Ristorante Attilio

Wow! Such great service for lunch and dinner. Always a nice «home» feeling when I go to this restaurant. Food is great, never have any heartburn after eating like most italian food (sauces) give me. Everything is fresh and homemade. When you come here it’s like taking a step back in time when things were a little more simple.

Nothing pretentious here. Just really good, classic, Italian food served by friendly, neighborhood people. The pasta is homemade and the red sauce is very flavorful. The serving size will leave you with enough for leftovers. We always plan to try their dessert but are always too full. Next time we’ll get it to go.
The prices are very affordable. However they do not accept credit cards so bring cash. They do have an ATM.

Great homemade ravioli!, lasagna! Fried hot peppers, wedding soup and shrimp scampi over homemade spaghetti! Toss in a fresh antipasta and you have the perfect meal!

I don’t know where all these great reviews are coming from, but I think these people need to get out more. The restaurant has a very limited menu, ugly décor with a mold smell, and mediocre food. The prices are too high for a dump like this, considering that you’re very cramped in an overcrowded run down tiny little restaurant.

Love this place. I only ate in once or twice and much prefer to take-​out because the dining area is so shoddy. But the food? So good! It is very difficult for me to find good southern italian food as my grandparents were straight off the boat, lived in little Italy, had an italian bakery for years & taught me how to cook. Everything I or friends we ate with ever ordered from Attilio’s was delicious– except the meatballs, too onion-​y flavored for me. The garlic bread, the «VERY SPECIAL «lasagna, the cheese ravioli, you name it. I’ve even gotten the frozen ravioli for days I wasn’t able to cook or lunches at work. The customer service was always good. This is one of my fave places to eat :)
Absolute comfort food!

Part of the problem with some of these reviews is expectations. This is not an Italian restaurant, it is an Italian-​American restaurant. The tomato sauce is thick and overcooked. Exactly how Italian Americans like their gravy. That being said, I go for two things, the homemade pasta and greens, and the long hot peppers. Both are perfection! The long hots are dried first and then fried and can be eaten like french fries. The greens are on the dry side, the pasta is not swimming in a liquid of garlic and oil. Mix some of those long hots in with it and you have Heaven.
There really is no excuse for the décor. It’s old and it’s dated. I don’t find it charming.

Eaten here for years. Food is always fresh, service is always great, and the specials are really something. I always look for this wonderful restaurant when I get a free night with my girlfriend. Fantastic.

My Family has been eating here for years. They have true homemade Italian food. They are the dyeing breed that actually make things fresh! It reminds me of going to my grandmothers house when I was a kid.
I have not lived in Delaware for almost 15 years. When I was in the Navy, I would only get home once a year. Now that I am a civilian again, I still only get home a few times a year and I still have to eat here every trip. (twice if I can) Yet when I walk in the door the owners son still greets me just like I was walking in the door everyday. Even on a busy Saturday night you are never rushed.
If you have been here you understand, if you have not GO and you will!

Please make your food more paletible or shut your doors. Ate there on Saturday for the first and late time! I have heard the history of how good the food was, it can be again. But you have to get your heart back into making our food. Please get up to date, you need to take credit cards!

«I thought the place is excellent. The food was delicious. Prices were really reasonable. And the ambiance is very homey.» This was my first time visiting the restaurant. I really liked it. I will be returning.

When you walk in you think you might be in a Godfather movie. The service was friendly and pretty quick and food was good (had spaghetti and meatballs). The pasta seemed to be from scratch and had that consistency.

My wife and I have loved the pasta here for a good 20 years.

I miss you Attilio’s. Now for all those who have been posting bad reviews, I am sorry that you have gone to Attilio’s under it’s current management. I knew the family that used to run it and it really was a great place. My family would go to Attilio’s before Saturday 5 o’clock mass and we all had our favorites. My favorite was the cheese ravioli, my sister got the stuffed shells, my mother would get the lasagna, and my father would get the green beans and onions (special order, not on the menu). We would also order the antipasta. It was amazing.
The best thing about Attilio’s was it’s sauce. It was traditional, and outstanding. I have yet to eat at an Italian restaurant to have that family style quality sauce.
As far as the décor, it’s looked that way for over 20 years and has never bothered me. To be honest, I don’t go to an Italian restaurant for the décor, I go for the sauce. If it’s got great sauce, that’s all that matters.
I see that the recent reviews are terrible, and that really sucks. Not that the reviews are misleading (I’ve heard the quality has gone down since the sons didn’t want to take over the restaurant) but disheartening that such a great traditional family Italian place has fallen.
I know my review is definitely misleading because of the four stars and negative review because the place has gone downhill, but I just wanted to give the old Attilio’s some love because nowadays you can’t find a place like it. Not Madeline’s and not Mrs. Robino’s. They are just as bad now as they were 20 years ago. And that won’t change.

Worth the trip to Wilmington! I couldn’t decide between the special spinach lasagna and the linguini with clam sauce. Our server said «easy, get half of each!» Perfect! so good I didn’t need a doggie bag. Go there!

Simple, good food. I wonder if it’s my grandmother in the kitchen, and then I realize some of the food is actually better than my grandmother’s. This is classic Italian soul food and they do it perfectly. The only pasta options are spaghetti because (and I suspect Daniel L was unaware of this) their spaghetti is homemade. Yes, it has a different texture than dried box pasta. It is so much better.
If you’re not Italian, and eat jarred pasta sauces, come here. If you’re part Italian, and only eat good Italian food with your family, come here. If you’re Italian and you make your own sauce but don’t feel like it today, come here. I actually found myself eating their sauce by the spoonful like soup; this is coming from a culinary-​educated Italian girl who critiques her MOTHER’S sauce for not being quite right.
The spezzato isn’t as good as mine, though. Can’t be perfect.

Great Italian food !!! The atmosphere is right out of the Godfather! So if some goes to the bathroom while you are eating dinner you better make sure they are not packing a weapon when they return! The wait staff are very helpful and friendly. The prices are fantastic and the quality of the food is second to none! The portion size is great and you might even have lunch from your doggy bag! If you have any room please try their desserts, they are worth the calories. The only negative is the street parking can get hairy! The area of town is not the best but everybody there just minds their own business. It is well worth the trip!!!
Hours of Operation are:
Monday — Closed
Tuesday through Friday 11:00am — 10:00pm
Saturday and Sunday 3:00pm — 10:00pm
Check out their menu!!!

I love this place, and I justify the 5 stars based on the fact that this is family style Italian food. If you’re looking for a more elegant kind of Italian food, Wilmington does have a couple of really good options. As far as traditional/​family style goes — nobody in the area does it better as far as I’m concerned. Be sure to get an order of fried peppers — you’ll be glad you did

One of out most favorite spots to dine in the area! The food is always fantastic, and the atmosphere is classic Wilmington. Check out the green beans and potatoes appetizer, with homemade lasagna or spezzato to follow!

I was in the mood for Italian last night but I didn’t want to go far. After reading reviews on Unilocal,my girlfriend and I decided to come to this place.
It was a Saturday night and it was very busy. It felt like a popular local joint because many people recognized each other.
We were a bit surprised by their menu. It had items such as «Spaghetti, Spaghetti with meatballs, Spaghetti with sausage, Spaghetti with meatballs on the side…»… not exactly, but a lot of the items seemed like the same things. I was expecting at least some dishes like Penna All’Arrabiata, etc. I ordered Greens over Spaghetti and she ordered Spezzato over Spaghetti.
The food didn’t take very long to come out. The spaghetti in both our dishes were overcooked — mushy, like they made one gigantic batch of spaghetti at the beginning of the night and were serving it to everyone last night. The spinach and broccoli rabe in my dish tasted okay; it tasted like they used frozen vegetables. The spezzato, a veal stew with mushrooms and green peppers, tasted like it was from Chef Boyardee.
Needless to say, I had high expectations from this place after reading the reviews and was disappointed.

When we are in DE., this is the family restaurant. It is my first «real» Italian restaurant; many of the Italian side of the family have been coming here for years. When I came for my first visit, arms welcomed me into the single dining room. Attilio’s is a warm retreat for a great meal on a rainy night. The gravy is my favorite and what I now use to judge other Italian restaurants. I learned of Veal Spezzatino (an old country stew), of fresh pasta and ravioli, and our favorite desert cannoli. I also learned of fried smelts and broccoli rabe, so crunchy and perfect with a cocktail; the calamari is not bad either The place is small and does not take reservations, so we usually eat at the «Senior» hour with the MIL (mom-​in-​law). You will need cash but an ATM is outside. For a lesson in real Italian, Attilio’s is the place.