Fegley's Bethlehem Brew Works — Restaurant in Bethlehem

UPDATE: Thank you for your thoughtful response. It affirmed why this place is so special.

While I hope one day Urban Core makes its triumphant return, I have extremely high regard for your outside selection. Five Maidens is a quality local cider crafted by folks who care. I’d recommend them to anyone. Thank you for the respectful choice.

I’ve adjusted my review with gratitude for your attentiveness. Thank you again for the warmth.

I’ll see you soon.

—

Trust me, I know, this is a ridiculous love letter, but everything I write here is true.

I don’t drink beer, so Urban Core Cider is the singular reason I’ve built a community at a pub on a corner in a town I’m not native to. With Midwestern roots, landing out East on a job, I found myself in the Lehigh Valley looking for “my place” — that spot where you walk in and folks say your name and pour you a drink without asking.

For 11 years, I’d found that place at the Brew Works.

But it seems it might be over.

This week, I was crestfallen to learn through the contacts I’ve grown here that this flagship cider might never return. Once more, I get it — it’s silly to assign such significance to a drink. But consider how your routines develop and subsequent memories are made: A “favorite thing” brings you in, you excitedly share it with others, and slowly you build a community around it.

Then imagine it’s your only option in a beer-centric business.

And then imagine it’s gone.

A “collector of people,” I’ve brought everyone I know here over the last decade — my softball team, my coworkers, my neighbors, my friends, my family. It’s an easy punch line for anyone who knows me — “I’d ask where we’re meeting, but I already know.”

On my phone are countless snapshots of my daughter growing up in our favorite “bar side booth, by a window, please,” and for the last two years, I’ve watched my toddler grow up next to her big sister in that same seat.

I know the servers, hosts and bartenders by name, and I need to shout this loudly — they’re all exceptional people.

But the removal of this flagship selection — one of just six offerings that hang, presumably with pride, in chalk drawings behind the bar — leaves me feeling lost.

Understand that I know we cider drinkers don’t fit the stereotype of the typical brewery goer. So, it was the very fact that you cared enough about us to craft a cider of your own that absolutely made you stand out. In fact, I admired you for it, and I bragged to everyone I knew on your behalf. You didn’t succumb to the easy out of selling some super sweet, mixed fruit, cliche, “give-them-this-to-make-them-happy” garbage cider that so many places pour. You were willing to serve us folks who were outside the norm, and perhaps without realizing it, you brought me — and through me, hundreds of others who I’ve encouraged to visit — to your home on the corner of Broad and Main.

So, this is why without Urban Core, the “my-place” feeling has suddenly vanished. And while I’ll surely pop my head in to say hello to the great workers I’ve met, unless I hear of its return, I’m sadly heading out in search of my next place to bring my crowd.

Thanks for...

Terrible dining experience. The waiter never took our menus away. We had to ask for water. It arrived tepid with one or two mostly melted ice cubes. Yuck. The waiter never offered to refill the waters throughout the meal. We were there Saturday around 1pm. The place had very few customers, quite a few staff. Mediocre service. I ordered a Blueberry Smash cocktail. It arrived, one or two melted ice cubes, not a crisp cold drink for sure. Even more unappealing was the semi-gray color. Ew. Isn't it the bartender or the managers job to make a drink look good? Add pea flower powder or something! Three blueberries floating in the bottom. It was too sweet and had no blueberry flavor. I took one sip. I called the waiter over and told him I didn't like it, could I trade it in for a wine? He said, "I can take it back but they won't take it off the check." Really? Our table of 8, which would have spent a lot of money here, isn't worth removing a drink? I was surprised and annoyed. I kept it, everyone at the table tried it. No one wanted it. I stuck to water. I usually am good for several yummy drinks. Their loss. We ordered buffalo shrimp appetizer. I suppose there was shrimp in the thick hard hard breading but I can't be sure. They were not even covered in the buffalo sauce, it was globbed on the side. No one finished this dish out of the entire table. I ordered a beet quinoa artichoke salad. The beets seemed straight out of a can, nothing special, there were only two artichoke pieces in the salad and an entire root end of romaine and it was so overly already tossed with the feta and the dressing that the whole salad had pink goo like substance all over it. So unappetizing. Again, it was wasted, I couldn't eat much of it. Two men ordered burgers, they didn't finish them and said they were not great. How do you mess up burgers? Worse yet, how do you mess up fries? The fries were not hot and didn't seem fully cooked. One man got a bison burger. He didn't finish it. He got a stomach ache on the ride home. We always finish our food, so in that measure, we knew it was a bad dining experience. We skipped dessert for sure! I would never go there again. Maybe the kitchen staff wasn't feelin' it that day? One positive note. The people who ordered beer said it was good. I guess that's why they are still...

Formal Complaint Regarding Refusal of Service for My Psychiatric Service Dog (Filed with the federal government as well)

Dear BrewWorks Management,

I am writing to express my profound disappointment and distress following an incident that occurred on October 26th, 2024, at approximately 6:00 PM, at your restaurant. Upon arrival with my psychiatric service dog, Moobacca, I was refused entry and service by the manager, Rose, solely because my dog was not wearing a service vest and because I did not have a certificate. I was neither asked about my dog’s role nor given any opportunity to explain that she is a psychiatric service dog I rely on due to severe mental health issues.

Despite explaining that it is illegal to require a vest or certificate for a service animal, the manager dismissed my explanation and actually walked away while I was speaking. This blatant lack of compassion and awareness left me humiliated, disappointed, and feeling invalidated.

Moobacca is an essential part of my support system, and I choose not to place a vest on her because it can lead to discrimination, judgment, and even feelings of insecurity for me. I only take her with me when absolutely necessary, as was the case here, yet this incident left me unable to attend my ten-year reunion dinner with former colleagues, separated from my support animal, and deeply hurt by this experience.

I have previously dined at BrewWorks with my service dog without issue. To be treated with such disregard is not only hurtful but also legally questionable. To compound the situation, after being told that our party of 14 would be accommodated with separate tables, we were ultimately turned away when the manager refused to accept my service dog’s presence.

I am formally requesting a follow-up on this matter to address both the lack of proper accommodation and the discriminatory treatment I received. I hope BrewWorks will take steps to prevent this type of incident from occurring to...