In a city not exactly known as a national food destination, one restaurant on North Market Street decided Wilmington deserved better. 🍷
Bardea Food & Drink opened in 2018 with a simple but ambitious mission: to bring genuinely inventive, ingredient-driven cooking to downtown Delaware.
Named after the Italian phrase for “the goddess of food and drink,” this restaurant has since become the anchor of an entire dining movement in a city that never expected to have one.
How Bardea Food & Drink won Wilmington’s hearts
Bardea was built by Scott Stein, a fourth-generation restaurateur from the Greater Philadelphia area, alongside Chef Antimo DiMeo, who trained on Italy’s Amalfi Coast and later worked in the kitchen of a Michelin-starred chef in Spain.
The two first partnered at Arde Osteria in 2014, and when an opportunity arose to open in Wilmington in 2018, they jumped at the chance, eventually bringing in Pino DiMeo as a third partner.
What started as a single restaurant quickly turned into a full transformation of the city’s food scene.
Bardea became downtown Wilmington’s culinary pioneer, and within a year of opening, it landed a James Beard Foundation semifinalist nomination for Best New Restaurant. 🏆
The accolades kept coming. Chef DiMeo has since earned recognition as one of the best chefs in the Mid-Atlantic region, and the restaurant itself was named to USA Today’s 2025 Restaurants of the Year list, an honor that made national headlines for a Delaware kitchen.
What keeps locals coming back, though, is not the trophy case; it is DiMeo’s approach to modern Italian cuisine, built on ingredients sourced from local Delaware Valley farms and purveyors, then reimagined with global flavors and a healthy dose of playful nostalgia.
The restaurant’s plate-sharing format, split across snacks, small plates, pastas, and larger “feed the table” options, turns every dinner into something communal.
It became the kind of place locals bring out-of-town guests just to prove that Wilmington has arrived. 🎉
Food Highlights
- Upside Down Pizza: A playful riff on tradition made with fresh mozzarella, grana padano, and ricotta, finished with garlic-basil oil and a tomato drizzle poured over the top instead of underneath.
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Cordon Bleu Wings: Crispy wings stuffed with jambon de Paris and finished with cornichon and honey mustard.
- Fusilloni alla Zozzona: Spicy sausage tossed with pecorino di fossa and a silky egg yolk.
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Burrata Poptart: A flaky pastry filled with creamy burrata and topped with a fennel onion jam.
- Ricotta Gnocchi: House-made gnocchi tossed in a tomato eggplant sugo with robiola cheese and artichoke.
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Maryland Blue Crab Risotto: Creamy risotto loaded with blue crab, spiced with n’duja, and finished with a touch of kumquat for acidity.
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Washugyu Zabuton: A tender cut of washugyu beef served with grilled baby gem lettuce, beef cheek marmalade, and a Caesar bagna cauda.
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Australian Wagyu Hanger: Wagyu hanger steak finished with Calabrian chili au jus, celery relish, and a gorgonzola espuma.
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Heritage Chicken: A whole roasted chicken paired with sweet potato, Jimmy Nardello peppers, cashew, and a coconut au jus.
Atmosphere
Bardea’s dining room brings an energetic, big-city feel to downtown Wilmington, with an open layout designed for lively group dinners and shared plates passed across the table. 🌆
The space feels contemporary without being stiff, matching the restaurant’s playful, globally inspired menu.
It draws a mix of longtime Wilmington locals and visitors who have heard about its national reputation.
The overall vibe leans celebratory, the kind of place suited for a milestone dinner or a spontaneous night out with friends.
Bottom Line
Visit for James Beard-nominated cooking, a menu that reinvents Italian classics with global flavors, and a communal, plate-sharing format built for groups.
Add a national USA Today honor, locally sourced Delaware Valley ingredients, and an energetic downtown setting, and Bardea earns its reputation as Wilmington’s dining anchor. 🍝✨
Address:
620 N Market St, Wilmington, DE 19801
📞 (302) 426-2069
🕔 Open Mon-Thu 5 PM–10 PM, Fri-Sat 5 PM–12 AM, closed Sunday