BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Fourteen months after a fire forced its temporary closure, a popular dining establishment is making a comeback in Northampton County.
The Bethlehem location of Mister Lee’s Noodles, specializing in “inspired takes on Japanese ramen dishes,” on June 12 held a soft reopening for takeout/pickup only at 512 E. Third St., co-owner Erin Shea told 69 News.
Mister Lee’s Noodles operates on East Third Street in Bethlehem.
Ryan Kneller
On Wednesday, July 1, the restaurant took another step toward its grand reopening by resuming dine-in service as well.
Guests can continue to enjoy on-site dining or place orders for takeout/delivery from 4 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 2, and Friday, July 3.
The following regular hours will begin on Wednesday, July 8: 4-9 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; 4-10 p.m. Fridays; noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays; and noon to 8 p.m. Sundays, a manager told 69 News.
Additionally, some new furniture and other cosmetic updates will be implemented in the coming weeks, the manager said.
Mister Lee’s Noodles operates on East Third Street in south Bethlehem.
Ryan Kneller
The Bethlehem location of Mister Lee’s, located on the ground floor of the Five 10 Flats apartment building, had been closed since a fire damaged the Bethlehem complex in May 2025.
Mister Lee’s sustained extensive water damage, forcing crews to replace drywall, an HVAC system and other parts of the restaurant.
Mister Lee’s Noodles originated in 2016 at the Easton Public Market, with Shea and her husband, Lee Chizmar, opening a second location of the successful concept in 2021 in south Bethlehem.
The Easton location of Mister Lee’s remains open as normal, serving the same “farm to ladle goodness” that the community has come to love over the past 10 years.
Mister Lee’s Noodles operates at the Easton Public Market on Northampton Street in downtown Easton.
Ryan Kneller
Customers can choose from a variety of freshly prepared dishes, including appetizers such as Asian Caesar salad, sourdough mushroom steamed buns, Mr. Lee’s famous wings and Mike’s Tonkotsu (panko-crusted local pork loin, sauerkraut, scallion, sesame, special sauce and miso aioli).
The menu also features handhelds, including a Szechuan chili fried chicken sandwich and Mr. Lee’s Korean Backyard Burger (bulgogi marinade, kimchi, pickles, sesame aioli, pickled jalapeno and chips); hot noodle dishes such as birria ramen, fried organic chicken ramen and “hot & spicy” ramen (Mr. Lee’s ground pork, bok choy, soy, cilantro, pork mushroom dashi, jalapeno and 60 minute egg); and cold noodle dishes such as Korean BBQ beef and “Green Machine” (mushroom soy marinated tofu, wakame, local mushrooms and sesame soy vinaigrette).
Mister Lee’s Noodles
Following its grand reopening in the coming weeks, customers also can anticipate “some fun menu additions,” such as an Asian-inspired burger, Shea said.
“We’re also talking about having oysters, the same oysters that we have at Bolete, which is exciting,” Shea said.
Chizmar and Shea, who met while working at a restaurant in Boston, opened their first dining establishment, Bolete, in 2007 in a 200-year-old former stagecoach inn on Seidersville Road in Salisbury Township.
The highly lauded, farm-to-table restaurant has earned several national accolades over its 17 years, including being named a James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurant in 2019.
Additionally, Chizmar was a semifinalist for the prestigious James Beard Award for “Best Chef – Mid-Atlantic” in 2015.