ALLENTOWN, Pa. - A new restaurant and lounge is offering a unique space to enjoy premium food, co*cktails and fun times with friends in Lehigh County.
Vyral Lounge & Bar, offering made-from-scratch dishes, drinks and nightlife entertainment, held a grand opening on April 14 at 1179 Airport Road in Allentown.
The renovated space previously housed other restaurants and nightlife venues, including Mezza Luna Sports Bar & Grill, Stratus Restaurant & Nightlife and, most recently, Chicago Sports Bar & Grill and Club Gravity.
“We opened a couple of weeks ago, and it’s been a smash hit,” general manager Ernesto Guzman said. “We’ve had a great turnout two weekends in a row, and people are really loving our food, drinks and atmosphere.”
Vyral’s menu showcases a wide array of American and Latin American dishes like specialty burgers, tacos, mofongo and steak and seafood platters.
Customers can enjoy appetizers such as ceviche don Justo, house guacamole, Boca Chica calamari, trio empanadas (chicken, beef, cheese or shrimp) and Latin fusion shrimp (sauteed shrimp with choice of sauce: garlic, mango or house creole); and burgers and sandwiches such as Vyral’s Ultimate Bacon Cheeseburger, a Nashville hot chicken sandwich and Dominican smash burger (Dominican-style chimi with pickled onion, tomatoes, cabbage and cheese with fries).
The culinary team is led by executive chef Justo Coronado, who previously worked at Restaurante Boca Chica on Main Street in Emmaus.
More than a dozen entrees and platters include popular selections such as barbecue spare ribs, lemon grilled salmon, zesty garlic red snapper fillet, shrimp and lobster in coconut sauce, 12-ounce prime cut New York strip steak with side, penne alfredo with optional chicken or shrimp, “kickin” garlic shrimp fettuccine, octopus alla parilla with sauteed potatoes and a Boca Chica platter with fried plantains and whole fried red snapper.
“Some of our top sellers include the Vyral churrasco, which is a 12-ounce skirt steak with sofrito chimichurri that you can add shrimp or shrimp and lobster to, and our snapper stuffed with mofongo and seafood,” said Guzman, who is managing Vyral with his friend, Eddie Pacheco.
Other menu highlights include a variety of rice dishes; soups and salads such as chicken soup, seafood soup and mixed seafood salad; and mofongo dishes such as fried beef, lobster tail and shrimp and classic (with mixed chicharron).
A Sunday brunch menu includes dishes such as El Domi (mashed plantains with fried cheese, salami and eggs), chicken and waffles, plantain sliders with choice of filling, grilled churassco steak with eggs and home fries, spicy chicken wings with zesty sauce and French toast with strawberry, banana and bacon.
Workers overhauled the former Gravity space by knocking down a wall to connect the dining room and nightlife area and installing new color-changing, LED lighting throughout the space.
They also added new wall paint, private seating areas, lounge furniture and a DJ booth.
“Everything was custom-made,” Guzman said. “We also installed a lot of selfie stations, like mirrors made to look like sunglasses in the bathroom. We want this to be a fun spot with good food, drinks and entertainment.”
Vyral features a full bar, offering around a dozen draft beers, a variety of wines and signature co*cktails named after other Allentown restaurant and nightlife venues.
Guests can enjoy specialty drinks such as the “TIPSY’S Tea” (bourbon, Twisted Tea and lemonade), NOVA-Caine (Malibu coconut rum, Captain Morgan spiced rum, blue curacao, melon liqueur and topped off with pineapple juice, mint leaf and lemon slice) and LOVE Potion #9 (Absolut Citron vodka, pomegranate liqueur, simple syrup, chilled champagne and splash of cranberry juice served over heart-shaped ice).
Happy hour specials are offered 5-7 p.m. weekdays.
“We wanted to give a shout-out to the other businesses in the city,” Guzman said. “So, we have co*cktails named after Love’s right up the block, Maingate, NOVA and others.”
From Thursday through Sunday, Vyral transitions to a nightlife venue at 10 p.m.
Guests, ages 21 and older, can enjoy DJ entertainment, live music and bottle service. Space for dancing is also available.
The venue also hosts special events, such as a performance by Dominican singer-songwriter Joe Veras that is scheduled for 9 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online at tickeri.com.
“He comes from the Dominican Republic and is very popular,” Guzman said of Vera. “We’re going to have a lot more live music shows in the future.”
Vyral is open Tuesday through Sunday, with the restaurant operating noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and the nightlife aspect operating 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Sunday.
For the latest Vyral Lounge & Bar updates, follow the business’ pages on Facebook and Instagram.
