Hope you’re hungry. The Delaware restaurant/food scene is already hot and it’s about to get even hotter.
There are so many new spots opening or are about to open this fall, we’ve had to divide up the list into at least two parts, maybe more.
Here are new restaurants coming, updates on places we’ve written about, and a heads-up on other food businesses.
More places are coming. Stay tuned.
7313 Lancaster Pike, Hockessin, 302-400-PIES
Delaware natives Danny Basso and Tyler de Ford, two lifelong friends who bonded over a love of skateboarding and quality pizza, opened their eat-in/takeout wood-fired pizza shop in the heart of downtown Hockessin in July.
Stone Mill takes over the space formerly occupied by Cotti’s (next to Rita’s Water Ice.)
The 14-inch artisan pies are scratch-made with thin, chewy crusts and an emphasis on local ingredients. Basso said he and de Ford, who worked together in area restaurants and founded a skateboard magazine, have been operating the business for almost a month. They make everything in-house, visit local farmers in the Brandywine Valley for fresh produce, and plan to rotate the menu every three months.
Starters include housemade fried ravioli, $10, lemon pepper chicken wings with dill ranch dressing, $12, and a Caesar wedge salad, $11.
Pies, including Margherita, pepperoni, bianca, pesto potato and prosciutto with burrata, range from $17 to $24.
The shop has seasonal pies such as the intriguing berry and basil; a $20 white pie topped with blackberries, raspberries, fresh mint, fresh basil and drizzled with honey; and the lemon & herb pizza, $20, a combination of thinly-sliced lemons, arugula, goat cheese, mozzarella, and mushrooms.
Basso said the menu will change soon to reflect fall ingredients, but he wasn’t ready to share too many details just yet.
“It’s a surprise,” he said. The pair post updates on specials and menu items on their Instagram account @stonemillpizza.
Hours are noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday to Thursday; noon to 9 p.m. Friday to Saturday; noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. The shop is closed on Monday and Tuesday.
1903 Newport Gap Pike, Prices Corner
Nick Vouras, the fourth generation of his family to work in Wilmington’s Kozy Korner diner now run by his father, is still planning to open his own pizza shop this fall near Prices Corner.
Vouras told us in May he hoped to be open when the NFL season kicks off. (For Philadelphia Eagles fans, the Birds’ first game is Sunday, Sept. 10 at 4:25 p.m. against New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.)
But, in a recent Facebook post, Vouras said it will take a little longer than he expected to make pizza, tomato pies, hamburgers, cheesesteaks and sandwiches in the new Newport Gap Pike storefront that had formerly been home to Casapulla’s Catering.
“We’re looking at a November opening maybe, early October ain’t happening now,” Vouras wrote.
Vouras has earned a very loyal following since March 2021 when he began making and selling pizza at Kozy Korner, the landmark diner on Wilmington’s Union Street well-known for its breakfast and Greek food staples.
The crust for the tomato pies and pizzas is thick and more closely resembles focaccia than a thinner, New York-style pizza, he said.
He also has sold his pies at Mulrooney’s Tavern in Elsmere, various pop-up events around the state, and at Fusco’s Italian Water Ice food truck, which had been parked in Lewes earlier this summer and is at 3924 Kirkwood Highway in the Milltown area ,as well as the Fusco’s stand at 610 N. Union St. in Wilmington.
Updates on Nick’s Pizza can be found on the Facebook page and Instagram account @302Nickspizza
145 E. Main St., Newark
Also in May, Clifford J. Murphy III, the third generation of his family to operate Helen’s Sausage House in Smyrna, told us he planned to open a second location this fall in downtown Newark.
Murphy is renovating the former Post House site that in recent years had been a Duck Donuts store. That site, a franchise of the North Carolina chain, operated from 2015 until shuttering in December 2021.
Murphy told Delaware Online/The News Journal he was eyeing an October opening for Helen’s. Demo on the Newark restaurant began in early August, according to a Facebook post.
Helen’s has been a Smyrna landmark for 40 years. The early morning food spot was founded in 1983 by Murphy’s grandmother Helen Achenbach. It’s well-known for its foods made with breakfast meats, especially its deep-fried sausage and egg sandwiches, bone-in pork chop served between two slices of white bread, and scrapple subs.
In Smryna doors open at 4 a.m. The business, mostly takeout, stays open until noon every day but Sunday.
In Newark, Murphy said the hours will likely be a little different. He is considering opening from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. Murphy said he also has considered some late-night hours on the weekends.
There may be a few tables inside, some stools along a window facing out onto Main Street, as well as some outdoor seating, he added.
Helen’s in Smyrna will be closed from Sept. 2 to 4 for the Labor Day holiday. The site will reopen at 4 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Shoppes At Naamans, 3100 Naamans Road, Wilmington; honestdelaware.com
Have you checked out this north Wilmington restaurant that serves Indian street-style foods? Honest Indian’s Rajesh Tank says the Delaware franchise of this chain has been open since March.
Tank said the menu of the vegetarian restaurant is divided into segments. Signature dishes include Pav bhaji, a vegetable curry served with soft bread, and pulav, a rice dish served with spices, vegetables and herbs.
There are various savory snacks including chaat and dahi puri or puffed crispy wheat stuffed with potato, chutneys and sweet yogurt, along with sandwiches made with vegetables, sliced cheese or cucumber and green chutney.
An a la carte menu has various Punjabi or North Indian Curry options such as paneer tikka masala and paneer Makhani, and breads such as butter roti, butter naan, garlic naan, and cheese chili garlic naan.
South Indian dishes include masala dosa; idli vada; and dosas, the rice lentil crepes that can be stuffed with potatoes, onions, and cheese. The restaurant also offers several Indian-Chinese dishes, which combine spicy Indian flavors with Chinese ingredients such as soy sauce and vinegar.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
60 N. College Ave., Newark
Greg Vogeley, owner of Drip Cafes in Hockessin and Newark, announced in April that he was planning to expand beyond coffee and breakfast. This fall, he plans to open a taqueria between East Cleveland Avenue and West Main Street in Newark that will focus on authentic-style tacos, tamales and other classic Mexican favorites.
The opening “should be sometime around the end of September/beginning of October,” Vogeley told Delaware Online/The News Journal.
The 12-seat taqueria, mostly takeout, will be next door to his Drip Cafe in Newark near the University of Delaware campus, which has been operating since 2018. Longtime Delawareans and UD alumni might remember it as the site of the old Down Under, a once popular student drinking establishment.
A little over a year ago, Vogeley said the owner of the former salon next door to Drip Cafe in Newark, let him know she would be departing the space. He had been thinking about a new restaurant concept for a while.
Vogeley was unsure about taking over the site since the two spaces didn’t meet up in the dining room. But when he realized the two spaces met in the kitchen, he decided Roja & Verde and Drip Cafe Newark would have a shared kitchen concept.
“This is what really compelled me to move forward with this project. I am able to build a new brand while amortizing the space that I already built out five years ago,” he said.
Vogeley said his family has long been a fan of Mexican restaurants. He stopped dining out, however, after tasting the Mexican cuisine that prep cook Maria Gonzalez made for “family” staff meals she prepared for co-workers at Drip Cafe in Hockessin.
Vogeley said Gonzalez’s food is better than anything he tried while dining at local restaurants.
He approached Gonzalez with the idea of creating a restaurant around her food, and Vogeley said “She’s on board.”
The restaurant will feature homemade, fresh-pressed tortillas, tacos, and street foods like shrimp and chorizo tostadas, taquitos and gorditas. Vogeley said there are no plans to make burritos.
“I feel like our menu is distinctive enough, [it’s] not what you’ll normally find in Delaware,” Vogeley said of any competition in the area.
Villages at Five Points, 33323 E. Chesapeake St., Lewes
Ludovic and Anita Bezy, owners of the La Baguette French Bakery in downtown Dover, are planning a second location in the former Touch of Italy bakery in the Village at Five Points. According to their social media, the coming-soon Lewes bakery will offer “authentic French breads and goodies.”
Chef Ludovic Bezy graduated from Culinary Arts School in St. Dizier, France, in 1986. He was chef de cuisine at Michele’s Restaurant and was at Dover Downs (now Bally’s Dover Casino Resort) for 12 years. Anita was a volunteer for the Civil Air Patrol at Dover Air Force Base from 2009 to 2016. She is retired from the ophthalmology field.
94 Clinton St., Delaware City, 302-751-3700; sabatinas.com
The Delaware City sandwich shop, which opened this spring, focuses on Italian-American specialties, like “Nonna’s chicken cutlets,” hefty meatball Provolone subs, grilled Italian hoagies along with wraps, cheesesteaks and sides like Buffalo French fries with hot sauce and blue cheese.
The owner is Lisa Ioannoni, who has been in the food industry for more than 15 years. She and her former husband started Ioannoni’s Specialty Sandwiches in New Castle. Following a divorce, Lisa decided to go out on her own and created Sabatina’s, named after her Nonna (grandmother in Italian.)
Ioannoni, on Sabatina’s social media sites, said “I used to spend weekdays after school and entire weekends in the kitchen with my Nonna learning how to cook.”
While cooking with Nonna “was never easy, as a young woman in my teens I would just want her to give me the recipes, but she wouldn’t. She used to say that learning to cook with love takes time and cannot be rushed,” Ioannoni said. “She urged me to put in the time, so I did.”
Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The shop is closed on Sunday.
Contact Patricia Talorico at ptalorico@delawareonline.com and follow her on Twitter @pattytalorico Sign up for herDelaware Eats newsletter.
