Starters Riverport Closes in South Bethlehem

Starters Riverport, a sports bar and restaurant that anchored one of the first reclamations of a former Bethlehem Steel manufacturing building in South Bethlehem, is closed after seven years, The Express Times reports.

Calls to the restaurant went unanswered on Friday evening. Efforts to reach management at the other two Starters restaurants – the pub in Lower Saucon Township and the Clubhouse Grille at the Bethlehem Municipal Golf Club, both of which remained open – were unsuccessful.

When it opened in 2006, Starters was hailed as the largest restaurant or sports bar in the Lehigh Valley with 23,000 square feet. It boasted an arcade-style game room, 65 televisions and seven large-screen projection screens.

Owner Dave Rank touted the restaurant’s formula -- a sports bar atmosphere for men with a menu that appealed to women.

The restaurant and the Steel Fitness Center were the business components to the Riverport Complex, which also includes 130 condominiums and a parking deck. Developer Lou Pektor invested $30 million on the project.