Bethlehem: The People's Kitchen (June 2016)

I dined at The People’s Kitchen with two family members for breakfast on a Sunday morning in mid-June 2016. The People’s Kitchen is open for breakfast and lunch daily. (The restaurant closes at 3:00 pm.) The People’s Kitchen does not accept reservations, so you may have to wait for a table on a busy day (the restaurant has placed a park bench outside where a few people can wait). The good news is that this is a casual breakfast and lunch joint, and your delay should not be longer than 30 to 45 minutes. If you are a smaller party (of one or two patrons), you can be seated faster, because there are many places that will accommodate you. However, if you are a larger party of three or more people, there are only two or so places where the staff can configure larger tables. Two-hour complimentary street parking is available.

The People’s Kitchen, which opened in the fall of 2014, is located at the corner of North Street and Linden Street in Bethlehem, somewhat near the Downtown/Historic area. The restaurant occupies the spot that once held Theo’s Gyros, which is in a row-home in a somewhat residential area. The front of the restaurant contains the grill/open kitchen, followed by a lunch counter that seats about eight patrons. Three or four tiny tables for two are positioned against the wall and windows across from the counter, with another four tables in the rear, some of which can be pushed together to make larger configurations. (The maximum capacity of the restaurant is about 25 people at a time.) The staff performs all work in front of the diners (for example, cooking, food prep, dishwashing); there is no kitchen hidden in the back room. Space is at a premium; to reach the basement storage area, staff must open a floor panel behind the counter and descend right from the dining room/kitchen. The overall feel is a trendier version of a neighborhood luncheonette/diner. The walls are off-white, and feature framed black-and-white artwork and silhouettes with a bicycle theme; one wall also contains silhouettes of the Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces and a bicycle jump that highlight the flat-screen TV. It is easy to appreciate the decorative pressed-tin ceiling because of the many windows that allow light to reflect off the wood floors and wood counter top. Light jazz music provides a nice buzz. Bill Gruenewald owns the People’s Kitchen; he is a graduate of Liberty High School and Penn State, with a degree in hospitality management. Gruenewald also operates The Bolt & Key Café on the campus of Lehigh University, and he has been integral in opening the new Tavern at the Sun Inn.

The People’s Kitchen serves American cuisine. Our group of three shared three entrees: the breakfast macaroni and cheese (which is served in a small cast-iron skillet, with pasta, cheese, bacon, and potatoes; add an egg on top for an extra dollar), the shrimp and grits crepes (an abundance of large shrimp drizzled with barbecue sauce set atop crepes filled with grits), and one daily special, the chicken and waffles (shredded chicken in a cream gravy spread atop a thin sweet potato waffle). Everything was tasty and creative; however, although all entrees were priced the same, the portion size and heartiness varied greatly. The chicken and waffle was the least substantial, and the mac and cheese skillet was the most filling. More standard breakfast options like eggs, omelets, pancakes, and French toast are also offered on the smallish menu that arrives attached to a small clipboard. The lunch menu includes burgers, salads, and sandwiches, as well as some interesting-sounding specialties (such as crab bread, chicken tempura, hummus, and flatbread). Most of the entrée items on both the breakfast and lunch menus are priced in the $8 to $9 range. The People’s Kitchen does not serve alcoholic beverages. Service was extremely pleasant.

We enjoyed the unique breakfast dishes at the quaint hipster hangout, The People’s Kitchen.