The Fairgrounds Hotel — Restaurant in Allentown

I decided to drag the fam (8 of us total) to this place for my, uhmm...30th ish birthday. I looove seafood, especially lobster and crab. Anywho, let's start with how horrible my pictures are! Look guys...there were martinis involved. While I'm on that topic, the drinks are strong but tasty AND priced competitively. Back tracking to first impressions: Quaint, a smidget small but not a deal breaker. Because it's a more intimate space (we were downstairs), it can get a bit loud. The place was just about at capacity when we were there BUT it wasn't unbearable. Noise was not an issue unless perhaps you have noise sensitive or hard of hearing persons with you. Service: Our server was Frank, who was doing the work of probably 3 servers at first (more came in but we were there fairly early). We had some split checks and some menu questions, both of which he handled with ease. Nobody is perfect, especially when given a big workload. There was a very small whoopsy regarding our soup BUT there was no reason to complain. The "wrong" soup was left for me, the uhmmm 30th birthday girl, to try. Overall, very pleased with Frank and service in general! Bathrooms: Don't know. I assume they are functional. I somehow managed to not have to use them after 3 cosmos. I digress. Now the real stunner...the food!! Uhm. Guys. I live here now. Pictured is my lobster flight...which looks and probably tasted better than some other reviews. A--mmaaaahhhzzinnng... My picks were Brazilian, Maine, and Africa in that order. Bonus points because I didn't pull a muscle taking the meat out. Very tender, easy to cut, drawn butter...yupppp I live here. All of our dishes were served HOT. That's hard to do sometimes with the amount of food and parties served. Much appreciated. I took some pics of the yellowfin tuna as well. My sister ordered med rare and enjoyed it. My step mama prefers hers well done, which the server respectfully warned against, but it was served as ordered and also enjoyed. Salads: Not that cheap iceberg lettuce! This is real leafy greens, fresh cut tomatoes, and cucumber. Generous portion as well. Starches: Several options! I got the hush puppies (because it's my birthday and I do what I want!). There is not an option for a baked potato but seriously the hush puppies and baked sweet tater fries make up for it. And the red potatoes also looked delish! There is a modest up charge for mac and cheese. Veggie of the day: Again, generous portion. Ours were string beans, zucchini, squash and carrots. They tasted fresh and steamed without a lot of seasoning. Some folks may prefer more seasoning, but I just added some salt and called it a day! Dessert: How. How is this ginormous piece of fresh glazed strawberry pie just $10?!? I got one of the cake options which was aaammmaaaaazing. The key lime cheesecake is not available as of 6/18/25 but still on the menu. Perhaps ask your server before it's time for dessert. Conclusion: Did I mention I live here now? There are several seafood houses in the Lehigh Valley. Try them all....but don't sleep on Fairgrounds! Really a great bang for your buck! We'll be back because unfortunately I was not able to eat every item on the...

05/10/25 - Mother's Day Weekend 2025 Back again! Must be a tradition or something ;) I got the crab stuffed flounder it was absolutely phenomenal served with soup or salad, comes with veggies and a starch (many choices of forms of potato, or Mac and cheese). Pls see photo. It was unreal!!

Mother's Day weekend 2024 Came with party of 5 to celebrate mother's day! My parents came a couple weekends ago, and loved this place so much they brought us "kids" along!

To start we ordered fries calamari (comes with Thai chili, bang bang, or marina - choose 2). Cooked perfectly, breaded light and there are a couple heads in the mix of calamari too, my favorite pieces

We also ordered some martinis, I ordered their special Lavender Lemon drop but instead of lemon asked for Pear. It was delightful!!! My mom and sis ordered the sugar cookie martini. My mom loved it so much last week that she brought her own sprinkles for the bar tender to put around the rim 🤣

We ordered our food, they were quite busy and the ticket was lost, after some time our very awesome waitress came with complimentary appetizers (calamari and coconut shrimp) and said the chefs are making our orders right away and she is so sorry. She was very polite and made the situation right, when the situation was likely beyond her control

We ordered more drinks, we switched to the signature fishbowl drinks!

Then dinner came! -Signature Seafood Combo (crab stuffed shrimp, cod, scallops, clams casino) served with soup/salad, chose the crabby broccoli cheddar soup -Broiled scallops served with soup/salad, chose lobster bisque -Haddock served with side, upgrade to endless crabby fries for $4 served with awesome cheese to dip. Omg -Coconut shrimp entree (soup/salad) chose broccoli cheddar -Crab cake served with soup/salad, I chose the green goddess salad (I thought it was missing something in the dressing and was jealous of all the soups - I sampled them all and they were really really good!!! Highly recommend)

Josie our waitress gave us complimentary desserts to take home because of the delay in our food earlier. She took great care of us and answered all questions confidently, has a great positive energy and was efficient!!

FUN FACT: We spoke with the bartender/co-owner who gave us some insight on the restaurant. I told her I loved the cat decorations and portraits all over the place! She showed me her cat on the wall at the bar, Sophie. Please ask the bartender to see...

I hate leaving a bad review. We've been at the Fairgrounds several times, a couple of years ago, and were impressed by the food and the service. Anyone can have a bad day, and I know how hard these people work. Usually I just never go back. But this was so disappointing on so many levels, I had to share.

My first clue was when we were left on hold by the owner for 15 minutes trying to make a reservation. "Hold on, be right back..." and then we were forgotten. Ok, it's busy. So we found the online app and made a reservation there...

Our waiter seemed preoccupied. When I asked for seltzer, i was given a puzzled look, like "what's that?" Ok, it happens. When our food took too long, we were asked if we wanted anything while waiting. I said sure, bring another couple of biscuits. No biscuits arrived. Ok, it happens. If the food is good, it'll be worth it.

I had the special fish of the day, Monk Fish. It's supposed to be firm, tender, similar to lobster. Unfortunately, it was a combination of rubbery and mushy. It tasted bland and of freezer burn. No amount of salt and pepper helped. This was the catch of the day? My wife had a burned, microwaved crab cake with overcooked hush puppies that were hard as a rock. Frozen catch of the day? Microwaved food? I could get a better meal as a patient in a hospital.

Not once did the waiter ask how things were. The owner walk past our table about half a dozen times, not once did he stop by our table and ask how things were. I could see the total chaos coming from the kitchen. A server was holding a tray full of dishes and the owner yelled, "No! Leave it there!" There were multiple exchanges like that right in front of all the guests. It felt as if no one knew what the hell was going on. It reminded me of various episodes of Kitchen Nightmare. How would they attempt to fix this restaurant? Where do you start?

Sorry but I will never go back. I love supporting local restaurants but not if they choose to serve sub-standard food. I do notice that there are no posted replies from the ownership so I doubt this review will even be read.

BTW, I do not believe most of these 5 star reviews. Something smells and it's not from...