"I drink a lot of coffee, and I've noticed that once 3 p.m. hits, it's kind of hard to find a good cup of coffee as most cafes in the area seem to close around that time." That is Eric Clouse, manager of the soon-to-open Bethlehem Coffee Company at 9 W. Fourth St., speaking to WFMZ 69News.
Clouse is describing a gap in the schedule, and his shop is one of several betting on filling it. Since spring, six cafes and bakeries have announced locations on Fourth Street, Morton Street, East Third Street, and Long Street. Most of the ones that have shared hours plan to keep pouring well into the evening. If those plans hold, the coffee crowd on the SouthSide will be out past dinner time, not just at breakfast.
The pipeline, as of mid-October
Below is where each project stood heading into the third week of October. Opening dates have slipped more than once this year, so the last column is the most likely to change.
| Cafe | Address | Who's behind it | Planned hours | Status in mid-October |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem Coffee Company | 9 W. Fourth St. | Manager Eric Clouse | 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekends, per its website | Website reads "Opening Soon"; Oct. 17 was the tentative target |
| Zen Café at Amicus | 3 W. Morton St. | Donerds Donuts owners Andrew Underwood and Annabel Figueroa, with Amicus Properties | Daily through 8 p.m., as planned before opening | Expected toward the end of September |
| Caffeena Coffee House | 502 E. Third St. | Owner Jasmine Hasni | About 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, an early estimate from April | Listed as "Coming Soon" on the company's site |
| Pink Pistachio Cafe | 34 E. Third St. | Owner Ishrat Ilyas | 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. most days, tentative | Targeted September, October at the latest |
| Karak House Coffee Co. | 318 E. Third St. | Co-founder and CEO Junaid Malik | Not announced | Targeting fall 2026 |
| Frosted Chaos | 518 Long St. | Owner Angela Malpedo | 7 or 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. or sellout, Thursday through Sunday, tentative | Targeted early fall |
Five of the six have shared planned hours. Four of those five plan to stay open until 8 p.m. or later. The fifth, Frosted Chaos, is the exception, and it shows what Clouse means by the usual schedule.
What the 3 p.m. close looks like in practice
Bethlehem's newest confirmed cafe shows the typical pattern. Grounded Cafe opened in April inside Yoga Lab at 623 E. Broad St., and The Morning Call reported that owner Jeong "CK" Klees serves coffee, lattes, juices, smoothies, croissants, muffins, and bagels. It's open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends.
Frosted Chaos plans to follow the same morning model on Long Street. WFMZ reported that Angela Malpedo's menu will include cupcakes, cookies, brownies, crumb cakes, muffins, weekend sticky buns, and coffee. The doors would close at 3 p.m. or whenever the case sells out, Thursday through Sunday.
Every other café on the list that has shared hours plans to close at 8 p.m. or later.
Fourth Street: a café designed for staying
Bethlehem Coffee Company describes itself on its own website as "the kind of room where neighbours end up friends, where students find their corner." The shop is moving into a former jewelry store. According to WFMZ, it will seat about 24 people at tables and at counters built from reclaimed wood. It also has a separate back room meant to feel like a "cozy lounge" for reading or studying.
The menu fits a long day. Beans come from Lancaster County's Necessary Coffee Roasters, and the plan includes cold brew on tap from a kegerator and a strawberry matcha lemonade at launch. Food includes build-your-own breakfast sandwiches, baguettes such as ham and Swiss or turkey, cheddar, and bacon, and pastries from a local bakery partner.
The hours have also moved later. In the WFMZ interview, Clouse gave tentative weekend hours ending at 4 p.m. The shop's website now lists 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, matching the 8 p.m. weekday close. The company also runs a coffee trailer that can be booked for private events and pop-ups.
Morton Street: a familiar corner gets a new operator
Students and anyone who walks near Lehigh's campus know 3 W. Morton St. as the old Saxbys. The Brown and White reported that Amicus Properties stepped in to bring a new café to the space after Saxbys decided not to renew its lease. The result is Zen Café at Amicus, run with the owners of Donerds Donuts.
WFMZ described a menu built around Devoción coffee, tea, and matcha, with scones, croissants, toast, Japanese sandos, and mocktails. The plan was to open daily until 8 p.m. The Morning Call reported in August that hours hadn't been finalized, so the 8 p.m. close is a plan for now.
Before opening, Amicus said a pop-up stand would hand out free coffee and pastries outside the location every weekday, partly to gather feedback on recipes. After the grand opening, Amicus residents get 50% off their first drink each day and 20% off additional drinks and food that day.
East Third Street: three cafés and a late-night kitchen
East Third Street is where most of the new openings are clustered, and the food here goes well beyond pastries.
- Caffeena Coffee House, 502 E. Third St. The Morning Call reported that Jasmine Hasni's menu draws on Yemeni coffee and also offers teas, refreshers, cold brews, sabayah, honeycomb bread, cakes, crepes, and flatbreads. Her early estimate in April was roughly 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.
- Pink Pistachio Cafe, 34 E. Third St. Ishrat Ilyas told WFMZ the café will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, from pistachio Nutella French toast and breakfast pizza to steaks and lamb chops. In WFMZ's full story on the café, Ilyas gave tentative hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. most days.
- Karak House Coffee Co., 318 E. Third St. WFMZ reported that this will be the franchise's first Pennsylvania location. Expect karak chai, specialty coffee, date-cardamom lattes, mango cold-foam matcha, and pistachio knafeh cookies. Hours haven't been announced.
One Third Street business is already open in the evening. Gully Kitchen opened July 25 at 203 E. Third St., and The Brown and White bills it as late-night modern Indian street food. Co-owners Tushar Lakhan Paul, Daksh Rana, Hiren Patel, and Phavik Patel serve bowls, burritos, quesadillas, sandwiches, and burgers. If Caffeena and Pink Pistachio keep their planned 9 p.m. closes, three Third Street storefronts would be serving food and drinks after dark.
Why the dates keep slipping
None of these cafés had a confirmed opening as of mid-October, and the reasons are ordinary ones. LehighValleyLive reported on Aug. 11 that construction and final inspections had pushed Caffeena from late summer to early fall, and "Coming Soon" signs were still in the windows. In mid-October, the Caffeena locations page still listed Bethlehem under "Coming Soon." Zen's target also moved, from the second or third week of September in The Morning Call to the end of September in The Brown and White.
The most reliable way to check is to follow each business directly. Clouse has pointed customers to Bethlehem Coffee Company's Instagram page for its official opening announcement.
The first evenings to try them
Whichever cafés open first will have a busy calendar to start with. Christkindlmarkt at SteelStacks opens Nov. 13 and runs on set weekends through Dec. 20. ArtsQuest's ticket page lists free entry on Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m., so a SouthSide Friday evening can mean a market stroll followed by a late coffee.
In December, the SouthSide Arts District's Naughty or Nice Cocktails & Cookies crawl covers Third and Fourth streets on Saturdays, Dec. 5 and Dec. 12, from 1 to 5 p.m. Tickets are $35 per date, sold online only, and the crawl is 21 and over. Each ticket includes 10 mini holiday cocktails, 10 cookies, and a souvenir glass.
If you're curious how SouthSide changes like these show up in your home's value, Creighton Faust can walk you through the local numbers, with the same attention to detail he brings to every listing. Request a complimentary market valuation and call Creighton today.
