Delaware
A dining spot from Bardea tops new restaurants opening in Delaware
New Delaware restaurants opening or coming soon
Here is a look at some new restaurants and food shops that are coming or have recently opened.
The end of the year is fast approaching, but that hasn’t stopped the Delaware restaurant industry.
Here is a look at some new restaurants and food shops that are coming or have recently opened.
Casa Nonna
DE.CO Food Hall, DuPont Building,10th and Orange streets, Wilmington
A new downtown Wilmington Italian American restaurant has a name that owners hope evokes warm, cozy feelings.
The owners of Bardea Food & Drink said the new restaurant at DE.CO Food Hall will be called Casa Nonna, or Grandmother’s House.
The name is an ode to Italian grandmas of chef/co-owner Antimo DiMeo’s grandmothers and their recipes. The Bardea team said it also represents “all the Nonnas of our region and their contributions to what we know as Italian-American cooking.”
The menu has not yet been released. The opening date, likely in early 2025, has not been set.
The restaurant will occupy the seating area adjacent to the bar in DE.CO that extends along Orange Street. The Italian trattoria will have about 70 seats and a full bar. It will offer lunch and dinner daily.
316 S Ridge Ave, Middletown, 302-295-5657, everestindiancuisinede.com
One of the world’s great treats has landed in Middletown: Himalayan-style momos.
Momos are Nepal’s delicious answer to the soup dumpling, a juicy veggie or meat-filled purse usually served with spicy sauce – and until now, they’ve been vanishingly hard to find in Delaware. Now you can slurp the garlicky minced-chicken middles out of a plate of momos at Everest Indian Cuisine, which opened in August next to Kohl’s in a dense Middletown commercial center along Ridge Avenue.
Everest serves some other Nepalese-style treats, including a chicken noodle soup called thukpa. The rest of the vegetarian or chicken-centric menu includes a broad array of Indian fare that includes biryani; chole bhatura; tandoor chicken; chicken kebab; butter chicken; and Indo-Chinese fare like chilli chicken and chicken 65.
600 N. Broad St., Middletown (inside Land of Spice supermarket), 302-380-2644, littlespiceusa.com.
Indian flavors in Middletown keep on coming, with a second location for beloved Newark-area Indian restaurant Little Spice.
The new location is tucked inside South Asian supermarket Land of Spice Desi Farmers Market. The opening menu is perhaps surprisingly broad for grocery store kitchen, from a wide variety of dosas – crisp South Indian crepes often packed with spiced potato – to a wealth of curries and gravies slathered over veggies, paneer cheese, chicken, goat or lamb.
The Middletown location also boasts street-food-style items perfect for a stroll through a supermarket, including protein-filled frankies sometimes dubbed Bombay burritos, or a sandwich stuffed with spicy ground-goat kheema.
The location allows online ordering for takeout, and catering for parties.
Word is out that the former Cafe Americana, and later the short-lived Ameri Home Cooking, in the Linden Hill Station, 4500 New Linden Hill Road in Pike Creek, will soon become home to Cafe Scalessa.
It’s a spinoff of the flagship Scalessa’s Old School Italian Kitchen in Wilmington’s Forty Acres neighborhood. We don’t have many details yet, but the cafe could open by the end of October, according to a social media post.
1128 Forrest Ave., unit C, Dover, 302-744-8010. locations.cleaneatz.com/de/dover/meal-prep-154.html
On a trip to their son’s hockey tournament in Ohio, Andrea and Ryan Maloney took a chance on a restaurant they’d never visited before. They liked it so much they decided to start one themselves.
In September, they opened the first Clean Eatz in Delaware across from the Modern Maturity Center in Dover.
Closed permanently: These Delaware restaurants and food businesses have closed in the past few months
Clean Eatz has 119 restaurants in 24 states with a menu that includes wraps, flatbreads, build-your-own bowls, protein smoothies and coffees, cauliflower crust pizza and burgers with turkey, bison, salmon or black beans.
They offer meal plans for the whole week, with take-home meals that are made fresh then frozen with directions for thawing or reheating. The meal packages list the calories, protein, fat and carbs in each serving.
The Dover restaurant is open Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
4008 N. Dupont Highway, near Minquadale, 302-991-1044. Visit chick-fil-a.com
On Thursday, Oct. 3, the newest location of the cultishly popular fried chicken spot opened at 4008 N. Dupont Highway, just south of Wilmington near Minquadale. The new location is 5,400 square feet, according to plans submitted with the county, with two drive-thru lanes – a feature that’s become commonplace at fast-food restaurants across the country to accommodate advance orders from phone apps and delivery websites. Chick-fil-A’s dedicated phone-app lane is called Mobile Thru.
The opening date underscores Chick-fil-A’s ever-increasing speed at plunking down new locations. It was just four months previous that construction fencing first came up on North Dupont Highway, in front of a self-storage facility.
The location was opened by franchisee Angelo Santos, a native of nearby Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, who got his first job at the Chick-fil-A in Ridley as a teen. The new location is holding giveaways for Chick-fil-A app users throughout the month of October. Details can be found on the North Dupont Chick-fil-A page.
379 Chestnut Hill Plaza, Brookside, 302-454-9938, tacobell.com.
A Taco Bell near Newark, so busy it was known for drive-thru lines that pushed back onto the street, was demolished this spring. Now it’s back as of the beginning of October, new and maybe improved, with multiple drive-thru lanes and a nubmer of self-service digital ordering screens inside.
The revamp comes as part of a contractual obligation to overhaul old stores, said Joe DePascale, development manager at Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based franchise operator Summerwood Corp.
“In this case, the store does well enough and was old enough to warrant a full scrape and rebuild,” DePascale told The News Journal in March.
The new location is 2,700 square feet, according to plans submitted with New Castle County, built in accordance with an industrywide shift toward delivery, mobile apps and drive-thru – which means side-by-side drive-thru lanes and digital menu boards that theoretically help alleviate some of the drive-thru waits and lines.
9 W. Main St. in Middletown. facebook.com/ppfmiddletown/
The nation’s largest Philly-style pretzel brand opened its newest Delaware location in Middletown on Wednesday, Oct. 16.
Owners are Middletown residents Angela White and Tyeesha Edwards, who began training at Pretzel University at the Philly Pretzel Factory home office in July. Visit the Philly Pretzel Factory Middletown’s Facebook page for hours of operation and menu offerings.
Shops at Sea Coast, 19266 Coastal Highway, Unit 1, Rehoboth Beach. firststatebrewing.com/
First State Brewing Co.’s second location will be in Rehoboth Beach, at the former home of The Pond and TGI Fridays.
First State opened a brewery and restaurant in Middletown in 2020 and, in 2023, was named the best brewery in the country by USA TODAY.
More: First State Brewing Co. to open 2nd location on Coastal Highway in Rehoboth Beach
Details about the Rehoboth location, including an opening date, are still sparse, but First State spokesman Jeff Horne said food will be served there, as well.
Patricia Talorico writes about food and restaurants. You can find her on Instagram, X and Facebook. Email ptalorico@delawareonline.com. Sign up for her Delaware Eats newsletter.
Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.
What are journalists missing from the state of Delaware? What would you most like WHYY News to cover? Let us know.
The city of Wilmington said Thursday that homeless residents of Christina Park must be gone by sunset Monday. Then, officials said they will erect a perimeter fence to block anyone from entering the site.
Wilmington officials issued eviction notices last month to park inhabitants about a month after requiring them to use city tents. The first tents were flimsy and failed during their first night in use after an overnight downpour, prompting the city to purchase sturdier replacements for residents.
When asked at a news conference whether park residents have been informed about the sunset deadline for leaving, Daniel Walker, Mayor John Carney’s deputy chief of staff, said they told the park’s site manager, the Friendship House, a local nonprofit.
Local housing advocate Meryem Dede, who heads the nonprofit TideShift Justice, said communications from the city have been changing day to day.
“The biggest thing is there’s just mass confusion in the park on what’s happening,” Dede said.
Carney’s office is highlighting the number of homeless park residents it says it is working to place in temporary housing or treatment programs.
Walker said out of 85 park residents, it has placed, or is trying to place, about 52 people in some kind of temporary housing or treatment program. City and Friendship House staff say park residents have been connected to beds at the New Castle Hope Center, a New Castle motel, as well as other shelters and treatment programs. A few people have also found permanent housing or plan to stay with family or friends.
Walker said that leaves 31 residents, with 12 of those interested in supportive services. But that still leaves 19 people who he said don’t want to leave the park.
Carney said they are trying to convince them to leave by the deadline.
“What we have to offer is better than a tent in Christina Park, and so getting people to make that choice, to take that step, is a big deal,” he said.
Those who fail to leave the park could face arrest. But Carney and other city officials would not spell out how they will get people who don’t want to leave to depart without the use of force.
DELAWARE – Municipal leaders and technology partners gathered for the inaugural meeting of the Government Artificial Intelligence, Technology & Ethics (G.A.T.E.) Committee, a new statewide collaborative focused on the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in government operations.
The committee, initially led by the City of Milford Information Technology (IT) Department, is set to serve as a government AI roundtable, open to municipalities, counties, public agencies, emergency services organizations, and technology partners. Currently participating entities include:
- City of Milford
- City of Dover
- Sussex County
- Kent County
- New Castle County
- Town of Bethany Beach
- City of Rehoboth Beach
- Town of Bridgeville
- Town of Millsboro
- Town to Townsend
- Village of Arden
- Town of Greenwood
- Carlisle Fire Company
- Lewes Board of Public Works
- Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation
- SHI
- Market America
- Wagamon Technology
“AI is not here to replace our talented employees, it’s here to support them,” Milford City Manager Christopher Coleman said. “Humans must always have the final say in reports, decisions, and public-facing projects.”
At the inaugural meeting, Milford IT Director Bill Pettigrew led discussions on AI governance, policy development, security considerations, and practical use cases for local government. Presentations reportedly included demonstrations of Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot, along with discussions on prompt engineering, AI policy development, and municipal implementation strategies.
The GATE Committee plans to meet again virtually on Jul. 14 at 8:30 a.m., and will feature additional demonstrations and discussions on AI implementation in government services.
Inside Wilmington’s Constitution Yards Beer Garden
Inside Wilmington’s Constitution Yards Beer Garden
A controversial Senate bill that would require labor union work be used for school projects jumped its latest hurdle in House committee, despite industry opposition along its legislative journey.
Backed by Sen. Jack Walsh, the measure aims to mandate school construction or renovation projects costing $5 million or more to include a project labor agreement with the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council for work carried out after Dec. 31.
Project Labor agreements ensure projects are completed on time and within budget, specify benefits and wages, while enforcing safety.
If passed, this bill would be Delaware’s first project labor agreement requirement law, according to Walsh. At least 12 other states have similar laws in place, according to House Majority Whip Ed Osienski, who serves as the bill’s primary backer in the House.
Supporters have argued that this bill will ensure these projects are completed on time, with high quality labor.
During the June 10 hearing, Taylor Hawk, director of Legislative and Political Strategy for Delaware State Education Association, a union that represents state educators, also argued these agreements will ensure students go to school in the highest quality buildings.
“Policies like PLAs help ensure that publicly funded school construction is completed safely to the highest standards of quality, while supporting the workers who build and maintain these critical community assets,” she said.
It’s not just quality labor supporters have pointed out. Bill backers claim requiring these agreements will be better for workers, too, as unionized laborers have greater protections.
Sam Noel, a representative of the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, said requiring these agreements will safeguard workers’ wages.
However, several opponents also packed inside the House chamber. Some told lawmakers this bill will not only take money and jobs away from in-state small and minority-owned businesses, but weaken their ability to compete with other companies and states.
Jason Stallings works for Quality Exteriors based in Harrington, which specializes in commercial roofing. During the hearing, Stallings said around 75% of the company’s yearly work comes from school and state projects.
But there are no union roofing contractors in Delaware, he said, so the work would have to fall to out-of-state laborers.
“The passing of SB 272 will pretty much be the end of our company that’s been in business for 40 years in Delaware,” Stallings said.
Others also argued this bill will lead to potential layoffs and increase project costs on the taxpayers’ dime.
Brian Maxwell, director of the Delaware Office of Management and Budget, also said construction projects with a labor agreement cost roughly 30% more per square foot than those without.
“If the cost of school construction is escalated by just 10 to 20%, that will further place significant pressure on both the state and local school district budgets,” Maxwell said during the hearing.
The Sussex County Vocational Technical School District is building a new high school in Georgetown, now expected to open in September 2028. Superintendent Kevin Carson told lawmakers this bill stands to increase costs on that project.
In the hearing, Carson said requiring a project labor agreement would bump construction costs of the high school by about 22%, costing taxpayers an additional $22 million. Opening is already delayed by one year, as the district will increase the size to accommodate 1,800 students.
The bill will now head to the House chamber for further consideration. The bill already passed close to party lines in the Senate on May 21.
Olivia Montes covers state government and community impact for Delaware Online/The News Journal. If you have a tip or a story idea, reach out to her at omontes@delawareonline.com.
Sophia Voight is a growth and development reporter. Reach her with feedback and story tips at svoight@delawareonline.com.
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