BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Nearly three years after a fire damaged a much-loved Bethlehem pizza shop, the family-run business is welcoming fans to its new location in the Christmas City.
The new brick-and-mortar location of Paranormal Pizza, specializing in scratch-made vegan pizza, is holding a soft opening event on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 125 E. Third St. on Bethlehem’s South Side, co-owner Marc Kubushefski said.
The new brick-and-mortar location of Paranormal Pizza is located at 125 E. Third St. in south Bethlehem.
The new location is operating next to King Wing, an eatery offering chicken wings, gyros, “fat sandwiches” and more.
Paranormal Pizza’s soft opening event kicked off at 4 p.m. and will continue through the evening, “probably around 8 p.m. or until we sell out,” Kubushefski said.
The limited menu includes plain; pepperoni; and sausage, pepper and onion pizzas. Customers also can enjoy wings in various flavors, including Buffalo, BBQ and garlic parm.
“We’re just doing this to work out any kinks and figure out the flow before our full menu is available later,” Kubushefski said.
“It’s a very soft launch. We plan to decorate this coming week and then probably do another soft opening event next weekend before we take off a few days to recalibrate. We then would hopefully open with regular hours and more menu items the first week of November. We’ll be announcing all of those details on our social media.”
Paranormal Pizza
Paranormal Pizza’s original restaurant opened in March 2022 at 554 N. New St. in Bethlehem, but that location was forced to temporarily close less than a year later – in February 2023 – due to a fire that damaged the restaurant and upstairs apartments.
Kubushefski operates Paranormal Pizza with his twin brother, Joey Kubushefski, and the duo is excited to serve their vegan pizza, sandwiches and other tasty eats at a new homebase in Bethlehem.
The brothers had hoped to reopen Paranormal Pizza at its original New Street location, but issues with the landlord’s insurance delayed necessary repairs and reopening plans, Marc said.
At Paranormal Pizza’s new location on East Third Street, the brothers and a team of contractors upgraded the space with new drywall, flooring, ceiling tiles, restroom facilities and more.
They also installed new pizza ovens and other kitchen equipment.
The roughly 30-seat eatery features a dark, Gothic aesthetic with black walls and candle sconces, along with paranormal-themed decor such as framed UFO photos.
Brothers and Paranormal Pizza co-owners Marc and Joey Kubushefski stand inside the restaurant’s new brick-and-mortar location at 125 E. Third St. in south Bethlehem. The restaurant is holding a soft opening event on Saturday, Oct. 25.
Ryan Kneller
The brothers encountered a few last-minute hurdles related to necessary updates to a back room, which had to be fire-rated with fire-resistant materials designed to slow a potential fire’s spread.
To help get the project over the finish line, the Kubushkefskis launched a SpotFund campaign in late September, which has helped raise more than $20,000.
Bonn Place Brewing Co., located a few blocks away, also helped with the fundraising efforts, Marc said.
“The community support’s been awesome,” Marc said.
Amid Paranormal Pizza’s transition from North New Street to East Third Street in Bethlehem, the Kubushefskis hosted Paranormal Pop-Up events at other local businesses, including Yergey Brewing in Emmaus, Sherman Street Beer Company in Allentown and Vegan Treats and Bonn Place Brewing Co. in Bethlehem, over the past couple of years via a food truck.
Paranormal Pizza offers a variety of vegan specialties, including a Buffalo garlic chick’n sandwich with jalapeño lime cilantro aioli.
Paranormal Pizza
During the pop-ups, customers could enjoy the business’ vegan cheesesteaks (regular or Buffalo), chick’n sandwiches (Buffalo, barbecue or garlic parm), seitan wings (Buffalo, barbecue, garlic parm, sauce of the month), “pulled porkless” sandwiches, fries and loaded fries and onion rings, among other items.
No pizza was available from the food truck as there is no pizza oven on the vehicle.
To help satisfy customers’ pizza cravings, the Kubushefskis had also been hosting regular Paranormal Pizza pop-up events at Jay’s Local on Liberty Street in Allentown’s West End, where they could utilize the Allentown cafe’s oven.
Customers could enjoy Paranormal Pizza’s classic thin-crust and Detroit-style pizzas, along with other fresh eats like smash burgers, sandwiches, calzones, wings and cheese sticks at Jay’s Local.
Paranormal Pizza
Following the opening of Paranormal Pizza’s new brick-and-mortar location, the brothers plan to sell the Paranormal Pop-Ups food truck, which needs repairs, and focus on the restaurant, Marc said.
While Paranormal Pizza’s first brick-and-mortar eatery opened in 2022, the business traces origins to the onset of the pandemic, when Marc began posting photos of his vegan pizzas on Instagram.
The pizzas caught the attention of vegans across the Lehigh Valley, leading the Kubushefskis to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant to accommodate the growing demand.
Popular vegan pizzas include the “Lone Gunmen” (olive oil, garlic, cashew mozzarella, oregano, crushed red pepper, chick’n, broccoli and spicy agave) and “Alien Bounty Hunter” (garlic knot crust, red sauce, cashew mozzarella, seitan pepperoni, Beyond Sausage, green peppers, onions and mushrooms).
Other menu highlights include French fries, seitan wings and chick’n sandwiches.
Paranormal Pizza offers a variety of vegan pizzas, including the “Smoking Man” (garlic knot crust, red sauce and cashew mozzarella).
Paranormal Pizza
Paranormal Pizza’s new Bethlehem eatery will operate in a row of businesses that also includes other restaurants such as U & TEA and F&A Grog House.
For the latest Paranormal Pizza updates, follow the business’ pages on Facebook and Instagram.