The Wooden Match

The Wooden Match is a bar and grill in Bethlehem, PA, serving elevated pub fare, craft beer, and cigars in a historic setting. The kitchen is led by executive chefs Gerard Sevem and Brett Giacchetta, and the menu runs from shareable primers like house potato chips with horseradish aioli and whipped goat cheese dip with sun-dried tomatoes and figs, to bone-in wings, pierogies with braised short rib and Cooper Sharp, and other meat-centric entrees. The beverage program includes 13 rotating craft beers on tap, more than 40 bottled brews, and custom cocktails, while the cigar lounge carries over 50 cigars ranging from mild to full-bodied and flavored. The Wooden Match has been voted Favorite Live Music restaurant by Lehigh Valley Style Magazine for three consecutive years, with rotating weekly acts and a stage known as the Matchplatz. It holds a 4.30 rating from the customers who have reviewed it.

The building itself is part of the story: it occupies the historic Bethlehem Station, a train depot that served the Lehigh Valley for nearly a century, with passenger service beginning near the site in 1868 and a Central Railroad of New Jersey station constructed in 1873. Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman were among the travelers who passed through before passenger service ended in the 1960s. The Wooden Match opened in 2011, and original brickwork and the train tracks still stand. Both the station building and the neighboring freight house, now Artisan Wine & Cheese Cellars, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The bar sits on W Lehigh Street in Historic Downtown Bethlehem, a short walk from the Charles A. Brown Icehouse, Sand Island Children's Garden, Lock 42, and the Monocacy Creek Aqueduct, all about a tenth of a mile away. South Hall and Peter Hall are also roughly a tenth of a mile from the door.

Two private event spaces are available: a second-floor cigar lounge seating up to 50 guests with TVs, a pool table, and a dartboard, and Artisan Wine and Cheese Cellars in the historic freight house, which accommodates up to 100 guests across seven rooms with sit-down dining, buffet service, butlered hors d'oeuvres, and cocktail parties.

For a Lehigh Valley night out built around live music, a deep tap list, and a cigar, The Wooden Match pairs Bethlehem's railroad history with a menu and stage that keep the old station busy.