Youell’s is located one block south of Hamilton Street at
the corner of 23rd and Walnut Streets. The restaurant has been in operation
since the late 1800s. The owners completely renovated and reopened the building
after a serious fire in early 2013, and reopened the restaurant in early 2014.
The renovation is quite nice, with a large bar (and bar table seating) as well
as dining on the street level, with additional dining space on a mezzanine
level. The restaurant features a rooftop garden with an apiary for honeybees
(the restaurant uses and sells its own honey); disappointingly, no outdoor
dining is available although it seems like they have room for it if they so
desired. Historically, from the late 1800s to the early 1990s, Youell’s was
located in Easton. In the early 1990s, a second location was opened in the West
End of Allentown, and two years later, the Easton location was sold and later
shuttered.
Youell’s specialty is seafood, and they display a raw bar on
their regular bar. Many different types of seafood and combinations are
available. If you sit in the bar area, you can choose from the pub menu or the
regular dining room menu; whereas if you sit in the dining room, you must order
off the dining room menu (not from the pub menu). We have eaten here several
times since it re-opened, once in the dining room, and twice in the bar area.
On our last visit, we shared the chicken meatballs, which come four to an
order, and feature a sort of chicken salad encased in light breading,
accompanied by a dipping sauce. These meatballs were not what we expected, and
we found them to be a bit heavy (one per person would have been enough, but we
each had two). We then ordered the paella and the tacos as entrees. The rice in
the paella was moist, whereas most paella rice is a bit dry; it contained a few
mussels, a few clams, some white fish, chorizo, and chicken, along with the
rice and veggies. (Sadly, two of the large clam shells in the paella arrived
completely cracked and broken. We felt that was a quality issue and they should
not have been served; however, when we pointed the broken shells out to the
bartender who served us, he offered no recourse.) The tacos came three to an
order: one chicken, one white fish, and one shrimp. The menu said that the
proteins were “all fried tempura style”, although they arrived freshly cooked
and sans breading, plus they were extremely spicy from the mango sambal sauce
which was too strong to appreciate the broccoli/Brussel sprout/cabbage slaw.
For dessert, we shared their amazing Swiss nut cake, which is sort of like a
pie filled to the brim with candied walnuts, and accompanied by whipped cream
and yummy cinnamon ice cream. This is not the first time that we have enjoyed
that nut dessert, and it is so tasty that we are compelled to order it every
time that we visit. (Note that the nut pie is a seasonal menu item, served only
in the fall and winter.) On previous visits, we have also ordered the
combination seafood platter, both fried and broiled (we recommend the broiled
over the fried). The restaurant serves warm rolls, accompanied by plenty of
butter served in cute clam shells.
We would visit Youell’s more often if it were
open for lunch on weekends. We like the variety of the two menus available in
the bar area. And the Swiss nut cake should not be missed
