Uncle Aldo’s, offering Italian-style hot dogs, sausage sandwiches, and other freshly prepared eats, is expected to open in late December or January at 400 Broadway with owner Shannon Finnegan. Finnegan, a Lehigh Valley native who attended Freedom High School, is operating the restaurant with her mother, Lois Finnegan.
The pair signed a lease for the south Bethlehem space in August and have spent the past few months cleaning the interior and preparing for the restaurant’s debut. Other menu highlights will include gyros, burgers, steak sandwiches, and fresh-cut fries. Hours are still being finalized, but Uncle Aldo’s will likely serve lunch and dinner six days a week. Late-night hours, where staff serve food until around midnight, are also part of the working plan. Breakfast service is not planned initially, but the partners may introduce it down the line.
In addition to cleaning the space, the team is installing some new kitchen equipment. Existing furniture and an eating counter will remain. Uncle Aldo’s will follow Sam’s Restaurant, which operated at the former Pete’s site for about five months earlier this year. Run by father and son Carlos and Sam Rodriguez, Sam’s offered made-from-scratch American and Puerto Rican dishes.
Lehigh University graduate Yongkang Gao and his business partner, Bill Geddes, in spring 2023 purchased the south Bethlehem corner property along with an adjacent three-story building that is home to two residential units. The duo originally intended to open their own restaurant in the former Pete’s building, but a "change of plans" – sparked by the partners having a lot on their plates in terms of other business dealings – led them to seek another restaurant operator for the space. The Bethlehem property’s listing agent with Assist 2 Sell Buyers & Sellers Realty in Northampton. Gao, who lives in the Bay Area of California where he works for Apple, owns several other residential properties on Bethlehem's South Side and was eager to purchase Pete’s and the residential building when he learned they were for sale. Geddes, who is known as "Executive Chef Billy G," has restaurant experience – including a hot dog truck – and was planning to oversee the new venture. The business became known for its stewed burgers and "Greekers" (Hatfield hot dogs with chili, mustard and onions). In recent years, the Mamounases' daughter, Effie Ramirez, ran Pete's day-to-day operations with help from her three sons.
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