The Lehigh Valley is Soup Country.
There are soup crawls in Emmaus and Bethlehem, dueling Christmas City soup competitions and a local foodie Facebook group regularly sharing soup recommendations and reviews. Now, The Morning Call has joined the conversation.
We’ve prepared a guide to the valley’s soup offerings, from deli selections to pub fare to ramen. Maybe even some stew — don’t @ us.
Specialties
For the soup enthusiasts, there are many options beyond the standard French onion and chicken noodle.
Lutzi’s Restaurant, located at 1250 Butler St., Easton, has a variety. From an almost buttery Italian wedding soup to beef pepperpot, which has its origins in West Africa, a cup of soup from the 2024 Souper Bowl people’s choice winner will run you between $4 and $7.
Also in Easton, Brisas del Salvador offers a soup of the day from Monday to Saturday. Perhaps the most adventurous option offered by the cash-only joint at 1428 Butler St. is Friday’s sopa de pata de res, a beef foot soup with tripe.
At the Lehigh Valley Mall in Whitehall, Dunderbak’s German Restaurant serves a corn and shrimp chowder and a Hungarian mushroom soup for about $6, among others. However, the owners plan to close up shop in February, barring a new owner coming in.
Soup flights
Indecisive people need not fret: Several Lehigh Valley restaurants offer soup flights.
Apollo Grill at 85 W Broad St., Bethlehem, offers three ramekins of soup during the fall for about $12. While the exact type of soups may vary, The Morning Call received a crab bisque, French onion and pumpkin soup during a recent visit. Notably, the pumpkin soup almost tasted and had the texture of pumpkin pie, if a bit more savory.
Windsor Deli at 7525 Tilghman St., Upper Macungie Township, also offers seasonal three-soup flights for $12, with soup of choice — the establishment recently was featuring cream of tomato, spicy chili and roasted butternut squash, but offers vary. This year’s Soup Saunter champion, Twisted Olive at 51 W Broad St., Bethlehem, has a “three soup sampler” with its French onion, crab bisque and soup of the day for $11.50.
Ramen
Ramen spots are so ubiquitous in the Lehigh Valley that some have multiple locations to find the noodle soup.
Takkii Ramen, with locations in Lower Macungie Township and Easton, has trim ramen menus with nine items apiece. Special to the Lower Macungie location is a curry ramen and sukiyaki (shaved beef) udon, while Easton gets tantan (spicy pork) and a basic kid’s ramen. Expect to pay around $15 per bowl, and don’t mind the robots.
Around the corner from Takkii in Easton is Mister Lee’s Noodles at the Easton Public Market. Its signature bowl comes with pork belly, but it also offers a hot and spicy ramen that lives up to the name, as well as a bacon ramen. Mister Lee’s Bethlehem location is closed pending repairs after a May fire.
Kinya Ramen at 925 Airport Center Road, Hanover Township, Lehigh County, has some unique options as well, such as a bowl with wontons on top of the ramen for $17. Kinya’s signature ramen, which costs a dollar more, is served with what it says is 24-karat gold.
Stew
Asked whether stew is soup, this article’s editor said, “Um, yes. I’ll say it is.” So we’re including stew.
Gumbo is a mainstay of the menu at The Bayou in Bethlehem, located at 702 Hawthorne Road. Offered for $12, it has a peppery kick that resonates in the back of the throat and can be quite filling. Grumpy’s BBQ Roadhouse at 3000 Mauch Chunk Road in South Whitehall Township has a more affordable gumbo on the menu, though only one pot of it is made each day. It starts at $5.75 for a cup.
McCarthy’s Red Stag Pub at 534 Main St., Bethlehem, has a Guinness lamb stew on the menu for $9 a cup or $16 a bowl, served with soda bread. Meanwhile, at 189 Tilghman St. in Allentown, Da Judah-s Kitchen has efo riro, a West African spinach stew with beef and goat, as well as a vegetarian mung bean stew. All soups and stews at Da Judah-s are in the $18 to $20 range.
Lehigh Valley Insider’s Guide is an occasional series on places to go and things to do and see. Have an idea for a topic or a place that we missed? Email us at goguide@mcall.com.
Trebor Maitin is a freelance writer.
