Restaurants in Wilmington

With a menu of scratch-made meat and veggie dishes accented by colorful sauces and collar-heating Cajun spices, the culinary artists at Nora Lee’s French Quarter Bistro transport taste buds to the lively streets of New Orleans. Hunks of daily-baked bread soak up creamy crayfish bisque or chicken-sausage gumbo, and bacon-wrapped meatloaf made with ground fillet and andouille sausage tempts forks and knives.

Matt Crist, the new executive chef of Union City Grille, crafts lunches and signature dinners of handmade pastas, rich short-rib chili, and steaks seasoned with a house rub. An updated list of hand-selected wines and over 70 craft beers augment dishes that include hand-turned ricotta gnocchi and gourmet burgers. Guests can enjoy fare in the comfortable dining area, or in the eatery's cozy banquet room, accented with a modern fireplace. Sunday "choose your cut" fillet specials allow guests to feast on steaks discounted by the ounce, or pretend they are directing a film starring steaks.

Moro Restaurant's head chef, Michael DiBianca, orchestrates a market-inspired menu of seasonal dishes, reinventing traditional recipes and creating new dishes that showcase individual ingredients. From his teen years through adulthood, Michael gained culinary experience working at produce stands, fish markets, and fine restaurants, including apprenticing with a French chef and arm-wrestling with a local seafood kingpin. Carrying on this vision, culinary crews make weekly visits to local markets in search of ingredients and inspiration, and use their findings to change menus weekly or daily. Dishes incorporate freshly imported Chilean turbot, truffles from Oregon, and sushi-grade fish from Hawaii, and the same fine fare can also grace public gatherings as part of restaurant-style catering services. An extensive wine list gathers fine libations from Italy, Australia, Argentina, and France, blending more international influences than a Twister tournament between prime ministers.

Within local favorite Matilda's Pub lies mad-macs, a comfort fare haven dedicated to the chefs' gooey mastery of mac 'n' cheese with a family-friendly vibe. Among rich espresso wood fixtures, overstuffed bench seats, and chalkboard walls covered in doodles, mac masters dish out decadent lobster mac with mascarpone cheese, philly cheesesteak mac, and Cajun shrimp and crab mac, among their many rich combinations. Around the eatery, abstract macaroni art tempts hungry eyes while kids are given supplies to craft their own masterpieces or a new set of edible parents before they go up on a special display wall. Behind the bar, bartenders mix adults-only milk shakes, and in the kitchen the chefs plate their culinary works of art as customers order fresh hand-formed burgers, Aussie-style crab cakes, and steaks.

Because Matilda's shares a menu with Mad-Macs, patrons have unfettered access to a dozen varieties of mac 'n cheese in addition to the bar's craft beers, wines, and cocktails. Reaffirming that this gooey comfort food deserves a place in the adult diet, chefs recommend pairing the cajun-shrimp-and-crab mac with a glass of bubbly prosecco or the buffalo-chicken mac with a water balloon of pinot noir. The menu also showcases hand-patted burgers and hearty hot sandwiches, in addition to seafood entrees, steaks, and chicken. Live music and DJs keep things lively in the evenings, and karaoke nights provide the opportunity to flex vocal chords after prolonged vows of silence.

In Vallé Cucina’s kitchen, chefs form fresh jumbo lump crabmeat into thick patties, pan-sear them to a golden-brown hue, and drizzle their crispy crusts with beurre blanc. The eatery’s crab cakes have been hailed by Delaware Today as the city’s best for several years running. Vallé Cucina’s classic Italian entrees are held to the same high standard: chefs hand-roll gnocchi and drizzle them with slow-simmered tomato sauce, and accent dry-aged steaks with elegant flourishes such as peppercorn brandy cream sauce and blue cheese. Servers recommend selections from Vallé Cucina’s vast wine list to enhance steaks or Trevi Fountain reproductions.