The Basics

Great farm to table concepts. Friendly service. most importantly, seated us outdoors to accommodate our large dog at dinner. Flounder was awesome for dinner.

This is our favorite date night spot in all of Wilmington. And not only because of the «date night special» (but it is hard to top a bottle of wine & two 3-​course meals for $ 60-​some). The food is awesome. Love their steaks, seafoods and decadent sides. (BTW: Their breakfast rocks too!!) The wine selection has never done wrong by us. And the atmosphere is super cozy. Love looking at the collection of their concert tickets and playlists on the walls and figuring out which bands we’ve also seen. And want to see.
Come to think of it. Writing this review has made me realize that we haven’t been there in a while. Time to schedule another date night…

Awesome service and fresh farm to table food. I ordered the Migas for Sunday brunch at it was great. My wife ordered the spinach feta grill and that was amazing. Very vegetarian friendly and highly recommended for families. Portions are huge.

Cute place. Food was pretty good. Service was no good. The parade was going on so I’ll blame it on that. But we waited a long time due to the distractions.

Awesome service, great atmosphere and wonderful food! They deliver consistently; and YES to the blueberry pancakes! Just say yes — order them and be delighted that you did. I’ve been a few times now and am happy to spend my $ here; they earn it.

Just Wonderful! Although you may get lunch and dinner too, please come here for your Brunch. You will never be sorry. My wonderful Boyfriend lives in DC for the time being, working with the crazy current Election cycle/​process and our minimal time spent together is precious. We have never been disappointed coming here!!! We have eaten here 4 times now and each better then the time before.
Let me just say now to try the lovely risotto or any type of omelet or perhaps the yummy chicken salad for lunch (or brunch) and you will not be disappointed, We can be a bit of «food snobs’ at times and both adore the attention to detail (for give us Navy folks Ha Ha) we like our hot tea HOT and our deserts and white wines CHILLED and are never disappointed here. This establishment has wonderful food and they still make time to take care of the small details. The waitress, Katelyn I think, even asked him how the election process and traveling was going for him?!. Lovely to have been remembered after only two other visits! Smiles all around!
Be warned however… that the other reviewers are correct. It is sometimes a long wait, but they do say «good things come to those that do», right?

Had the BLT with a side of Mac and cheese for lunch. Hit the spot. Well cooked thick bacon with a tasty tomato on Texas toast was just the right sandwich for lunch. The Mac and cheese was hot out of the oven and really cheesy without too much salt. Katelyn was a great server as well.

I’m a fan of twists on regional cuisine (in this case «Southern» cuisine)
And when I heard that «the basics» was such a place, I definitely put it on my list of places to have dinner.
I arrived around 630p and it wasn’t crowded at all; not sure why that is but I certainly took advantage locating the table of my choice. The décor was «Basic» its not fancy but modern and sensible. There are framed concert posters of 60’s musician and music festivals; unusual enough so that I suspect the posters were authentic as oppose to finding them in some sort of restaurant décor catalog. There was a poster of Jimmy Hendrix that cracked me up!
The menu isn’t overwhelming with a zillion options but indeed reflected a twist to familiar southern dishes: pan friend flounder, BBQ Pork, Green Friend Tomatoes, etc
If you are like me, you look forward to desserts and their dessert menu had many items that I haven’t ever heard of let alone sampled.
The service staff, as they were not true «southerners» couldn’t really answer my questions about «which is these desserts is more traditionally southern»; that being said, I preferred their honestly rather than being «BS’ed».
In general, the hostess and my server were friendly, helpful and patient. I didn’t feel like I waited a long time for my food or for one of the staff to pop by and ask how I was doing or fill my water. That being said, I wasn’t in a hurry. it was a Tuesday night and I was a visitor to Wilmington.
I had my heart set on something they called «the bird», which is chicken but I was told right away it wasn’t available. ;(
As a follow up, I was tempted to have their BBQ pork but I had that for lunch and I really wasn’t in the mood for flounder (fish) or even Filet Mignon (steak).
Instead I decided on comfort food, which I’m not sure is truly southern but comfort nonetheless; the meat loaf !
It was a lot of food! They didn’t skimp on the mash potatoes. The meat loaf was well season as well as that of the gravy. Lastly, I loved their fried Okra!
It was a satisfying meal.
I did leave room for dessert, and chose the «coca cola «cake. To call this a cake is an insult to the cake! It’s not airy or light at all. It’s heavier than a pound cake and more like a brownie or blondie or even fudge than any kind of cake.
Once you get past all the semantics, it’s a very tasty and satisfying dessert ! I absolutely killed it leaving not so much as a spec!
Overall «the basic» is a restaurant that isn’t as busy as it should be, on a Tuesday evening which is unfortunate.
The menu has many options (and don’t forget the twists) that lead me to believe that the chef wants to create flavorful, healthier alternatives to standard southern cuisine.
I certainly want to come back and try their entire menu (eventually).

I cannot review the food/​drinks, as we never got any.
We stopped here before a musical at nearby CFCC. We walked in at 6:15, and figured that if we were seated quickly, it would give us plenty of time to order apps and salad and be out the door by 7:15 for the 7:30 show. Upon entering, I asked the hostess how long the wait was — as we were pressed for time, we knew if it was going to take a while, we would need to go to plan B. She responded «not long.» When I asked for a specific time frame (10 minutes? 15? 30?) — she informed me that there were a few tables closing out, and just one party of 2 waiting ahead of us. 4 parties were then seated ahead of us in the next 25 minutes — I’m not sure if they had reservations, but that should have been included in the assessment of wait time — before I finally asked if the next table would be ours. We were quickly seated at that table, but after waiting at least 10 minutes for someone to even acknowledge our presence, much less bring us drinks or take our order — we had to leave in order to quickly grab tacos at Islands across the street and get to the show on time.
I completely understand that we were the ones in a time crunch, but would have appreciated honesty from the start about the wait time.

Very yummy! The mac-​n-​cheese is amazing. No joke. We ordered a salad — very fresh — and the chicken salad sandwich. All very delicious! The food came out crazy fast, which was impressive. We were here for Saturday brunch, and they were really busy but oh so efficient. Great place!

Best. Brunch. Ever. I have dreams about their southern Benedict, oatmeal pancakes, mango mimosas, and potato cakes.

Absolutely awesome. One of the best dinners we’ve had in Wilmington. My wife and I did the $ 68 «Date Night» specials. Two apps, two dinners, two deserters and a bottle of wine — all included. Everything that came out of was awesome, wine included. Service was great — kitchen and was a bit slow, but you can tell everything is made to order so we didn’t mind at all. Enjoy the experience and make this your go-​to.

The breakfast was awesome! We had the Crab Benedict, Southern Benedict and a cinnamon roll. Both of the Benedict’s were amazing but we were VERY disappointed in the cinnamon roll. In all fairness, I think we got a bad batch of cinnamon rolls. Our roll was dense with a slight burnt taste. I was sooooo disappointed because the pics posted of the rolls looked incredible. Some reviews complained about the service, ours was great. Can’t wait to return and try the roll again so I can change my rating to a 5-​star.

We popped in here for lunch. Can I just say that I love the Cotton Exchange? They have the most adorable little shops and cafes and this was a definite hit with us.
We had the fried green tomatoes which were cooked to perfection and served on a bed of greens and topped with an onion relish and a dijon sauce. We split the oyster po’boy. While it could have used perhaps a few more oysters and the open face presentation was a little off, all in all it was pretty good and the bread was extremely fresh. As in just baked a few hours ago fresh as it should be. Everything comes with a side, lots of traditional southern ones to choose from, everything from collard greens to mac and cheese to beans. We selected Hoppn’ Jack as it was my first time trying it and I loved it. Black eyed peas, rice and a pickles relish. All in all a good meal and we will be back.

It was ok. I thought it would be a lot better given how many reviews there are of this place (and still sporting those impressive overall 4 stars).
The service, while nice, was incredibly slow and everyone was kinda crammed in the restaurant… which is why I opted to sit outside. But that also meant I may have been forgotten more than the other tables. It took at least 20 minutes just to order my food… and I was hungry!
The fruit plate was fresh, but expensive, and my two poached eggs and bacon were basic… and yet still carried a hefty price tag. Perhaps it was my fault for ordering such simple items, but I wasn’t blown away by my brunch here on any front (atmosphere, food, or service). Meh.

I’ll start with a disclaimer: do not go here if you’re in a hurry. The service is almost always slow and you’ll probably wait a little bit to get your drink refilled.
But…
The food is some of the most delicious in Wilmington. Their menu staples are awesome (blueberry oatmeal pancake, meatloaf, shrimp and grits) but they really shine with their specials, usually a catch, burger, or omelet for brunch. The food is comparable to the trendy «farm to table» restaurants but you will get bigger portions here for a fraction of the cost. It’s worth the wait every time.

I had been here before and I knew going in we would probably have a bit of a wait to get a table. I was happy when the hostess said the wait was only 15 minutes. That was great because we decided any time more than 20 minutes we would have to eat somewhere else. We were driving back home and had an appointment to make. Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more.
The whole waiting experience was seriously disorganized. We came in and someone took our name and put it on a list. Assuming since we had put our name on the list we would be served in some type of order? Nope, we watched people who came in after us get seated because they were closer to the front. Sometimes people were pulled from the list, sometimes because they were closest to the front. We were «next on the list» for about 20 minutes and «the table is being cleared right now» for another 20. All said we waited 50 minutes for our table.
The food was good when we finally got it, but not worth the almost hour wait when we were expecting 15 minutes. My steak and eggs were both cooked to a perfect medium and the spinach side was delicious. If you like sautéed spinach definite order it from here it tasted fresh and it was a large portion. The healthy start looked delicious and the southern benedict got an underwhelmed review.
I feel like the whole experience was a 2.5 but since our waitress was friendly I will round up.

Stop looking for other breakfast places and just go here. The oatmeal blueberry pancakes were delicious. I suggest getting a side order of the pancake because the full order is huge. The bacon was crispy, greasy, and slightly fatty — so perfect. The sausage patty was also great. The biscuits are dense so if you’re looking for a fluffy, flaky biscuit this one is not for you. The coffee was coffee, not great but not awful. They will give you a to-​go cup for free, which is a nice perk. The building is neat with exposed brick and old wood floors, and the waitstaff was great!

Dropped in by chance. Had the best chicken BLT so far and we also tried the southern canapés with Devild eggs and it was surprisingly good:)
Nice fried chicken with good bread.

I love the location of this place and while the it is small, it would be worth a wait to get in.
I had their chicken salad sandwich. I am kind of a chicken salad snob in that it took it me years to like it in the first place and now is still hard to appease me. But, when it’s good, it is now one of my favorite sandwiches. So, the roasted chicken offering was a unique twist that intrigued me. And I was glad I ordered it. It was one of the most flavorful chicken salad sandwiches I’ve ever had and thankfully they make it without fruit.
Speaking of fruit, when I ordered it as a side I was not expecting the colorful bounty they delivered. It was seasonal fruit of course. Sure, there was the typical melon and cantalope, but they also included watermelon, blackberries, blueberries and oranges.
The service was great and the food is well worth a return visit when I come back to Wilmington.
*Edit: It has been weeks since I’ve been (live in another city) and my friends and I still talk about this Chicken Salad Sandwich. It left a unusually high impression.