Osteria Cicchetti

Osteria Cicchetti is certainly my favorite restaurant in Wilmington. Last night my daughter and I had the eggplant parmigiana over spaghetti, they transformed this typical Italian meal into something ridiculously delicious. My wife, a picky, picky Sicilian cook herself, gives Osteria a (broccoli rabe and olive oil covered) thumbs up. OC is one of only a few cookeries that offers broccoli rabe as a standard item. The restaurants my wife will tolerate can be counted on the fingers of one hand, or maybe just two fingers. We are repeat customers and this place never disappoints. Writing this review is making me hungry, I’ve got to quit.

Always eat here when we come to Wilmington. Food is awesome and the service is impeccable.

I don’t typically give five stars to anywhere that isn’t super high-​end, but after OC has consistently delivered on fabulous service and fabulous food, it wouldn’t be right not to.
Firstly, all of this restaurant group’s restaurants have a great reputation in Wilmington. I’m partial to Circa 1922, which I’ve already reviewed, and OC, but they all are popular and with good reason. The food is top-​notch and the service is just as solid.
My husband and I have been going to the original location for a few years and were thrilled when the MJ location opened and found it’s just as good if not better than the original. It’s a go-​to when we have company in town or just for a great meal for the two of us. We have never left disappointed
Our favorite item is the Rigate Melanzane — gooey mozzarella and fontina melted over shells, eggplant, and marinara. And it was a game-​changer when a waiter suggested subbing the marinara for arrabiata sauce! The eggplant parm is solid and the creamy pesto is another favorite if you’re up for something heavy and decadent (though it doesn’t reheat so well). The butternut squash ravioli is also drool-​inducing, but a smaller portion than most things, as is typical for ravioli I’d say.
I’ve been to the brunch buffet once and as far as I’m concerned anywhere that I can get Grand Marnier blintzes and pizza in the same meal is a great place to be! With that said, I haven’t rushed back because I’m not a huge buffet person.
I do have a few minor complaints, which don’t take away from the five-​stars.
~They have twice cancelled my OpenTable reservation even when I’ve been there. I don’t know if that’s accidental or if it’s so they don’t have to pay OpenTable fees, but it’s a minor nuisance
~They have twice made a mistake and done nothing to remedy it. Once we were poured the wrong wine and when we pointed that out, we were still charged for it. Once my salad never showed up and while I obviously wasn’t charged for it, there was no «fix». The OC has *great* service, but the few times it’s faltered I would have expected a comped glass of wine or *something*. Again, no big deal, but a surprise.
A few tips:
~On certain days they have awesome bar specials. Like really awesome.
~If they don’t bring it to you, ask for the crispy bread. It’s amazing.
~Save room for dessert
~But don’t get the tartufo, which is the only dessert not made in-​house and is also my least favorite by far
~The house wine is a steal and pretty lovely
~The portions are huge, with the exception of the ravioli. My husband and I are both big eaters and can easily split an entrée, which makes it a great night out on a budget.
So grateful to have this place nearby.

Visited OC last night (Monday) in monkey junction and had the best visit! Food was delicious, big portions and the atmosphere was delightful. Everyone from the manager and the staff was excellent. Our server Danielle was awesome. Thanks for a great night. We will definitely go back. They earned our loyalty.

One of the best Italian places I have been to! The caprese salad with fresh buratta is so delicious and I can’t wait to go back again! To me it’s authentic Italian cuisine not the American Italian kinda food that most places serve. My husband and I also enjoyed the pizza there as well.

Was there last night with two friends and my daughter. The staff is always amazing !!! We split the linguini and white clam sauce and a Caesar salad. Perfect as usual!!! My friends also loved their food! A flat bread pizza and a plain noodle dish.
The staff is so attentive and on top of refills. I always love going to this restaurant !!!

Everyone knows Osteria has the best Italian food. They also have a nice Sunday brunch. The buffet is all you can eat, so be sure to come hungry. The price is reasonable, currently $ 15.95 for adults. Offerings include frittata, eggs Benedict, bacon and sausage. I likes the biscuits and gravy. And waffles and grits. They offer omelets cooked to order. There was also chicken fricassee and tiny pieces of battered fish with tartar sauce. They also offered fresh fruit cups. I liked the pastries. They had grand mariner crepes. I loved the cream puffed filled with white chocolate crème. Good place for brunch.

Nice romantic setting with candles on the tables. Reasonably priced menu items and speciality cocktail list. There tomato basil soup is fantastic! The service is quick and attentive. If your struggle to find somewhere to take a date or family I recommend this place.

Was good, but my Scallops were a little gritty.

We usually sit at the bar, which I love because of the thick, beautiful marble. My husband tends to order the pepperoni pizza, which is $ 5 from 5 – 7, and he loves the great, crispy crust. I enjoy most of their food, but over the past two months have gravitated towards their fish of the day. The fish itself it is very fresh, and the cooking methods compliment it well. Tonight I had the wahoo and the pan searing keft a beautiful crust. The wahoo was served on butternut squash risotto with tomato relish. My eyes rolled with nearly every bite. I loved the chunks of squash and how the surprisingly sweet, yet savory, tomato relish accentuated all the flavors. Two weeks ago I also had the fish, And when asked, very graciously they exchanged the pasta part of the dish with sauteed spinach. I expected the spinach to be average, but it was incredibly flavorful.

This place is good. Service is good. Kid friendly. Not the absolute best for me but it is very good and has an inviting atmosphere.

Very disappointing dining experience at OC last evening. Ordered linguine with red clam sauce. Pasta was well prepared. Sauce was watery and bland tasting. Clams were grossly overcooked, rubbery and like trying to chew leather. I would imagine this sauce was frozen and then microwaved. Very disappointing given the abundance of fresh shellfish readily available in our area. Would like to say service was good. Tasty house salad and good wine selection. Hopefully, the chef was just having a bad night as I have dined here previously and have eaten very good meals.

Went to Osteria Cicchetti II at Monkey Junction for brunch today. I’ve had the Boca Bay brunch and love it, and this menu looked very appealing too, so when I saw the Encore Deals brunch certificate this week, we decided to give it a try. It was definitely the Boca Bay quality brunch on my side of town. We went at 11:30am and it wasn’t even close to crowded, but started getting more of a crowd around 12:30 when we left. They had the usual suspects that you would find on a breakfast buffet, such as bacon, sausage, grits, roasted potatoes, and Eggs Benedict, as well as specialty breakfast items, pastries, and pastas and pizza. Everything was very fresh and prepared with quality ingredients.
I asked had an omelet prepared to order and asked for it to be small and they paid attention. All of the veggies used were fresh and I was happy to see fresh, not frozen spinach. The fontina cheese was melted perfectly, but still held shape, so I was able to taste it among the other ingredients without it melting away. I loved the Grand Marnier crepes, which were filled pillows of creamy mascarpone with a freshly made Grand Marnier sauce with slices of bananas and strawberries. The frittata was delicious and fluffy with chunks of spicy sausage, and there were plenty of house made pastries and sweets to satisfy anyone’s sweet tooth. My boyfriend and I loved the flatbread style pizza, which had a cornmeal dusted crust with crispy edges and topped with plenty of quality mozzarella cheese.
The penne had an ala vodka sauce and meatballs were offered along side, bathed in a rich marinara. I asked about the meatballs, as they had great flavor, and was told that they were made of beef, pork, and veal. The chicken marsala had terrific flavor with tender mushrooms. The only thing missing from the buffet listed online was salad and biscuits and gravy. I was okay without the biscuits and gravy, but would have really enjoyed salad with my pasta and pizza dishes.
Service by Rena was very attentive and friendly. This is definitely a spot for a full fledged Sunday meal, and a great place to bring visitors from out of town for a terrific brunch. At $ 15.95 per person, you can definitely get your money’s worth, and with the current Encore Deal of $ 30 worth of food for $ 15, it’s a great deal to be had!

First time guest and last time guest. The filet mignon was fair but the risotto was not! My husband had the pizza which he also ranked as fair. Just not a value for the cost in our opinion. Restaurant was noisy but décor was ok. I guess we were expecting much more than what we experienced.

I ordered a take out pizza. They told me it was one size and was $ 12. It was in a small personal pizza size box. When I opened it, it was 6 narrow slices equivalent to about 2 ½ regular slices of pizza…$ 12? Really? Never again

Food was phenomenal, fresh and innovative, something I know came from a chef with passion. Twice this week, I have been wowed. Tonight it was the «Duck Terrine» it was exquisite, it was silky, it was so rich that it made dinner an after thought, but skipping lunch and breakfast have benefits, «mushroom ravioli» with a Marsala sauce, made it all right!!! Keep it up

I’ve visited both locations of Osteria Cicchetti and have had outstanding meals at both. The pizzas are one of my favorite items. Today we tried the Sunday brunch at the Monkey Junction location and we were thoroughly impressed. The offer a delightful selection of breakfast items including made-​to-​order omelets. There are a variety of pasta dishes and pastries making you wish you had room to try them all!
Adding to the great food is the lovely atmosphere and excellent service.

Went to OC last night for a ‘date night.’ We waited 5 minutes for the hostess before I grabbed the menus to seat ourselves.
Even though our initial impression wasn’t positive, our server Ashley made up for it! She was very attentive and made great recommendations for food. We started with the grilled peach bruschetta that was tasty but needed more flavor. The spinach salad was delicious and very fresh. Ashley recommended her favorite entrée, the Tortellino Michaelangelo. Cheese tortellini with pancetta, peas, and a creamy white sauce. It was to die for!
The price was comparable to the quality of food (not too expensive) :)
We will definitely be going back and I highly recommend Ashley for your waittress. She was fantastic!!!

Love this place. Have never been to the other location. Don’t see a reason to drive further when this one I so good.
This is great food, at a fair price. All to rare in Wilmington, sadly. The pasta dishes are super, the seafood better than any of the seafood restaurants, and nice wine list.
Manny was our waitperson and she was a delight, very attentive, great recommendations, and great attitude.
Eat here. Trust me. Great food. Exceptional value. And truly enjoyable. Had the Monday pre fixe deal. Will be back for seconds very soon.

Wow — so having read the other reviews here, seems like this new location is still getting on its feet and possibly experiencing some growing pains.
I visited for the first time last week, and the only flub of the night occurred right off the bat. We were seated immediately, but soon realized that our table was likely on the lines between sections, and no server claimed us for a good 15 minutes. Fortunately, my sister and I were in deep conversation fro the first 10, so it was no big deal. We just let the hostess know, and a server immediately appeared at our table.
The service team does seem to be on the younger side here — but I imagine if you give them time to get really cozy with the menu (and for OC to weed out those that just aren’t cutting it), they’ll begin to more closely match what you get at the original location.
The atmosphere is *divine*. Warm and homey and comfortable. Yes — the seating tends to put you pretty close to other diners. OH MY GOD THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE WORLD BESIDES YOU. AND YOU MIGHT HAVE TO SIT CLOSE TO ONE! All joking aside, I was a little worried when a larger family with children was seated right next to my sister and I that our dinner conversation would be overrun. Not so — while the room does get a little noisy, we were never aware of anything going on outside of our little table bubble.
That may largely be because our meal was phenomenal. We shared a carafe of wine (love the ability to choose from such a large selection of ¼, ½ and full wine carafes here — feels very at home to drink from little glasses and pour as you go) and a selection of cicchetti (loved the beets and goat cheese in particular!).
Then I decided on the Wild Mushroom Risotto — a little unorthodox with all the pasta available, but I’m SO glad I tried it. I raved about that creamy, flavor-​packed work of culinary awesome as I ate it, all night long, the next day as I ate my leftovers (portions are *quite* large) and, now, any time someone mentions the place. My sister paired the angel hair with a Puttanesca sauce — very simple choice, but she loved the flavor, and the portion was enough to feed a small army.
Really looking forward to returning. If they can tighten up the front-​of-​house team, they’ll definitely corner the market in MJ. Most of us are just relieved to see something homegrown pop up in the neighborhood (if one more T-​Bell shows up in the ‘hood, I’m officially going to pack up and move). Welcome to the Junction, OC — do us proud!