Food & Drink

The 2024-25 Pennsylvania State Budget introduced updates to the state's complex liquor laws, including extended happy hours and ready-to-drink cocktails. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board already received over a thousand RTDC applications and has begun permitting with the law effective Sept. 16.

Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 in Forks Township celebrated the grand opening of Colonial Cafe 71, a coffee shop which helps teach employment and life skills.

The Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market officially added The Brass Rail to its list of merchants Thursday morning — the first time the eatery has been in operation since it shuttered on Lehigh Street in June 2022.

South Whitehall Board of Commissioners on Wednesday heard a proposal for a new PJ Whelihan’s in Ridge Farms, a mixed use housing development at the intersection of Cedar Crest Boulevard and Walbert Avenue.

Organizers of the beer festival have teamed up with Allentown Mural Arts for a day of craft beer tasting, mural unveilings, live music and local eats on Saturday, Sept. 7.

Chef Ryan Lukow of the Savory Grille unseated reigning champion Chef Courtney Davenport on Sunday to win the Allentown Fair’s annual Iron Chef cooking competition.

The scrapple contest was held on Saturday, Aug. 31 at the Great Allentown Fair.

Baseball, food and fun family offerings are out there if firing up the grill is not your thing.

The Lehigh Valley's newest bagel shop is officially in full swing, holding its grand opening Wednesday Aug. 28. Customers have continuously raved about the bagel spot since its soft opening mid-July.

The 10th anniversary of Clam Jam, the Easton festival held by Third and Ferry Fish Market, brought hundreds of seafood devotees to the city Sunday and crowned new chowder and homebrew champions.

A new Irish pub plans to open its doors this summer in a familiar spot in Allentown's West End, with traditional favorites on the menu. The new owners bring years of experience from the Bethlehem bar scene.

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

It's been a wonderfully warm week, so you might be hankering for some ice cream. Fortunately, these Lehigh Valley sweets shops have St. Patrick's Day themed frosty desserts that are perfect for this time of year.

A coffee shop two months ago lauded by President Joe Biden as a shining success of small business appears to be on its way out of Emmaus following an extended landlord-tenant dispute.

WLVR's Megan Frank talks with journalists Stephanie Sigafoos and Brittany Sweeney.

ArtsQuest said it will be a day filled with tacos from throughout the Lehigh Valley, along with music, game shows, Margarita Madness, the Chihuahua Beauty Contest, and food and drinks from a ton of vendors.

With restaurants facing high inflation, food and labor costs, Juan Martinez believes eventually, everything is going to level out and "good times will come."

The Rutter's slogan is ‘Why Go Anywhere Else?’ — a loaded question in a Lehigh Valley landscape dotted with a Wawa or a Sheetz at seemingly every turn.

Eric Cutting, owner of Blended Bar + Grill in downtown Allentown, is among those battling higher food costs, labor challenges and fighting each night to get folks through the door.

Representatives from convenience chain Rutter's appeared before Palmer Township's planning commission to discuss opening a new location in the Lehigh Valley.

Jeff Fegley, owner of Fegley's Brew Works locations in Allentown and Bethlehem, talks about entrenched issues facing the restaurant industry and what the future holds for Brew Works.

In February, Bell Hall joined a list of other downtown area restaurants that have come and gone in Allentown. Here's a rundown of those restaurants.