heard that Eagleview was looking for some new restaurant concepts. They both love the area and are happy to be here. Although the restaurants have only been open for a few weeks, they already feel like there is a homey vibe and that the community has embraced them.
If you are looking for a warm and inviting place to gather with friends at night, dine with colleagues for a work lunch, enjoy a date night with your spouse or eat a delicious meal with your kids, both Bella Vista and Al Pastor fit the bill. Just head over to Eagleview’s new set of eateries and dig in!
Find Al Pastor and Bella Vista at 560 Wellington Square in Exton; Bella Vista phone: (484) 341-8621; Al Pastor phone: (484) 341-8886.
- Top photo: Al Pastor/Bella Vista
- Remaining photos: Ronna Dewey
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