Cafe Azafran, Rehoboth Beach

With its eclectic menu of imported wines and tapas meant to be shared, it’s not a stretch to call Cafe Azafran a destination for those who enjoy socializing over dinner and drinks. Perhaps that’s why downstate readers of Delaware Today voted the spot best tapas restaurant in 2012, 2014, and 2015 as well as best Mediterranean restaurant in 2012, even though it’s located nowhere near the Mediterranean. The café's chefs prepare plates of calamari, grilled veal sausage with white beans, seafood bouillabaisse in shellfish broth, paella, and more; café drinks and imported wines, and other tapas that can be passed around tables. They also serve substantial dinner plates such as grilled new york strip steaks with blue-cheese butter, as well as seafood bouillabaisse in shellfish broth.

During the day, the eatery’s baristas brew café drinks from a full espresso bar that includes hot coffee, spanish hot chocolate, organic yerba mate, and herbal teas from Xanadu. In the warmer months, outdoor patios host sunlit dining, where chef Rich Steele heads to sizzle scallops, chorizo, and other savory morsels in a 32-inch paella pan big enough to be the chrome rims on a clown car.