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.

Costas Paxos and his sisters, Maria and Barbara Paxos, on Sept. 2 opened Not Just Bagels at 5585 Hamilton Blvd., Suite D, Lower Macungie Township, in the Shepherd’s Corner shopping center.

The inaugural Latino Restaurant Week LV, highlighting Latino eateries and cuisine throughout the area, kicked off Thursday in Bethlehem. The event is dubbed as a week, but it actually will take place over three weeks in three cities: Sept. 15-23 in Bethlehem, Sept. 23-30 in Allentown and Sept. 30-Oct. 7 in Easton.

Kou Kitchen offers authentic West African cuisine for private and public events.

Mug refills at designated Musikfest tents are $10 for domestics and $11 for craft beers, but some merchants go their own way.

The market's 'Sweet 16' celebration will pay tribute to the late Linn Walker.

Legislators are looking for ways to ease the situation.

Restaurant and bar owners are worried they'll lose customers.

A business incubator in South Bethlehem is urging other businesses to join in the effort.

The sounds of the Scottish Highlands return every year with the Celtic Classic Highland Games and Festival. They’ve filled the air for more than three decades.

More than 20 vegan-themed vendors shared their plant-based products at VegFest over the weekend in Easton.

Along with the cooler, shorter days, Autumn brings changes in what fresh local produce is available in the Lehigh Valley. Local tomatoes are just a memory, but now is prime time for local apple varieties.

The Lehigh Valley Restaurant Owners Alliance held a rally Monday afternoon on Main Street Bethlehem in response to the governor's recent veto of legislation to further open up those establishments.