Bardea Food & Drink
CITY GUIDES | NORTHEAST
Where to Eat in Wilmington, Delaware: Big Nights, Cheap Wins, and Everything in Between
By Maria Rodriguez | Feb. 3, 2026
AUTHOR BIO: With a day job that requires constant travel, Maria Rodriguez is likely a regular at your favorite restaurant. She’s reviewed restaurants since 2007 in magazines from Barcelona to Bakersfield.
I come to Wilmington often with a briefcase full of documents and the suspicion that my job could be replaced by FedEx. I drop the papers where they need to go, make the appropriate professional noises, and then I make the whole journey seem worth it, with a glass of red before a nice meal.
Wilmington makes that easy. The city has a collection of dining rooms, some built for carafes of wine and chef-driven menus, to cheaper spots that understand the small thrill of getting lunch exactly right. I go often enough now that I have a rotation, and I keep finding new excuses to add another place to it.
So if you’re like me and in town on a corporate errand or just for pleasure, this is my list of the best restaurants right now in Wilmington.
Bardea Food & Drink
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Co-owner Scott Stein and chef Antimo DiMeo built the downtown flagship around the idea that dinner can be serious without acting serious, which is why the menu swings from crudos and handmade pastas to signature stunts like the burrata pop tart with sweet onion–fennel jam. The energy is high, the pacing is fast, and the best meals happen when the table orders like it cannot possibly finish.
Best for: A date that turns into ordering one more thing
Bardea Steak
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Chef Antimo DiMeo’s “snacks & steaks” place comes with a Butcher’s Feast steak tasting ($180) that is basically the restaurant telling the table to stop overthinking and let it drive. The menu stays in the modern-steakhouse lane—premium cuts, big sides, and sauces like guava béarnaise, beef garum au jus, and French onion–miso butter—plus curveballs like a washugyu smash burger when the table wants a reset.
Best for: A splurge-night steak dinner that still lets the kitchen be playful
Ciro Food & Drink
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Chef Michael DiBianca cooks inside Veritas on the Riverfront, which means the wine angle is not decorative and the dining room stays intentionally small. The menu leans Mediterranean-New American, with dishes like blue crab gnocchi and roasted bone marrow that make it clear this is not a “grab a bite” situation.
Best for: A tight, wine-forward night that still eats like dinner
El Pique
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El Pique looks unassuming until the food arrives, and then the whole point becomes obvious: street tacos on homemade tortillas with meats like carnitas, tripe, and tongue, plus tamales. The signature order is the lamb consommé, a spicy broth loaded with rice, chickpeas, and real chunks of lamb, which can be paired with quesabirria or eaten like the main event.
Best for: Cheap tacos and a bowl of lamb broth
Harry’s Savoy Grill
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Xavier Teixido’s long-running institution still knows what it is: a classic steakhouse with a prime rib station and a meal that should begin with oysters and clams casino. The bar is the real front door, and dinner tends to follow the old, correct pattern of martinis first and beef second.
Best for: A traditional steakhouse with a serious bar
La Fia
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La Fia is owned by chef Bryan Sikora and Andrea Sikora, with chef Dwain Kalup running the kitchen, and it has the steady confidence of a place that has outlasted trends by simply being good. The menu moves between small plates and fuller mains, with seasonal cooking that feels deliberate rather than performative.
Best for: A grown-up dinner that does not require a production
La Pizzeria Metro
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The Tumolo family built this as the wood-fired answer to a city that takes pizza seriously, with specialty pies coming out blistered and fast. The menu is broader than pizza—think Italian comfort food and cocktails—so a group can order like a committee and still leave happy.
Best for: Easy group dinners where everyone wants something different
Le Cavalier
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Le Cavalier is the Hotel du Pont brasserie where the room does half the work and the menu finishes the job with French standards like onion soup, steak frites, and the kind of roast chicken that makes ordering pasta feel unnecessary. Tyler Akin, who helped launch the restaurant, left in August, but the kitchen is now in the capable hands of chef Jordan Humes, which is a good sign for anyone who likes classics executed with discipline.
Best for: A special-occasion dinner that still involves fries
Scalessa’s
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Chef Donnie Scalessa does Italian-American comfort with the volume turned up, which usually means meatballs, handmade pasta, and Sunday gravy that tastes like someone took it personally. This is the spot for big bowls, red sauce, and the pleasant aftermath of having ordered correctly.
Best for: Red-sauce comfort that hits every time
Snuff Mill
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Snuff Mill is part steakhouse and part butchery, with restaurateur Bill Irvin’s wine obsession running through the entire operation. The menu is built around serious meat—dry-aged cuts and wood-fired plates—and the smartest move is to lean into the steak-and-bottle rhythm instead of trying to keep it “light.”
Best for: A steak-centric dinner with wine doing the talking
The Quoin
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The Quoin Hotel’s dining room runs on wood-fired Northern Italian food and chef Joe DeLago’s habit of making even the starters feel like the meal was a success, starting with house-made focaccia served with whipped sheep’s milk ricotta and calabrese honey. The dinner menu is a greatest-hits of “order one more thing,” from burrata piadina with cucumber, mint, and spiced tahini to pastas like taleggio risotto-stuffed tortellini with truffle and pappardelle with duck ragù.
Best for: A downtown dinner that feels like a special night out
Hockessin: The House of William & Merry Turns a Farmhouse Into the Main Event
A chef-owned Hockessin farmhouse restaurant where the menu stays seasonal, the room stays intimate, and dinner feels intentional.
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