Living Here in Allentown

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LIVING HERE IN ALLENTOWN

BEYOND THE RED DOORS

Red Door Publications Allentown, PA

Red Door Publications is a recognized student organization at Muhlenberg College, in Allentown PA.

Photos as credited

Send correspondence to:

Red Door Publications Muhlenberg College 2400 Chew Street Allentown, PA 18102

Printed in the United States of America ABOUT THIS BOOK

When in Allentown, do as Allentonians do. Need some help? We’ve assembled a fool-proof guide to get you started. Written by college students for college students, Living Here in Allen- town picks up at the edge of campus—the world beyond the Red Doors. We show you around your new hometown, from its greasy spoons to its drive-in theatres.

The book was born out of frustration. Most Muhlenberg students confine themselves to campus. The brave make it as far as the strip malls off Cedar Crest Boulevard, but few of us ever leave the West End. Downtown Allentown, in particular, hardly regis- ters in the Muhlenberg mind.

The guide is meant to change all this—to burst the infamous “Muhlenberg Bubble.”

The book took shape in a fall 2004 Muhlenberg College course, “Print Production.” You could say that this guide—Living Here in Allentown—is the 21 students’ final project. Editors, researchers, graphic designers, food critics, publicists, ad salespeople—we were all of these over the course of a semester. We liked it enough that we’ve formed a group, Red Door Publications, to update the book and to work on new projects.

We wandered the city—tasted the soup at the Shanty, rode the Dorney Park roller-coasters—so that you, too, would venture beyond the Red Doors.

PRODUCTION STAFF

MICHAEL CODY ANNE-MARIE LEISER SHANNON SOLHEIM CHRISTIN CULOTTA KAITLIN KARA STAPLETON BETH GORDON MACCALLUM EMILY STOLARICK MICHELLE HEIN PAMELA PHELPS JANETTE TUCKER MEGHAN HORNER SARA ROSOFF MELANIE KATE HULLFISH RACHAEL SCOTT ZACHARIADES PHILIP JOHNSON BENJAMIN SHAW KRISTEN ZIEGLER RICHARD KIMOWITZ LACIE SMITH

CONTENTS

MUHLENBERG PICKS 7

LIVING HERE IN ALLENTOWN 11

DINING 19

NIGHTLIFE 49

OUT & ABOUT 63

SHOPPING & RESOURCES 95

7 MUHLENBERG PICKS

, NIGHTLIFE , , SHOPPING ,

Banana Joe’s Another Story Cannon’s California Gold J.P. O’Malley’s Pub C. Leslie Smith Rookie’s Dave Phillips Music & Stonewall Sound Ye Olde Tavern The Good Buy Girls Mish Mash Technicolor Salon

, OUT & ABOUT, , DINING ,

The Banana Factory Bellisimo Bushkill Falls Damascus Cedar Beach Park Grille 3501 Civic Theatre La Mexicana Grill Dorney Park La Placita The Great Allentown Fair Lo Baido’s Jim Thorpe Louie’s MusikFest Philosopher’s Stone State Theatre Syb’s West End Deli Shankweiler’s Drive-In Turkish Restaurant Trexler Memorial Park Wally’s

BEST OF...

ADRENALINE RUSH MAKEOUT SPOTS

♦ Dorney Park’s Steel Force Roller ♦ The back room at Hary’s (p. 53) Coaster (p. 87) ♦The ferris wheel at Dorney Park ♦ Riving rafting on the Delaware (p. 87) (p. 86) ♦ The “kissing bridge” in Little Le- ♦ Camel Beach at Camelback high Parkway (p. 79) Mountain (p. 86) ♦ Lost in the Bear Junction Corn ♦ Paintball at Skirmish USA (p. 86) Maze (p. 91)

♦ Hot air balloon ride (p. 88) ♦ Sigma Phi Epsilon Dance Floor

FIRST DATE SPOT CHILL-OUT SPOT

♦ Bellisimo (p. 22) ♦ West Park in the spring (p. 81)

♦ Picnic in Trexler Park (p. 80) ♦ Gazebo in the Rose Garden (p. 78) ♦ Shankweiler’s Drive-In (p. 76) ♦ Pool at O’Malley’s (p. 55) ♦ All five wineries in the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail (p. 90) ♦ Bushkill Falls (p. 82)

♦Bluegrass at Godfrey Daniels (p. 52)

ALCOHOL SELECTION BEST MUNCHIES

♦ J.P. O’Malley’s (p. 55) ♦ Stooges (p. 57)

♦ Stooges (p. 57) ♦ Chicken Lounge (p. 51)

♦ Bethlehem Brew Works (p. 50) ♦ Parma Pizza (p. 36)

♦ Cannon’s (p. 51) ♦Yocco’s (p. 43)

♦ Federal Grill (p. 27) ♦ China King (p. 44)

BEST OF…

CULTURE SPOTS FAMILY OUTINGS ♦ MusikFest (p. 68) ♦ Dorney Park (p. 87) ♦ Civic Theatre (p. 71) ♦ The Great Allentown Fair (p. 65)

♦ Banana Factory (p. 75) ♦ Historic Bethlehem (p. 89)

♦ Allentown Art Museum (p. 69) ♦ Jim Thorpe (p. 89)

♦ Allentown Symphony Orchestra ♦ Allentown Farmers Market (p. 73) (p. 106)

PHOTO OPS LEND A HELPING HAND

♦ Muhlenberg Bell Tower ♦ Sixth Street Shelter

♦ Canal Park (p. 78) ♦ Just for Kids

♦ Jim Thorpe (p. 89) ♦ Perfect Fit

♦ Rose Garden (p. 78) ♦ The Caring Place

♦ Hawk Mountain (p. 83) ♦ Casa Guadalupe

INSOMNIA EMPTY YOUR WALLET

♦ Dunkin’ Donuts (p. 44) ♦ Salomon’s (p. 109)

♦ Croc Rock (p. 52) ♦ Grille 3501 (p. 29)

♦ HamFam (p. 29) ♦ Wegman’s (p. 107)

♦ The Charcoal Diner (p. 29) ♦ Technicolor (p. 113)

♦ Wegman’s (p. 107) ♦ Federal Grill (p. 27)

LIVING HERE IN ALLENTOWN 12

llentown, to an outsider, is Some of the storefronts were empty, all Billy Joel lyrics. But when it’s true. The department stores, in- you’re really living here in cluding Hess’s, were shuttered years A Allentown, you forget about ago. A moat of parking lots has cut the Top 40 caricature. You can’t help off nearby, tired-but-resilient it, once you’ve ventured beyond 23rd neighborhoods. and Chew. But we liked it on Hamilton—we liked True, the Allentown we found when the terra cotta gargoyles on the old we left campus has its closed-down Americus Hotel. We liked people- factories. The city’s riverside Bucky watching at the sidewalk tables of the Boyle Park, for instance, sits in the Federal Grill. We even liked the Great shadow of the abandoned brick-and- War Store, martial kitsch and all. copper Neuweiler Brewery—our own Tintern on the Lehigh. From the There’s no Best Buy on Hamilton Eighth Street Bridge, we took in the Street, nor any other big box parasite. impossibly vast Mack Truck assembly Wal-Mart and the rest—Chi Chi’s and plant, now idle on the bank of the the Old Country Buffet included—laze Little Lehigh. If this is post-industrial supine along MacArthur Road in decay, it’s pretty damn picturesque. nearby Whitehall Township. MacAr- thur, for all its breath-stealing ugli- In Joel’s “Allentown,” it’s not just the ness, could be anywhere, Phoenix or brick majesty that gets ignored. A White Plains. The far West End of couple of blocks up from the Eighth Allentown is the same blend of Office Street Bridge is the Old Allentown Depot and Friendly’s. historic district. Here we walked along blocks of restored 19th century row- None of this would matter—the homes, stopped in for $1 pastelillos screaming billboards, the half-off at Brisas Del Caribe and then home- signs—if Sleepy’s and Petsmart were- made gelato at Lo Baido’s. Just down n’t cause to Hamilton Street’s effect. the block, we hung out with the There’s a larger story here—the gut- smoking hipsters at Cannon’s, a faux ting of American cities for discount dive across from Iglesia Pentecostal toaster ovens—but for now we’re de Betania. content to appreciate what’s left. Forced to choose between MacArthur Down on Hamilton—the city’s main and Hamilton, we’d take post- town) of (Library Congress, Library and Map Collection) Allen-Town Northampton of (later 1762 map Overleaf: street—we watched the Lehigh Valley industrial “decay” every time. Gay Men’s Chorus croon at Philoso- pher’s Stone, an overlarge café wedged between a pawn shop and a he Lehigh Valley wasn’t al- discount jeweler. (No Starbucks here.) ways coke and steel. Long before Carbondale and Iron- We walked up and down Hamilton, T ton got settled, a prominent refreshed by the mix of garish awn- colonial jurist named William Allen ings and carved-stone facades—none selected the bluff above the conflu- of it market-tested nor climate- ence of the Lehigh River and Jordan controlled. We paused at the foun- Creek as the site for his new town. tains in front of the new, glass-and- The year was 1762. chrome PPL building, adjacent to its older 22-story Art Deco sibling. A The plateau had been an Indian hunt- brewpub and lofts are going up ing ground. (“Lehigh” itself is an an- across the street, we were told— glicization of the Indian Lechawaxen, though at the time the eclectic side- which roughly translates to “free to walk traffic was life enough. roam.” Ironies abound.) Ever since

England’s Charles II “deeded” the fu- now know as the Lehigh Valley. ture state to the Penn family in the 17th century, the Native American As recently as 1962, in a volume to claim to this corner of the “New commemorate the city’s 200-year World” was—to use a euphemism— anniversary, the land grab was still disputed. One particularly loathsome being blamed on Native American footnote to the whole land heist hap- naiveté: “The Indian had a feeling for pened here, around what would be- common ownership of all the land, come Allentown. and it was very hard for him to understand the idea of private ownership. In 1737, a couple of decades before In fact, this was one of the basic prob- Allen’s town-hunting expedition, Wil- lems which plagued the red men in liam Penn’s sons decided that the their relations with the white man.” lands to the north of Philadelphia should be opened for settlement. William Allen, then Pennsylvania’s Their scheme to convince area Indi- Chief Justice, named his brand-new ans—the Lenni Lenape—gets remem- village Northampton Town. bered as the “Walking Purchase.” (“Allentown” wasn’t formally adopted Here’s why: The Penn brothers found until 1838.) In 1767, Allen gave his an old treaty giving settlers the land son James the town and the land “as far as a man can walk in a day and around it as a wedding gift, and the a half.” The brothers hired, for their younger Allen soon built a hunting “walk,” famous athletes who “walked lodge “retreat” on a height overlook- hard”—hard enough to reach all the ing the Jordan, known as Trout Hall. way to the peak of the Blue Mountain, (This same Trout Hall was sold, in the northern boundary of what we 1848, to the Allentown Seminary, the Library ofLibrary Congress, Library and Map Collection

An 1879 bird’s-eye view of Allentown

14 Collections of the Lehigh County Historical Society

An 1881 panoramic of Allentown institutional precursor to Muhlenberg that Allentonians “are mainly German College. The College was housed on who speak bad English and distressing these grounds until it relocated to the German.” current West End campus, in 1904.) Successive waves of other European Allentonians seem especially proud of immigrants would join the PA Dutch, the Liberty Bell’s brief Revolutionary especially in the early 20th century. But War stopover, sheltered here from the Allentown was still distinctively German British—though James Allen himself enough that a 1939 guide to the state, was suspected of Tory sympathies. published by the New Deal Writers Pro- gram, described the city as “peopled largely by Pennsylvania Germans.” Cit- Where the swift Jordan rushed and rolled ing ground hog rituals and barnside In its never-ending race, hexes, the guide claimed that residents Where the leaves cast shadowy lace, “cling as tenaciously to their old tradi- And the trout were big and bold, The Lechawaxen loved to roam tions as to their curious but expressive Through his mountains, forest-clad idiom.”

he lines come from “An Ode Allentown might have remained “Allen’s to Allentown,” a tribute in Little Town” were it not for the discov- verse to the city’s Revolution- ery, in 1792, of coal and iron ore in the ary role, published on that mountains to the north—though there T wasn’t much mining until the 46-mile 1962 anniversary. The poem is 294 lines long. Like other cities, Allen- Lehigh Canal was linked to the Dela- town’s memory is more than a little ware River in 1838. Less than twenty airbrushed. years later, one and a quarter million tons of anthracite coal were barged For much of its history, Allentown was past Allentown and on to Philadelphia overshadowed by its Moravian every year. And thanks to abundant neighbor, Bethlehem. Both cities were limestone and sand, a cement industry mainly settled by Germans—the fa- rapidly formed in the second half of the bled Pennsylvania Dutch, though 19th century. The Lehigh Valley be- Dutch only in the deutsch sense. One came—is this an honor?—the cement 1783 visitor from Germany reported capital of the world.

Allentown was the region’s retail and not the decades to come, too? A 1965 banking center, though it also housed pamphlet, prepared for relocating factories of its own. For a few dec- Mack employees, captured the city’s ades the city boasted a thriving silk Jetsons-like optimism for the future: industry, second only to New Jersey’s “Large passenger-carrying rockets are Paterson. (The beautiful and under- a definite possibility in the not too used Adelaide Silk Mill, at 3rd and distant future…” Hamilton, is a hulking monument to all that fabric.) merican cities didn’t know Businesses with names like the Lehigh what was coming. Post-war Portland Cement Company and the Levittowns and acres of Lehigh Structural Steel Company were A three-bedroom ranches; the headquartered here—and made for- interstates and cheap Chevy’s; mort- tunes for the Trexlers and Traylors in gage tax breaks and Leave it to Bea- the early decades of the 20th century. ver. Cities never had a chance. Trexler and the other industrialists ran the city, for better or worse. On It is a uniquely American barbarism the eve of the Depression, the Cham- that schools and social services get ber of Commerce boasted, in its pro- funded through local property tax. In motional literature, that Allentown is the years after World War II, in Allen- “singularly free from disturbances of town and elsewhere, the white and any kind.” wealthy got up and left—pooled their resources in the self-segregated en- All the new industry in and around claves we call suburbs. Cities were Allentown attracted thousands of left with fewer resources and more immigrants in these years, especially burdens, with the working poor, in Slavs and Eastern European Jews. Syri- effect, bankrolling services for the ans, too, were settling here—most truly poor. Higher taxes and under- from Syria’s Christian Valley, where funded schools set off a vicious cycle: Pennsylvania German missionaries More flight, more burdens, a weaker had thumped Bibles decades before. tax base, deteriorating schools, more (Allentown’s Syrian community re- flight, and so on. Call it the soft big- mains vibrant, one of the largest in otry of low home values. the world outside Syria.) Pennsylvania’s notoriously weak land When Mack Trucks moved its head- use laws made things worse. (The quarters here in the 1960s, the city laws are still feeble today, and the had been booming for decades. Why Valley’s horizon-conquering clusters Collection Library of Congress, Library and Map

A bird’s eye view of Allentown in 1922

16 of cardboard McMansions are the Allentown, like most cities in the predictable result.) post-war era, was under assault on multiple fronts. We often talk about It didn’t help that most, including cities as if they are people, down-on- Allentown, inflicted their own wounds their-luck sorts who can’t get back on in the form of “urban renewal.” Whole their feet. But the decline of U.S. cit- blocks in and near downtown were ies—Philadelphia and Detroit, Reading torn down to make room for “some and York, Hartford and Lowell—had beautiful new structures” (their words, nothing to do with luck. That decline not ours)—brutalist concrete squat- had everything to do with policy— heaps. Historic buildings were also with conscious choices about trans- razed for parking lots, in a doomed portation dollars, school funding and bid to compete with the Lehigh Valley tax write-offs. Our abandoned cities Mall, which opened in 1976 on land— stand, given these choices, as an in- here’s a bitter irony—sold by the city dictment in brick and mortar. and annexed to Whitehall Township.

And then there was deindustrializa- llentown eluded the fate of tion. From the 60s onward, the U.S.— so many of its municipal and Northeastern cities in particular— peers, for a very long time. were hemorrhaging manufacturing A By some measures, it has jobs. Bethlehem Steel, symbol of Val- even made headway against a strong ley industry, laid off 2,500 employees current: The city’s population is larger on “Black Friday” in 1977; the com- today than it was in 1950, in contrast pany would limp along for nearly two to every other Pennsylvanian city. decades. Its flagship Bethlehem plant (Philadelphia, for example, has lost closed in 1995. over 900,000 residents, or close to 40 percent of its population!) Allen- Courtesy ofCourtesy the Morning Call

Allentonians celebrate the World War I victory on Hamilton Street in 1919

17 town’s downtown residential but also Dominicans, Mexicans, Cu- neighborhoods remain healthy. Crime bans, Salvadorans and others—now rates and vacancy are strikingly low. comprise about a quarter of the city’s residents. And they have changed the But decline did happen here, only face of the city. For the better: Allen- later and more suddenly than in other town’s downtown neighborhoods are cities. And it happened on Hamilton healthy and alive as a result. Street, for so long the region’s retail hub, in a very visible way: Hess’s and Traumatized and occasionally racist, Leh’s, the legendary department many native Allentonians have waged stores downtown, closed within a year a relentless whisper campaign against of one another, in 1996. A sinkhole the city. Allentown-bashing is the destroyed the brand-new, glass-and- stuff of countless private conversa- steel Corporate Center at 7th and tions, passed along from real estate Hamilton, in 1997. Within a single agent to plumber to professor. New decade, the city’s once bejeweled residents are marinated in this kind of main street was largely emptied out. talk. No wonder Bob Wittman, longtime journalist, titled essays on these The Allentown of the “whisper cam- years, “Bad Luck, Bad Times: Allen- paign” doesn’t look like the Allentown town 1993-1995” and “Ground Zero: we saw. But it’s worrying all the same: Allentown 1995-1997.” There’s something self-fulfilling about all the acidic self-description. A city’s Much of this was symbolic—a sink- fate, in large part, hinges on percep- hole had swallowed the city’s flagship tion. Today’s talk—however distorted office building, after all—but all the now—is tomorrow’s reality. Hear more traumatic as a result. Native “Don’t go downtown; it’s unsafe” Allentonians, when you meet them, enough and no one will go downtown. often come off as shell-shocked. The And then it will be unsafe. Hess’s closing, in particular, has left a deep psychological scar, and always gets mentioned in “the city’s gone to ell, we’re living here in hell” declarations that newcomers Allentown, at least for the routinely receive. next four years. And we W know what Allentown’s There’s often a racist edge to these not. rants. The city’s large Puerto Rican population is singled out, through It’s not Williamsburg; they’re no cool- innuendo and blunt accusation, as the hunters nor shock-orange knit caps cause of the decline. (In 1994, The here, nor even Richard Florida’s fa- New York Times Magazine ran a cover bled “creative class.” No cool martini story on “The Latinization of Allen- bars, no properly dimmed lights. town.”) The claim is absurd, as the Allentown’s not New York; the city steady migration of Puerto Rican resi- often sleeps. It’s not Philadelphia, dents saved the city from an almost Liberty Bell pride notwithstanding. certain population plunge. One of the depressing ironies is that Allentown Allentown is part Pennsyl-tucky— has hosted a thriving Puerto Rican Yocco’s, bowling, gun shows, diners, community since the 1950s, as the 25 thousand-seat high school Muhlenberg historian Anna Adams football stadium. There’s a lot of reminds us in her Hidden From His- Brickote siding and bear-cub flags— tory. and those massive, swaying blown-up Santas in winter. It’s hard to find The city’s Latinos—Puerto Ricans, yes, good Indian food here.

18 Courtesy of PPL PPL of Courtesy

The PPL tower, under construction in 1927

You drive around this city, and you But this cuts both ways: There’s no stumble upon a gorgeous, one thou- exurban anomie, few professional sand acre park. Graceful brick mills smiles, no soul-emptying “Oakdale sit alongside postcard-worthy blocks Ridge” developments. No cheesy Tex of historic rowhomes. Allentown has Mex, no neon signstorm. its share of flag-draped ignorance, to be sure, but also a tough LGBT anti- In their place we found a city. And for discrimination ordinance. all the battering cities have taken, they’re still refuges from the market- We’ll take the faded grandeur of tested banality of their surroundings. Hary’s over Outback Steakhouse any Ours, Allentown, is certainly not the day. Even if this means beer in plastic product of any focus group research. cups. Here, Syrian farmers markets hawk Turkish water pipes. You can pick up So what are you waiting for? The red Dominican, Jamaican, Salvadoran, doors are wide open. Cuban and Puerto Rican food within a five-block radius—all for under $5.

DINING

REVIEWS 20

CHAIN GANG 44

INDEX 45

20 DINING

HE first image that comes to mind when you hear “Allentown” is Billy Joel’s infamous song. The lyrics, unfortunately, don’t make “living here in Allentown” sound too enchanting. Joel T aside, the factories haven’t all closed down—nor have the restaurants. In the mood for a classy meal? Want some take-out? Don’t know where to go? We’ve scoured the city for you—and stum- bled across everything from mom-and-pop Mexican to four-star decadence. Thank God it’s not Friday’s.

AKITA JAPANESE new to Middle Eastern food should start with the falafel—it’s a classic, STEAKHOUSE and especially delicious here. If you Japanese $$$$ DWY ALC plan on drinking, you’ll need to bring 6 2720 Walbert Ave. your own. And be sure you’ve got an MIN 610-432-5800 extra $2.50 on Saturdays (the cover www.akitasteakhouse.com charge for Belly Dancer night). (Open Tu-F 11a-2p, 5p-10p; Sa-Su 5p-10p.) As flaming filets or sizzling chicken fly from the Hibachi grill to your AL DENTE plate, Akita Japanese Steakhouse is as dramatic as it is tasty. If you prefer a Italian $$$ DWY ALC little less flare with your fare, there’s 2 1901 Hamilton St. a room away from the Iron Chef MIN 610-782-0900 where you can order non-grill items. Sushi lovers, take note: $25 on Al Dente is a true Italian bistro, a far Wednesdays and Sundays will get you cry from the generic chains that claim all the sushi you can eat. Plus don’t to be. While the average entrée costs be shy about asking to build your around $17, it’s worth splurging here own sushi roll if you don’t see the on a special occasion or with a date. perfect combo on the menu. (The The Tuscan-style food ranges from chef is always willing to accommodate various pasta options—including unique taste buds.) The restaurant is homemade gnocchi—to seafood, not so flexible in the budget depart- chicken, and beef dishes—like the ment: Portions are big enough to vitello sorrento for $16 (a veal medal- share but meals are pricy. (Open Tu- lion topped with fried eggplant and Th 11a-2:30p, 5p-10p; F 11a-2:30p, prosciutto). Al Dente is an authentic 5p-11p; Sa 4p-11p; Su 2p-9p.) slice of Italy, complete with classic Italian ballads playing in the background. When you’re here, you’re ALADDIN really family. Benvenuti! (Open M-F Middle Eastern $$ DWY BYO 4:30p-10p; Sa 5p-10p.) 9 651 Union Blvd. MIN 610-437-4023 ANYLISE’S HAVA JAVA Overleaf: SaraRosoff Okay, so while it’s a little sketchy Café $ WLK from the outside, Aladdin is amazing 2 526 N. 19th St. on the inside … jaw-dropping really. MIN 610-432-3045 The ceiling is low and the walls are Tucked away in an old row house on covered in richly colored tapestries. While it’s a little pricy, the food is 19th Street, this funky coffee shop is definitely worth every penny. Anyone the soul of the emerging 19th Street DINING 21

“bohemia.” Industrial beams hold THE BAY LEAF hundreds of hanging mugs; the Asian Fusion $$$ FML ALC checkerboard, tiled floor makes you 935 Hamilton St. think you’re in a country cottage 5 MIN 610-433-4211 kitchen one second and an elegant ballroom the next. If you’re hungry If the parents are paying, the Bay Leaf for brunch or a light lunch, they’ve is a superb choice. If they’re not, you got homemade pies, muffins, bagels may want to deprive your taste buds and scones to quell your appetite. until a special occasion, when expen- Most important, though, are the sive culinary decadence can be had brews. Harriet (the owner) knows her guilt-free. Its foliage-filled elegance is coffee, and she serves up an array of worth a markup, if you’re out to im- blends as well as fancier lattes and press a date, but it’s possible to find an cappuccinos. (She’s got tea, too.) equally good meal for less elsewhere in Time your visit so you’re not arriving Allentown. The service isn’t impecca- with the crowd emerging from the ble, but the portions are consistently neighboring Civic Theatre. You can generous. The food itself—whether it’s bring a book, but the soothing classi- seafood, Italian or Thai-inspired—is cal music and dim lighting may be fresh and inventive, as you’d expect at more conducive to catnapping than to these prices. The chicken satay and getting that reading done. The menu Thai spring roll, both $8 appetizers, proclaims that coffee’s “far better… are especially delectable. Bay Leaf is than wine”—how true! (Open M-Th the fine dining option in Allentown’s 8:30a-11p; F-Sa 8:30a-midnight; Su city center, and no one should leave 10a-10p.) the city without a visit. (Open M-F

11:30a-2p, 5p-10p; Sa 5p-10p.)

LEGEND

, MUHLENBERG PICK

ALC ALCOHOL SERVED BYO BRING YOUR OWN

DWY DATEWORTHY WLK WALKABLE

FML FORMAL DEL DELIVERY

$ LESS THAN $10 PER MEAL $$ BETWEEN $10 & $15 PER MEAL

$$$ BETWEEN $15 & $20 PER MEAL $$$$ OVER $20 PER MEAL

ESTIMATED DRIVING TIME FROM MUHLENBERG COL-

6 LEGE. (FOR DIRECTIONS, SEE YAHOO OR GOOGLE MAPS.) MIN 22 DINING Melanie Zachariades

The Bay Leaf Caribe, a modest Puerto Rican eatery, , BELLISIMO is set halfway along the prettiest two- Italian $$$ DWY DEL ALC block stretch in Allentown—the city’s 4 1243 Tilghman St. own (mini) Beacon Hill, along 8th MIN 610-770-7717 Street between Chew and Liberty Streets. Like many of Allentown’s On one of the busiest streets in Allen- other Latino restaurants, Brisas is town lies a quaint garden courtyard, mysteriously cheap. Alcapurrias filled with Roman statues and foun- (stuffed green bananas) are only a tains. At Bellisimo, you reward your dollar, as are the steaming pastelillos senses long before the food’s brought (beef-stuffed pastries). Full meals, out. (Inside, too: The dimly lit, tiled served with rice and beans, range dining room is a long way from the from $4 to $7. The beef stew ($6) is chaos of Seeger’s.) Each meal begins especially tasty. There’s nothing with Italian rolls dipped in hot garlic flashy about the décor. A few guitars and oil. Don’t skip the appetizers hang on the wall, across from an here: The hot antipasto, with Italian open, hissing kitchen and plastic meats, cheeses and fish, is particu- counter seats. No matter: Get your larly good. The entrees are gener- pastelillos to go, and walk the gor- ously portioned, and rarely disap- geous neighborhood. (Open M-Sa pointing. Tuscan wine, elegant music, 10a-8p.) the soft gurgle of a fountain: It’s easy to forget—and depressing to remem- BUCA DI BEPPO ber—that you’re a few car lots away Italian $$$ ALC from campus. (Open Tu-Su 11a-10p.) 10 714 Grape St., Whitehall MIN 610-264-3389 BRISAS DEL CARIBE www.bucadibeppo.com Puerto Rican $ 6 401 N. 8th St. With its gaudy, gold-framed photo- MIN 610-783-9247 graphs, its large, color-bulbed Christ- mas lights and oversized plastic cakes Get a seat near the window: Brisas Del on the walls, this deliciously kitschy Italian restaurant is so tacky it’s fun. DINING 23

There is a Pope Room, complete with items, thanks to both American and a bust of the pontiff in the middle of Thai chefs. (Filet mignon and chicken a round table, and music playing curry are just two of the options.) Well- overhead from great Italian-American informed waiters regale you with an singers like Frank Sinatra and Dean endless list of specials before you Martin. The bathrooms take the ex- place your order. All this atmosphere perience to the next level: You’ll find comes at a price, but just hold out for pictures of naked people, and hear a parental visit if you don’t want to the opposite sex speaking Italian over empty your own wallet. And don’t for- the stereo system. For dates? Not so get to leave room for the homemade much. But Buca is perfect for large desserts! (Open Tu-Sa 11a-7p.) groups, because the dishes are served to be shared, family-style, right down CARIBBEAN DELIGHT to the desserts. When you’re being seated, you’re led through the kitchen Jamaican $ BYO and greeted by everyone—even the 6 465 Washington St. chef. Check your diet at the door, as MIN 610-770-9832 the food here is high-calorie and high- carb, but every bite is worth it. You There’s south, and then there’s south. can’t screw up your order here, but The friendly chefs at Caribbean Delight the macaroni rosa and chicken par- fry up soul food and Jamaican fare—so migiana are favorites. If, by some you can get your curry goat ($7) with a miracle, you have room, the bella side of collard greens ($2). The xer- festa is a cake-and-ice-cream master- oxed menu divides straight down the piece. (Open M-Th 4p-10p; F 4p-11p; middle, but it’s all cheap. Frightfully Sa noon-11p; Su noon-9p.) cheap, actually: The delicious jerk chicken dinner is only $8, and comes with salad and a steaming pile of rice THE CAFÉ and peas. Soul food, too: With the fried Thai $$$$ DWY chicken platter ($8)—greasy and 17 221 W. Broad St., Bethlehem proud—you get two sides (yams, for MIN 610-866-1686 example, or mac & cheese) and corn- bread. The place is definitely dress- This restaurant is easy to miss in your down (when in Jamaica...), festooned quest for that romantic date-spot. with kitschy island decor. Tissue-paper Now you’ve got no excuse! The Café’s palm trees crowd the ship-style wood setting—in a two-story, Victorian panelling, as a giant, smiling Bob Mar- home—provides a lovely backdrop for ley mural overlooks the modest, plas- any meal. And its kitchen cooks up a tic-topped tables. It’s not spring break unique range of lunch and dinner exactly, but it’s as close as you’ll get in

SCRAPPLE

With fans like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, it has to be good… right? Concocted over 200 years ago in Pennsylvania’s first settlement, Chester County, scrapple was praised for its fresh taste at a time when refrigerators were, well, 150 years off. You’d think that, by now, we’d have come to our senses: A typical recipe calls for a three-pound pork butt with bone (no, that’s not a typo), water, ground “savory,” cornmeal and every spice known to man. That’s the mild version. Other recipes include flesh scraped off a hog’s head, pork skin, pork heart, pork liver, pork tongue, and even pork brains. And while the rest of the nation might flinch if faced with the truth, scrapple remains a diner staple in Allentown. So dig in, and decide from there. 24 DINING

Allentown. (Open M-W 11a-9p; Th-F the lobster soupy rice is $22—though 11a-11p; Sa noon-11p; Su 1p-9p.) with Spanish sausage only $6. (Open daily 7a-11p.)

CARRABBA’S ITALIAN GRILL Italian $$$ DWY ALC CHARLIE BROWN’S 4 510 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. Steakhouse $$$ ALC DWY MIN 610-439-6100 5 1908 Walbert Ave. www.carrabbas.com MIN 610-437-1070

As any good Sicilian knows, a meal is Is your inner carnivore screaming for better when it’s made with a family steak? For some of the best in Allen- recipe, lots of garlic and a touch of town, saddle up and head out to love. Carrabba’s founders (Johnny Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse—part of Carrabba and Damian Mandola) used the New Jersey-based chain. Prime just that philosophy when they first rib’s their specialty, but they also dish set up shop in Houston. After the out chicken and seafood. owners of the Outback Steakhouse (Vegetarians, you’re limited to ravioli chain stopped in for a meal, a new and the salad bar.) The space is al- partnership quickly turned the small most as delectable as the meat— but hugely popular Italian restaurant special rooms for larger parties, a bar into a national chain. They’re regu- and lounge area and a cozy fireplace. larly packing ’em into the Allentown The main drawback are the crowds at outlet, a low-lit, comfortable space this popular spot, so be sure to re- with Frank Sinatra singing in the serve a table in advance. (Open M-Sa background. The grill items are the 11:30a-10p.) highlight, but you’ll need a healthy appetite whatever you choose: At CHRISTOPHER’S Carrabba’s, you eat the Italian way (which means a well-stocked bread Traditional American $$ basket, complimentary salads and 4 1519 W. Greenleaf St. generous portions). (Open M-Th 4p- MIN 610-432-6333 10p; F 4p-11p; Sa 3p-11p; Su 2p- 9:30p.) Christopher’s, the “open to the public” restaurant connected to the Co- lumbian House (a Roman Catholic EL CASTILLO DEL CARIBE club and banquet facility), is the best Dominican $$ BYO of the worst in A-town. It’s got a ri- 7 346 Ridge Ave. diculously cheesy atmosphere and MIN 610-776-2014 lousy décor, salads made of cheap iceberg lettuce and bottled dressing This gleaming upstart on the city’s and just four or five entrees (that Latino food scene specializes in Do- change daily) to choose from. The minican seafood dishes. The service service is less than mediocre—the here is solicitous and friendly. The waitresses are more attentive to club expansive, white dining area seems visitors than the few patrons in Chris- splashed in sun, it’s so bright; the topher’s. Though the restaurant effect is surprisingly elegant. But it’s claims no religious affiliation, the the deep, delectable menu that won Christmas lights, paper placemats us over. If you stop by El Castillo only with instructions on how to become a once, order the paella ($15)—you will Catholic “knight” and the large hang- thank us. Some of the seafood can be ing cross on the wall at the main en- pricey, however: Mashed fried green trance suggest otherwise. (Open M-F plantains with octopus are $12; with 5p-9p.) chicken, the price is just $4. Likewise, DINING 25

Billy Joel’s Allentown (1983) album cover

CHURROS CAFÉ , DAMASCUS Cuban $ Middle Eastern $ BYO 959 W. Turner St. 7 449 N. 2nd St. 5 610-437-5511 MIN 610-432-2036 MIN Sensational shwarma, mouthwatering Alas, Churros Café offers no churros. hummus and don’t even get us There’s not even a menu. So be started on the fried eggplant… While warned: Ordering is a bit of an adven- the décor’s a bit spare at this family ture. The guy behind the counter rat- operation, they’ve got some of the tles off your options and you decide best Middle Eastern food in the area— what you want on the spot. (No pres- a huge variety of Syrian specialties, sure.) A thick Spanish accent can including plenty of vegetarian op- make the ordering process even more tions. (They also serve a few more confusing. However, the food is su- conventional dishes—like chicken perb and cheap. Try the Cuban sand- sandwiches and burgers—for less wich—it’s highly recommended. adventurous eaters.) Since entrees (Open daily 8a-9p.) average $8 and pitas less than $4, you won’t have to spend a fortune to 26 DINING get a truly fantastic meal. Please, they ers—and for filling out a very lengthy make their own yogurt, people! (Open drink list. (Just try to name their more M-Sa 9a-9p.) than 200 varieties.) Whether you’re drinking or not, try the food for a real DOGSTARR CAFÉ taste of Deutschland. The less adventurous can stick to familiar American Café $ favorites but are still obligated to try 6 29 N. 6th St. the German chocolate cake! The ser- MIN 610-821-1011 vice is amazingly quick but don’t look to the servers for much additional Don’t be fooled by the name—this assistance. While it isn’t stellar, Dun- café’s no place for pups. What it is, derbak’s is a great reason to skip the though, is a gift to caffeine addicts. food court during your next trip to Located by the Allentown Symphony the mall. (Open during mall hours.) Hall, the café has been serving local business people for over seven years. It’s got an exceptional (and reasona- EDGE bly priced) menu of breakfast and Continental $$$$ DWY lunch items, from bagels to salads 18 74 W. Broad St., Bethlehem and sandwiches. And who needs a MIN 610-814-0100 mainstream Starbucks when the funk- www.edgerestaurant.net ier Dogstarr has everything a coffee- or tea-lover could wish for? You’ll be Flawless food, graceful service and a pleasantly surprised by the list of modish air. If that’s what you’re look- lattes and cappuccinos, flavored cof- ing for—and if you’re willing to leave fees and Chai and regular teas. It’s Allentown for it—then Edge is your the perfect place (hands-down) for place. In historic downtown Bethle- your next fix. (Open M-Th 8a-4:30p; F hem, Edge bills itself as a dash of 8a-4p.) New York in Pennsylvania, and not without reason. Start your cosmopoli- DUNDERBAK’S tan evening with, well, a cosmo, as the bar mixes some of the best. Not German $$ ALC 21? Don’t worry, you can still dine like 8 Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall it’s Manhattan, with the prosciutto MIN 610-264-4963 San Danielle ($10), or the baby field www.dunderbak.com greens with toasted walnuts, Roque- fort and a roasted shallot vinaigrette Attention hungry shoppers: Just be- ($9). The New York strip steak ($30) yond Macy’s perfume counter in the is just what you’d expect from Lu- Lehigh Valley Mall awaits the smell of ger’s, and the handmade cavatelli …sauerkraut? For the most part, with rock shrimp ($22) is divine. The Allentown seems to have forgotten its Normandy apple tart ($9) and Val- rich German heritage where dining is rhona chocolate cake ($9) are some of concerned. Dunderbak’s is one of the the best desserts you’ll find this side very few exceptions. It’s often over- of the Lincoln Tunnel. So hail a cab looked since it’s one of many options and enjoy big city dining in the coun- at the mall, and the dining area itself try. (Open M-Th 5p-9p; F-Sa 5p-10p.) is hidden behind a gift shop (where you can choose between ten different kinds of sauerkraut) and quick-service counter (great for a sausage on the go). Your first impression once you wander back: Beer. It’s responsible for most of the interior decorating—it lines the walls on shelves and in cool- DINING 27

FEDERAL GRILL lunch menu is lighter on your wallet, and includes burgers, salads, and a Trad’l American $$$$ DWY light alternative to French fries called ALC 6 “tobacco onions.” (Open M-F 11a-4p, MIN 536 Hamilton St. 5p-10p; Sa-Su 5p-11p.) 610-776-7600 www.federalgrill.com FUSION GRILL This casual chic establishment is any- Asian Fusion $$ FML thing but an all-American eatery. The 3 3104 Hamilton Blvd. Grill is an oasis downtown—zebra- MIN 610-740-9667 print bar stools, window-pane mirrors and understated twinkle lights give The Fusion Grill cannot decide what off a soothing, eclectic ambiance. The type of restaurant it wants to be. The menu changes daily, featuring a re- exterior looks like a shack with an freshing twist on familiar cuisine: energetic sign, but the inside resem- award-winning steaks, seafood and bles a mature banquet hall, complete pastas. Downstairs you’ll find a full with elevator music urging you to smoking bar, complete with over clink your glass with a knife and make three-dozen brands of cigars to a toast. The food, though, is deli- choose from. If balancing a cigar with cious. The mouth-watering, home- a martini glass isn’t your skill, head made garlic rolls are superb, and pre- upstairs to the dining room—great for pare the way for surprisingly tasty a night on the (Allen)town. When it’s entrees, including the seafarer’s tor- available, order the deep yellow, tellini—shrimp with tortellini pasta— richly flavored carrot soup, or the and the unique peachtree chicken, pepper crusted hay tuna, delectable if which drenches chicken and peaches sushi-grade fish does it for you. The Phil Johnson Johnson Phil

The Americus Hotel, at 6th and Hamilton Streets 28 DINING

Rosoff Sara

Grille 3501 in a rich peach sauce. The staff is rant” in the air; even the menu looks friendly, the service prompt, but the market-tested. So it was a relief to atmosphere isn’t, well, college stu- taste the food, which is much better dent-friendly. The tacky and the for- than the average strip-mall fare. The mal are at war here, with a pig hold- waffle fries are perfectly crisp, and ing a chalkboard on one wall, and a the salads sprawling. You can eat all beautiful painting on another. The the ribs you want on Mondays for folded cloth napkins, likewise, clash $15, and on Wednesday wings are with the “Danger, men cooking” signs. only a quarter. All the other pub grub The Fusion Grille doesn’t fuse well. standbys are here, including burgers, (Open M-F 11:30a-9p; Sa 5p-10p.) wraps, wings and nachos. Stick with these, as more exotic items—like the THE GATE 9 GRILLE Cuban sandwich ($6.95)—don’t resemble their namesakes. Gate 9 is Burgers $$ ALC WLK attached to one of the Maingate bars, 3 448 N. 17th St. with a disappointing range of beers MIN 610-43GATE9 on tap. But in the summer, the at- www.gate9grille.com tached bar’s walls get removed, to reveal a sunny courtyard, partially If it weren’t for the Hard Rock Café, boardwalked and filled with tables. Applebee’s and their ilk, the Gate 9’s Out here at least, the Gate 9 might self-consciously designed interior just live up to its motto—“where would be a lot fresher: Light pine friends and memories come to- booths, vaulted ceilings, white beams, gether.” (Open M-W 11a-9p; Th-Sa bright blue walls, framed LP covers 11a-10p.) and hanging industrial lighting. As it is, there’s a whiff of “theme restau- DINING 29

, GRILLE 3501 HAMILTON FAMILY Asian Fusion $$$$ DWY ALC RESTAURANT 3 FML Diner $ MIN 3501 Broadway 3 2027 Hamilton St. 610-706-0100 MIN 610-433-6452 www.grille3501.com “HamFam” is a party—at two in the For a little high-end dining without morning when the only test you have the trek to New York City, try Grille to worry about is a breathalyzer. So 3501. The food’s exceptional—from what if it’s a table-lined trailer with appetizers like the chicken shiitake peeling wallpaper, there’s a long wait dumplings ($7.50) or the spicy pecan for food and you’ll reek of cigarettes and goat cheese salad ($6.50), to even if you sit in the “non-smoking” entrees like the pan-roasted free- section… desperate times call for range chicken ($17.50), to the worth- desperate measures. Skip the slimy the-guilt chocolate lava cake. Legal browning fruit, be warned that the drinkers can wash it all down with cheese fries are a bit oily (make that something from the extensive martini soaked in oil) and know that your bar (how about a Staten Island “Mar- large orange juice—though deli- Tony”?) or classic cosmopolitan. It’s a cious—will be the size of the shot good thing the edible options are so glass you used earlier. Focus instead delicious, though, because the service on their breakfasts for a solid mid- isn’t—particularly for younger cus- night snack. It’s an experience, but tomers. And the prices might require don’t be surprised if your designated a parent’s credit card. (Open Tu-Sa driver insists on staying behind the 11:30a-closing time varies.) wheel. (Always open!)

LEAVE IT TO BIEBER

Coffee-stained chintz and cream-chipped beef on toast. These are the Holy Grail when in pursuit of the quintessential diner experience. This particular expedition (which requires a short car or taxi ride) has landed you in Wes- cosville at the Charcoal Diner. Go ahead: Bask in the florescent lights that reflect off the Formica countertops. But fear not. This diner doesn’t have to be your final destination. It’s only a stepping-stone towards a more epic quest. If you’re observant, you’ll notice the constant stream of customers who enter the diner, but never actually sit down. This should clue you into the Charcoal’s second function. That is, if you happened to miss the large terminal and constant stream of Carl Bieber buses careening through the parking lot. These buses leave almost every hour, whisking travelers away on direct, relatively short routes to the brighter lights of Philadelphia and New York City. (Tickets to New York cost $35; check www.biebertourways.com for schedules and other info.) You may want to pair breakfast at the Charcoal with a trip to the Big Apple or the City of Brotherly Love. If not, a trip to the diner may be thrilling enough— especially for Bill Clinton fans. An unwashed coffee cup and a used napkin encased in glass serve as a shrine to the diner’s famous guest. If this place is good enough for Bill, it’s good enough for us. 30 DINING

HENRY’S SALT OF THE SEA KING GEORGE INN Seafood $$$ WLK ALC Trad’l American $$$$ DWY 2 1926 W. Allen St. 3 3141 Hamilton Blvd. MIN 610-434-2628 MIN 610-435-1723 www.kinggeorgeinn.com When the grandparents are in town and hungry, take them to Henry’s Rickety old chairs, 250-year-old walls (which hosts a slightly older crowd and quaint, wooden beams etched even after the early-bird specials). The with famous quotes fill the historic restaurant’s nautical look—complete King George Inn. Everything is Ye Olde with ship lanterns, portraits of cap- English at the Inn, down to the stone, tains and cork wreaths—not-so-subtly 1756 building itself—oddly set be- hints at Henry’s specialty: seafood. tween the Dorneyville strip malls. The menu features scallops, shrimp, Keep your upper lip stiff as you try the flounder, crab and lobster. But land- no-nonsense seafood and steaks, and lubbers aren’t forgotten, and can pick watch your wallet: The steep prices between beef and chicken dishes. (If don’t mean big portions or consistent nothing strikes your fancy, they’ll fix food quality. You’ll never go thirsty, up a special request if they’ve got all though, as the wine list is exceptional. the ingredients.) All entrées come with And the desserts will satisfy the sweet- a trip to the salad bar, a potato dish est tooth. So sit back, relax, and enjoy and vegetables. While it sounds like a your expensive English meal, ol’ chap! tremendous amount of food, moder- (Open M-Th 11:30a-10p; F-Sa 11:30a- ately sized portions mean you’ll be 11:30p; Su 4p-10p.) able to clean your plate before casting off… (Open M-Th 4:30p-10p; F-Sa KOW THAI TAKE OUT 4:30p-11p.) Thai $ DEL 4 1200 W. Linden St. HUNAN SPRINGS MIN 610-770-9100 Chinese $$ DWY ALC 7 4939 Hamilton Blvd. Though billed as “Gourmet Thai Food MIN 610-366-8338 Delivery,” Kow Thai’s takeout leaves something to be desired—the gourmet Widow Brown (the building’s last ten- Thai food. The limited menu offers ant) wouldn’t know what hit her. While entrees “flavored” with curry, Thai the décor hasn’t changed much (it’s dressing or sauce, but the dishes offer still a mix of homey and ski lodge), the only a small portion of flavor. The food certainly has, and all for the bet- tubs of meat and vegetables floating ter. Hunan Springs serves up dishes a in water resemble a slimy soup; the step or two (or three) above your typi- best bit of each entrée is the classic cal Chinese restaurant. Whether you’re gummy steamed rice. The (two) appe- taking out or eating in, you’ll have tizers are tasty, but their meager por- your pick between an impressive array tions make it hard to cobble them of seafood, pork, beef, duck and lamb together as a meal. The chicken satay options, not to mention several chef ($3.25) is the only must: Not too spicy specials. Try the Bo Bo Platter appe- but flavored with a zippy peanut tizer for two ($13)—a delicious assort- sauce, this chicken-on-a-stick is the ment of egg rolls, BBQ ribs, shrimp closest that Kow Thai comes to toast, chicken wings, teriyaki beef and “gourmet.” (Open Tu-Sa 11a-9p.) cheese puffs, served around a towering flame. This is not your father’s Chinese. (Open M-Th 11:30a-10p; F-Sa noon-11p; Su noon-9:30p.) DINING 31

Hein Michelle

The 18th century Trout Hall, Muhlenberg College’s first home

LA FIESTA RESTAURANTE , LA MEXICANA GRILL SALVADOREÑO Mexican $$ BYO Salvadoran $ 6 407 N. 7th St. 5 958 Hamilton St. MIN 610-776-1910 MIN 610-351-5153 Nobody does “full” like La Mexicana La Fiesta is certainly cause for cele- Grill. This festive restaurant—with bration: The unassuming Salvadoran mango orange walls and year-round restaurant is kind on the stomach and Christmas lights—serves up a ton… the wallet. The empanadas are deli- and it’s all great. The fajitas (veggie, cious ($1-$1.50), and the fried sweet chicken, beef or shrimp) bring words plantain platter ($5.50) is the best like “mountainous” to mind; entrees we’ve tasted. The light blue walls, the like the chicken mole ($13) are simi- long Formica counter, the plastic fold- larly huge and tasty. And did we ing chairs, the cheerful regulars—they mention that all dinners come with come together, somehow. There’s a two sides—like fried plantains, refried warmth to La Fiesta—it’s Cheers with beans or sweet potatoes? We’d say a Salvadoran accent. (Open daily 10a- save room for the main course, but 10p.) that would mean missing out on the city’s best salsa (an on-the-house treat, along with chips) and homemade guacamole. So just be prepared to roll your way out—it’s the kind of place that the “after dinner walk” was made for. (Open daily 11a- 9p.) 32 DINING Michelle Hein Hein Michelle wall, and we’re damn grateful. (Open M-W 11a-8p; Th-Sa 10a-9:30p; Su 10a-7p.)

LATIN FLAVA Puerto Rican $ 7 502 Gordon St. MIN 610-351-9793

Latin Flava has replaced the troubled nightspot Shorty’s, and now the pol- ished wood bar is one of the best places in town to enjoy pastellilos and alcapurria (both $1). The walls are a rich blend of red and yellow, draped with streamers, lights and Caribbean flags. The menu varies daily—the friendly owner-chef is justly proud of his rotating Puerto Rican specialties, including boiled banana (75 cents) and “canoes” (long, open-faced sweet bananas packed with beef, $1.50). All of the lunch and dinner platters, Cedar Beach Park including beef stew, cost just $5.50, and come with rice and beans. (Even the pig’s feet and chicken gizzards , LA PLACITA are $5.50!) The colorful, dimmed Mexican $ BYO dining nook is a great place to set up 4 158 N. 12th St. with coffee or hot chocolate and your MIN 610-821-4549 Intro to Democracy reading. Latin Flava is a long way from, say, Per- Who would have guessed that the kins—in many ways. That’s what we best Mexican restaurant in Allentown like about it. (Open M-Sa 10a-7p.) is a cramped grocer? It’s true, and we’re not kidding about “cramped”: La LITTLE SAIGON Placita squeezes in just three snug Vietnamese $ DEL tables at the end of a narrow passage 7 1033 N. 6th St. lined with hanging produce. (A sign, MIN 610-821-5350 for the 8th Hole (“Par 4”), taunts the claustrophobic.) Prepare for sensory Turn your head for a second and overload: Mexican music bounces off you’re bound to drive right by Little the flag-green walls, while tamales, Saigon, so pay attention. And you’re sausages and baskets of avocado all not at the wrong place, so don’t lose compete for scarce counter space. faith once you enter. (The Formica The food makes it all OK. Trust us. tabletops and sea shell wallpaper are The enchiladas verdes de pollo hardly typical Asian restaurant dé- ($6.75) are divino, and we’ve never cor.) But the friendly service and tasted anything quite like the cecina outstanding Vietnamese and Chinese con nopales (cactus with Mexican fare are as authentic as they come. dried beef, $7.50). The $2 tacos—try The Vietnamese egg roll (a non-fried the spicy pork—are blessedly afford- version of its Chinese cousin) is an able. La Placita put the hole in the excellent appetizer choice. With the DINING 33 rest of the menu full of large- , LOUIE’S portioned entrées for about $6, Little Italian $$$ DWY DEL BYO Saigon is bound to appeal to both 1207 Chew St. your stomach and your budget. 4 MIN 610-434-2340 (Open W-M 9a-9p.) www.louiesrestaurant.com

, LO BAIDO’S Imagine the scene from the Disney Italian $$$ DWY BYO classic Lady and the Tramp—two 6 442 N. 8th St. hound dogs sharing a strand of spa- MIN 610-820-7570 ghetti with soft Italian music in the background—and you’ve got a perfect If you aren’t headed downtown, you picture of the atmosphere at Louie’s. should be. And while you’re there, Established by the Belletieri family in pay a visit to this family-owned local 1958, under the moniker of Gino’s, favorite. Though the romantic music Louie’s is the quintessential Italian and table candles clash with the piz- family restaurant. The modest décor zeria-style open kitchen, Lo Baido’s consists of black and white family redeems itself with its friendly ser- photos, which stare down at long vice and delectable Italian cuisine. tables covered with checkered table- The food is freshly prepared with cloths. The main attraction, by far, is homemade sauces and salad dress- the cuisine: The Belletieri’s traditional ings. Most entrees are served with a home-style sauces set Louie’s apart house salad—a mishmash of basic from all of its old country imitators. lettuce, ziti and raisins—and an in- The sauces are so good that they sell termezzo of homemade sorbet. The them under the Belletieri product line. baked manicotti ($13) is especially The desserts are frightfully tasty. The good, as is the penne ala vodka con Italian rum cake, chocolate moose gamberi ($19). You won’t have room, and chocolate peanut butter pie, in but loosen your belt and try some of particular, should be illegal. (Open M- the inexpensive-yet-fabulous ice F 11a-10p; Sa 4p-10p; Su 4p-9p.) cream, made fresh on site. (Open M 11a-8p; Tu-Th 11a-9p; F 11a-10p; Sa MAGNOLIA’S VINEYARD noon-10p.) Trad’l American $$$$ DWY

2204 Village Rd., Orefield 12 MIN 610-395-1233

This secluded restaurant certainly lets

you escape the chaos of campus. But

while Magnolia’s is a charming setting

CALLING ALL GHOSTS, GHOULS AND GOBLINS

It’s no wonder that All Hallow’s Eve is a children’s favorite. Costume and candy give these trick-or-treaters a good excuse to stay up late. For 30 years, Allen- town residents of all ages have participated in the annual Halloween Parade. Costumed marchers parade through two miles of Allentown, beginning at the Fairgrounds and ending in Center Square downtown. With floats, marching bands and music, the parade is quite the small-town spectacle, and attracts close to 35,000 spectators, more than 6,000 marchers and 65 floats. Ghosts, witches and pumpkins are everywhere… so beware! 34 DINING for an anniversary dinner (if you can welcoming feeling, and small tables get past the cheetah-print carpeting), and smiling waitstaff add to the cozy the food leaves a bit to be desired; atmosphere. The menu ranges from carnivores have far more options than strombolis to large stuffed pizzas to vegetarians. For an added twist, leg- Mario’s specialty, hot panini sand- end has it that a young woman wiches. Not to be outdone by the (waiting for her lover to return from Starbucks of the world, Mario’s even war) haunts the building. That may has a café with mochas and lattes. explain the short wait time between Whether you’re taking out or eating your appetizer and main course— in, Mario’s is a great alternative to maybe the host wants to get you mov- another evening meal at GQ. (Open M- ing before you encounter any wander- Th; Su 10a-9:30p; F-Sa 10a-11p.) ing spirits. (Open Tu-Sa 5p-10p; Su 3p-10pm.) MI BANDERA

Dominican $ BYO MANGOS 6 546 N. 7th St. Mediterranean $$$ DWY ALC MIN 610-770-0661 5 3750 Hamilton Blvd. MIN 610-432-4420 Allentown is a burgeoning center of Latin American cuisine. Allentown? The Mangos experience is hard to Yes, and Mi Bandera is the newest define—one-part Caribbean casual reason to venture downtown for and two-parts Mediterranean chic. cheap, delicious Latin fare. The Do- The building is unassuming and un- minican newcomer sits in a stately fortunately placed, wedged between a 19th-century row house, the former McDonald’s and a gas station, but home of the Century Cafe. This once inside you might forget that means that you get to savor your you’re in Allentown at all. The décor fried green plaintains ($2) in wood- is eclectic and attractive, with painted paneled, stained-glass elegance. Take stucco walls, low ceilings and tropical an old wood booth, or sit along the artwork. (Don’t neglect the intimate walnut, wrap-around bar (but bring courtyard in warm weather.) Mangos your own beer). Mi Bandera’s portions is best-known, as it should be, for its sprawl across the plate, and each dish tapas (appetizers that, combined, can gets served with steaming piles of serve as a meal) and rum bar. Try the rice and beans—for the price of a Mojito, the restaurant’s most popular Happy Meal. The chicken stew ($6) cocktail—it’s exceptional. The food is comes in tender, delicious shreds; try inventive (though occasionally a bit it with a beef-stuffed sweet plaintain too salty); the paella is particularly ($3). We’re told that the goat ($6) and good. The waitstaff is friendly, if a bit oxtail ($6) stews are especially tasty. inefficient. Good thing it’s worth the We’ll take their words for it. (Open wait. (Open daily 11a-11p.) daily 8a-1a.)

MARIO’S PIZZA CAFÉ MOM’S BAKE AT HOME Italian $ DWY PIZZA 4 3335 Hamilton Blvd. Pizza $ WLK MIN 610-435-4484 2 524 N. 19th St. MIN 610-433-4311 Hidden in a plaza with chain giants like Subway, Friendly’s and Car- Enter through the small wooden door rabba’s, this small Italian eatery is at Mom’s and it’ll take you a moment quite a find. The crackling brick-oven to realize that you’re in a pizza parlor fire and warm orange walls create a DINING 35 and not a hip art gallery. The red-and- NAWAB black floor clashes with neon yellow Indian $$ BYO walls and colorful wall art, and eerily 13 E. 4th St., Bethlehem resembles a cartoon drawing. But 19 MIN 610-691-0388 don’t let the look fool you: This place www.nawabrestaurant.web.com is serious about its pizza (and offers a range of salads and sandwiches, too). Close your eyes, imagine really And when they say “create your own cheesy restaurant décor, now give it pizza,” they’re not kidding. Almost as a theme. The image you’ve conjured strange as the décor, at Mom’s you up is pretty close to what you’ll find can choose to walk out with a raw pie at Nawab. Thank goodness that (and cook your pizza at home in- their authentic Indian cuisine more stead). The cooking options, low than makes up for the lousy interior prices (a small is $6, a medium $8 decorating. Nawab is a three-time and a large $9), and extensive menu, winner (in 2000, 2001 and 2002) of make Mom’s a solid response to any Lehigh Valley Magazine’s “Best in rumbling, pizza-craving stomach. the Valley—Indian Restaurant (Open Tu-Th 3p-8p; F-Sa noon-9p; Su Award.” (Okay, it’s not a Nobel 3p-7p.) Prize, but it’s gotta count for some-

thing, right?) Start with samosas,

then try lamb rogam josh for a spicy

challenge (order plenty of nan—

bread—to relieve your taste buds), Courtesy of Muhlenberg College College Muhlenberg of Courtesy

Muhlenberg College in 1938-1939 36 DINING or the chicken tikka masala for some- clattering of short-order cooks to the thing milder. Vegetarians, don’t de- elevator music piped in at more tradi- spair: There are plenty of meat-free tional bistros. Patrons nosh on gour- meals, tasty enough even for carni- met fast food—an assortment of pas- vores. Just leave your cigarettes at tas and sandwiches with liberal sides home (the whole place is smoke-free) of coleslaw and potato salad. Sounds and bring your ID (students get 15% a bit better than yet another chicken off lunches and dinners). (Open M-Th patty melt, wouldn’t you say? Is it 11:30a-3p, 5p-10p; F 11:30a-3p, 5p- necessary? No, but neither 11p; Su 11:30a-9:30p.) (technically) is Banana Republic when you have Old Navy… (Open M-F 6a- 4p.) NICK’S DINER Diner $ WLK 2 1802 Tilghman St. PANERA BREAD MIN 610-439-5070 Café $ WLK 3 3100 W. Tilghman St. Your mother should have taught you MIN 610-432-3221 to never judge a book by its cover. www.panerabread.com Keep that lesson in mind during your next trip to Nick’s Diner, which is Panera is European café meets cozy small, dingy and crowded. The ski lodge. There’s a fireplace in the crowded part is easy—the place is main dining area, toasty on a cool popular and for good reason. Nick’s autumn evening. The bakery is old has great food, an exceedingly world too, with a vast assortment of friendly waitstaff and efficient service. pastries, breads and bagels lining the The small and dingy part, well, that wooden shelves. The sandwiches, just adds to the character of this ’50s- soups and salads are inexpensive, style metal-box diner, where the walls and sometimes inventive: Try the are adorned with paintings by local soup in a sourdough bread bowl artists. Definitely don’t miss Nick’s ($4.29) or the popular grilled panini all-day breakfast specialties, wraps sandwiches (around $6). Just don’t and French fries, and save room for forget to order a café mocha and a dessert. (There are over ten freshly caramel pecan brownie for dessert. baked pies and cakes to choose We promise Dr. Atkins won’t come from.) Thanks to inexpensive prices after you. (Open M-Sa 6:30a-9p; Su and overflowing portions, you’ll leave 7a-7:30p.) with a full stomach and a full wallet. (Open daily 6a-10p.) PARMA PIZZA

Italian $ WLK DEL 9TH STREET LOOP CAFÉ 3 3100 W. Tilghman St. Café $ MIN 610-439-6940 5 33 N. 9th St. MIN 610-437-9593 There’s a reason Parma Pizza is called Parma Pizza and not something a Why settle for Poland Springs when little more extravagant or inclusive. there’s Perrier? If GQ was the “before” It’s true that the restaurant’s atmos- shot on a makeover reality series, the phere leaves much to be desired. And Loop would be the “after.” It’s like GQ while the menu has a decent number on steroids sashaying down the red of options—ranging from traditional carpet of cafeteria-style eateries. This Italian favorites like pasta, calzones, downtown lunchtime fixture attracts a strombolis, subs and steaks, as well white-collar crowd that prefers the as salads—few (if any) are as good as the pizza. The pizza, though, gets DINING 37 high marks. There’s a wide variety of PASTAFICIO toppings and specialty pizzas includ- Italian $ ing taco or eggplant parmesan. Its 6 602 W. Hamilton St. wallet-friendly prices, close proximity MIN 610-774-9500 to Muhlenberg (within walking distance for the car-less), and quick de- You can’t get a filling, steaming plate livery make it convenient for stu- of fresh pasta for $5 anywhere else— dents. In addition, the management is even if it’s served on a tray that you often happy to cooperate with on- carry yourself to bistro-style red ta- campus organizations and programs. bles. (We carried the parfalle with While not the choice for sit-down Ital- vodka sauce, and it was worth the ian fare, Parma Pizza is a reliable walk.) Pastificio’s is an upbeat, down- place to turn during any pizza crav- town lunch spot, where you mix and ing. (Open Su-Th 9a-9:30p; F-Sa 9a- match the pasta and sauce. Despite 10p.) the crowds of lunchtime downtown employees, the place maintains a minimalist elegance, with framed Italian museum posters and check- Sara Rosoff Rosoff Sara

Salvatore Ruffino’s Brick Oven Pizza 38 DINING ered curtains. Don’t leave without with an extensive menu of fresh deli trying the bruschetta with eggplant foods. The friendly staff is more than relish ($3). (Open M-F 10a-4p.) willing to help you come up with your order. They’re justly proud of their PHILLY’S STEAKS, SUBS AND family-recipe sweets, which are baked on-site every morning. (Open M-Sa PIZZA 11a-6p.) Fast Food $ DEL 4 1137 Hamilton St. PISTACHIO BAR & GRILLE MIN 610-782-0373 Continental $$ ALC If you’re willing to travel for a quality 3 341 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. cheesesteak, you may want to go a MIN 610-435-7007 bit further than this shady joint. The www.pistachiobarandgrille.com seating is uncomfortable at best, featuring cushions (if you can call If you’ve been scouring the Lehigh them that) with a tacky floral print. Valley for a trendy restaurant where The atrociously dim lighting gives you and your friends can sip martinis you the “this place used to be a pub” and look hip, you may be in luck. But feel (which, in fact, it was). Even if with pricey, mediocre fare and ineffi- the ambiance doesn’t throw you, cient service, eating at Pistachio regu- Philly’s probably isn’t your best bet larly would be…well, nuts. The décor for high-cholesterol fare. Take the is warehouse chic, complete with ex- “Philly Sampler,” advertised as an posed pipes and art deco light fix- appetizer of two pierogies, four on- tures. Echoing acoustics turn conver- ion rings, four chicken nuggets, two sations into shouting matches. The mozzarella sticks, five breaded menu is hefty but don’t be fooled— mushrooms and French fries. Actu- the salads (which occupy almost a full ally, ours came with zero pierogies, page) are all over $10 and a letdown. six onion rings, four chicken nug- You’re better off with a pasta dish or gets, two mozzarella sticks, three the eggplant shelbourne, which is breaded mushrooms and French yummy AND huge. Even if you don’t fries. But who’s counting? Our final have room for dessert, at least check answer: Don’t go out of your way for out the tray. Worst-case scenario: You this place; they definitely won’t go settle for a cup of Mexican hot choco- out of their way for you. (Open M-Th late. So if you’re feeling more SoHo 11a-10p; F-Sa 11a-11p; Su 11a-10p.) than Allentown, head to Pistachio with a full wallet, earplugs and patience. (Open Su-Th 11:30a-midnight; F-Sa , PHILOSOPHER’S STONE 11:30a-2a.) Deli $ DWY 5 915 Hamilton St. PLANET HOAGIE MIN 610-820-8414 Sandwich $ The Philosopher’s Stone is a small, 3 1425 Chew St. family-owned taste of the Upper West MIN 484-664-7070 Side mixed with Pennsylvania country flavor. Don’t be misled by the Unique Hoagie is an out-of-this-world cramped entrance, which signals sandwich experience… kind of. Three cozy café. The veteran knows better. generations of family recipes paired Its hall-like expanse contains all with high-quality meats and cheese kinds of gifts and goodies, from certainly make these sandwiches bet- photo albums to jewelry to birthday ter than the GQ’s. And there are cards and stuffed animals—along plenty of them—over sixty to choose from (so be prepared to spend some DINING 39 time contemplating your order). A tip ing known as hibachi. And the chefs to help you narrow things down: A cook up more than just food, enter- few of the “Italian Classics” are less taining diners with their technique as than stellar. Their party and luncheon they prepare entrees right before trays, though, can save you if you’re their eyes. (While it’s possible to stuck doing last-minute event- spend a solid amount of money here, planning. And even if the sandwiches the chicken hibachi includes a heap- don’t grab you, Unique Hoagie shares ing portion of chicken, fried rice and space with the Unique Bread Bakery— veggies, as well as soup and a salad, the place for fresh bread. (Open M-Tu for just $13.) If you’re in the mood for 9a-5pm; W-Sa 9a-6p; Su 10a-3p.) something else, check out Robata’s extensive selection of appetizers, RITA’S entrees and sushi. Also, don’t forget to browse the drink menu. The banzi Ice Cream $ WLK bomber—24 ounces of fruit-and- 2 1918 W. Tilghman St. booze deliciousness—is a house fa- MIN 610-435-4501 vorite despite its $10 price tag. (Open www.ritasice.com Tu-Su 5p; closing times vary.)

Something cold and refreshing hit Pennsylvania in the summer of 1984: ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK Italian ice! That year, the Tumulo fam- CAFE ily made PA a little sweeter when it Café $ founded Rita’s Italian Ice, which soon 4 1301 W. Hamilton St. spread to cities up and down the East MIN 610-770-1588 Coast, including Allentown. They claimed then to use the perfect rec- Who says you can’t go back? This café ipe, and even today few could argue. makes time travel possible and worth In spring and summer, the overheated the trip. The golden oldies on the can’t wait to get their hands on a radio and walls plastered with records “wooter” ice (that’s “water” ice in and signed photographs make you Philadelphian), yogurt, custard or nostalgic for the days when rock and “misto.” You’ll pick from dozens of roll was, well, rockin’. And if the am- flavors, like passion fruit, peach and biance doesn’t, the menu certainly wild black cherry. A small will only set will, with options like the “Mama you back $1.15 with tax—and just Cass” hot ham sandwich, the “Sittin’ one dollar more for a large. That may on the Dock of the Bay” crab patty seem like a lot for ice and syrup, but and “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hot it’s worth every penny. More outdoor Dog” (Elvis sighting, anyone?). Unfor- stand than ice cream parlor, Rita’s tunately, this cafe certainly does not shuts down for the winter. But when rock around the clock—it’s closed by it’s open, Rita’s provides a uniquely 2pm. But, if you’re up early (they chilling experience. (Open seasonal.) open at 7am) or looking for a new lunch spot, it’s a fun and tasty place ROBATA OF TOKYO to try. (Open daily 7a-2p.)

Japanese $$$$ ALC

39 S. 9th St. 6 MIN 610-821-6900 www.robataoftokyo.com

Here’s a laid-back locale featuring authentic Japanese cuisine—along with a bit of flare. Robata of Tokyo specializes in a Japanese style of grill- 40 DINING Sara Rosoff Rosoff Sara

The Shanty

SALVATORE RUFFINO’S 10a-10p; F-Sa: 11a-11p; Su noon- BRICK OVEN PIZZA 10p.) Italian $$ ALC DWY WLK 2 1840 Allen St. THE SHANTY MIN 610-437-3621 Trad’l American $$$ ALC WLK

617 N. 19th St. Ruffino’s isn’t shy about what it does 2 MIN 610-437-5358 best. The specialty here is brick oven www.theshantyrest.com pizza, and a whole lot of it. The restaurant serves Napolitano (thin crust), The Shanty is Allentown—old Allen- Sicilian (deep dish) and stuffed (where town, before all the factories closed the ingredients are between two lay- down. Right in the middle of 19th ers of dough). And it’s all cooked in Street “bohemia,” the Shanty sits an actual brick oven visible from the proudly, serving its traditional Ameri- dining room. (Just drag your eyes can cuisine. TGI Friday’s, Houlihan’s, away from the desserts on display and Chili’s manufacture this look, but and you’ll see it.) If pizza’s not your the Shanty’s décor is the real thing: thing, there’s also a lengthy menu full The walls are cluttered with Ameri- of pasta, chicken and veal entrees, as cana—kitschy old ads, sassy signage well as calzones and other sand- and dated movie posters. Time wiches. Plus, you can’t help but enjoy passes more slowly while feasting on the atmosphere—very “Italian village” the delicious Yeungling pot roast with service like you’d find in the ($17.45) among the exposed beams, classiest places. It’s a great date spot, brass rails and Tiffany-style light fix- especially on weekends when they’ve tures. All entrees come with fresh, got live entertainment. (Open M-Th “Shanty made” breads and a colorful DINING 41 salad bar, and the desserts—if you Lunches range from turkey sand- have room—are worth the pain. On wiches to Rubens to tabouleh and Friday and Saturday nights (generally matzo ball soup. With a location 9pm to 1am), the Shanty’s full-service that’s literally right around the cor- bar swings with big band and jazz. ner, Syb’s is a great break from the You get serenaded with live music, Garden Room—one with a little more too, during the exquisite Sunday local flavor. (Open M-Th 8a-5p; F 8a- brunch—enjoy the cream chipped 4p; Sa 8a-3p; Su 8a-1p.) beef ($8) to the croon of a sax. (Open M-Th 11:30a-9p; F-Sa 11:30a-10p; Su TU CASA 11a-3p, 4p-8p.) Dominican $$ BYO 7 223 Hamilton St. SUNLIGHT RESTAURANT MIN 610-433-2012 Latin American $ 5 801 Hamilton St. ¿Habla español? No? Well, then, this MIN 610-770-0713 might not be the place for you. This is not your ordinary taco and quesadilla Hidden away beneath the busy streets hotspot; it’s a Dominican restaurant of downtown Allentown is the with Spanish-speaking regulars. Tu Sunlight Restaurant, serving up tradi- Casa, as the name suggests, is a cas- tional Caribbean cuisine. The inex- ual joint, with televisions (and even a pensive prices (breakfasts under $4, giant projection screen) blaring Span- sandwiches for $3 and dinners mostly ish-language music videos and soap between $6 and $12) may lead you to operas. The Spanish-only menu is believe that the helpings are small, potentially crippling for the monolin- but don’t be fooled. The plates are guists among us, but pictures of each piled high and every entree comes dish make point-and-smile ordering with at least one side. Make sure you possible. Whole fish, shrimp, octopus, try the yellow rice and finish up with steak and chicken (all mostly fried) flan for dessert. Just brush up on your are the menu staples, with side Spanish before you go—so you can choices including rice and fried plan- respond to the buenos dias you’ll be tains. If you like Chi Chi’s, then stick greeted with when you arrive. to the strip malls. We’re more at (Opening hours vary; call for details.) home at Tu Casa. (Open M-F 11a-11p; Sa 11a-10p; Su 11a-9p.) , SYB’S WEST END DELI Deli $ WLK , TURKISH RESTAURANT 1 2151 W. Liberty St. Turkish $ BYO MIN 610-434-3882 8 34 N. 2nd St. MIN 610-439- 8782 If you manage to make it out of bed before 3pm on Saturday, drag your- This family-run establishment—half self out the door and down the street Turkish market, half Mediterranean (to 22nd and Liberty) to Syb’s West restaurant—is definitely one of Allen- End Deli. This down-to-earth deli— town’s buried treasures. Certainly not think flowery vinyl table cloths, noted for decor—a few paintings, a friendly staff, freshly brewed coffee hanging carpet and a TV showing the and country music—is the ideal place latest in Turkish entertainment—the to reflect on the paper you’ve been place is charming thanks to the putting off (and continue to avoid). friendly chatter of regulars and staff. Syb’s offers classic comfort food as And then there’s the food: so good well as a few breakfasts with a twist— it’s worth the wait that’s typical at like the superb challah French toast. this popular spot (so don’t show up 42 DINING Sara Rosoff

Yocco’s starving), and very reasonably priced. “Surfin’ Turkey”). Be careful: The deli (Entrees are all under $16 and sand- is snuggled next to a seafood store wiches range from $1.35 for a burger and behind a Citgo, so it’s easy to to $4 for a lamb pita.) Whet your appe- miss. Don’t be turned off by its tite with a hummus platter, and be sure cramped quarters—its food portions to try the kebabs (prepared with a se- are big enough to fill even the most cret and truly “special blend” of spices). demanding stomach. And besides— (Open daily 11a-11p.) size doesn’t matter anyway… (Open M-W 9a-6p; Th-F 9a-7p; Sa 9a-6p.) , WALLY’S DELI Deli $ WLK WERT’S CAFE 3 11 N. 17th St. Burgers $ MIN 610-435-7177 2 515 N. 18th St. www.wallysdeli.com MIN 610-439-0957

Do you like sandwiches but haven’t From the outside, Wert’s Cafe looks found a deli that makes the perfect like a stucco-covered block plopped one? Well, nobody’s perfect, but Wally’s down in the middle of a parking lot. sure comes close with its hogalicious This less-than-promising exterior only sandwiches, great salads and famous makes the charm hidden inside more “Wally’s Chips”—their own take on waf- of a welcome surprise. Walk through fle fries. You can mix and match ingre- the doors and you enter a country ski dients to concoct your own sandwich or lodge, with wood-covered walls and order one of the Specialty Hogs (try a small tables and booths. It’s almost “Texas Tommy,” a “Squealer” or a always crowded, but don’t let that DINING 43 deter you, since you’ll be seated in no “famous” clam chowder deserves its time. And the hordes are all there for acclaim—it’s some of the best we’ve good reasons. In addition to typical tasted. The Maryland crab dishes, pub fare, Wert’s also serves up plenty straight from the Chesapeake, are of appetizers, including unique crea- delectable. The place is named for its tions like sweet potato fries, oysters, and they’re also tasty (and pretzerella sticks (pretzel-covered especially slippery). Our servers were mozzarella sticks) and an ungodly friendly and astoundingly knowledge- mound of stringy onion “rings.” The able about the menu. (Ask about the waitstaff is friendly and doesn’t mind chowder, and you’ll get a rapid-fire special requests or split bills. (Open ingredient recitation.) Youell’s has a daily 11a-10p.) nautical elegance to its dining room, and it should: The prices here, though YOCCO’S fair, will stretch the college budget. , Parents weekend? (Open M-Th 4p-9p; Hot Dog $ F-Sa 4p-10p.) 3 2128 W. Hamilton St. MIN 625 W. Liberty St. 610-821-8488 ZANDY’S STEAK SHOP Burgers $ Like a bad elementary school joke, 8 813 St. John St. Yocco’s, the Lehigh Valley’s “Hot Dog MIN 610-434-7874 King,” is serious about its wieners. And these aren’t your ordinary wie- Zandy’s doesn’t have a website. ners. Since 1922, Yocco’s has been Zandy’s street-strangled orange dishing up dogs—cooked Texas-style, stucco structure is flat-out ugly. In- served on a bed of chopped onions, side, Zandy’s resembles a neglected, and lathered in heavy-duty mustard fifties banquet hall. The truth is, we and a liberal application of “secret” wouldn’t have it any other way; we chili sauce—to adoring fans. The now- like our Zandy’s old school. Where chain began as a single shop at 625 else can you get a burger for $2.35? Liberty Street, and was founded by (Be prepared to shell out another 15 the brother of former Chrysler CEO cents for cheese!) A sprawling Lee Iacocca. (“Yocco” is locals’ mispro- cheesesteak for $3.85? A full plate of nounced version of the family’s last buffalo wings for $3.60? When you name.) Beyond its famous tubes of crave no-nonsense grease for almost mystery meat—actually shipped nothing, head to this family-owned worldwide—Yocco’s also serves the South Allentown legend. You can’t standard fare of hamburgers, cheese- miss the orange stucco. (Open Tu-Sa burgers and cheesesteaks, seven days 10a-10p; Su noon-9p.) a week. A truly decadent culinary experience… just don’t forget to pack a roll of Tums for the car ride home. (Open M-Th 10a-10p; F-Sa 10a-11p; Su 11a-10p.)

YOUELL’S OYSTER HOUSE Seafood $$$ WLK 3 2249 Walnut St. MIN 610-439-1203

Awkwardly named, yes. Hard to find— it’s true. But we came for the seafood, and here we were impressed. The 44 DINING

CHAIN GANG

MCDONALD'S APPLEBEE'S 1500 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. 721 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. 1414 Tilghman St. 610-530-2450

OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE ARBY'S Cedar Crest Blvd. & Tilghman St. 3100 Tilghman St. 610-437-7117 610-433-7220

BASKIN ROBBINS PAPA JOHN'S 345 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. 706 N. 13th St. 610-434-7272 610-439-7900

BOB EVANS PERKIN'S 2805 Lehigh St. Cedar Crest & Hamilton Blvd. 610-820-5767 610-798-9395

BOSTON MARKET PIZZA HUT 385 S. Ceder Crest Blvd. 1448-52 Chew St. 610-776-7900 610-770-3324

BURGER KING SUBWAY 3105 Hamilton Blvd. 1537 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. 610-434-0505 610-432-2614 1313 Tilghman St.

610-434-5609 CHINA KING 1901 Hamilton Blvd. TACO BELL 610-820-5831 3380 Lehigh St.

610-966-5144 DOMINO'S PIZZA 2113 MacArthur Rd., Whitehall 4229 Tilghman St. 610-437-0465 610-395-1515 TCBY DUNKIN DONUTS 3100 Tilghman St. 1427 Tilghman St. 610-820-5922 610-433-0773 TGI FRIDAY'S FRIENDLY'S 395 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. 460 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. 610-776-8188 610-770-9883 WENDY'S MANHATTAN BAGEL 410 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. 3100 Tilghman St. 610-432-3369 610-433-8555

DINING 45

RESTAURANT INDEX

ASIAN FUSION CONTINENTAL

Bay Leaf Edge Fusion Grill Pistacio Grille 3501 CHINESE BEYOND ALLENTOWN Hunan Springs The Café Little Saigon Edge Magnolia’s Vineyard Nawab CUBAN

Churros Café BAR FOOD DATEWORTHY Cannon’s (see page 51) J.P. O’Malley’s (see page 55) Stooges (see page 57) Bay Leaf Bethlehem Brew Works (see page 50) Belissimo Gate 9 Grille The Café Federal Grill Grille 3501 BURGERS, HOT DOGS King George Inn Lo Baido’s Philly’s Steaks Magnolia’s Vineyard Wert’s Cafe Mangos Yocco’s Robata of Tokyo The Shanty BYO DELI Caribbean Delight Damascas Philosopher’s Stone La Mexicana Grill Planet Hoagie Lo Baido’s Syb’s West End Deli Louie’s Wally’s Mi Bandera Tu Casa DINER Turkish Restaurant

Charcoal Diner (see page 29) CAFE Hamilton Family Restaurant Nick’s Diner Anylise’s Hava Java Zandy’s Steak Shop Dog Starr Café 9th Street Loop Café Panera Bread Philosopher’s Stone Rock Around the Clock Café 46 DINING

DOMINICAN LATIN AMERICAN

Mi Bandera Brisas Del Caribe El Castillo Del Caribe Caribbean Delight Tu Casa El Castillo Del Caribe Churros Café GERMAN La Mexicana Grill La Placita La Fiesta Dunderbak’s Latin Flava Mi Bandera Sunlight Restaurant ICES/ICE CREAM Tu Casa

Rita’s Italian Ices Lo Baido’s MEXICAN

La Mexicana Grill INDIAN La Placita

Nawab MEDITERRANEAN

ITALIAN Mangos

Al Dente Belissimo MIDDLE EASTERN Buca di Beppo Carrabba’s Italian Grill Aladdin Lo Baido’s Damascas Louie’s Turkish Restaurant Mario’s Pizza Café Mom’s Bake at Home Pizza Parma Pizza MUHLENBERG PICKS Pastaficio Salvatore Ruffino’s Brick Oven Pizza Bellisimo Cannon’s (see page 51) Damascus JAMAICAN Grille 3501 La Mexicana Grill Caribbean Delight La Placita Lo Baido’s Louie’s JAPANESE Philosopher’s Stone Syb’s West End Deli Akita Japanese Steakhouse Turkish Restaurant Robata of Tokyo Wally’s Yocco’s

DINING 47

PA DUTCH STEAKHOUSE

Dunderbak’s Charlie Brown’s Wert’s Cafe Federal Grill

PUERTO RICAN SYRIAN

Brisas Del Caribe Damascas Latin Flava

THAI PIZZA

The Café Louie’s Kow Thai Take Out Mario’s Pizza Café Mom’s Bake at Home Pizza Parma Pizza Salvatore Ruffino’s Brick Oven Pizza TRADITIONAL AMERICAN

Charlie Brown’s SANDWICHES Christopher’s Federal Grill Dog Starr Café King George Inn Panera Bread Magnolia’s Vineyard Philly’s Steaks The Shanty Philosopher’s Stone Planet Hoagie Rock Around the Clock Café TURKISH Syb’s West End Deli Wally’s Turkish Restaurant Zandy’s Steak Shop VIETNAMESE SALVADORAN Little Saigon La Fiesta

SEAFOOD

El Castillo Del Caribe Henry’s Salt of the Sea Youell’s Oyster House

SOUL FOOD

Caribbean Delight

NIGHTLIFE

REVIEWS 50

INDEX 60

50 NIGHTLIFE

HE great thing about Allentown? It’s big enough to have a range of late-night activities but small enough so that all of them are just a short walk or drive away. If you’re in the T mood to sit down and watch the game, pay a visit to Rookies. If you want to dance the night away, head on down to Maingate. And, if you want a little bit of everything, Banana Joe’s is a great choice, with karaoke, pool and live music. Whatever you choose, a good time in Allentown is always right around the corner.

cold, hard lines of steel, and soft, , BANANA JOE’S elegant décor. They brew six varieties Club $$ BFD DNC CVR of beer right on-site—including 8 318 Hamilton St. “Valley Golden Ale” and “Steelworker’s MIN 610-776-6476 Oatmeal Stout.” If you can’t decide, www.bananajoespa.com just order “the Sampler” for a taste of each. They also have all the old stand- Is it a train stop or a tropical bar? bys (from Bud Light to mixed drinks) Those in-the-know realize that Allen- as well as over 100 Belgian beers on town’s old depot now houses a Key the menu downstairs. And did we West/Caribbean Islands-themed bar mention the food and pool tables? So and nightclub. With two dance floors, find a friendly designated driver and pool tables, televisions, food and venture over to Bethlehem… and keep indoor and outdoor bars, Banana your eyes out for the day they move Joe’s offers a bunch of entertainment. closer. (Renovations are underway for And a lot of deals, too, with nightly a second Brew Works in downtown drink specials, Friday happy hour and Allentown.) (Open daily 4p-2a.) a free Saturday buffet. Since there’s no cover charge until Friday, it’s a great mid-week destination for drinks CANDIDA’S or dinner, to play some pool or watch Gay bar $$ BFD LGBT a game. The crew from Wired 96.5 FM 4 247 N. 12th St. helps liven things up on Thursday MIN 610-434-3071 nights, and dancing continues all weekend long thanks to bands and It’s that little gay bar down the street. karaoke. (Open Tu-Sa 4p-2a.) But this neighborhood staple on the corner of 12th and Chew hardly sings queer—not the exposed brick walls, BETHLEHEM BREW WORKS the calm lighting nor the lone pool Brewpub $$ BFD table. Inexpensive drinks are served 18 569 Main St., Bethlehem by amusingly opinionated bartenders MIN 610-882-1300 who know the regulars by name. Can- dida’s is loud and smoky on week- This trendy brewpub and beer lounge ends, but the slow weekdays are low- Overleaf: Kate Hullfish Hullfish Kate Overleaf: is a rare find here in the Lehigh Val- decibel and conversation-friendly. ley. The industrial-chic upstairs bar Perks? Their fried food menu includes and the dimly lit Steelgaarden down- onion rings for just $1 and a fenced- stairs (complete with votive candles, in patio is open when it’s warm. jazzy music and curvy couches) both (Open daily 2p-2a.) incorporate a design element appropriate to the area’s history: STEEL. The Brew Works is a brilliant mix of

NIGHTLIFE 51

, CANNON’S many dives have two pages of rotating specials—from “mad Atkins” to Bar $$ BFD “key lime crab quesadillas” on a re- 448 N. 9th St. 6 cent visit. Don’t leave without trying MIN 610-820-9313 the butternut squash carbeñero soup.

(Open M-Sa 11a-2a; kitchen Tu-F 6p- Stuff magazine calls Cannon’s one of 10p.) the best “hole-in-the-wall” bars in

America. It’s also quite likely the best bar in Allentown. It comes off, at first, CHICKEN LOUNGE as a typical dive, but the edgy tunes Bar $$ BFD and hipster staff signal “dive” in only 4 3245 Hamilton Blvd. the East Village sense. (Ever used MIN 610-439-1707 “Allentown” and “East Village” in the same sentence? We haven’t either.) Okay, so the exterior is a bit spare— The beer selection is another tipoff. windowless with a red neon sign and Cannon’s stocks all the basics, but a mosaic chicken. And the interior also exotics like Tabernash Oktober- features more chicken-themed art- fest, Brooklyn Brown and Speakeasy work than should ever be stored, let Prohibition. And then there’s the alone displayed, in one place. Still, food. Some swear it’s the best in the Chicken Lounge is actually worth Allentown—and the prices certainly a visit. The tables and booths all cir- put Bay Leaf to shame. There’s no cle around the center bar, giving the pattern, though, to the offerings: place a cozy feel. Flat-screen televi- Soft, chewy and freshly fried tortilla sions take up any wall space not al- chips share space on the menu with ready spoken for by a chicken, and the delicious “Thai thighs.” Not too

LEGEND

, MUHLENBERG PICK

BFD BAR FOOD DNC DANCING

LVM LIVE MUSIC WLK WALKABLE

LGBT GAY & LESBIAN CVR COVER

$ DRINKS LESS THAN $3 $$ DRINKS BETWEEN $3 &$5

$$$ DRINKS BETWEEN $6 & $10 $$$$ DRINKS MORE THAN $10

ESTIMATED DRIVING TIME FROM MUHLENBERG COL-

6 LEGE. (FOR DIRECTIONS, SEE YAHOO OR GOOGLE MAPS.) MIN

52 NIGHTLIFE are great for game days. (Sunday foot- There are no screaming posters, just ball beer specials and giveaways help, a couple of smallish rooms in an old too.) The alcohol selection is average brick Victorian hotel. At the Fair- for a bar of this size, and the menu is grounds, the bar’s the thing—its pol- quite extensive and less chicken- ished wood, oval expanse puts Cheers focused than you might think. You to shame. A semicircle’s worth is can get anything from salads to bison usually occupied by the bantering burgers. Definitely try the nachos… regulars, and you may receive a stare few people don’t rave about the heap- or two the moment you enter. The ing plate of chips (actually Doritos) smoke’s thinner in the adjacent room, smothered with cheese, salsa, guaca- which holds a pool table. (There’s mole, sour cream and peppers. Ser- something strange—yet satisfying—in vice is fast and friendly, but feel free sinking the eight ball in a Victorian to linger in the lounge; customers go parlor.) In the warm months, the for the social atmosphere rather than porch is an inviting place for a cold the cozy dining experience. Don’t be beer—even if the Gate 9 Grille’s afraid to relax and get messy—you’ll nearby courtyard has less traffic and a blend right in with the crowd. (Open happier vibe. The Hotel’s bar food is daily 11a-2a.) solid, though nothing compared to Stooge’s or Cannon’s. The Hotel is CROCODILE ROCK more like an escape—a change of scenes. But don’t become a regular. Club $$ BFD DNC LVM CVR (Open M-Sa noon-midnight.) 7 520 Hamilton St. MIN 610-434-4600 www.crocodilerockcafe.com GODFREY DANIELS Folk club $$$ LVM BFD CVR A hidden treasure for concertgoers, 19 7 E. 4th St., Bethlehem Crocodile Rock attracts a mix of na- MIN 610-867-2390 tionally recognized big names and www.godfreydaniels.org local bands. The slightly seedy vibe is fun, in a local color, I-like-because- Future music legends (tomorrow’s I’m-in-college kind of way. Croc Rock Woody Guthrie or John Lee Hooker) offers the standard drinks, dancing may be glancing at you from a shady and food, but the big attraction here corner of the room. Called a “non- is the music scene. And the concert profit member supported listening tickets are as cheap as $10. Brave club,” this place sounds more like a patrons can even live out rock-star support group for music addicts. In fantasies by showcasing their karaoke actuality, it resembles a folksy coffee skills. But don’t quit your day job. house. The saloon-like lettering and Wait! You have no job. Stay in school! worn wood panels in the front win- (Open M-Sa 5p-2a.) dow are a good indication of Godfrey Daniels’ warm and intimate atmos- THE FAIRGROUNDS HOTEL phere. Music lovers of all sorts can enjoy the entertainment here, where Bar $ BFD WLK “folk” music means bluegrass, blues, 3 448 N. 17th St. country, jazz and even Celtic. With MIN 610-433-7630 tickets pushing $20, a show here is not always a bargain; then again, you It’s almost like MTV and VH1: The never know when you may be paying attached Gate 9 Grille (page 28) is $12.50 to hear the next Muddy Wa- clearly targeted at the college kid ters. (Box office open daily 2p-6p.) (and even her younger brother); the

Fairgrounds Hotel, trust us, is not. In some ways, this comes as a relief.

NIGHTLIFE 53 Sara Rosoff

The Chicken Lounge

HARY’S petizers aren’t pricey either, and you can enjoy your perogies and Bar $ BFD cheesesteak on the heated outdoor 1428 Hamilton St. 3 patio (open year-round). If Hary’s is MIN 610-435-6631 neglected by the college crowd, it

seems to like it that way: The bar put Air hockey, Mega Touch and beer— the shabby in chic. (Open daily 11a- what more is there to life? Hary’s, a 2a.) refreshing mix of grizzled locals and funky transplants, is the place for big people to play. In a warren-like series JACK CALLAGHAN’S of rooms, pool players contort their Bar $$ BFD cues to accommodate wide, hairline- 2 2027 Tilghman St. cracked columns—the faded remains MIN 610-432-5797 of a hotel ballroom. (Hary’s is in the www.jackcallaghans.com Traylor, once Allentown’s most elegant hotel.) The drinks are cheap and With two hundred dollars and a taste served, as they should be, in plastic for unique and exotic beers, you too cups. While you wouldn’t come for can be a legend at this Allentown the food, Hary’s sandwiches and ap- watering hole. Jack Callaghan’s Ale

54 NIGHTLIFE

House looks just like any old Irish JELLY BEANS SOUTHSIDE pub, with its share of Guinness and JAM Bass paraphernalia on the wall and Kelly green furniture, but this is a Bar $$ DNC BFD place of quiet challenge. Callaghan’s 14 1996 S. 5th St. is home to the infamous “Beer Mug MIN 610-797-2477 Club,” marked by the 400-plus pewter www.jellybeansouthjam.com mugs hanging over the bar. To join, you have to drink each and every beer If it wasn’t located so far (about a 15- the place stocks (from Flying Fish to minute drive) from campus, Jelly Hoegaarden) for the right to claim Beans could easily become a regular your own mug. Fear not if beer isn’t stop on the Muhlenberg bar scene. your thirst quencher of choice: The Even with the distance, it’s a con- bartenders have a steady hand with tender. Jelly Beans boasts a 50-seat the typical swanky drinks like cosmo- bar, almost ten TVs (including a politans and margaritas. The fact that made-for-the-playoffs 60-inch Hitachi the crowd is heavy on locals and Ultravision) and a room for video lighter on students is part of the games, pool and darts. There’s a beauty of this establishment. If you steady stream of classic rock from a want to escape the familiar faces, DirecTV satellite music system, as Callaghan’s gives you the chance to well as 80s dance music every Friday. try unusual beers without the threat And menu items (like sandwiches, of running into that sketchy guy from burgers, salads and a variety of your math class. (Open daily 4p-2a.) “munchies”) are all under $10. There are so many reasons to venture to the “Southside” that it’s well worth the Sara Rosoff

Lupo’s

NIGHTLIFE 55 extra travel time. (Open M-Sa 7a-2a; MONTANA WEST Su 11a-2a.) Club $$ BFD DNC CVR

26 1030 N. West End Blvd., LUPO’S MIN Quakertown Bar $$ 215-529-6070 3 2149 Reading Rd. www.clubmontanawest.com MIN 610-820-5570 They say that Pennsylvania is Philadel- If finding a youthful and hip watering phia and Pittsburgh, with Alabama in hole is your mission, Lupo’s will dis- between. Well here’s proof. Montana appoint. But if you want $4 pitchers West offers some high-energy night- and a night with middle-aged locals, time entertainment—and a healthy you have found heaven. Despite its dose of the heartland. The club hosts older “townie” feel, Muhlenberg has a Country Dance Parties three times a tendency to take over Lupo’s on the week, and even offers classes to help weekends. The bar features cheap folks brush up on their line dancing. drinks, pool tables, a digital jukebox They mix it up with a little classic and a good-sized deck to escape the rock (thanks to cover bands—happy smoke-filled interior. Forgive the lack- to kick back with fans after the luster décor and initial shadiness: show—and guest DJs) on Thursdays Lupo’s is fun with a big group of peo- and Fridays. And College Party Nights ple. A word of advice: When ordering start at 9pm on Wednesdays— a mixed drink, be sure to specify a complete with $1 drafts. So saddle up brand. Lupo’s has a tendency to make for the trip out to Quakertown, and you think you’re drinking nail polish don’t forget your cowboy hat (or a remover instead of rum or vodka. first aid kit if you’re set on riding the (Open daily 11a-2a.) mechanical bull). (Open W 6p-2a; Th 7p-2a; F 9p-2a; Sa 7p-2a; Su 5p-9p.)

MAINGATE J.P. O’MALLEY’S Club $$ DNC CVR LVM , 3 17th St. & Liberty St. Bar $$ BFD MIN 610-776-7711 4 1528 Union St. www.maingatenightclub.com MIN 610-821-5556

A little club on the corner of the O’Malley’s takes happy hour to the Allentown Fairgrounds, Maingate is next level. With $3 domestic pitchers not a night in the Village or a party and $6 imported pitchers on “college with the crew in Philly. The tunes are pub nights” (Tuesdays and Thursdays monotonous and the dance floor’s the from 5pm to midnight), think more size of your typical dorm room. Plus, along the lines of ecstatic. Mid-week your fake ID and Victoria’s Secret lace you can also get a basket of wings for “cami” (the one you insist is a shirt) only $2. (Disclaimer: They’re not jok- won’t guarantee you entrance—take it ing when they say “hot” wings. Don’t up with the bouncer. Still, it’s fairly think you’re a tough guy; take the close to campus and, once in a blue server’s advice. But if you just can’t moon, Maingate opens its doors to help yourself, go for the kryptonite the 18- to 20-year-old crowd. So wings… just don’t say we didn’t warn check the skies and watch for the you.) Whether or not you’re focused flyers plastered to every door you see. on quantity, there’s plenty of quality Just be prepared to dish out the cash here, too. If you feel like introducing to get in. (Open Th 10p-2a; F 6p-11p; your taste buds to something more Sa 9a-2a.) sophisticated than Bud Light, O’Mal- ley’s boasts an impressive 35 differ-

56 NIGHTLIFE ent beers on tap, 15 domestic bottles, and crazy partying. Still, cheap drinks 20 imported bottles and 28 micro- and quality bar food make Ringer’s brews. And did we mention that the Roost a solid choice for a mid-week food menu’s delicious and cheap? kick back. (Open M-Sa 11a-2a; Su noon- (Open M-Sa noon-2a; Su noon-1a.) midnight.)

P.J. WHELIHAN’S PUB , ROOKIE’S Bar $$ BFD Sports bar $$ BFD 7 4595 Broadway 4 1328 Tilghman St. MIN 610-395-2532 MIN 610-821-848 www.pjwhelihanspub.com Rookie’s—a laid-back bar with a dis- It’s no Dublin tavern, but P.J.’s is a wee tinctly “sporty” vibe—is a perennial bit of Ireland right down Broadway. favorite among both Muhlenberg stu- There’s no chance of feeling cramped dents and area residents. On football or claustrophobic at P.J.’s—with its Sundays, enjoy $2 drafts and a game wrap-around, sit-down bar and three (shown on any one of the approxi- additional rooms with tables. A some- mately 15 televisions). Not that the what older crowd enjoys the pleasant place is overwhelmingly sporty—it’s atmosphere and friendly service, and just got a mock scoreboard markee and its popularity can translate into a lighting fixtures fashioned from foot- lengthy wait for seating. Still, this joint ball helmets. Still, there’s room for the is ideal if you’re in the mood for great non-jock. They’ve got live entertain- bar food and more than a dozen do- ment, and excellent food and drink mestic and international beers on tap. specials. Don’t forget to sample Whether you’re here to kick back and Rookie’s famous wings. (They’re on watch a game on one of the many TVs, special—all-you-can-eat for $9—on or to unwind with friends over a basket Tuesdays.) (Open M-Th 11a-1a; F-Sa of their famous wings, at P.J.’s you’re 11a-2a; Su 11a-11p.) lucky and charmed. (Open M-Sa 11a- 2a; Su noon-midnight.) THE STERLING HOTEL Club $$ BFD DNC CVR LVM RINGER’S ROOST 8 343 W. Hamilton St. Bar $$ BFD WLK MIN 610-433-3480 2 1801 Liberty St. www.thesterlinghotel.com MIN 610-437-4941 The dark and dingy atmosphere of the This once fake-ID party spot has been Sterling Hotel may put you off at first, transformed into a more mature yet but the broodiness eventually grows on unpretentious restaurant/bar. Top you. It helps, too, that the Sterling has picks for hungrier patrons include $5 karaoke and live music, not to mention cheeseburgers and classic munchies relatively cheap food and drinks, as like potato skins or a heaping plate of well as nightly specials. The bar spans nachos. The eclectic décor that lines two levels, one of which includes a the walls makes the whole place com- large dance floor, and spills onto a fortable; no interior designer has ever covered deck off of the second floor. set foot inside the Roost. While the (Call ahead and they’ll accommodate Roost’s three cramped rooms (a dining your private party.) This nighttime spot room and bar, and a third room some- also has a prime location directly where in the middle) provide settings across the street from Banana Joe’s, for just about any mood, this local fulfilling any bar-hopper’s dream. destination may not be a place for wild (Open W-Sa 5p-2a.)

NIGHTLIFE 57

SPRACHEN SIE DEUTSCH?

Since you’re now living in Pennsylvania, here’s a primer on the native Pennsyl- vania “Dutch” dialect once widely spoken in the Lehigh Valley and throughout much of the state. (Holland, this isn’t: “Dutch” is a bastardization of Deutsch, or German.)

Es Maedel: girl Der Bu: boy Schwarz: black Der Beesballe: baseball Es Schtechle: hide-and-go-seek Es Hinkel: children

STONEWALL BAR , STOOGES Gay bar $$$ BFD LGBT Bar $$ BFD WLK 5 28 N. 10th St. 1 2101 Liberty St. MIN 610-432-0706 MIN 610-432-7553 www.clubstonewall.com It’s a place where the bouncer always If you’re seeking a sophisticated queer- knows your name and the bartenders eye spot, take your fairy dust else- are always glad you came—especially where—this neighborhood gay joint on Wednesdays for “Yuengs and remains untouched by anything resem- wings.” A staple on the Muhlenberg bling the Fab Five. Named for the famed party scene, Stooges attracts locals New York bar—birthplace of the modern and students alike. A restaurant by gay rights movement—Allentown’s ver- day, this nighttime hot spot’s also a sion includes a club downstairs, with all great place to watch a game, listen to the indispensable clubbing accoutre- music and catch up with friends over ments: a respectable dance floor, two a moderately priced pint. The front full bars, lights and lasers, all backed by room is all bar, or almost (since the a DJ spinning the best of Mariah/Toni/ actual bar, a large rectangular pit, Whitney/Pink dance remixes. Upstairs in takes up more than half of the room). the “Moose Lounge,” down-to-earth Two small steps—which become chal- bartenders mix drinks whose flavors lenging after a pitcher or two—lead don’t always fuse. The mounted Moose into the dining room where most of head, pool tables, wall TVs, a lit grand the college-aged patrons set up camp. piano—it all makes for one big feng- The drink menu features all the stan- shui faux-pas. The live music runs from dard beers as well as a few exotics Barry Manilow to show tunes, and din- thrown into the mix (Franziskaner, ers can choose from an array of deep- anyone?). If hops and barley aren’t fried fare, sandwiches and salads. While your bag, opt for a martini instead, Saturdays tend to draw an older crowd, made with a strong hand and in a College Thursdays (18 to party, 21 to stylish glass. Either way, Stooges is a drink)—complete with a drag show—are great place to have that mid-week the most popular. Don’t miss Halloween refreshment. (Open daily 11a-2a.) here: It’s the club’s biggest night of the year. (Open (Moose Lounge) Tu-Su 7p- 2a; (Stonewall Bar) W-Th 10p-2a; F-Sa 9p-2a.)

58 NIGHTLIFE Kate Hullfish Hullfish Kate

Hamilton Street, from 7th Street

TK’S UPTOWN LOUNGE VOLPE’S SPORTS BAR Bar $$ DNC LVM Sports bar $$ 4 801 N. 15th St. 2 1926 Tilghman St. MIN 610-437-3970 MIN 610-432-0146 www.tkslounge.com www.volpessportsbar.com

Many patrons are so focused on the Although situated just a few blocks pins at the Rose Bowl that they miss from campus, most students use the attached TK’s Uptown Lounge. Volpe’s for a liquor store rather than That’s bad news for country music a nighttime hang-out. And this is lovers or line dancing fans, since TK’s probably a wise choice for several is right up your…well…alley. Formerly reasons. Among its detractions: TK’s Corral, the bar features live Volpe’s attracts an older crowd, its country music on Fridays, and line “entertainment” is limited to its drink dancing on Mondays and Wednes- list, and it just can’t hold a candle to days. (Brush up on your skills with nearby competitors (like Stooges). In lessons at 7:30pm.) They break from the end, this sports bar doesn’t seem country for karaoke on Tuesdays and to be sporting anything other than a Thursdays, and Rock/Blues Night on local buzz. (Open daily 11a-2a.) Saturdays. While Tuesday is “college night” (no cover charge and $1.50 YE OLDE TAVERN drafts), TK’s usually draws an older , crowd. For the average college-aged Bar $ BFD WLK bar-hopper, it’s likely that you’d only 1 2246 Liberty St. stop in to cap a night of bowling or if MIN 610-740-3888 you’re craving some good ol’ country. (Open Su-Th 6p-midnight; F-Sa 6p-2a.) While the name might change, the watering hole at the corner of 23rd and Liberty is consistently a favorite

NIGHTLIFE 59 stop for beer-hopping ’Berg students. Stubbornly called “Woody’s” by the faithful, Ye Olde Tavern—a small pizza and beer joint—packs ’em in like sardines on the weekends. Enter- tain yourself while you’re guzzling down pitcher with three MegaTouch games, a pool table, a ring toss game and a juke box. Whether you’re stop- ping by for a quick bite and a brew, or partying the night away, Ye Olde Tavern’s the place where “everybody knows your name.” (Open M-Th 11a- 1a; F-Sa noon-2a; Su 11a-midnight.)

60 NIGHTLIFE

NIGHTLIFE INDEX

BAR FOOD CLUBS

Bethlehem Brew Works Banana Joe’s Jack Callaghan’s Ale House Crocodile Rock Candida’s Maingate Cannon’s Montana West Chicken Lounge Sterling Hotel Fairgrounds Hotel Stonewall Gate 9 Grille (see page 28) Jellybeans Southside Jam COLLEGE CROWD Hary’s J.P. O’Malley’s P.J. Whelihan’s Jack Callaghan’s Ale House Ringer’s Roost Lupo’s Rookie’s Maingate Stooges J.P. O’Malley’s Ye Olde Tavern Rookie’s Stooges Ye Olde Tavern BEST BAR FOOD DANCING Bethlehem Brew Works Cannon’s Federal Grill (see page 27) Banana Joe’s J.P. O’Malley’s Crocodile Rock Stooges Jelly Beans Southside Jam Maingate Montana West BEER SELECTION Sterling Hotel Stonewall Bethlehem Brew Works TK’s Uptown Lounge Jack Callaghan’s Ale House Cannon’s GAY/LESBIAN J.P. O’Malley’s P.J. Whelihan’s Sterling Hotel Candida’s Stooges Stonewall Bar

BEYOND ALLENTOWN KARAOKE

Bethlehem Brew Works Banana Joe’s Godfrey Daniels Crocodile Rock Montana West Lupo’s P.J. Whelihan’s Maingate Montana West Sterling Hotel

NIGHTLIFE 61

LIVE MUSIC

Crocodile Rock Godfrey Daniels Montana West Rookie’s The Shanty (see page 40) Sterling Hotel Stonewall TK’s Uptown Lounge

MUHLENBERG PICKS

Banana Joe’s Cannon’s J.P. O’Malley’s Rookie’s Stonewall Ye Olde Tavern

POOL

Banana Joe’s Bethlehem Brew Works Fairgrounds Hotel Hary’s Jelly Beans Southside Jam Lupo’s O’Malley’s Rookie’s Stonewall Ye Olde Tavern

SPORTS BARS

Rookie’s Volpe’s

OUT & ABOUT

EVENTS 64 CALENDAR

FESTIVALS 65

CULTURE 69

SPORTS & 78 RECREATION

EXCURSIONS 89 64 OUT & ABOUT

OOKING for something to do on a Saturday afternoon? Tired of hanging out in Seeger’s? Out of procrastination ideas? You’ve come to the right place. Trust us when we say that L there’s more happening in the Lehigh Valley than you might think. Athletes, artists, movie buffs and naturalists—entertain your every whim without venturing too far off campus. Use the following listings to find out which destinations are worth your precious time— time, after all, which could otherwise be used for a nap.

EVENTS CALENDARS

MORNING CALL’S GO GUIDE LEHIGH UNIVERSITY www.mcall.com/entertainment/events CALENDAR lehighcalendar.activedatax.com/ LehighU LEHIGH VALLEY ARTS

CALENDAR www.lvartscouncil.org/calendar MORAVIAN COLLEGE CALENDAR www.moravian.edu/events/index.htm LEHIGH VISITORS BUREAU

CALENDAR OF EVENTS www.lehighvalleypa.org/default.aspx? CITY OF ALLENTOWN pageid=2 CALENDAR www.allentownpa.org/cal/maincal.asp

MORNING CALL’S COMMU- NITY BULLETIN BOARD CITY OF BETHLEHEM Published every Friday CALENDAR www.bethlehem-pa.gov/events/ index.htm

MUHLENBERG CALENDAR pollster.muhlenberg.edu/Calendar LAFAYETTE COLLEGE CALENDAR CEDAR CREST COLLEGE www.lafayette.edu/calendar CALENDAR www.cedarcrest.edu/Redesign/ calendarsofevents.asp

OUT & ABOUT 65

FESTIVALS

antiques to dog breeders. And the SEPTEMBER Fairgrounds’ Grandstand hosts famed musicians (Lynyrd Skynird, ZZ Top , THE GREAT and Kid Rock in 2004) all year round. ALLENTOWN FAIR 17th St. & Chew St. CHILI PEPPER FESTIVAL 2 610-433-7541 Bowers MIN www.allentownfairpa.org 36 610-944-8417 MIN www.pepperfestival.com Come one, come all to the Great Allentown Fair! For seven days only, Can you take the heat? Prove it at the during the first week of September, annual Chili Pepper Food Festival— the 154-year-old Allentown Fair is in heaven for anyone with a taste for full effect. Lights, games, rides and spicy food. Vendors from the greater funnel cake attract people of all ages, Allentown area (like Bowers Hotel, from across Pennsylvania. You can try Thai International Foods, Old Cider your luck at a carnival game, enter a Mill Herbs and Vinegars, and the Yocco’s hot dog eating contest, or Fleetwood Pepper Company) display buy a ticket to the grandstand for big- their fiery creations for taste-testing. name musical acts. If you have a kid (There’s ice cream, too, to help your with you (or if you’re the kid), stop by mouth cool off.) Believe it or not, you the petting zoo and let a sheep eat can even purchase pepper crafts and funnel cake out of your hands. Don’t clothing. Those who are brave enough miss the Barnyard Olympics. When the can participate in the pepper-eating Fair leaves town, though, make sure contest, and true pepper fanatics can you stick around. The Fairgrounds are pick their own at nearby Meadow always hopping with the famous View Farm. three-day-a-week indoor Farmers Mar- ket, complete with fresh local produce, specialty foods and a startling array of sausage products (see page 106). The adjacent Agricultural Hall hosts frequent themed shows, from

LEGEND

, MUHLENBERG PICK

ESTIMATED DRIVING TIME FROM MUHLENBERG COL-

6 LEGE. (FOR DIRECTIONS, SEE YAHOO OR GOOGLE MAPS.) MIN

66 OUT & ABOUT

FALL FESTIVAL & CORN DECEMBER MAZE 9941 Schantz Rd., Breinigsville CHRISTMAS IN BETHLEHEM 610-395-5655 19 www.bethlehempa.org/ MIN www.grimsgreenhouse.com attractions/christmas.jsp 17 MIN Feel like getting lost? Try the four- acre corn maze, the highlight of Bre- Follow the North Star to Bethlehem— inigsville Fall Festival. The elaborate or at least the “star” mock-up that sits maze (made of seven-foot-tall corn atop South Mountain. Bethlehem is stalks) takes a different shape each charming any time of the year, but year—from witches to flowers to the city puts on its tourist best to barns. Directionally challenged indi- celebrate its erstwhile native son. viduals beware: It can take as long as Visit the website for an extensive two hours to navigate (although listing of events—from historic walk- gifted folks make it through in about ing tours to horse-drawn carriage 30 minutes) and they do keep score rides to the Christkindlmarkt craft (you’ll get a time card when you fair. There’s even some religion: Beth- start). If you’re failing miserably, a lehem is home to the Moravian man in a scout-post overlooking the Church in America, and the Moravian maze will assist with a yell or two Museum features the Church’s Christ- (only mildly embarrassing). If you’re mas traditions throughout December. really brave, test your skills during flashlight maze nights, a spooky alternative to a daytime visit. Though the LIGHTS ON THE PARKWAY Fall Festival is mainly geared toward www.allentownpa.org/lights/ young children (think face painting, a 6 history.htm tricycle course and wagon rides), the MIN water balloon slingshot appeals to the older set, as do the maze and the Every night, from late November to food (fresh kettle corn, home-made early January, Allentown’s Little Le- jam, pumpkin cakes, and pies). If high Parkway (see page 79) gets you’re looking to get lost for the af- drenched in light. Christmas lights, ternoon, this 15-minute ride is well actually. It’s much more impressive worth the trip. (Open Sept.-Oct.; call than it sounds: For $5-9 (depending for hours.) on the night), you and your car gain access to a slow-moving caravan that OCTOBER winds its way past a startling number of lit forms. Your dorm-room Christ-

mas bush can’t compete. OLD ALLENTOWN HOUSE TOUR MAY www.allentownpa.org/lights/ 5 history.htm MIN MAYFAIR Cedar Beach Park Tour a series of restored 19th-century 1 610-437-6900 brick rowhomes in downtown Allen- MIN www.mayfairfestival.org town. Local resident-preservationists open their carved wooden doors just Ah, May… the cold of winter is a dis- once a year, so put this one on your tant memory; the stifling humidity calendar. still seems far off; seniors are prep- ping for and celebrating through

OUT & ABOUT 67 Michelle Hein

The brand-new Leigh Valley Heritage Center graduation; and everyone’s itching for Want to explore your German roots? summer vacation. For Allentonians, Don’t head to the airport; you’ll get a it’s time for Mayfair. This arts festival crash course in all things German, showcases the work of area sculptors served up Pennsylvania Dutch-style, at and painters, features musical and the Kutztown German Festival. The theatrical performances, and even week-long event showcases Teutonic includes a few science-related exhib- food, folklore and fun. Bring plenty of its. But it’s not all look-but-don’t- dough because you’ll want to taste touch. Get your hands dirty working everything you see—from the sausage on art projects or stuffing your face sandwiches and ox roasts, to the pies with foods (from you-name-it-on-a- and pastries. While you’re chomping stick to desserts to classic carnival away, you’ll be traveling back in time favorites). So check out the art, use for a first-hand glimpse at traditional your creativity to make some of your PA Dutch living (the dialect, the farm- own, and savor the fair foods. ing techniques, the social gatherings). Music, comedians and dancers com- bine a bit of the past with the pre- JUNE sent. And over 200 craftsmen will tempt you with quilts, homemade KUTZTOWN GERMAN soaps, jewelry, clothing and more. With all this tradition and culture, FESTIVAL you’ll feel like you’ve ended up in Kutztown Germany after all. 30 888-674-6136 MIN www.kutztownfestival.com

68 OUT & ABOUT Melanie Zachariades JULY

LEHIGH VALLEY BLUES FEST Whitehall 9 610-261-2888 MIN www.lvbluesfest.com

Each July, some of the nation’s hot- test blues artists meet right here in the Lehigh Valley for a four-day musical celebration. Along with the major entertainers who headline each evening, locals can test their chops at the festival’s popular open jam. And it’s about more than the music: The Le- high Valley Blues Fest is a non-profit entity, so any proceeds from ticket sales (admission is $4 on Thursday to $12 on Saturday in advance, $7 to $15 at the gate) not spent on the AUGUST festival get donated to charity. One past benefactor was Dream Come , MUSIKFEST True, a local organization that fulfills Bethlehem the wishes of terminally ill children. 610-332-FEST So let your love of the blues help 17 MIN www.musikfest.org lessen someone else’s.

What has 600 bands and food from SPORTS FEST around the world, lasts for ten days, Cedar Beach Park and is attended by over one million 1 610-439-8978 people? Bethlehem’s MusikFest! The MIN www.sportsfest.org annual festival showcases up-and- comers and stars alike, belting out Remember field day from elementary music of all types. Don’t forget the school? Now picture it lasting three visual artists and craftspeople, who days, including over 40 events (from sell their work alongside exotic food staples like basketball and soccer, to booths, where you can pick up a more creative selections like ping snack for your stroll through the pong, arm wrestling and yoga), and Blumplatz, an 81- by 23-foot floral utilizing all of the city’s recreational display. Save some energy for the facilities. Tada! You’ve got Allen- Polka Jam Dance-Off. And bring a town’s annual Sports Fest. Each July, jacket: MusikFest is open rain or thousands of Allentonians test their shine. skills on the field, mat or court (sign up to participate on the website), or just use the festival as a great excuse to spend some time outdoors in one of the city’s amazing parks. Which- ever way you play it, we’re all jocks at Sports Fest.

OUT & ABOUT 69

CULTURE

MUSEUMS & HISTORIC LEHIGH VALLEY HERITAGE SITES CENTER Penn St. & Walnut St. 7 610-435-9601 ALLENTOWN ART MUSEUM MIN 31 N. 5th St. www.lehighcountyhistoricalsociety.org 6 610-432-4333 MIN www.allentownartmuseum.org Here’s an indoor activity that won’t cost you a dime and just might teach Just $2 buys you access to over 11,000 you something. The Lehigh Valley works at the Allentown Art Museum, the Heritage Center provides visitors a Valley’s arts nerve center. The main glimpse into local history—including floor holds an eclectic permanent collec- the area’s natural development, immi- tion spanning 700 years (from the four- gration patterns, and urbanization. teenth to the nineteenth centuries), all Recent exhibits included the Lehigh in one majestic room. Modern works, a Valley Black African Heritage History wall of gems and an underused audito- Project (spotlighting the contributions rium are downstairs. The temporary of the Valley’s African American com- exhibits are the real highlight: Recent munity) and “Harry Clay Trexler: The shows include “Paths to Impressionism: Man, the Visionary Builder, and the French and American Landscape Paint- Legacy” (a small shrine to Allentown’s ings” and “A Different Touch: Women legendary—and zealously worshiped— Printmakers from Three Centuries.” For philanthropist). The museum is run by the artistically challenged, museum staff the Lehigh County Historical Society provide guided tours of the exhibits and housed in the brand new Heritage every Sunday, and guest lecturers and Center at Penn & Walnut (right next to artists host discussions on Wednesdays Trout Hall, the place where Muhlen- and Sundays. The Met this isn’t, but the berg was born). musuem deserves a visit at least once over your four years here. (Open Tu-Sa 11a-5p; Su 12p-5p.)

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS

Almost everyone is familiar with Philadelphia’s esteemed Liberty Bell, but who knew that it enjoyed a brief stay in Allentown? It all began in 1777, following the Battle of Brandywine, where the British defeated Washington. Fearing an invasion of Philadelphia, nervous patriots moved the Bell to the Lehigh Valley for its own protection. It wasn’t just the Liberty Bell: Bells from the State House, St. Peter’s Church and Christ Church were also sent for safekeeping. The Lib- erty Bell was concealed in a farmer’s wagon, where it found its way to Zion’s Reformed Church, on Hamilton in downtown Allentown. When all of the bells were accounted for, the pastor, Reverend Abraham Blumer, hid them under the church’s floorboards. The bells remained in this spot until 1778, when the Brit- ish left Philadelphia. On Memorial Day in 1962, the Liberty Bell Shrine opened to commemorate this piece of Allentown history. The Shrine, located at 622 Hamilton Street, sits in the same place where the bells were concealed and even displays a realistic replica of the Liberty Bell. (See page 70).

70 OUT & ABOUT Melanie Zachariades

The Civic Theatre, on 19th Street, also known as the Nineteenth Street Theatre

LIBERTY BELL SHRINE certainly haven’t—they even re-enacted 622 Hamilton St. the Bell’s trek in honor of the country’s

6 610-435-4232 200th birthday in 1976. (Open M-Sa MIN noon-4pm.)

Hold on a minute. Isn’t the Liberty Bell TROUT HALL a Philadelphia thing? Brace yourselves, 414 W. Walnut St. folks, here comes a little history les- 610-435-9601 son…The Liberty Bell did ring in Philly 7 MIN www.lehighcountyhistorical to celebrate the signing of the Decla- society.org/trout.html ration of Independence. However, things weren’t so peachy for the new This is where it all began—Allentown nation a year later, and the patriots and Muhlenberg both. The modest worried that the Brits might ransack stone house, at 4th and Walnut Streets, the Bell for ammunition. To protect it, was built in 1770 as a summer estate they snuck it to Allentown and hid it for James Allen, son of the city’s foun- under the floor of Zion’s Reformed der. The house was sold, in 1848, to Church until Philadelphia was secure. the Allentown Seminary, which became That one-time hiding place is now a Muhlenberg. The College remained shrine, complete with a life-sized rep- here, downtown, until 1904, when the lica of the Bell, flags of the original present West End campus was occu- thirteen colonies, and a wall mural pied. There’s nothing dorm-like about depicting Pennsylvania during the the current Trout Hall, which has been Revolutionary War. While the nation restored and elegantly furnished. may have forgotten Allentown’s piv- (Open June-Aug. Tu-Su 1p-4p; April- otal role in its founding, Allentonians May & Sept.-Nov. Sa-Su 1p-4p.)

OUT & ABOUT 71

THEATER with student tickets starting at just $6. To round out a night “on the

town” (and within walking distance of BAKER CENTER FOR THE campus), wander across the street to PERFORMING ARTS Anylise’s Hava Java café (page 20) before heading home. Muhlenberg College!

0 484-664-3333 MIN www.muhlenberg.edu/cultural/ MUNOPCO baker/baker.htm 514 N. Poplar St. 5 610-437-2441 , CIVIC THEATRE (19TH MIN www.munopcomusictheatre.com ST THEATRE) MunOpCo Music Theatre is the es- 527 N. 19th St. sence of community theater—family- 2 610-432-8943 friendly Broadway musicals without the MIN www.civictheatre.com Broadway budgets. The theater, which has been in around in one form or There’s just something about that Art another since 1927, puts on three or Deco building on 19th Street that four shows a year; recent productions catches your eye. Maybe it’s the include Nunsense and Hello, Dolly! shabby chic exterior or the carniva- MunOpCo performs at the imposing lesque elephant heads or the spar- Scottish Rite Cathedral at 1533 Hamil- kling marquee… something is bound ton Street. to draw you to the home (since 1957) of the Civic Theatre. Even if the facade doesn’t grab you, the inside , STATE THEATRE should—the walls cloaked in bur- 435 Northampton St., Easton nished fabric, all that gold and copper 32 800-999-STATE detailing and, of course, the enter- MIN www.statetheatre.org tainment. This 500-seat former Vaudeville theater performs overtime, Although it now looks like a grandiose offering an annual Main Stage season Broadway theater, this Easton land- of five plays and musicals, the Thea- mark has survived through decades of ter for Young Audiences and the 19th decline. The State Theatre is the great Street Film Series (featuring independ- Lehigh Valley comeback kid. The ent art films as well as the occasional 1920s Vaudeville hall, by the 60s and mainstream picture). The live shows 70s, was limping along as a B-list con- may not be Broadway, but they’re cert venue. In the 90s, it took $4 mil- entertaining and reasonably priced, lion to restore the theater back to its

WEST END STORY

The Broadway hit Westside Story lives on in Allentown—but forget the Sharks and the Jets. Instead, longstanding disputes between Muhlenberg students and the surrounding West End community play the leads. The players: College students—loud, energetic, looking for a good time. The neighbors—searching for peace and a parking space. The plot: Complaints from the community over noise, filth, and crowds, and fretting about the College’s expansion plans. Resolution? Relations between the community and the College itself have im- proved in recent years. But students and neighbors continue to act out their traditional roles. Comedy or tragedy?

72 OUT & ABOUT original grandeur. Today, over 90 live Cyndi Lauper, to Romeo and Juliet (by performances appear on its gold- the St. Petersburg Ballet Theater). And trimmed stage each year, yielding patrons get more than just an eve- about 100,000 visitors. The elegant ning’s entertainment—the Center box seats on the side of the stage are offers curtain warmers, backstage especially coveted. But be warned: tours and prix-fixe dining specials at You may be accompanied by someone neighboring restaurants, among other other than your date. Starting in the “extras.” Though it means venturing 70s, patrons have repeatedly sighted into enemy territory (go Mules!), it’s a ghost, since dubbed “Fred,” the definitely worth the trip. (Open M-F spirit of the late manager J. Fred Os- 11a-6p; Sa 11a-2p & 2 hours before terstock. In memory of Osterstock, curtain.) the local high school music awards ceremony gives “Freddies” to victors. PENNSYLVANIA PLAYHOUSE Hailed as the Lehigh Valley’s best place for theater, the State is an ex- Illicks Mill Rd., Bethlehem ceptional piece of saved history that 16 610-865-6665 will make any visitor feel nostalgic. MIN www.paplayhouse.org

THE THEATRE OUTLET PENNSYLVANIA 610-820-9270 SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL www.theatreoutlet.org DeSales University 22 2755 Station Ave., Here’s a weekend activity that may MIN Center Valley actually increase your brain power. 610-282-3192 For a thought-provoking, off- pashakespeare.org campus/“Off-Broadway” experience, take a look at what the Theatre Outlet has on stage. This “theater with an ROXY THEATRE edge” showcases talented local pro- 2004 Main St., Northampton fessionals and amateurs (including 21 610-262-7699 Muhlenberg professors, students and MIN alums) in a mix of provocative con- www.roxytheaternorthampton.com temporary plays and neglected classics—all for about the price of a SELLERSVILLE THEATER movie ticket. It’s currently nomadic Main St. & Temple St., Sellers- (as it awaits construction of a permanent downtown home), but well worth 43 ville MIN 215-257-5808 tracking down. www.st94.com

ZOELLNER ARTS CENTER TOUCHSTONE THEATRE 420 East Packer Ave., Bethle- 321 E. 4th St., Bethlehem hem 20 610-867-1689 MIN 610-758-2787 19 www.lehigh.edu/zoellner MIN www.touchstone.org

Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Cen- ter is Bethlehem’s shining star of cultural life, hosting over 100 performing and visual arts events every year. Eclectic doesn’t even begin to de- scribe the variety—past shows ran the gamut from Fiddler on the Roof, to

OUT & ABOUT 73

MUSIC The Allentown Symphony Hall, built in 1896 and known as the Lyric Theatre

for most of its life, is arguably the ALLENTOWN BAND musical nerve center of the Lehigh 610-437-1116 Valley. Its elegant facade, designed in www.allentownband.com part by the famed architect J.B. McEl- fatrick, has long been the public face Put “Allentown” and “music” in the of the Allentown Symphony Orches- same sentence, and you expect “Billy” tra, which bought the Hall in 1959. and “Joel” to follow. It turns out, how- The Orchestra itself, now in its 56th ever, that A-town’s musical fame dates season, packs a surprisingly diverse back before 1983. In fact, the Allen- range of music into its short, sporadic town Band, formed in 1828, is the old- season. The Symphony Hall also hosts est civic band still around in the U.S. a jazz cabaret series and other special The ensemble’s 65 members range events. from high school students to senior citizens, and the troupe plays all over BACH CHOIR the place (including West Park; see 423 Heckewelder Pl., page 81). Bethlehem 18 MIN 610-866-4382 ALLENTOWN SYMPHONY www.bach.org ORCHESTRA The world-renowned Bach Choir of 23 N. 6th St. Bethlehem, the oldest such choir in 610-432-6715 6 America, has been belting Bach since MIN www.allentownsymphony.org 1898. The 95 volunteers who make

Melanie Zachariades

The 1922 bandshell in West Park

74 OUT & ABOUT Michelle Hein

Near Allentown’s Symphony Hall, on 6th Street up the Choir perform throughout the acts—from bona-fide opera troupes to year (and around the world), culminat- bluegrass to ensemble comedy to ing in the annual Bethlehem Bach folk—performs at the Hall for rock- Festival in May. bottom prices year-round.

MAUCH CHUNK OPERA ALLENTOWN FAIRGROUNDS HOUSE (See page 63) 14 W. Broadway, Jim Thorpe 33 570-325-0249 CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY MIN mauchchunkoperahouse.com OF BETHLEHEM

This musical venue in the beautiful Bethlehem mountain village of Jim Thorpe dates 18 610-435-7611 from the late 19th century—when MIN www.cmsob.org citizens of the wealthy town built the “Opera House” to attract top Philadel- GODFREY DANIELS phia talent north. It later became a (See page 52) Vaudeville hall, with Al Jolsen and Mae

West among hundreds of well-known entertainers to pass through. After LEHIGH VALLEY CHAMBER years of decline—the building even ORCHESTRA housed a pocketbook factory—the Baker Center for the Arts Opera House was restored in the 1970s, and live music was heard here 0 610-266-8555 MIN www.lvco.org once again. Today, an eclectic mix of

OUT & ABOUT 75

LEHIGH VALLEY GAY MEN'S cultural, and creative spirit of the CHORUS Lehigh Valley,” and by all evidence it’s working. With practicing singers and 610-366-3320 kids’ art classes in the background, www.lvgmc.org visitors can admire both nationally renowned and up-and-coming artists LEHIGH VALLEY FOLK MUSIC in the Binney & Smith and Banko Fam- SOCIETY ily Room Galleries, as well as startling digital photography in the adjacent www.lvfolkmusicsociety.org Digital Imaging Center. Upstairs, artists busily create in a suite of studios, PENNSYLVANIA SINFONIA though they’ll make time to talk to ORCHESTRA visitors. On “First Fridays”—the first Friday of every month (see below)— 1524 W. Linden St. the Factory offers free public art 3 610-434-7811 classes and, the rest of the year, a MIN www.pasinfonia.org range of art programming for a fee. (See www.bananafactory.org for an STABLER ARENA up-to-date schedule. Open M-Th 8:30a-9p; F 8:30a-7p; Sa 9a-5p; Su 124 Goodman Dr., Bethlehem 11a-4p.) 610-758-3770 24 MIN www.stablerarena.com BAUM SCHOOL OF ART ZOELLNER ARTS CENTER 510 Linden St. 610-433-0032 (See page 72) 6 MIN www.baumschool.org

DANCE The Baum, located across from the Art Museum on 5th Street downtown, is a thriving community art school. Its REPERTORY DANCE David E. Rodale Gallery hosts a rotat- THEATRE ing set of exhibits of local and re- 1402 Linden St. gional art. 3 610-434-5673 MIN www.lvartspage.org/dance.htm FIRST FRIDAYS BETHLEHEM Bethlehem ART 17 www.bethlehempa.org MIN

ALLENTOWN ART MUSEUM Bethlehem’s South Side stays up late (See page 69) on the first Friday of every month. From 7pm to 10pm, everything is open: the Monsoon Gallery, the Ba- , THE BANANA FACTORY nana Factory, craft stores, Tallarico’s 25 W. 3rd St., Bethlehem Chocolate shop (!) and others. 20 610-332-1300 MIN www.bananafactory.org ARTISAN TOUCH CO-OP Once a banana distribution ware- 922 Chestnut St., Emmaus house, the Banana Factory is now the 13 610-966-0991 Lehigh Valley’s largest and funkiest MIN arts center. Its mission is to “kindle, support and celebrate the artistic,

76 OUT & ABOUT

MONSOON GALLERY Think again. Fifteen minutes from Muhlenberg in Orefield is Shank- 11 E. 3rd St., Bethlehem weiler’s, America’s oldest operating 610-866-6600 20 drive-in theater. The second of its MIN www.monsoongalleries.com kind to open in the U.S., Shank-

weiler’s combines the quintessential THE NORTH LIGHT LOFT drive-in experience with today’s tech- 146 N. 10th St., 1st Floor nology: Movie soundtracks are broad- 5 610-434-6850 cast over FM and AM radio. During MIN www.northlightloft.i8.com spring and summer months, the theater offers a double feature for a mere $6.50 a ticket—a steal on a college MOVIES budget. No evening is complete without a trip to the fully stocked conces- sion stand, with hot dogs and buttery AMC TILGHMAN SQUARE 8 popcorn. This one-of-a-kind, celestial 4608 Broadway cinema is a dating must. (Open week- 7 610-391-0780 ends in April and May; daily June- MIN www.amctheaters.com August.)

For the latest movies without the sticky floor, try AMC Tilghman. It’s BECKY’S DRIVE-IN easy to get to by car or Muhlenberg Rte. 248, Berlinsville shuttle (which makes frequent trips 34 610-767-2249 there). And, at this nine-screen thea- MIN www.beckysdi.com ter, you can catch the latest release for less, thanks to the student dis- BOYD THEATRE count (just show your Muhlenberg ID). The snack bar, of course, is over- 30 W. Broad St., Bethlehem priced—and there’s no student dis- 18 610-866-1521 count for popcorn. MIN www.theboyd.com

, SHANKWEILER’S CARMIKE 16 DRIVE-IN THEATRE 1700 Catasauqua Rd. 610-264-9694 4540 Shankweiler Rd., Orefield 14 MIN www.carmike.com 610-481-0800 16 MIN www.shankweilers.com CIVIC THEATRE (19TH ST Think drive-in movie theaters suffered THEATRE) extinction before you were born? (See page 71)

ATTENTION GHOST HUNTERS!

Allentown’s Cemetery Park on 10th and Linden Streets contains some of the oldest graves in the area—the oldest dating back to 1765. Many of the graves belong to Allentown men who died in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. A large plaque nearby commemorates these fallen heroes. Constructed by William Allen during the early development of Allentown, this cemetery contains stones which display epitaphs engraved in elaborate German Gothic script. The cemetery boasts a famous grave, belonging to Peter Rhodes, Sr., an Allentown shopkeeper who served on the Committee for Public Safety during the Revolutionary era.

OUT & ABOUT 77 Karen Pooley Pooley Karen

The Baum School of Art, at 5th Street and Linden Street

EMMAUS THEATRE 19 S. 4th St., Emmaus 14 610-965-2878 MIN

FRANKLIN THEATRE 425 Tilghman St. 6 610-433-3640 MIN

ROXY THEATRE (See page 72)

78 OUT & ABOUT

SPORTS & RECREATION

BOWLING BUCKY BOYLE PARK Front St. & Gordon St. 8 ALLENTOWN ROSE BOWL MIN 801 N. 15th St. 4 610-437-4606 Bucky Boyle is a well-kept secret, hid- MIN den behind the factory ruins and abandoned rail tracks along Front Street. Let the crowds assemble in JORDAN LANES Trexler Memorial: One of Bucky 731 N. Jordan St., Whitehall Boye’s virtues is its post-industrial 7 610-437-2695 serenity. The just-renovated park MIN overlooks the Lehigh River, and hosts, strangely enough, Lehigh University’s MOUNTAINVILLE BOWLING boat house. There’s a kind of covered bandstand perched above Lehigh’s CENTER docks that’s begging for a spring 629 Brookdale St. barbecue. 10 610-797-4377 MIN CANAL PARK E. Hickory St., off of E. Hamil- CITY PARKS 13 ton St. MIN ALLENTOWN ROSE GARDEN Though it’s hard to find—follow the Parkway Blvd. & N. Broad St. signs once you cross the Lehigh River 1 on Hamilton Street—Canal Park is a MIN gorgeous, untrampled band of park on the Lehigh’s northeast bank. It’s easy to exercise in the gleaming (Follow the winding access road under new addition to the Life Sports Cen- a rusty rail bridge and get out to wan- ter, but sometimes you need a change der.) In the fall, South Mountain ex- of scenery. Literally. On a crisp, sunny plodes in orange and red, rising day, there’s no spot more serene than across a sun-bleached river. Wander the Allentown Rose Garden, just a few up and down the toepath, between minutes’ walk from campus. The gar- the river and Lehigh Canal. You can den itself is meticulously tended, laid hike or bike all the way to Easton; the out in resplendent symmetry and round-trip to Bethlehem is only 14 dotted with vined trellises, statuary miles. If you hear a rumble as you and a white gazebo. The garden overhead east, it’s the adjacent, sprawling looks a pair of lilly-padded ponds, freight yard; even Canal Park’s tran- shaded by willow trees and bound by quility has its limits. the wandering Cedar Creek. The whole magnificent landscape rivals Central Park’s manicured beauty, but here in Allentown you may well have the place to yourself.

OUT & ABOUT 79 Michelle Hein

Cedar Beach Park , CEDAR BEACH PARK LITTLE LEHIGH PARKWAY Ott St. & Hamilton Ave. Little Lehigh St., off Martin Lu- 1 7 ther King, Jr. Blvd. MIN MIN

It’s finals week. Stress levels are high The Little Lehigh Parkway looks like a enough to burst the infamous perfectly painted picture taken di- “Muhlenberg Bubble.” Relax. A rem- rectly off the wall of a country cottage edy is closer than you think. Check and brought to life. A paved pathway your stress at the “red doors,” and winds along the Little Lehigh River, head over to the nearby Cedar Beach across covered bridges, and through Park. Just a block away from campus, 999 acres of green space. This vast this oasis of lakefront greenery feels a park provides plenty of room for bik- world away. Get distracted here by ers, joggers, dog-owners, fishermen playing basketball or beach volleyball. and picnickers. The park is especially Take a stroll through the nearby Rose bright around Christmas time (see Garden, or along the willow-lined page 66). Although parking is avail- Cedar Creek. Or if it’s rest you seek, able, it is limited and can fill up bring along a blanket for a quick, sun- quickly on sunny days. So stake your drenched nap. Host a barbecue using claim early and enjoy a beautiful day the park’s grills, or organize a game at the Parkway. of frisbee. Don’t shy away from the park in winter, either: Cedar Beach offers the closest outdoor ice skating.

80 OUT & ABOUT Michelle Hein Hein Michelle

Cedar Creek in Cedar Beach Park TREXLER MEMORIAL park; they’re open to bikers on Tues- , days, Thursdays and Saturdays. Na- PARK ture lovers will revel in the wildlife, as Cedar Crest Blvd. & Parkway the park attracts many species of 3 Blvd. waterfowl each year. With all the MIN greenery, it’s easy to overlook the Spring House, built in 1741 on what Trexler Memorial Park—named for would become Trexler’s estate, and and donated by General Harry Trex- recently restored to its original ap- ler—is the perfect escape after a pearance. In a city where everything stressful week of classes and study- down to the dust is named after the ing. Almost half of the park’s 134 General, Trexler Memorial reigns over acres are landscaped, providing Allentown’s celebrated park system. plenty of space to picnic, study or enjoy a game of frisbee with friends. Exercise fanatics can choose between two walking/jogging loops that wind (for about 1.5 miles) throughout the

OUT & ABOUT 81

UNION TERRACE PARK CYCLING Walnut St. & St. Elmo St. 3 MIN BIKE LINE 1728 Tilghman St. 3 610-437-6100 WEST PARK MIN 15th St. & Turner St. 3 MIN BLUE MOUNTAIN SPORTS 34 Susquehanna St., Jim Whether you’re planning a quiet pic- 33 Thorpe nic with a date or some outdoor fun MIN 800-599-4421 with friends, West Park’s your spot. www.bikejimthorpe.com More of a town square, this was the city’s first park and today provides a LEHIGH VALLEY VELODROME breath of fresh air in the center of the West Park Historic District. While 1151 Mosser Rd., Trexlertown you’re there, relax with a book near 10 610-395-7000 the fountain or wander past hundreds MIN ww.lvvelo.org of native and exotic shrubs in the park’s six-and-a-half acre arboretum. PEDAL PA When spring rolls around, check out Harleysville the beautiful displays at the annual 37 215-513-9577 Tulip Show. And the Allentown Band MIN www.pedal-pa.com (see page 72), as well as local theater and religious groups, perform in the historic band shell throughout the DIVING summer. So the next time you need a break and some scenery, head straight to West Park—it’s one more DUTCH SPRINGS DIVING reason to love the miniature metropo- 4733 Hanoverville Rd., lis you now call home. 19 Bethlehem MIN 610-759-2270 www.dutchsprings.com CLIMBING

FISHING CATHEDRAL ROCK CLIMBING GYM LITTLE LEHIGH FLY SHOP 226 S. First St., Lehighton 27 610-377-8822 2643 Fish Hatchery Rd. MIN www.rockclimbing.com 8 610-797-5599 MIN www.littlelehighflyshop.com

RALPH STOVER STATE PARK A fully stocked fly shop in a gorgeous 6011 State Park Rd., Pipersville 19th century stone springhouse, 51 610-982-5560 alongside the Little Lehigh River—in MIN whose currents swim the largest www.dcnr.state.pa.usstateparks/ population of wild trout in Pennsyl- Parks/ralphstover.aspx vania. The expert staff offers lessons and guide for fairly reasonable prices. (Open M-Tu 9a-5p; Th-Su 9a-5p.)

82 OUT & ABOUT

LEHIGH RIVER GUIDES National Team, six Pan-American Team Members and nine World Champion- 146 S. 8th St., Lehighton ship Team Members. Jodi Yocum 610-379-5460 28 (1976), Hope Spivey (1988) and Kim MIN www.lehighriverguides.com Kelley (1992) took Parkettes all the way

to the Olympics. The gym doesn’t just ON THE FLY ADVENTURES cultivate Olympic-caliber talent: Par- 436 Coronet Dr., Blandon kettes offers a range of classes to Le- 34 610-944-4767 high Valley residents of all ages. MIN www.ontheflyadventures.com HIKING & JOGGING PA FISH & BOAT COMMISSION , BUSHKILL FALLS Lehigh County Guide Bushkill www.fish.state.pa.us 66 570-588-6682 MIN www.bushkillfalls.com GYMNASTICS Ever wanted to see Niagara Falls, but

never quite made it to upstate New PARKETTES York? Well, the Bushkill Falls are only 410 Martin Luther King Blvd. an hour away, in the Pocono Mountains 7 610-433-0011 to the north—and they’re just as beau- MIN www.parkettes.com tiful. Crisp, golden brown leaves crunching under your feet, cozy Parkettes, the nationally famous warmth shining from above and the breeding ground of gymnastics talent, rush of mountain snow water gushing trains future Olympians at its sprawl- below stimulate all your senses. Trails, ing facility downtown, just off 4th bridges and paths lead to seven mag- Street. The gym, within its block-long nificent waterfalls snuggled deep in the warehouse-like complex, boasts an woods. Make sure to bring a good pair impressive alumni roll, with over 100 of hiking boots, as well as a waterproof members who made the United States camera—for that misty Kodak moment.

GRAB YOUR BOOTS, WE’RE GOING HIKING

Don’t even think about bringing your sneakers. The Appalachian Trail is not for cheaply made brands. Dig deep in your closet for those stiff, ankle-high hiking boots—you know, the ones you bought four years ago on your “I’m- going-to-be-more-nature-loving” kick. Only 30 minutes north on Route 309 is a hike on the good ol’ A.T. Of the 2,158-mile stretch of trails, about 230 miles etches its way through the farm-infested Pennsylvania countryside. You may want a swimsuit if you come across one of the 22 waterfalls along the seven- mile stretch in the northeastern Ricketts Glen State Park. Beginning in the Delaware Water Gap to the north, and continuing south through Cumberland County and into Maryland, the AT hits its halfway mark at the Pine Grove Fur- nace State Park, just outside of Harrisburg. A tradition among hikers who travel the entire trail, known as thru-hikers, is to celebrate the halfway mark by eating a half-gallon of ice cream from the local general store. The closest access point from Allentown is about 15 miles north on Route 309, next to the Blue Mountain Summit Restaurant. (For more info, check out www.fallinpa.com, and follow the hiking and biking link.)

OUT & ABOUT 83 Michelle Hein Hein Michelle

Trexler Memorial Park DELAWARE WATER GAP ALLENTOWN HIKING CLUB RECREATION AREA www.allentownhikingclub.org www.nps.gov/dewa

65 APPALACHIAN TRAIL MIN (See below) 22 HAWK MOUNTAIN MIN SANCTUARY BELTZVILLE STATE PARK 1700 Hawk Mountain Rd., 2950 Pohopoco Dr., Lehighton 43 Kempton 31 610-377-0045 MIN 610-756-6000 MIN www.hawkmountain.org www.dcnr.state.pa.usstateparks/ parks/beltzville.aspx HICKORY RUN STATE PARK White Haven BIG POCONO STATE PARK 42 570-443-0400 Tannersville MIN www.dcnr.state.pa.us/ 52 570-894-8336 stateparks/parks/hickoryrun.aspx MIN www.dcnr.state.pa.us/ stateparks/parks/bigpocono.aspx IRONTON RAIL TRAIL 3219 MacArthur Rd., Whitehall DELAWARE CANAL TRAIL 10 610-437-5524 www.delawareandlehigh.org MIN www.irontonrailtrail.org 26 MIN

84 OUT & ABOUT

LEHIGH CANAL TRAIL NOR-BATH TRAIL www.delawareandlehigh.org Northampton, Bath 13 (See “Canal Park” page 78) 18 www.dcnr.state.pa.us/railtrails/ MIN MIN oneTrail.asp?name=NOR% 2DBath+Trail LEHIGH GORGE TRAIL Near Jim Thorpe SWITCHBACK RAILROAD 34 570-443-0400 TRAIL MIN www.dcnr.state.pa.us/ Near Jim Thorpe stateparks/parks/lehighgorge.aspx 33 570-443-0400 MIN www.dcnr.state.pa.us/ Astonishingly beautiful. Breathtaking. railtrails/oneTrail.asp? Trust us. name=Switchback+Railroad+TRAIL

TREXLER-LEHIGH COUNTY LEHIGH VALLEY ROAD GAME PRESERVE RUNNERS 5150 Game Preserve Rd., www.lvrr.org 17 Schnecksville MIN 610-799-4171 NOCKAMIXON STATE PARK www.gamepreserve.org

1542 Mountain View Dr., 33 Quakertown MIN 215-529-7300 www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/ parks/nockamixon.aspx

Courtesy of the Morning Call Call Morning the of Courtesy

Aerial shot of the Great Allentown Fair (1972)

OUT & ABOUT 85

NEW LIFE AMONG THE DEAD

From the outside, it may look like a field of stone where time and weeds have taken their toll. However, the graveyard on Chew Street between 10th and 12th Streets is home to the remains of over 600 Civil War soldiers, second in the state to Gettysburg. It is also the final resting place for five Revolutionary War soldiers and Allentown’s first mayor, Samuel McHose. In 1986 the 11-acre Union Cemetery was merged with the nine-acre West End Cemetery to form the present-day Union & West End burying ground. The graveyard was operated by local business leaders for more than a century, but was abandoned in 1997 when funding for its upkeep ran out—leading to its decline, vandalism and deterioration. Finally, in 1999, the all-volunteer board of directors took over and began the cleanup with the help of local businesses who donated time and money. Rcently , the 150th anniversary of the cemetery was celebrated with a mock Civil War funeral that incorporated a horse-drawn hearse and Civil War re-enactors. Services were held for the fictitious Major Frederick Kunkle, fol- lowed by a Victorian-style picnic.

ICE SKATING ICE PALACE 623 Hanover Ave. LEHIGH VALLEY ICE ARENA 9 610-435-3031 3323 7th St., Whitehall MIN 10 610-434-6899 MIN www.lehighvalleyicearena.com LASER TAG Whether you’re an avid ice skater or just someone looking for a change of PLANET TROG pace, the Lehigh Valley Ice Arena will have you gliding back for more. While 3578 MacArthur Rd., Whitehall home to area ice hockey, figure skat- 12 610-776-8764 ing and speed skating teams, the MIN www.planettrog.com/laser.html arena graciously clears the ice of pros for the amateur—those of us who are MINIATURE GOLF a little less graceful on skates. Admis- sion and skate rentals will put you back less than the price of a movie PUTT U MINIATURE GOLF ticket—it’s a great way to get more 5200 Route 309, Center Valley thrills and spills for less. (Opening 13 610-798-9800 hours vary; call for details.) MIN www.puttu.com

CEDAR BEACH PARK ICE Putt U is a well-maintained two-course SKATING miniature golf venue—though not, as its name suggests, a school for the www.allentownpa.org/ pros. The two courses mean that 1 cedarbeach_iceskating.htm there’s usually no wait, and both are MIN lengthy and challenging. Though it’s set on the edge of the highway, you feel like you’re in a world of your

own, safe as can be—except on Hal- loween. During October, Putt U blares

86 OUT & ABOUT tunes like “It’s Raining Men!,” but the POCONO WHITEWATER courses are dressed with glow-in-the- ADVENTURES dark balls, skeletons, skulls and witches. (Beware the employees: They Jim Thorpe too are costumed to scare.) With a rea- 33 800-WHITEWATER sonable admission and themed MIN www.whitewaterrafting.com courses, Putt U is a gem for miniature golfers of all ages. ROLLER SKATING

DORNEY SQUARE SKATEAWAY ROLLER RINK MINIATURE GOLF Lehigh St. & MacArthur Rd., 3102 Hamilton Blvd. 9 Whitehall 3 610-432-8101 MIN 610-432-5002 MIN

SKATEBOARDING PAINTBALL

PENNSKATE LEHIGH VALLEY PAINTBALL 1000 MacArthur Rd., Whitehall 405 S. 5th St., Emmaus 6 610-437-2452 11 610-965-0377 MIN www.pennskate.com MIN www.lehighvalleypaintball.com

POCONO MOUNTAIN SKIING & PAINTBALL WINTERSPORTS

Nesquehoning 34 800-876-0285 TERRY HILL WINTERPARKS MIN www.playpaintballhere.com 1000 Hamilton Blvd., 12 Breinigsville SKIRMISH USA MIN 610-395-0222 www.terryhill.com Jim Thorpe

800-SKIRMISH 33 MIN www.skirmish.com BEAR CREEK SKI RESORT RAFTING & CANOEING 101 Doe Mountain Ln., Macungie 21 MIN 800-233-4131 JIM THORPE RIVER www.skibearcreek.com ADVENTURES Jim Thorpe BLUE MOUNTAIN SKI AREA 33 800-424-RAFT 1660 Blue Mountain Dr., Pal- MIN www.jtraft.com 28 merton MIN 610-826-7700 LEHIGH RIVER WATER TRAIL www.skibluemt.com wildlandspa.org/lrwt CAMELBACK SKI AREA PECK'S POND OUTFITTERS Camelback Rd., Tannersville 800-233-8100 Pecks Pond 54 MIN www.skicamelback.com 93 570-775-7237 MIN www.peckspond.com

OUT & ABOUT 87

PENNSYLVANIA SKI AREA The newest addition, Hydra: The Re- ASSOCIATION venge, opened in May 2005. This floorless coaster will yank riders www.skipa.com through seven inversions, a zero grav- ity “experience,” and several drops THEME PARKS below ground level. If you’re afraid of heights or ludicrous speed, try out

Dorney Park’s other, closer-to-the- , DORNEY PARK & ground rides, or arcades, games, live WILDWATER KINGDOM shows and shopping. When it’s hot, cool off at the Wildwater Kingdom: 3830 Dorney Park Rd. wave pools, body slides, tube slides 610-395-3724 3 and a lazy river. Grab a few friends MIN www.dorneypark.com and a float and hit Aquablast—one of

the longest elevated slides in the Looking for some “thrills and spills” world. Prices fluctuate depending on within minutes from campus? Origi- the season, time of day, and group nally a trout fishing getaway estab- size; bargain hunters should wait for lished before the Civil War, Dorney the cheaper autumn evening rates. Park (& Wildwater Kingdom)—as the (Opening hours vary wildly; check the ad screams—now offer “two great website for details.) parks for the price of one!” With eight roller coasters, Dorney Park has enough to keep most thrill-seekers happy. Talon is the tallest and longest inverted roller coaster in the North- east, and Steel Force was the first coaster in the East to reach heights over 205 feet. (But who’s counting?) Kaitlin MacCallum

Soldiers & Sailors Monument, 7th Street and Hamilton Street

88 OUT & ABOUT

EVERYTHING ELSE LEHIGH VALLEY SPORTING CLAYS BALLOONATICS AND 2750 Limestone St., Coplay 16 610-261-9616 AERONUTS MIN www.lvsclays.com 7 Harmony-Brass Castle Rd., 29 Phillipsburg NJ MIN 877-4 FUN FLY www.areonuts.com

Attention all sightseers and thrill- seekers. Phillipsburg’s own Balloonat- ics and Aeronauts is sure to get your heart racing and your eyes bulging, all at a couple hundred feet. Pilot Fred Grotenhuis—a 30-plus year veteran— hosts your sunrise or afternoon hot air balloon flight. You’ll be airborne for about an hour, but leave at least three for your “flying adventure,” which ends with a champagne picnic. Yet if the fun seems endless, so are the precautions and preliminary re- quirements, so be sure to start planning your outing far in advance. (Reservations are required.) The prices are as high as the hot air bal- loons, but group rates (and gift cer- tificates) make it more affordable. So stand strong in the face of vertigo, dress comfortably, and start flying high.

THE DOWNS AT LEHIGH VALLEY 1780 Airport Rd. 14 610-266-6559 MIN www.pnotw.com/lehi.shtml

Off-track betting at its most depressing. We love it!

EDGEWOOD VALLEY FARMS BULL MADNESS RODEOS 106 Edgewood Ln., Nazareth 34 610-759-3340 MIN www.edgewoodvalleyfarms.com

OUT & ABOUT 89

EXCURSIONS

successfully reinvented this once run- DAY TRIPS down area into one of the most highly trampled streets in the Lehigh Valley. HISTORIC BETHLEHEM Try and time your next trip during a weekend fair (in the spring and fall) or Main St., Bethlehem summer’s MusikFest (see page 68). 17 610-868-1513 The city’s Southside is younger and MIN www.bethlehem.info edgier, with bars, galleries, tattoo parlors and the Banana Factory (see When picturing a “downtown,” charm- page 75)—all crowded between the ing rows of historical buildings with Lehigh River, the derelict Bethlehem candle-lit windows don’t typically Steel Works and the steep-sloped come to mind. But that’s just what Lehigh University. you’ll find in historic Bethlehem. A mix of storefronts, offices and Mora- vian Church buildings transport visi- , JIM THORPE tors back 250 years—with plenty of Jim Thorpe up-to-date restaurants (try the popu- 33 www.jimthorpe.com lar Bethlehem Brew Works (see page MIN 50) or the nearby Apollo Grill), boutiques and antique shops. It’s also a Jim Thorpe, born Mauch Chunk but real-life example of urban revitaliza- renamed for the great Olympian in a tion (and a good lesson for other cit- 1954 publicity stunt, bursts into fiery ies): Bethlehem officials and citizens life in the fall. Tucked in a steep Po- Collections of the Lehigh County Historical Society Society Historical County Lehigh the of Collections

Allentown’s Orpheum Theatre in 1891, two years before it was destroyed in a fire

90 OUT & ABOUT cono valley along a sharp bend in the LEHIGH VALLEY WINE TRAIL Lehigh River, Jim Thorpe’s breathtak- www.lehighvalleywinetrail.com ing forest-peak beauty encircles a stately Victorian village—the setting Here’s another trail to add to Pennsyl- for the 1970s classic The Molly vania’s long list of them…but this Maguires. Jim Thorpe’s mines closed one’s got treats! The Lehigh Valley down decades ago, sending the once Wine Trail promotes eight local fam- booming coal town into a tailspin, but ily-owned wineries and organizes adventure-seeking tourists have long special events—like the Nouveau since replaced the grimy hands. Weekend in late November, which Shops, B&Bs, galleries, swanky restau- celebrates the new harvest, and rants—even a restored opera house!— March Madness, a more refined all- crowd its meandering, sloped streets. day wine binge. While not quite like Before heading for the hills, be sure touring the famed Napa Valley or to tour the regal Asa Packer Mansion, France’s Bourdeaux, this trail is an a monument to Victorian excess once excellent, upscale (but inexpensive) home to the fabulously wealthy coal weekend outing. After sampling a magnate. But head for the hills you glass or two (or three or four…), must: For all its gabled charm, Jim you’ll feel like you’re in California or Thorpe’s real draw is its stunning France anyway. Cheers! surroundings, with abundant hiking, biking, fishing, river rafting (see page 86), and even paintballing (see page NEW HOPE 86). Take the narrow-gauge, aptly New Hope named Switchback Railroad up a 64 www.newhopepa.com steep slope for panoramic views of MIN the mountain-squeezed village. (You’ll understand why the town has earned With everything from old-fashioned its nickname, “The Switzerland of country crafts to live entertainment America.”) and the occasional sex shop, the Vil- lage of New Hope is a perfect weekend fieldtrip no matter what you’re in the mood for. History buffs can tour a number of historical sites near

PRECIOUS PEEPS

At some point, everyone has enjoyed a marshmallow Peep. Some of us have even performed “scientific experiments” that involved an innocent little marshmallow chick, a microwave and a lot of scrubbing. You know what they taste like, how big they can inflate, and how long it takes for them to explode, but did you know that the company that makes them is in nearby Bethlehem? In 1932, Just Born, Inc., moved into an empty printing factory. It began making the now-famous Marshmallow Easter Peeps by hand in 1953, by squeezing marshmallow through a pastry tube. Thanks to advances in technology, Just Born now produces 4.2 million Peeps each day, and over one billion every year, in addition to other familiar candies like Mike & Ike, Hot Tamales and Teenee Beanee jelly beans. The Peeps remain the top-selling non-chocolate Easter candy, but are now available all year—in 35 countries! Sadly, the company offers no factory tour, but you can take a virtual tour at www.justborn.com.

OUT & ABOUT 91 Name here here Name

Hamilton Street at the turn of the century

“Washington’s Crossing” (where This four-mile-wide corn maze, Penn- George traversed the Delaware River sylvania’s largest, challenges visitors during the Revolutionary War). Car- through twists and turns and into riage rides, ferry trips and walking many dead-ends. Fear not: Numbered tours are other ways to see the area. checkpoints along the way let you And there are more than enough op- know that you’re headed in the right portunities to blow some cash on four direction. You can carbo-load before main streets and cobblestone side- venturing into the maze (in case it streets—in galleries, antique shops takes a while), or refuel when you and boutiques. For some culture, this return (in case it took a while) at the artistic hub has the Bucks County Play snack bar (which also serves lunch House (student tickets are just $20) and dinner). Or purchase a s’mores as well as drag shows, and an eclectic kit and roast marshmallows right on- mix of cabaret, jazz and retro music. site. There’s also a Farmer’s Market, Whatever you do, you’re bound to as well as activities—from pumpkin work up an appetite; satisfy your crav- launching to tricycle racing—for the ings in a casual spot or one of the younger crowd. Haunted Nights fancier restaurants overlooking the (Fridays and Saturdays in October) are river. another great way to gear up for Hal- loween. (Open Sept.-Nov. Th-Su; call for specific hours.) SHORT-TERM

THE CRAYOLA FACTORY BEAR JUNCTION CORN MAZE 30 Center Sq., Easton Rte. 309 & Mountain Rd., New 25 610-515-8000 27 Tripoli MIN www.crayola.com/factory MIN 610-298-8887 www.bearrockjunction.com Don’t let the name fool you: The Cray-

92 OUT & ABOUT ola Factory isn’t a factory at all. It’s an CRYSTAL CAVE excuse to let kids run wild and drain 963 Crystal Cave Rd., every last drop of their creative juices. Kutztown The Factory occupies a brand-new 29 MIN 610-683-6765 building in Easton’s lovely Center www.crystalcavepa.com Square. Downstairs, though, is a canal museum—the actual Crayola In the mood for some quality time in “Factory” is up the stairs. At one sta- Pennsylvania’s wide-open spaces? Or tion, guests observe how Crayola maybe a little miniature golf? Then products are made—hence the the Crystal Cave is just what the doc- “Factory,” we suppose. But the rest of tor ordered. And that’s only what’s the place is dedicated to kids, young above ground. The highlight of a visit kids, who get to test the latest Cray- is (at least) six feet under—caves that ola products—which are conveniently sparkle thanks to calcium crystals on sale in the gift shop. To appreciate that nature’s been working on for the place, you must be in touch with centuries. Guided tours run daily and your inner child—to the point of bat- have drawn millions since the caverns tling it out for all the good crayons at were discovered in 1871. So delve the craft stations. Otherwise, wait deep! (Opening hours vary seasonally; until you have kids of your own. The call for details.) best thing about the Factory, it turns out, is the drive to Easton, with its sweeping views of the Lehigh Valley LOST RIVER CAVERNS and the mountains that cradle it. Why Durham St., Hellertown not just take the drive, and save your- 21 610-838-8767 self nine bucks? MIN www.lostcave.com

Stalagmites and stalactites galore— but, thankfully, no bats—fill a five- chambered cave (accidentally discov-

THERE’S SOMETHING WEIRD IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

“I ain’t afraid of no ghost.” This all-too-familiar Ghostbusters refrain was written for Allentown. The area’s abundance of spiritual folklore has local “ghost- hunters” buzzing. So if you feel the need to test your nerves, here are a few places to begin. Happy hunting.

Cedar Crest College—The ghost of a young women named Wanda resides in Butz Hall. She apparently committed suicide in 1956.

Muhlenberg College—Bernheim House is said to be haunted by its former owner.

Constitution Drive —A runner reportedly killed in a nearby railroad accident can be spotted walking his two dogs.

Hamilton Street—A woman killed in a car accident as she crossed Hamilton has been haunting this street late at night near the former Hess’s building.

Magnolia’s Vineyard Restaurant—Magnolia’s was named after its ghostly resident. The story is that during the Civil War, Magnolia met a young soldier who she swore her love for, right there in the restaurant. They were meant to meet again at the same spot, but the soldier never returned. She’s been waiting ever since.

OUT & ABOUT 93 ered by a limestone quarrying crew in 1833 Shop open M-F 8:30a-5p.) Not 1883) below Hellertown. Named after far from the factory is the Guitar- the mysterious “Lost River” (whose maker’s Connection, 10 W. North St., source is unknown) that flows in the old Martin factory building. through them, the caverns were made This acoustic guitar supply shop visitor-friendly thanks to handrails stocks everything from tone woods, and lighting added in 1930. The crys- kits, parts, tools, glues, tuning ma- tal formations, fluorescent minerals chines, finishing supplies, pickups, and crystal-clear underground water- amps, mics, instrument construction way are an incredible sight to see. But and repair books, and any other ac- even if all that nature doesn’t grab cessory you could ever possibly need you, the Caverns’ sordid history for your guitar. (Open M-F 9a-4p.) might: Bootleggers hid contraband alcohol here during Prohibition. More PEZ DISPENSER MUSEUM recently, it’s been a frequent pick for fraternity initiation ceremonies and 15-19 S. Bank St., Easton the backdrop for over 80 weddings. If 25 888-THE-PEZ1 you go, bring a jacket (it’s always a MIN www.eastonmuseumofpez.com cool 52 degrees underground) and don’t miss the gift shop (where you Though Muhlenberg students are can design your own stone jewelry). familiar with the Haas College Cen- ter—named for the fourth president of the College—they may not know MACK TRUCK MUSEUM the other Haas: Eduard Haas III, who 997 Postal Rd. invented PEZ candy in 1927 in Vienna. 11 610-266-6767 Twenty years later, he developed the MIN www.macktrucks.com/ PEZ dispenser, enabling the citizens default.aspx?pageid=40 of over 60 countries to have their PEZ and eat it too. This now-popular kid’s MACK TRUCK FACTORY collectible was originally produced for adult smokers in Austria before mi- TOUR grating to the U.S. in the fifties. The 7000 Alburtis Rd., Macungie first dispenser looked like cigarette 13 610-709-3566 lighters, on the assumption that the MIN www.macktrucks.com/ compressed peppermint breath mints default.aspx?pageid=45 might be used to curb smokers’ ad- dictions. After researchers realized the dispensers’ appeal to kids and MARTIN GUITAR FACTORY collectors, PEZ was redesigned to 510 Sycamore St., Nazareth feature the fruity flavors and loveable 26 610-759-2837 candy popping heads we know today. MIN www.martinguitar.com/visit/ In 2003, Kevin and Tim Coyle decided tour.html to pay tribute to this invention by opening the third PEZ museum in the The phrase “all-in-one” comes to mind country. Located in nearby Easton, the when visiting the Martin Guitar Fac- PEZ Dispenser Museum displays over tory. For the music (especially guitar) 1500 dispensers in creative settings. enthusiast, this tour is informative You can see Disney dispensers and enthralling: You get to watch the housed in a ten-foot high castle or the guitar- and string-making process on members of the Beatles on their own some of the finest crafted instru- stage. After scanning the display of ments in the world. For the rest of us, 500 dispensers to discover “Where’s the tour may not be worth it, though Waldo?,” you can move on to the gift the “1833 Shop” (aka gift shop) de- shop that sells hundreds of PEZ prod- serves its own visit. (Tours M-F at 1p; ucts—all for $5. (Curb your PEZ addic-

94 OUT & ABOUT tion Tu-Su 10a-5p.)

STRAWBERRY ACRES 5120 Overlook Rd., Coplay 19 610-261-2323 MIN www.strawberryacres.com

A pick-your-own fruit farm, from ap- ples to pumpkins to raspberries.

WEYERBACHER BREWING COMPANY 905G Line St., Easton 34 610-559-5561 MIN www.weyerbacher.com

You won’t find any Bud at the Weyer- bacher Brewing Company. No, just Merry Monks’ Ale and Blithering Idiot Barley Wine, among 13 other uncon- ventional brews. That’s reason enough to make the trip to Easton for a tour in and around the towering distillers and fermenters. And then there are the free samples: The Blith- ering Idiot—which, according to the brewery, should be enjoyed in a “brandy snifter or wine glass, prefera- bly in front of the fire or accompany- ing a literary class”—is 11 percent alcohol. After the tour, you can assemble your own variety case, or even purchase a “Growler”—a one-half gallon jug waiting to be filled with your favorite. Who needs Natty Light? (Open for tours Sa noon-3pm.)

SHOPPING & RESOURCES

96 SHOPPING & RESOURCES

t’s not worth it, Philly’s King of Prussia Mall: You’ll fight traffic for an hour and all you’ll get is a lousy t-shirt … or sweater. Why not skip the merchant monarch and empty your wallet in Allentown I instead. You’ll never find California Gold (see below) at the mall— or the Great War Store (page 104) for that matter. From beer to Bie- ber, we’ve gone on an Allentown shopping spree, so you can too.

willing to help. When you do fall head ACCOMODATION over heels, make sure you send in a photo of the two of you out on the (See Hotels) town; the store owner has a wall covered with pictures of their dresses on customers. (Open M-F 11a-7p; Sa 10a- AIRPORT 6p; Su noon-5p.)

(See Transportation) LANCASTER DRESS COMPANY ALCOHOL 3315 Hamilton Blvd. 610-776-6550 4 MIN (See Beer/Wine) Stocking mostly formal wear and the requisite accessories, Lancaster is APPAREL your one-stop-shop for a formal. The place is packed with dresses; once , CALIFORNIA GOLD you’ve picked one out, take a look at the corresponding jewelry. (While 228 W. Tilghman St. their selection of accessories isn’t 610-435-5553 7 massive, what they do have is elegant MIN and moderately priced.) And no out-

fit’s complete without a new pair of California Gold is, well, the gold stan- shoes, which they’ve got here, too. If dard for boutiques. Shoppers will all that glamour starts to get a little immediately be drawn to California overwhelming, just take a deep Gold’s fancy, fully decorated window breath and find a staff member— displays (lined with distinctive gifts, they’re incredibly helpful. (Open M-F trinkets, and clothing). Be sure to 10a-9p; Sa 10a-6p; Su noon-5p.) leave time in your schedule to casu-

ally sift through the winding aisles of clothing and accessories and to chat MARILYN CUSTOM SHOP with the owner—she’ll send you five 1227 Hamilton St. doors down, to sister store Nights at 4 610-821-9620 California Gold. There they’ve got that MIN

Overleaf: Phil Johnson Johnson Phil Overleaf: made-for-you dress just waiting. The place is filled with dresses of all So they may not have their finger on styles, each hand-picked by the owner the pulse of college fashion. The from private collections and literally clothes Marilyn brings in from Europe one-of-a-kind (don’t bother looking and New York City—to Trexler’s old for one in a different size). If you’re house on Hamilton Street—are cer- having trouble navigating the selec- tainly upscale, but possibly more age- tion, the friendly staff is more than appropriate for your grandmother and

SHOPPING & RESOURCES 97 definitely not in the college-budget WACHOVIA price range (pants run about $80; jack- 19th St. & W. Liberty St. ets around $250). Still, the shop lets 610-439-4292 you flex your designer muscle with 2 MIN your own take on their limited styles— by changing the cut or length. And they give you plenty of browsing space, with WACHOVIA multiple rooms and a well-laid-out floor 3100 W. Tilghman St. plan. Plus, they carry jewelry and hand- 2 610-439-4551 bags. But look elsewhere for your MIN Uggs, Juicy and Burberry. (Open M-F 10a-6p; Sa 10a-5p.) BEER/WINE SEE ALSO—THRIFT STORES BUDGET BEVERAGE BAKERIES 3125 W. Tilghman St. 2 610-437-2272 UNIQUE BREAD BAKERY MIN

1425 W. Chew St. 3 610-439-9001 CLOVER HILL VINEYARDS & MIN WINERY Allentown Fairgrounds SEE ALSO—ETHNIC GROCERIES 2 610-439-3969 & BAKERIES (PAGE 107) MIN www.cloverhillwinery.com

BANKS LIBERTY BELL BEVERAGES 718 N. 13th St. 4 610-820-8020 FIRSTRUST BANK MIN 1403 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. 5 610-437-6815 MIN PLAZA BEVERAGES 1520 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. 4 610-395-2337 WACHOVIA MIN 1601 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. 5 610-439-4221 MIN

LEGEND

, MUHLENBERG PICK

ESTIMATED DRIVING TIME FROM MUHLENBERG COL-

6 LEGE. (FOR DIRECTIONS, SEE YAHOO OR GOOGLE MAPS.) MIN

98 SHOPPING & RESOURCES Karen Pooley Pooley Karen

Hamilton Street storefronts, near 6th Street

STATE LIQUOR STORE TARGET 1918 W. Allen St. 1600 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. 2 610-821-6653 5 610-398-4006 MIN MIN www.target.com

STATE LIQUOR STORE WALMART 333 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. 2601 MacArthur Rd., Whitehall 3 610-821-6213 11 610-530-1400 MIN MIN www.walmart.com

STATE LIQUOR STORE BOOKS 1500 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. 5 610-530-5702 MIN , ANOTHER STORY 100 N. 9th St. 5 610-435-4433 BIG BOX MIN

If your classes’ required reading is K-MART not stimulating your brain in the way 4701 Tilghman St. you might like, read on. Another Story 7 610-395-0314 is the ultimate used book store with MIN www.kmart.com

SHOPPING & RESOURCES 99 stacks upon stacks of, well, used ing for your next reading adventure, books. This rickety old storefront has look elsewhere. (Open M-W, Sa 11a- everything from an 1872 Algebra 6p; Th-F 10a-8p; Su noon-5pm.) book to Barbara Bush’s memoirs to a guide to women’s shoes in over 40 NOW AND THEN BOOKS sections. (Sorry Fabio, no romance novels.) If you’re feeling a little lost, 2905 W. Emaus Ave. just ask the friendly owner. (You’ll get 11 610-797-1266 stories and jokes as well as directions MIN to whatever you’re looking for.) So put down the Russian Government Just head down the stairs into this textbook and drive over for an inex- basement bookstore—where soft mu- pensive novel to open your mind. sic and strategically placed comfy (Open M-W 10a-6p; Th-F 10a-8p; Sa chairs invite you to curl up with a 10a-5p.) good book and stay a while. And you’ll have plenty of options to choose from: The walls are lined with MORAVIAN BOOK SHOP inexpensive novels and anthologies, a 428 Main St., Bethlehem vast fiction collection, and even a 18 610-865-3823 selection of collectible books (some MIN www.moravianbookshop.com of which are signed). Although it’s a bit of a drive, Now and Then Books is Crowded with everything from food to well worth the trip. (Open Tu-W, Sa stationery to home furnishings, you 10a-5p; Th-F 10a-6p.) could get lost for hours in the Mora- vian Book Shop—the world’s oldest ABERDEEN BOOKSHOP bookseller. And if your visit spans a meal, you’re in luck. Their deli serves 4303 Lower Saucon Rd., up sandwiches, soups and salads, as 32 Hellertown well as changing daily specials and a MIN www.abebooks.com/home/ selection of gourmet coffees, teas and melaniejoy hot chocolate. Ironically, the store’s weakest section is its book depart- AGVENT RARE BOOKS ment (just half the size of the area 291 Linden Rd., Mertztown reserved for gifts). The verdict: 610-682-4750 Though it’s a cute place to stop for 26 MIN www.users.erols.com/agvent presents as you tour downtown Beth- lehem (see page 89), if you’re search-

NAME THAT TUNE

And we’re living here in Allentown But the restlessness was handed down And it’s getting very hard to stay…

These few lines pretty much sum up Allentown… according to Billy Joel. Outside of Pennsylvania, say “Allentown” and you’ll get Billy Joel’s 1983 hit crooned back at you. Not exactly a theme song for the city, with its all-the-factories-closed- down gloominess. But the anthem for the betrayed blue-collar worker does praise the city’s hardscrabble citizenry, and has, too, put the city on the musical map. Allentown leaders, on this logic, gave Joel a key to the city. Thanks to Joel, we’re all a little prouder, living here in Allentown.

100 SHOPPING & RESOURCES

BARNES AND NOBLE CLOTHING 2590 MacArthur Rd., Whitehall

11 610-821-7732 MIN www.barnesandnoble.com (See Apparel)

BETHLEHEM BOOK LOFT COMICS 521 E. 4th St., 3rd fl., Bethle- 20 hem MIN 610-691-1973 BEACH HEAD COMICS 1601 Chew St. 3 610-437-6372 BORDERS BOOKS MIN www.beacheadcomics.com 1937 MacArthur Rd., Whitehall 9 610-432-5520 MIN www.borders.com COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT NEW STREET BOOK SHOP

513 N. New St., Bethlehem 18 610-868-3411 ACORN MIN www.abebooks.com/home/ 546 Hamilton St., # 313 newstreetbook 610-433-3313 www.acorn.org OLD LIBRARY BOOKSHOP ACORN is a national nonprofit devoted 1419 Center St., Bethlehem to community organizing. 18 610-814-3434 MIN www.oldlib.com ALLENTOWN WEED & SEED QUADRANT BOOK MART 310 N. Second St. 610-437-7679 20 N. 3rd St., Easton 31 610-252-1188 Weed & Seed is a federally sponsored MIN program that “weeds” out crime and “seeds” neighborhood revitalization in RECYCLE BARN downtown Allentown.

2901 Oakland Rd., Bethlehem 23 610-865-5800 COMMUNITY ACTION MIN COMMITTEE OF LV

1337 E. Fifth St., Bethlehem BUS 610-691-5620 www.caclv.org

(See Transportation) CACLV is an advocate for low-income residents of the Lehigh Valley. CAR RENTAL CASA GUADALUPE CENTER (See Transportation) 143 Linden St. 610-435-9902 www.casalv.org

Casa Guadalupe is a community-based Latino service organization.

SHOPPING & RESOURCES 101 Michelle Hein

Stencilwerks on Tilghman St.

CONGREGATIONS UNITED LEHIGH COUNTY FOR NEIGHBORHOOD CONFERENCE OF CHURCHES ACTION (CUNA) 534 Chew St. 317 N. 4th St. 610-433-6421 610-434-1260 www.lcconfchurch.org

CUNA is a faith-based community A consortium of churches that pro- organizer in downtown Allentown. vide services to the homeless and needy in downtown Allentown. ALLIANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES HABITAT FOR HUMANITY 1966 Creek Rd, Bethlehem 34 S. 10th St. 610-838-7666 610-776-7737 www.sustainlv.org www.habitatlehighvalley.com

The Alliance, a clearinghouse and Habitat for Humanity works with the coalition of progressive organizations community to build homes in partner- in the Lehigh Valley, publishes a cal- ship with low-income families. endar and a directory of activist groups in the region. LEPOCO PEACE CENTER 313 W. 4th St., Bethlehem 610-691-8730 www.lepoco.org

LEPOCO is a peace and justice activist organization.

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MILE HOUSE OF ILL REPUTE

According to Allentown code, it is illegal for 16 or more single, unrelated women to live in a house together. In the eyes of the law, the co-habitating women operate a brothel. (For the pure or innocent, a “brothel” is the sort of place where women sell themselves by the hour.) Ironically, it is legal for up to 130 men to live under the same roof. It’s not just the world’s oldest profession that gets regulated here: It’s also illegal in Pennsylvania to sing in the bath, or to sleep atop of a refrigerator outdoors. Don’t even think about shooting a gun or cannon at a wedding. And if you find yourself driving down a country road at night, remember to stop every mile to send a rocket signal to clear those livestock. Finally, a warning for men: Public arousal is outlawed in Allentown, so keep it under your single-sex-unrelated roof!

stays like flowers and wildlife, to MUHLENBERG OFFICE OF odder picks like chess pieces and COMMUNITY SERVICE beetles—and all the other tools you’ll Valerie Lane need. For all you amateurs out there, 484-664-3158 Stencilwerks offers on-site beginner www.muhlenberg.edu/studorgs/ classes on stenciling, basket weaving, service and decorative painting. And if courses and paper-writing start to eat into your decorating time, Stencil- PRIDE OF THE GREATER werks staff will make house visits and LEHIGH VALLEY stencil any room, wall or cupboard for 610-770-6200 you. One note of caution: While they www.prideglv.org may sound innocently inexpensive, stencils range in price from $7 to Pride is a nonprofit LGBT advocacy $78. (Open Tu-Sa 10a-4p.) organization. DIRECTORY CONSUMER ELECTRONICS CRAIGSLIST allentown.craigslist.org (See Technology) Craigslist in Allentown? It’s hard to

believe, we know. But it’s here—the CRAFTS free, non-profit all-purpose community bulletin board, with personals to

apartments to ride shares. STENCILWERKS 1723 Tilghman St. DISCOUNT 3 610-433-7776 MIN www.stencilwerks.com (See Big Box) Time to give your room a little face- lift? Stencilwerks can make a not-so- extreme makeover possible. The shop sells a variety of stencils—from main-

SHOPPING & RESOURCES 103 DRUG STORES DRYCLEANERS

CVS PHARMACY AMERICAN DRYCLEANERS 3020 Tilghman St. 1702 W. Allen St. 2 610-776-6551 4 610-434-9469 MIN www.cvs.com MIN

CVS PHARMACY VILLAGE WEST 1601 W. Liberty St. DRYCLEANERS 610-820-9737 3 3100 W. Tilghman St. MIN www.cvs.com 610-820-6336 3 MIN ECKERD 1650 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. DVD/VIDEO RENTAL 5 610-395-3671 MIN www.eckerd.com BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO WALGREENS 3140 Cedar Crest Blvd., # D 1702 W. Tilghman St. 3 610-433-2800 4 610-435-2361 MIN MIN www.walgreens.com FITNESS

(See Gyms)

Melanie Zachariades

The Allentown Farmers Market, at the Fairgrounds

104 SHOPPING & RESOURCES

most of the regular merchandise is a GIFTS little overpriced. But they’ve got discount (mostly seasonal) items in back THE ANGEL SHOP which make for great bargains. In the end, Bee Gee’s lets you branch out 3333 Hamilton Blvd. from the typical Hallmark store for 4 610-433-9495 that special something that will make MIN Grandma want to send cookies. (Open M-F 9a-6p; Sa 9a-4p.) Searching for heavenly merchandise— for trinkets just out of this world? Look no further than the Angel Shop, , C. LESLIE SMITH a divine boutique specializing in a 3100 Tilghman St. range of angel paraphernalia: from 3 610-439-8833 ornaments and jewelry, to wind MIN chimes and sun-catchers. Fluttering dangerously close to tacky, classier Searching for the perfect gift? Looking carved and painted angels save the to add a new knick-knack to your shop (somewhat) from the dark side. collection? From greeting cards to Still, a visit to the Angel Shop may bath products, beautiful gold and leave you feeling a little saintly your- silver jewelry to pottery, C. Leslie self—the store practices what it hocks Smith silversmith shop has just what by collecting donations for a local you need (even if some items will homeless shelter. (Open M-W 10a-5p; stretch a small budget). Ask a sales Th 10a-7p; F-Sa 10a-5p.) assistant for help—they’re polite and genuine—or wander aimlessly around BEE GEE’S GIFTS the shop. Be sure to check out the humorous cards in the back of the 111 Union Blvd. store; you’ll laugh so hard that you’ll 8 610-432-0500 have to buy one. (Open M-Sa 10a-9p; MIN Su noon-5p.)

Forgot Mom’s birthday present? Be- fore you send that e-card to cover, THE GREAT WAR STORE swing by Bee Gee’s Gifts. About ten minutes down Tilghman Street, this 1019 W. Hamilton St. 610-437-5286 little store sells knickknacks, lotions, 5 cards and locally made “Wax Works” MIN candles (in a variety of sizes, shapes We’ve never seen anything like it—an and scents). There’s not too much to attract college-aged customers, and army/navy store on crack. Egyptian mummies. Symmetrical, brightly

IT’S GOOD TO BE THE KING

Budweiser markets itself as the “King of Beers,” Michael Jackson is (was?) the “King of Pop,” and King of Prussia, ladies and gentleman, is certainly the “King of Malls.” King of Prussia, or KOP, deserves its royal title. It boasts nine department stores that fit the low-budget to no-budget crowds alike, from Sears to Louis Vuitton. The sprawling complex harbors over 200 stores, restaurants and a movie theater—so much real estate that you won’t be able to conquer it in a day. (There’s an excuse to return.)

SHOPPING & RESOURCES 105 Sara Rosoff

Wegman’s painted mortar shells. Antique gas latest styles in footwear) next door. masks. A massive painted eagle- High-quality merchandise for reason- themed totem pole. Chain mail and able prices: What more could you ask swords. Dozens of swords. Shirts with for? (Open M-F 11:30a-5:30p; Sa slogans like “Once a Marine, always a noon-4p.) Marine.” D&D-style painted figurines. A model of the Hindenburg. Tiffany- LJ GIFT COMPANY style lamps. Still more Egyptian stuff. Scary but indeed Great. (Open M-W 344 Main St., Emmaus 9:30a-6p; Th-F 9:30a-7p; Sa 9:30-6p.) 13 610-965-1880 MIN

, MISH MASH SEE ALSO—THRIFT STORES 801 Hamilton St. 6 610-433-4396 MIN GOVERNMENT

Mish Mash…the name of this place says it all. Situated on the corner of ALLENTOWN CITY HALL Hamilton and 8th Streets, this charm- 435 Hamilton St. ing boutique stocks everything from 610-437-7546 knick-knacks and candles to fashion- able women’s accessories (check out the handbags and jewelry). M&M’s ARLEN SPECTER array of wrapping papers, packaging U.S. Senate ideas and creative birthday cards are 504 W. Hamilton St., #3814 just as trendy—making a stylish gift 610-434-1444 even more impressive. And in case 202-224-4254 that’s not enough, the owner just specter.senate.gov added a new shoe store (carrying the

106 SHOPPING & RESOURCES Michelle Hein

Sage, at Tilghman Street and 14th Street

RICK SANTORUM U.S. Senate GROCERIES 504 W. Hamilton St., #3802 610-770-0142 ALLENTOWN FAIRGROUNDS 202-224-6324 santorum.senate.gov FARMERS MARKET Allentown Fairgrounds 2 www.fairgroundfarmersmkt.com CHARLES W. DENT MIN U.S. House of Representatives 701 West Broad St., #200, Bethlehem Three days each week (Thursdays, 610-861-9734 Fridays and Saturdays), the Allentown www.house.gov/dent Fairgrounds has one more attraction: the Farmers Market, a mini version of Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Mar- PATRICK BROWNE ket. The sixty-plus vendors who set PA Senate up temporary shop here cover all the 801 Hamilton St. food groups and then some—there’s 610-821-8468 pizza, Chinese and Mediterranean 717-787-1349 food, amazing BBQ chicken and ribs, www.senatorbrown.com pies and pastries, deli meats and fresh breads, cheeses, fresh fruits and vegetables. (New York Pickle and JENNIFER MANN Faller’s Pretzel and Snacks are favor- PA House of Representatives ite stands.) As if that weren’t enough, 1227 Liberty St., #202 there are also candles, flowers, gifts, 610-821-5577 wine and an on-site flea market. 717-705-1869 Here’s how to make grocery shopping way more interesting. Get off your

SHOPPING & RESOURCES 107 ass and walk somewhere for once! party developed or a prescription (Open Th 9a-8p; F 8a-8p; Sa 8a-6p.) filled. Perhaps it’s a card, gift or candy you’re after. Look no further, WEGMAN’S because Wegman’s has it all. It’s even got ready-to-eat food for when you 3900 Tilghman St. don’t feel like cooking or facing the 5 610-336-7900 dining hall. (Think of a restaurant, MIN www.wegmans.com only better: Where else can you get sushi while your friends chow down To say that Wegman’s is simply a on wings or couscous?) Best of all, it’s grocery store would be like calling open 24 hours. (And any college stu- Niagara Falls just another waterfall. dent appreciates places that come Searching for snacks for the dorm, through during a random late-night cooking necessities for a family recipe craving.) Although the store may or something new and different from seem overwhelming at first, think of it around the world? Maybe you’re eager as a food shopping adventure. Come to get that film from last weekend’s see what the cult following is all

ETHNIC GROCERIES & BAKERIES

La Placita Mexican Deli CHINESE 158 N. 12th St. Far East Grocery Market 610-821-4549 734 Park St.,Whitehall 610-266-8968 MIDDLE EASTERN

Elias Farmers and Fish Markets DOMINICAN 101 Tilghman St. (at Front St.) Dominguez Food Market 610-776-1030 517 Gordon St. 610-437-1495 Egypt Star Bakery 608 N. Front St. 3 J's Bakery 610-434-8516 619 N. 7th St. 610-351-9914 Soumaya & Sons Bakery 264 Fullerton Ave., Whitehall INDIAN 610-432-0405

Abe Taj Grocery 1076 Fullerton Ave. TURKISH/HALAL 610-439-8906 Aci Halal 34 N. 2nd St. ITALIAN 610-439-8782

Stravino's Lehigh Valley Halal Market 269 5th St., Whitehall 1902 Allen St. 610-432-2551 610-820-9233

MEXICAN VIETNAMESE La Mexicana Groceries Tiem A Dong 407 N. Seventh St. 1202 Walnut St. 610-776-1910 610-821-4559

108 SHOPPING & RESOURCES about! (Open daily 24 hours.) HAIRCUT GARDEN GATE NATURAL (See Salons/Nails) FOODS 17 S. 9th St. 5 610-433-8891 HOTELS MIN CROWNE PLAZA GIANT 904 Hamilton St. 3100 W. Tilghman St. 5 610-433-2221 3 610-351-2091 MIN MIN

HOWARD JOHNSON KING’S 3220 Hamilton Blvd. 365 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. 4 610-439-4000 3 610-821–4560 MIN MIN

COMFORT SUITES O’BRIEN’S REALLY GOOD 3712 Hamilton Blvd. FOOD CO. 5 610-437-9100 1922 Allen St. MIN 2 610-435-3911 MIN HOLIDAY INN

3620 Hamilton Blvd. SEE ALSO—ETHNIC GROCERIES 5 610-437-9255 & BAKERIES (PAGE 107) MIN

GYMS HERITAGE HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST GOLD’S GYM 500 Chestnut St., Emmaus 3300 Lehigh St. 14 610-965-6100 10 610-797-6800 MIN www.heritagehousepa.com MIN www.goldsgym.com JEWELRY LEHIGH VALLEY FITNESS CLUB LEHIGH JEWELERS 601 W. Union St. 1746 W. Allen St. 6 610-821-1300 2 610-434-8001 MIN www.lvfit.com MIN www.lehighjewelers.com

Who’d guess that this unassuming, LA FITNESS square building houses a whole lot of bling bling? Lehigh Jewelers carries 1515 Mauch Chunk Rd. classics (pearl necklaces, diamond 610-432-7330 5 earrings, engagement rings, Swiss MIN www.lafitness.com watches, Waterford vases) and mod-

ern pieces (pendants and bangles).

SHOPPING & RESOURCES 109

They’ll even help you design your store horologists! The younger gen- own jewelry. Before you start getting eration runs the floor with excep- intimidated, know that behind all the tional friendliness. They’ll discuss the glitter and glamour, this shop’s actu- horologist’s art, the family’s Allen- ally very down-to-earth. Dogs roam town history and the clock cornuco- behind the counter, carrying stuffed pia. Did we mention the jewelry? animals and occasionally startling customers with a sudden bark. Though a bit pricy (hey, it’s jewelry), LIBRARIES Lehigh Jewelers is the place to splurge on something or someone special. ALLENTOWN PUBLIC (Open Tu-W 10a-6p; Th 10a-8p; F 10a- LIBRARY 6p; Sa 10a-4p.) 1210 Hamilton St. 4 610-820-2400 SALOMON JEWELERS MIN www.allentownpl.org 606 Hamilton St. 6 610-433-1511 It happens to the best of us: You’ve MIN been sexiled from your room for the third time in a week, the couches in If you have trouble keeping time, Seeger’s aren’t that comfortable, and Salomon has plenty of relief—in the the library is way more social than form of clocks. Hundreds— academic. Sometimes a quiet place to grandfather clocks, cuckoo clocks, study is as available as a table in the gigantic clock tables. Salomon is the Garden Room at 6pm. Lucky for you, real thing: Two sons of the German- there’s always the Allentown Public immigrant founder Ernest Salomon, Library—a quiet, two-storied open Erich (85) and Gerhard (79), have space with leather arm chairs and worked the quaint shop their entire plenty of available computers. The adult lives, and remain steady back- staff is helpful, the CD selection isn’t Melanie Zachariades

The painted wall of the Positively 19th Street music store

110 SHOPPING & RESOURCES Courtesy of Lehigh County County Lehigh of Courtesy

An 1905 shot of the fabled (and closed) department store, Hess Bros. awful and it’s less than two miles UPS STORE from campus. Not bad when you just 1636 N. Cedar Crest Blvd. remembered your two papers due by 6 610-351-8371 9pm… (Open M-Th 9a-9p; F 9a-6p.) MIN www.ups.com

CEDAR CREST COLLEGE FEDEX KINKOS LIBRARY 2030 MacArthur Rd., Whitehall 100 College Dr. 9 610-433-9312 2 610-437-4471 MIN www.fedexkinkos.com MIN library.cedarcrest.edu MALLS MAIL

LEHIGH VALLEY MALL USPS MAIN OFFICE MacArthur Rd. & Grape St., 422 W. Hamilton St. 8 Whitehall 6 800-ASK-USPS MIN 610-264-5511 MIN www.usps.gov You know the drill—lots of stores USPS BRANCH OFFICE (over 130 in this case), food court, recycled air…all just a few minutes 607 N. 19th St. from campus. So before driving to 610-437-4371 2 King of Prussia to blow some extra MIN www.usps.gov spending money at The Gap, Foot

SHOPPING & RESOURCES 111

Locker, Express or Macy’s, swing by PULSE WEEKLY the Lehigh Valley Mall (in Whitehall). 930 N. 4th St., Suite 205 While by no means as big as the 610-437-7867 mega-malls, you’ll still find everything www.pulseweekly.com you need. For a glimpse of local culture, stop by Dunderbak’s (see page Pulse is the Lehigh Valley’s authentic 26) for German treats if you need a alternative weekly, with offices in the break. (Open M-Th 10a-9p; F-Sa 10a- downtown Silkwerks building. Pulse is 10p; Su 11a-7p.) free, and available in most coffee

shops and record stores. KING OF PRUSSIA MALL (See page 104) ALLENTOWN TIMES

531 Main St., Bethlehem MEDIA GUIDE 610-868-4444 www.theallentowntimes.com

NEWSPAPERS The Allentown Times—a one-reporter, community weekly—is distributed free to Allentown residents. THE MORNING CALL 101 N. 6th St. 610-820-650 ALLENTOWN CHRONICLE www.mcall.com 1245 Chestnut St., Emmaus 484-232-6802 Like most American newspapers, the Call is filled with wire stories and The Chronicle is another community press releases. But the paper, owned weekly—this one owned by the Morn- by the conglomerate Tribune Com- ing Call. pany, has a few top-notch journalists on staff—like Daryl Nerl, Sam Ken- nedy, Frank Whelan and Kathleen MAGAZINES Parrish—who carry the paper. The Call is distributed free on campus, in GAYDAR Seeger’s. www.gaydarmagazine.com

MERGE Gaydar is the Lehigh Valley’s brand- 101 N. 6th St. new LGBT lifestyle glossy: “… no 610-508-1555 straight boys were harmed during the www.mergedigital.com making of this magazine…” The magazine is available in the Muhlen- Merge looks and feels like an alterna- berg Bookstore. tive weekly, but it’s a ruse: It’s the Morning Call’s in-house effort to cap- LEHIGH VALLEY STYLE ture the youth demographic, intro- 3245 Freemansburg Ave., Palmer duced in late 2004. Merge is free, and 610-923-0384 distributed at Seeger’s. www.lehighvalleystyle.com

Rival to Lehigh Valley Magazine, LV Style markets itself as “the Valley’s elegant lifestyle magazine.”

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LEHIGH VALLEY MAGAZINE RADIO 910 13th Ave., Bethlehem 610-691-8833 www.lehighvalleymagazine.com WDIY 301 Broadway, Bethlehem Lehigh Valley, which publishes the 610-694-8100 annual “Best of the Valley” readers’ www.wdiyfm.org survey, is another lifestyle glossy. 88.1 FM

The Valley’s young and community- VALLEY GAY PRESS centered NPR affiliate, with a mix of 610-432-5449 “Morning Edition,” “Lehigh Valley Dis- www.padiversity.org/VGP.htm course,” classical, jazz, the blues and world music. This monthly, xeroxed newsletter is a refreshing contrast to the Valley’s other magazines: It’s filled with desk- WMUH top-published activist news nuggets, a 484-664-3456 helpful calendar and lively opinion www.muhlenberg.edu/cultural/wmuh pieces. The Press is available at the 91.7 FM Pride House on campus, at the Civic Theatre and at Analyse’s Hava Java Our very own! coffee shop. WXPN TELEVISON 3025 Walnut St., Philadelphia 215-898-6677 www.xpn.org CHANNEL 69 104.9 FM 610-797-4530 www.wfmz.com WXPN, out of Philly, is a nationally recognized, nonprofit incubator of Thanks to the Valley’s proximity to contemporary and roots music, from Philly, most of our “local” stations rock to folk to bluegrass and the broadcast from our neighbor to the blues. Their signature program, south. Channel 69 is one of the few “World Café,” is nationally syndicated. exceptions. It’s a commercial station, And they have a Lehigh Valley fre- with the same if-it-bleeds-it-leads re- quency, 104.9 FM. porting style. But the station does come up with the occasional local story worth watching. MUSIC

CHANNEL 39 DOUBLE DECKER RECORDS 123 Sesame St. (yes, Sesame Street), 803 St. John St. Bethlehem 6 610-439-3600 610-867-4677 MIN www.firstpress.net/ www.wlvt.org doubledecker

The local PBS affiliate, with a strong Find your beat at Double Decker Re- local affairs program, Tempo! cords. A bit like a cramped grandma’s attic, the store holds hundreds upon hundreds of used CDs and records— from The Constantines to Dropkick

SHOPPING & RESOURCES 113

Murphys; from Jimmy Eat World to Five Iron Frenzy. What the store lacks OFFICE SUPPLIES in organization (be prepared to dig through boxes), it makes up for with OFFICE DEPOT support—the employees know their stuff and are more than willing to 480 S. Cedar Crest Blvd. help. So if you’re searching for a 4 610-432-9900 hard-to-find CD, if you want more MIN www.officedepot.com music for less (CDs start at just $10), or if you need that perfect gift to help STAPLES your dad relive his youth, this is your 4628 Broadway store—just make sure you leave your- 610-530-7470 self plenty of time to shop. (Open M- 7 MIN www.staples.com Sa 1p-9p.)

, DAVE PHILLIPS MUSIC & PHARMACY SOUND 620 Union Blvd. (See Drug Stores) 9 610-820-5600 MIN www.davephillipsmusic.com POST OFFICE

Competitively priced instruments, and a lot of them, make Dave Phillips one (See Mail) of the Lehigh Valley’s foremost music suppliers. Located across town on Union Boulevard, Dave Phillips is a RECORD STORE haven for local bands and musicians. Whatever your musical need—a heavy (See Music) metal axe or classical guitar, vintage pearl drums or bongos, a keyboard or hand piano—they’re sure to have SALONS/NAILS what you’re looking for. They’ve even got lessons for beginners. So if you’ve broken a string, snapped a , TECHNICOLOR head or need help expressing your 3017 Tilghman St. creative side, Dave Phillips is a perfect 3 610-821-8921 choice. (Open M-F 10a-6p; Sa 10-5p; MIN www.technicolor.com Su noon-5p.) For those days when you need a POSITIVELY 19TH STREET pick-me-up, this salon is just the place. You’ll start to relax as soon MUSIC as you step inside—and get your 522 N. 19th St. first blast of the overwhelming 2 610-435-4565 smell of shampoo. It’s pricy, but the MIN service matches the cost. The elaborate pampering process begins with a hot cup of gourmet coffee. Every NAILS girl knows that the start of a haircut means an uncomfortable chair that (See Salons/Nails) reclines on a cold, hard, plastic sink—but not here. For the hair rinse, you’re reclined on cushy chairs complete with foot rests.

114 SHOPPING & RESOURCES

(Sorry: The sinks are still hard.) The 15TH ST. SALON stylists are very knowledgeable, not 304 N. 15th St. only about what’s “in” but also about 610-776-7677 what’s good for you. Don’t be intimi- 3 MIN dated by their brightly colored hair; they know it’s okay for them but not for you. So if you’re up for a li’l pam- LORDS & LADIES pering, set up an appointment and 962 Hamilton St. have a li’l faith. (Open M 10a-6p; Tu- 5 610-437-0227 Th 9a-9p; W 9a-8p; F 9a-7p; Sa 8a-3p; MIN Su 10a-4p.) www.lordsandladieshairdesign.com

LA NAILS MODERN DESIGN SALON 3100 Tilghman St. 4668 Broadway 3 610-439-7303 7 610-530-7553 MIN MIN moderndesignsalon.com

This cookie-cutter nail salon is a popular choice among Muhlenberg 20 MINUTE HAIRCUT formal goers. The prices are a little 1901 W. Allen St. steep—$15 to $20 for a manicure, 2 610-435-0588 $32 for a pedicure—but their work MIN typically lasts long after that last dance, even on the most tempera- mental nails. The big screen TV adds SHIPPING a modern touch and makes having your cuticles assaulted a little less (See Mail) tedious. Trust LA Nails with what it knows best—nails. Leave the salon’s other beauty services (like tanning, SUPERMARKETS waxing, and (no joke) permanent make-up) up to someone else. (Opening hours vary.) (See Groceries)

AMERICAN HAIRLINES TAXI 1931 Tilghman St. 2 610-770-1055 (See Transportation) MIN TECHNOLOGY DESIGNS OF MICHAEL CHRIS- TOPHER 602 N. 16th St. BEST BUY 3 610-770-0155 1504 MacArthur Rd., Whitehall MIN 9 610-432-6956 MIN www.bestbuy.com HAIR AFFAIR 2001 W. Allen St. RADIO SHACK 2 610-435-0588 4670 Broadway MIN 7 610-395-2155 MIN www.radioshack.com

SHOPPING & RESOURCES 115 THRIFT STORES , THE GOOD BUY GIRLS 1752 W. Allen St.

2 610-434-5868 DOLLAR TREE MIN 3100 Tilghman St. 3 610-437-9407 Grandma-chic is in and Allentown has MIN the store for your every vintage need. The Good Buy Girls is nothing short of Want to spend $15 and end up with a hidden treasure. Seventies-spawned 15 items? Need a place where you can polyester and disco-fever nightmares almost always find those random are nowhere to be found in this con- products that you just need to have? signment shop—this stuff is classy. Want to get more of them without The store has hats, dresses, shoes, stressing your college-student bags and jewelry from the thirties, budget? Try the Dollar Tree, where forties and fifties, and most of it is everything’s…you guessed it…$1. It’s gracefully feminine. Sorry guys, there the perfect place to pick up holiday isn’t much of a selection for you, but decorations, party goods, candles, you can browse the ties and suspend- greeting cards (2 for $1), small toys, ers while your lovely lady goes crazy. candy or cleaning supplies. Though Best of all, this store lives up to its the quality of some items is question- name; while the gear isn’t cheap, it’s able (please…they’re $1), most will affordable as vintage goes and it’s survive a year in the dorms. So forget worth the splurge. For your next for- about laundry; take those quarters to mal event, check out the Good Buy one of the few places where spare Girls and get in touch with your inner change can actually come in handy. Grace Kelly. (Open M-Sa 10a-5p.) (Open M-Sa 9a-9p; Su 9a-6p.)

Karen Pooley Pooley Karen

Dunkelberger’s Sports Outfitters in Stroudsbourg, near the Delaware Water Gap

116 SHOPPING & RESOURCES

A-Z USED FURNITURE BUS 811 N. 7th St. 7 610-820-9678 MIN BIEBER TOURWAYS NYC, Philly, Atlantic City 6 Charcoal Diner (see page 29) GOODWILL MIN 4440 Hamilton Blvd., 4650 Broadway Wescoesville 7 610-391-9760 800-BIEBER-4 MIN www.yourgoodwill.org www.biebertourways.com

REINA ISABEL THRIFT SHOP GREYHOUND BUS LINES 526 N. 7th St. Various 7 610-770-1289 8 Allentown Bus Terminal MIN MIN 325 W. Hamilton St. 800-610-6188 www.greyhound.com SALEM CITY MINISTRIES 628 W. Turner St. J & J LUXURY BUS & VAN 6 610-820-4111 MIN SERVICE Charter 445 Business Park Ln. SALVATION ARMY THRIFT 610-776-1580 SHOP www.jjtransportation.com 1204 MacArthur Rd., Whitehall 7 610-434-9560 LANTA MIN Local public busing

610-776-7433 VIA THRIFT SHOP www.lantabus.com 1249 Liberty St. 4 610-437-1612 SUSQUEHANNA TRAILWAYS MIN Philly

8 Allentown Bus Terminal TRANSPORTATION MIN 325 W. Hamilton St. 800-692-6314 www.susquehannabus.com AIRPORT TRANS-BRIDGE LINES LEHIGH VALLEY Newark Airport, NYC INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 8 Allentown Bus Terminal 3311 Airport Rd. MIN 325 W. Hamilton St. 15 610-266-6000 610-868-6001 MIN www.transbridgebus.com

SHOPPING & RESOURCES 117

CAR RENTAL YOGA

NATIONAL CAR RENTAL LEHIGH VALLEY YOGA 1501 Sumner Ave. CENTER 4 610-820-6970 MIN www.nationalcar.com 930 N. 4th St. 7 610-776-2676 MIN ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR 728 N. 13th St. 4 610-820-6200 MIN www.enterprise.com

TAXI

AIRPORT TAXI 3311 Airport Rd. 610-231-2000

QUICK SERVICE TAXI 1101 W. Cedar St. 610-434-8132

LEHIGH VALLEY TAXI 130 W. Goepp St., Bethlehem 610-867-5855

QUICK SERVICE TAXI 610-434-8132

VIDEO RENTAL

(See DVD/Video Rental)

WINE

(See Beer/Wine)