ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Stahley's is on tap to be under new ownership by mid-August.
The family restaurant and sports bar at 1826 Hanover Ave. opened in 1968 under Don Stahley and has been for sale for several years.
On Tuesday, co-owner Darryl Stahley said it's "99.9 percent sold," and that he expects the new owners to take over the east Allentown landmark in two months.
"It's just so much work. When it's enough, it's enough."Stahley's co-owner Darryl Stahley
"It's just so much work," Stahley said. "When it's enough, it's enough."
Stahley, 57, said he's been working miscellaneous jobs in the restaurant industry since he was a child, alongside his brothers and sisters, taking on his father's work ethic.
And soon Stahley's will be passed down to a Lehigh Valley restaurateur who bears the same mentality — Stahley said Bethlehem's Zonia Sibri-Quinde has worked closely with the family to finalize the deal.
Sibri-Quinde also owns Sibri's Restaurant on Broad Street in Bethlehem and the Hellertown Diner.
"She talked on the phone with my dad last week," Stahley said. "I don't even know how they got ahold of each other — almost three hours.
"She was telling my dad how she made it here... supposedly she moved here like 25 years ago. I don't even think she spoke English then.
"Now she's gonna own three restaurants? That's somebody that's working right there."
'Keep everything the same'
The restaurant previously was in the spotlight in 2022 with its $3.1 million price tag, but a listing from Crexi in September 2024 last showed an asking price of $2.8 million.
Details in the listing show the property includes two additional parcels — a two-unit residential building with additional parking and another lot used for overflow parking that has three "income-producing apartments" and four garages.
Stahley said Sibri-Quinde and her Realtor started with an offer that they accepted right away.
"We want to see them do good and I'm sure they're gonna."Stahley's co-owner Darryl Stahley
"We said, 'You know what? We'll take that,'" Stahley said. "We want to see them do good and I'm sure they're gonna."
Stahley said Tuesday marked one of the more challenging obstacles for purchasing a restaurant: transferring the liquor license.
That meeting made it clear, Stahley said: Sibri-Quinde plans on "keeping everything the same," down to the name, the decor and the menu, but there may be some additions.
The restaurant and bar serves a range of sandwiches, seafood, pizza and typical bar fare such as wings, pierogis, french fries and onion rings.
The cheapest item on the menu, creamed cabbage soup, costs $3.75 and the most expensive comes out to $18.50 for broiled stuffed haddock.
At the height of the restaurant's success, Stahley said, he recalls selling more than 300 barrels of beer per month and 40 bushels of clams each week.
"We were the busiest bar around for the longest time," Stahley said. "I believe it was 1985 and Coors Light wasn't even in Pennsylvania... Well, when they brought it into Pennsylvania, they brought it here first because we sold more beer than any other bar in the state."
'Like a family tradition'
Over the years, the restaurant has brought too many good memories to pinpoint a favorite, he said, but what stands out is the continuous influx of generational customers.
"The community has been great, the people are great."Darryl Stahley, co-owner of Stahley's Cellarette
"In the last year or so, I would still hear people say to me, 'Hey, how long are you guys gonna be here? Because my parents brought me here, now I bring my kids here, and I want my kids,'" Stahley said with a laugh.
"I said, 'Don't. Stop right there. We're not gonna be here that long.'
"But the great thing is when people say that to you... it's like a family tradition... The community has been great, the people are great."
While Stahley said his siblings' ownership of the restaurant was a "gradual" takeover, their father always told them "to slow down" and get ready to sell eventually.
Will Darryl Stahley slow down?
He said he's not sure what retirement — if at all — has in store for him other than a lot of golfing, though he noted a nagging thought to open a restaurant in Ocean City, Maryland.
"It's emotional," he said. "I mean, I'm not gonna know [how I feel] until it happens."
But Stahley said he'll be right around the corner if Stahley's needs the help.
"I don't want someone to make that big investment and then fail, especially when they have those two other businesses," Stahley said.
"I don't want to see that happen and I don't think it will. I think she knows exactly what she's doing — that's what my dad says."
