As John Gilbert helped set up the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse, he discovered some family history: his great-grandfather Stanley Dubinski worked just nearby at Bethlehem Steel after he moved from Poland.
“And none of my family is here, right?” said Gilbert, the director of restaurant hospitality for restaurant operator Aramark Sports + Entertainment. “They’re all from Michigan and kind of the Midwest, so it didn’t even register, right? And you’re like, ‘what?’”
Between that personal connection, the decorations and even the style of drinks, the menu serves history in its own way alongside a healthy supply of food and drink — the kind an expert chef hopes hopes will mix fine dining and accessible pub fare.
The restaurant opened Wednesday at The Outlets at Wind Creek Bethlehem.
Backed up by dozens of drink vendors, the Drafthouse serves beer, whiskey and cocktails as well as food like pierogies, onion gratin soup, burgers, smoked BLTs, churrasco, crab cakes, salads and ice cream.
South Whitehall Township resident Dave Blackburn leads the menu as the Drafthouse’s executive chef, with a resume that includes studying at the former Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Arizona and helping achieve seventh place for the Bocuse d’Or USA competition in 2013. He will compete in the International Exhibition of Culinary Art in 2028 in Germany.
For the Drafthouse, Blackburn wanted to avoid creating an “occasion restaurant” that forced guests to spend $100 per person, but still reach for a fine dining experience that elevated the menu with refined, from-scratching cooking.
“When it comes to restaurant food, I really have an appreciation for fine dining,” Blackburn said. “Everybody does. I’ve eaten at Michelin-star restaurants. The experience [and] the service is beautiful, but you should want to go and eat in restaurants that you want to eat at four times a month, and bring that same level of cuisine down just a half-notch and make it a little bit more relatable for the guests to enjoy.”
Blackburn highlighted the pierogi as an example.
“Everybody loves that comfort food, that potato dumpling is essentially what it is,” he said. “So if you look at things like a potato dumpling, an agnolotti or a gnocchi, they’re all kind of similar, right? But they’re just different names, and that’s my approach on food, is if you can figure out the technique and the skill behind it and master that, the food’s just going to … you can then ‘insert flavor here.’”
He also hopes to offer seasonal recipes and multi-course dinners to pair with beers, whiskeys and wines at the restaurant.
General Manager Krista Winiasz, who has roughly 27 years of hospitality experience, highlighted restaurant features like the historical pictures on the walls and giving a nod to smokestacks with a themed cloche for smoked cocktails.
“I love that we are taking a piece of Bethlehem’s history with the steel factory and kind of incorporating that into our life here at the restaurant,” she said.
With the potential to extend for weekday lunch hours, Winiasz said the restaurant will operate 4-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.
Gilbert said the Drafthouse is Aramark’s first restaurant in the Lehigh Valley, adding that they always look to expand but that “our first focus is really on making this successful and impacting the community in a positive way.”
Bartender Taylor makes Old Fashioned drinks, one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A look at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Dave Blackburn, executive chef for Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse, stands Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
BBDH Pierogies — crispy kielbasa, five-hour onions, chive sour cream — is one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Crabcakes — old bay remoulade — is one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A Stack Burger — an angus patty, romaine, red onion slaw, aged cheddar and five-hour onions on a brioche roll — is one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A Stack Burger — an angus patty, romaine, red onion slaw, aged cheddar and five-hour onions on a brioche roll — is one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A Negroni is one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Bartender Taylor makes Old Fashioned drinks, one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
An Old Fashioned is one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Marrow Two Ways — long-cut marrow bone, balsamic shallots, gremolata marrow butter, grilled country bread — is one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A Southside Mule is one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A look at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A look at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A look at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A look at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A look at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A look at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Churrasco Cab — NY strip, chimichurri butter, watercress salad — is one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A look at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Dave Blackburn, executive chef for Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse, stands Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Dave Blackburn, executive chef for Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse, stands Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A Southside Mule is one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A look at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
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Bartender Taylor makes Old Fashioned drinks, one of the menu items Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, at the new Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse restaurant in The Outlets at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
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Lehigh Valley retail and restaurant news in brief
The Zaxbys chicken chain plans to open a new restaurant in Allentown, where it’ll serve chicken fingers, sandwiches, wings and milkshakes.
Accessories chain Claire’s, which has filed for bankruptcy, will close its Lehigh Valley stores, including at the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall Township, the Palmer Park Mall in Palmer Township and Promenade Saucon Valley in Upper Saucon Township.
Chipotle Mexican Grill will open a new restaurant next month at 2445 Butler St. in Wilson, spokesperson Mohit Patel said.
The property for the former La Casera restaurant is up for sale at 954 Pembroke Road in Freemansburg, listing agent Jesse Chupella of Home Team Real Estate said, after the restaurant closed about two months ago. The property measures at just under 2,500 square feet and is priced at $359,900. The sale includes ovens, grills, pots, pans, silverware, point-of-sale- systems, freezers and coolers.
In other news
Ed Hanna, who co-owns with his family the Union and Finch restaurant at 1528 W. Union St. in Allentown, said they will bring a new use to the former Sunset Grille property at 6751 Ruppsville Road in Upper Macungie Township, which they purchased in December.
The family hasn’t determined that new use or whether they or other people would operate the property, Hanna said. He added that if they were to operate the property, he’d prefer to turn it into another casual restaurant similar to Union and Finch.
Hanna and his family purchased the property from Ron and Clarissa Pickering, who opened the restaurant around 1990. The two-story building itself was constructed in the 1980s, Hanna said, and once acted as a hotel.
With the Upper Macungie Township Community Lifestyle Center under construction a few minutes away, he added that “there’s definitely going to be a demand for food with people coming in locally and outside of the area.”
The Pennsl Pack & Ship store has become a U-Haul dealer at 2980 Linden St. in Bethlehem, a news release announced, where it’ll offer trucks, trailers, towing equipment, and moving supplies. It operates 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Retail Watch is a weekly column covering retail and restaurant news in the Lehigh Valley. Have a question, tip, or want to see something in the area? Contact retail reporter Graysen Golter at retailwatch@mcall.com.
Dining and Cooking