Mister Lee’s Noodles brings farm-to-table ramen to Bethlehem

Mister Lee’s Noodles originally opened in Easton, Pennsylvania, six years ago at the Easton Public Market. In September 2021, they brought their farm-fresh ramen to the Southside of Bethlehem, opening a second location on East Third Street. 

Restaurant owners Erin Shea and Lee Chizmar have seen success with their original restaurant, Bolete, which just celebrated its 14th anniversary. Shea said it took some time for her and her husband to decide what their next step was. 

Eventually, they partnered with the Easton Public Market to bring a new ramen concept to fruition, she said. Expanding to Bethlehem was their next venture.

Shea said they initially planned to open the South Side location of Mister Lee’s Noodles in May of 2020 but had to delay doing so due to COVID-19.  

The Easton and Bethlehem locations have different concepts, with Easton being more casual, located within the Easton Public Market. The Bethlehem location is a stand-alone restaurant with new features, alcohol service. 

“It’s still fast casual, but there’s kind of an element of elevation to it, and it’s aesthetically very different,” Shea said.

She said at the Bethlehem location, customers experience a different type of hospitality since they can sit down and dine, which they cannot do at the Easton location.

 Shea said they are excited to be located near Lehigh University, as they have wanted to have a restaurant on the South Side since they moved to Bethlehem.

Jack Keane, ’24, visited the Bethlehem location for the first time and decided to try something new. 

 “I normally would not think to try a salad at a ramen place, but I’m glad I did, because the spicy beef salad was excellent,” Keane said.

Although Shea said she normally picks meat, she loves the veggie ramen at Mister Lee’s Noodles. The restaurant prides itself on the farm-to-table aspect of their establishment, which they are still able to include in their fast-casual model.

Shea said that her husband, chef Lee Chizmar, works in collaboration with head chef Michael George at both the Easton and Bethlehem locations. 

“Lee Chizmar and I have been working together to test and develop the current and new menu items,” George said. “We are currently waiting on the delivery of a ramen noodle machine from Japan that will allow us to customize our own noodles and set us apart from other ramen restaurants.”

Shea said they have been experimenting with new recipes to add to the Bethlehem menu that they don’t have at their Easton location, such as duck dumplings and mushroom dumplings.

Beverage director Stephen Pekarik works at the South Side location as well as at Bolete.

His job consists of cocktail curating, liquor education and the beer program, as well as teaching staff how to marry different liquors and juices.

Pekarik said he enjoys the creativity his job allows, as well as the environment he works in.

“Another part of my job is to create excitement and passion over the wonderful offerings we have at Mister Lee’s,” Pekarik said. “I adore creating new and ever-changing concoctions. The owners are a wonderful couple, and I am very blessed to be a part of this family.”

Shea said they are still working on a marketing push, but they intend to hold programs with Lehigh students and staff. 

One of their ideas is to host happy hours for the residents who live in the apartments above the restaurant, she said.

 “(We want to) use our marketing dollars to connect with the local community, as opposed to just throwing up a billboard,” Shea said.

  Shea said the restaurant has faced staffing shortages in the past six weeks due to the pandemic. Because of this, the restaurant has only been able to open for a limited number of hours each week. 

She said they are looking forward to expanding their hours once they have more staff trained.  However, they are happy with how they have been running so far.  

Pekarik said that shortly after the opening of the South Side location, lunches were slower but have continued to get busier.