{"id":145839,"date":"2025-10-28T22:23:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T02:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=145839"},"modified":"2025-10-28T22:23:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T02:23:04","slug":"beloved-allentown-restaurant-stahleys-purchased-by-local-entrepreneur-and-former-customer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=145839","title":{"rendered":"Beloved Allentown Restaurant, Stahley\u2019s, Purchased by Local Entrepreneur and Former Customer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beloved Allentown Restaurant, Stahley\u2019s, Purchased by Local Entrepreneur and Former Customer<\/strong><\/p>\n

ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania<\/strong> \u2014 A beloved local restaurant with deep roots in the Lehigh Valley community is entering a new chapter under the leadership of a former customer turned owner.
\nZonia Sibri, who first visited Stahley\u2019s shortly after arriving in the United States from Ecuador in 1995, officially purchased the iconic East Allentown restaurant on Tuesday, October 28th.<\/p>\n

Jeff Barber of Lehigh Financial Group LLC arranged the financing for the sale, which has drawn widespread attention in recent weeks after news of the pending transaction began circulating publicly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the first American restaurant I ever went to,\u201d Sibri said. \u201cMy brother-in-law said the clams were the best, so we went. I\u2019d never had clams before, I came from poverty, but the food was great, the service was great, the atmosphere was great. It felt like family. I always kept that memory with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sibri, who began as a waitress in a diner, now owns multiple businesses and invests in real estate. She had long admired the restaurant and its place in the community. \u201cI always go over there for the clams,\u201d she said. \u201cI always said if one day it\u2019s for sale, maybe I\u2019ll try to get this place. It\u2019s a good area, nice people, and I see a lot of possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those possibilities include preserving what regulars love about Stahley\u2019s while bringing new elements to the table. \u201cI want to keep the same items they have now, the clams, cheesesteaks, cheeseburgers, Black Diamond steak, the soups, but I\u2019m also bringing back breakfast,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople have been asking for it. We\u2019ll do paninis, homemade cream chipped beef, pulled pork Benedict, coffee, juice, everything homemade.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also plans to expand salad options, introduce new seafood dishes, and offer soup or fries with sandwiches. \u201cIf customers ask for something, we\u2019ll make it,\u201d she said. \u201cI want them to feel like they\u2019re in a family house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sibri said the staff currently working at Stahley\u2019s plan to stay on, and she\u2019s bringing in additional chefs to help manage the expanded menu. \u201cI\u2019m bringing some team members from my side and training specialists,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the people who work there now want to stay, and I want to keep them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initially, renovations will be minimal. Sibri plans to replace kitchen equipment, paint the exterior, and later update tables and booths. \u201cMaybe down the road, I\u2019ll do a new sign outside,\u201d she said. She also hopes to make use of the banquet room downstairs for private parties and events. \u201cThey said they used to do a lot of events. I want to advertise that space more,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to keep the place alive, keep the reputation alive, doing my best, fixing everything all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sibri\u2019s connection to Barber and Lehigh Financial Group came through her real estate work. \u201cJeff is great. I met him through my agency; I buy houses too. He\u2019s the best! He helped me everywhere. Attorney Joe Piperato and his team and Kim from Lehigh Financial Group were there for me with all the paperwork. It wasn\u2019t hard, everything was easy. They explained everything. They have a lot of patience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barber said helping Sibri complete the purchase of Stahley\u2019s was an honor. \u201cZonia\u2019s journey from first-time customer to owner is exactly the kind of story that reminds us why we do what we do,\u201d Barber said. \u201cShe has the drive, the experience, and the heart to lead this business into its next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sibri said the reality of owning Stahley\u2019s still feels surreal. \u201cSometimes I can\u2019t believe it. I couldn\u2019t sleep last night. From the first day I went there until now, it\u2019s incredible,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve been working hard. That\u2019s why I came to this country, I left all my family behind to do my best here. And now I want to make something great for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The listing agent for the sale was Joe Paranee of Paranee Properties. Marta Gandia of Cassidon Realty Better Homes & Gardens represented Sibri as the buyer\u2019s agent. Attorney Joe Piperato of Eastburn & Gray Law Offices in Bethlehem served as buyer\u2019s legal counsel. The funding lender was 44 Business Capital.<\/p>\n

Lehigh Financial Group, LLC<\/strong> is a leading source of innovative real estate capital solutions and financing options for commercial customers. Based in Allentown, the firm serves the Lehigh Valley and beyond by providing capital for businesses and investors locally, regionally, and nationwide. For more information, visit LehighFinancialGroup.com<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nPhoenixFire Media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beloved Allentown Restaurant, Stahley\u2019s, Purchased by Local Entrepreneur and Former Customer ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania \u2014 A beloved local restaurant with deep roots in the Lehigh Valley community is entering a new … Continue reading Beloved Allentown Restaurant, Stahley\u2019s, Purchased by Local Entrepreneur and Former Customer<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145840,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Stahleys.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=145839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/145840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=145839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=145839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=145839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}