New restaurants: Hot bagels, burritos, Filipino cuisine on the plate for 2019
Patricia TaloricoForget those diet resolutions. More than a dozen new Delaware restaurants have recently opened or are on the horizon.
New eats include a bagel shop in Pike Creek, a popular sandwich cafe and a locally-owned burrito chain for downtown Wilmington, a new home for a Newark landmark pizzeria and a reboot of New Castle's famed Dave Finney Inn.
Here's what's coming:
DE.CO Food Hall
111 W. 10th St., Wilmington
When the DE.CO food hall will open in the Hotel du Pont building and what will be the featured restaurants are still big unknowns.
In January 2018, it was announced that the sprawling space inside downtown Wilmington's DuPont Building at 10th and Orange streets would feature a food hall with eight chef-lead restaurant stalls, 250 seats, an atrium bar and a private event space.
It was supposed to open by the end of 2018. It didn't.
So, what's going on with 12,000-square-foot, $3.5 million project? We reached out to a spokeswoman this week for an update on the project, a collaboration between Wilmington's Buccini/Pollin Group and Seawall Development. That company developed Baltimore’s food hall, R. House.
She said they are not ready "to announce anything yet. Hopefully coming soon."
Stay tuned.
El Diablo Burritos
837 N. Market St., Wilmington
El Diablo Burritos, the growing and locally owned Tex-Mex chain that started eight years ago in Wilmington, is returning to its roots. It plans to take over the former Qdoba Mexican Eats in downtown Wilmington on Market Street. Qdoba had occupied the space since December 2008.
It will be the fifth El Diablo to open in Delaware. The eatery was founded in 2010 in the Trolley Square Shopping Center off Delaware Avenue. Partners Roger Andrews, Dean Vilone and Shannon Stevens transformed a former dry cleaning business into a fast casual restaurant with counter service.
The partners have elevated simple street foods like burritos, bowls, quesadillas and tacos and perfected the build-your-own-concept. Other El Diablo locations include The Shops at Limestone Hills off Limestone Road (Del. 7) in Pike Creek, Branmar Shopping Center off Marsh Road in Brandywine Hundred, and 127 E. Main St. in downtown Newark.
The opening is said to be set for April and a breakfast menu is planned, a first for the chain.
WiLDWiCH
405 N. King St., Wilmington
Mike Stanley started his popular WiLDWiCH food truck in 2014, and two years later he added a brick-and-mortar cafe at 800 Delaware Ave. in downtown Wilmington.
This year, Stanley is adding to his sandwich empire with a new cafe on Wilmington's King Street. He's taking over the site once occupied by the former Cocina Lolo, a Mexican eatery run by La Fia/Merchant Bar owners Andrea and Bryan Sikora. They closed the restaurant last August after a little more than two years in operation.
Stanley says the cafe will be open for breakfast and lunch and the menu will be a duplicate of what he now offers at the Delaware Avenue location. There, he has breakfast sandwiches such as the "Chuck Norris," or turkey sausage, pepper jack cheese, fire-roasted red peppers and onions with an egg on a grilled English muffin ($5), and cold lunch sandwiches such as the "T-Rex," thinly sliced steak with a horseradish spread, baby arugula and crispy onion strings.
Stanley isn't planning renovations at the King Street location, though the bar area will now serve coffee drinks and lemonade and will be a sit-down area for this fast casual eatery.
The tables will remain, but instead of wait staff, the cafe will offer counter service. Stanley says about 80 to 85 percent of his customers now at the Delaware Avenue cafe take their orders to-go.
One thing to look for: Stanley has purchased the antique cash register that once sat on the counter of the former Bill's Meat Market. The King Street butcher shop, in business since 1958, closed in September.
Stanley doesn't yet have an opening date, but he said it should be coming soon. Check out the WiLDWiCH Facebook page and website for updates. He is still running the WiLDWiCH food truck, but Stanley said he will be scaling back operations and mostly just be appearing at local festivals this year.
The Original Hot Bagel
4738 Limestone Road, Pike Creek Shopping Center
The eatery opened its latest location at noon Jan. 3 in the Pike Creek Shopping Center.
It's a welcome return of bagels to the Pike Creek area since Fabulous Bagel Boys closed its doors.
The Original Hot Bagels offers New York-style bagels with a light crust and slightly malty flavor, along with other breakfast and lunch items such as egg sandwiches ($3.25), omelets ($5) and pizza bagels with pepperoni ($6.25).
The bagels ($2.85 for one with cream cheese) will be made fresh daily. Hours are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Original Hot Bagels also has a production location at 695 E. Chestnut Hill Road in Newark and a retail outlet at 131 E. Main St. in Newark.
El Camino Mexican Kitchen
3559 Silverside Road, Talleyville
The Platinum Dining Group (Eclipse Bistro, Capers & Lemons, RedFire Grill) is about to unveil a brand new concept.
El Camino Mexican Kitchen should open sometime in February at “The Concord” on Silverside Road. It's a new complex from the Buccini/Pollin Group in Talleyville.
On-site job hiring fairs are planned for Jan. 10-12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or interested future employees can apply at opportunities@platinumdining.net. Jobs include bartenders, servers, bar backs, food runners, bussers, hosts, sous chef, line cooks, prep cooks and dishwashers.
Platinum also has future plans to reproduce Taverna, their popular rustic Italian eatery in downtown Newark, in the complex.
New concepts for Scratch MaGoo's, OldBanks
1709-1711 Delaware Ave, Wilmington
Trolley Square bar/eateries Scratch MaGoo's and OldBanks Craft Bistro in Wilmington's were purchased in December by The Big Fish Restaurant Group and will become two new eateries.
Big Fish Restaurant Group co-founder Eric Sugrue told The News Journal a new concept from the hospitality group is being planned for the Scratch MaGoo's location at 1709 Delaware Ave.
The site is being renovated, Sugrue said, and he hopes to reopen in either February or March with a new name.
OldBanks at 1713 Delaware Ave., next door to Scratch MaGoo’s, likely will be leased out and run by other local restaurant owners, he said. Sugrue said he was meeting with prospective restaurant tenants to take over the space. That restaurant also will get a new name.
Sonora at The David Finney Inn
222 Delaware St., New Castle
The New Castle property, perhaps best known as The David Finney Inn, is getting new life soon.
Melissa Ferraro, owner of the Outlandish Food Truck based out of Newark, is planning a new restaurant in Old New Castle which she plans to call Sonora.
The eatery, which will serve "gourmet comfort food," is named after her 11-year-old daughter. Ferrano, who has two daughters, jokes that Sonora's sister "didn't want to have anything to do with the business."
Ferrano has had her eye on the property, vacant for the past eight years, for some time. And she is already well acquainted with the building. She had been the executive chef when the restaurant was known as Jack's Bistro.
Ferrano said the 76-seat restaurant will have its back patio open in warm weather months and she plans to offer a "biscuits and bowls" menu there for patrons who bring well-behaved dogs.
The menu inside for two-legged guests will feature "savory" Danish made with mushrooms, bechamel sauce and puff pastry, a rabbit paprikash, along with steaks, chicken, fish and other dishes.
Sonora will be open for dinner Wednesdays through Sunday, and Ferrano said she is planning brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. She also will still be running the Outlandish Food Truck.
The opening is set for early February.
Chuck Lager, America's Tavern
4500 New Linden Road, Linden Hill Station, Pike Creek
It's been just about a year since popular "Top Chef" contestant Fabio Viviani told The News Journal he was planning his first restaurant in Delaware.
While Viviani had hoped for summer or fall 2018 opening, the 140- to 160-seat restaurant in the new Linden Hill Station at Limestone and New Linden Hill roads has been delayed.
When we stopped by the center this week, some construction work was ongoing, but there is no sign yet for the restaurant.
Craig W. Colby, one of Viviani's business partners, said on Thursday the site is under construction and they are targeting an April opening, but don't yet have an exact date.
The shopping center recently welcomed 1,000 Degrees Pizza, a branch of the chain known for cooking pizzas for 2 minutes.
Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill
60 E. Geoffrey Drive, Newark
Work is continuing on the fast-casual restaurant offering Middle Eastern food. The eatery, scheduled to open in February, will be across from Delaware Technical Community College on Churchmans Road, and near the new First Watch brunch restaurant that opened in late November.
Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill has made-from-scratch pitas, hand-cut salads along with shawarma and falafel. Founded in 2009, the chain has grown to more than 35 locations.
Tagpuan Restaurant Philippine Cuisine
700 Capitol Trail, Newark
In late November, a new restaurant with a new concept moved into the former Nhu Vu 2 in the Liberty Plaza/Possum Park Mall.
Tagpuan restaurant is a traditional Filipino diner offering Pinoy favorites like pork adobo, fresh lumpia and caldereta or kaldereta, a goat meat stew that also can be made with beef, chicken or pork.
For those unfamiliar with Filipino dishes, the menu is currently being updated with new descriptions of the entrees.
Margherita's Pizza
Park N Shop shopping center, South Main Street, Newark
One of the biggest end of 2018 dining surprises was news that downtown Newark landmark Margherita's Pizza was moving out of its 134 E. Main St. location.
The iconic pizzeria that served as a favorite hangout for University of Delaware students for almost four decades, closed just before Christmas.
The pizzeria plans to relocate by early spring to a new Newark site in the Park N Shop shopping center on South Main Street.
No more late-night hours and 3 a.m. closing times. Lights will now shut off at 10 p.m. said Michela Dellamonica, a spokeswoman for the business run by her father Amerigo and his brother Enzo.
Dellamonica said her father recently decided to move the business after reaching a mutual decision with Danneman Properties, the building's landlord.
"My father is getting older. He has often thought about moving for a calmer business lifestyle," she said.
"This is a positive decision. We're looking forward to the next chapter. We're shifting to focusing on the community."
Dellamonica said the pizzeria name and menu will remain the same. The new location will be slighter larger than the present site.
Circo at Veritas Wine & Craft Beer
21B Justison St., Wilmington Riverfront
Venu Gaddamidi, owner of Veritas Wine & Craft Beer, and former Moro chef/owner Michael DiBianca have been working since last March to create a cafe inside of Gaddamidi's Wilmington Riverfront shop.
The 10-year-old shop has been undergoing renovations to carve out space for the eatery that will offer tapas-style dishes and small plates made by DiBianca, who closed his critically acclaimed Wilmington eatery in August 2016.
Gaddamidi, who had dined at Moro and long enjoyed the cuisine, said he and DiBianca, longtime friends, have talked for a while about creating a bistro.
We checked in recently with Gaddamidi and he said the bistro, which they had planned to open Tuesday through Saturday evenings, is still a go. Construction has been completed and the name will be Ciro, pronounce it cheer-o.
He said it should open within a month.
What else?
Abbott's Grill in Milford announced Thursday on Facebook it is closing its doors on Jan. 12. Owners said they were closing to focus on their other businesses: Abbott's on Broad Creek, Brick Works in Smyrna and a new Brick Works in Long Neck in the new Taormina Square shopping center.
The owners of Philippine Smoked BBQ and Grill have closed their Elsmere site to concentrate on their new location in Elkton, Maryland.
This past October, Romeo and Lalaine Balan took over the former Durham's Best Barbecue at 175 Fletchwood Road in Elkton, just over the Delaware state line. The Balans, natives of the Philippines, had been running their flagship "Mom and Pop" eatery across from Elsmere's Veterans Affairs Hospital for more than three years.
A for-lease sign is now in the window of the Elsmere building.
MORE DELAWARE FOOD
The 20 best dishes and drinks of 2018, according to Patricia Talorico
Legendary Newark pizzeria Margherita's closing Sunday, moving tonew location
Gaudiello's Italian Hoagies: We're 'the most serious sandwich shop' in Delaware
Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico.