The hum was unmistakable. I heard it the minute I opened the door to The Shelby’s outer vestibule. It was the sound of a restaurant full of diners’ conversation and laughter, a sustained low-pitched hum, like the background vocals of a pop song. It was 2 p.m. on a midweek afternoon.
The Shelby has been busy since the day it opened in 2017 in Lower Macungie Township’s Hamilton Crossings outdoor mall. Owner Donny Petridis says he set out to create a neighborhood eatery with good food and drink that’s “a place for everyone.” It’s a “girl next door” concept—a restaurant that’s beautiful, yet comfortable and approachable, like the girl down the street you remember from childhood. That girl’s name? Shelby, of course.
Beautiful is easily an adjective that fits this restaurant. Large pots of palms and other tropical plants throughout the dining space impart the sense of thick and lush greenery. There’s wainscoting and beadboard paneling along the lower wall, which keep the tone casual, but the plants predominate, making The Shelby feel fresh and alive.
Photos on the back wall tell the restaurant’s story well: cheerleaders from the 1950s; a group of women at the beach in ’60s-style swim caps; girls in prom-style gowns sitting on the back of a red convertible. In these nostalgic pictures, people are having fun, and that’s The Shelby’s MO. This is not a white tablecloth restaurant, and it doesn’t pretend to be. It’s that neighborhood place, you know the one … the kind that’s cozy and warm, where everyone knows your name. Petridis says he hopes that when people come to The Shelby, they’re sharing “their happiest moments.”
The restaurant’s New American cuisine is “a little bit of everything from everywhere,” says executive chef Cristian Gonzalez, a graduate of Northampton Community College’s culinary arts program. Just a glance at the starter menu proves his point. There’s poutine (Canadian), hummus (Middle Eastern), bao buns (Chinese) and quesadillas (Mexican).
The food is freshly made in-house daily, so Gonzalez and his team spend long hours in the kitchen. That’s okay, though, he says, because his coworkers are like family: “More times than not, we’re all having a good time.” It’s a culture that’s reflected in the quality of the food, Gonzalez believes, and I’ll vouch for that. From start to finish, I found the food top-notch…