Taverna Rustic Italian Wilmington

Our waitress was Emily and she was very nice and very attentive. Food was fabulous, as always.

We have dined here numerous times and the staff and food never fails to impress. We routinely recommend Taverna to all of our friends!

This is an attractive restaurant with a friendly staff. Parking is easy. The fried calamari were delicious, light and well-prepared. The Caesar salad was piquant and lemony with fresh Romaine and flavorful parmesan cheese. Sadly, the Margherita pizza had a crust that was quite overdone (clearly left in the oven a bit too long - much too hard/crunchy) and covered with an ordinary tomato sauce. It lacked mozzarella cheese and fresh basil which as far as we understand are the defining ingredients of a Margherita pizza - red, white, and green like the flag of Italy. Unfortunately, the spaghetti with clams disappointed as well. It was watery and bland. To sum up, our apps were good, but the entrees were not. The restaurant is attractive, parking is easy, and the wait staff quite friendly although not quite attentive enough as we waited a while for our server to ask if we were done so we could request the check.

Very delicious! We were starving so we decided to have an early dinner tonight. We made the right choice with Taverna. Pizza was so good, it was a great choice for an appetizer.

Sadly both of our entrees were overcooked. Salmon dry. Beef (short rib style) dry with crispy edges. Couldn't chew it. Great flavor in vegetables and risotto though.

We visited last night. We were greeted right away. The service was so good. I had Shells Aurora. Simply amazing. Pasta and chicken was cooked perfectly. My boyfriend didn't see chicken marsala on the menu. only chicken parmesan.He asked and they made him the chicken marsala. So good too. We ordered wine. I had the Cabernet and he had the Pino Noir .Both wines were rich and savory. Very tasty. The floor manager even came up to make sure we were happy. That was very nice. we received the check and the server boxed up our food for us. The check really was not expensive. I paid and gave a 25% tip. I normally don't care either way with itailian resteraunts but this place was so nice. Rustic and warm atmosphere, pleasant staff, and amazing food. Will visit again for sure.

Charged 18$ for a glass of cab during happy hour. Others have warned me and I’ll warn more what a weird restaurant

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 1

What is going on here!
This restaurant used to be fairly good Italian....But today just plain horrible and not at all Italian
Soggy calamari soaked in so much sauce junk... Fried squid should be crispy and only seasoned with salt served with a wedge of lemon ...All sauces should be on side.
My clams were so dry and hard ...a waste.....
Try to study real Italian food and its simplicity....for the love of heritage

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 1

Food was delicious we got the veal meatballs, Chicken Taverna and Grilled Spicy shrimp. We went to the bar afterwards for a night cap and had not such a great experience. We ordered two glasses of house white wine and were greeted with a bill over 35$. When asked the manager let us know they had a 'premium wine selection', which I couldn't taste for the life of me. We left with a bad taste in our mouth.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 1

If you want to go to happy hour and order a glass of wine that just so happens to not be on the list without knowing - they will charge you for the most expensive glass they can. Greedy, rude, and just okay. Get over yourself if you want to stay in business.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 3

Service: 1

Great selection for the daily special. Some choices are little more fatty that I would prefer and didn't feel super welcome when arriving a little later in the evening.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 3

Reliable place for a good meal.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Excellent service and food. Had the grilled shrimp over risotto.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Horrible experience at this location. I’ve been to the Newark restaurant and never had a bad experience, this place was the total opposite. A friend called in our order and I was supposed to pick it up on the way to her house. Took about ten minutes for someone to acknowledge me. When they finally did, I asked for my takeout order. The girl tells me they don’t have an order under my name. I say my friend ordered 45 minutes ago. Sorry, we don’t have it. I call my friend who assures me she called it in. She calls the manager and after making excuses, he says well there wasn’t a last name and so many different orders with this name so we got confused. Huh?? The girl said we don’t have any orders, other than this guy. So where were all the others with the same name as me? And he knew who my friend was, so you don’t check to see what the order is or follow up if you’re confused? Made no sense. My friend said the girl, Molly or Holly admitted they never placed the order when she called. The manager says I’ll go out and take care of this with your friend (my friend was on the phone while I waited at the bar) he never came out to me. Then the girl behind the bar threw the bill at me and said do you want to take care of this now? So I gave her my card, it fell inside the glass/ice case. She was looking all over for it. Proceeded to empty the whole case to retrieve it, huffing and puffing. The manager (I assume) finally brings it out to me after I ask another employee about my meal. I waited an additional 45 minutes when the order was placed almost 2 hours prior. I am kicking myself that I just didn’t leave before paying. The tiny 2 meal dinner certainly wasn’t worth the aggravation and the $60! I will never go back to this establishment. Very unprofessional and the staff was not friendly. Not one smile among the group. And when the manager came out, he handed it to me and when I started to explain the mess I endured, he said yeah I know what happened. A last name wasn’t given and we had a lot of call in orders with your name. That’s funny because I was standing there for 45 minutes and not another soul came in for an order. And that excuse made no sense whatsoever. The girl told me there were no orders. Don’t lie about it. Own your mistake, someone dropped the ball. Don’t be rude. Fix the situation. Admit you messed up. Don’t go here if you want a nice meal and a professional atmosphere. You will find neither. The manager proceeds to hand me my stuff and said hope you enjoy and walks away. Wow. Never again. I should have told him to keep it and give me my money back.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 2

Service: 1

Service was excellent.,However the wine we preferred was out. I’ve NEVER hear of an Italian restaurant say they are out of wine. Red Flag!! So I said I’ll take the house Chardonnay. Ok I’ll have the Chardonnay. Meal was good, bill comes , I get charged $20 for a glass of wine???? Are you kidding!?? at that point, I asked to speak to a manager. The manager named Harry comes to our table and we explain..His reply is we take pride in our wine selection. L O L. Are you kidding? I said to him you were out of our wines and you substitute our wines with a $20 glass of wine? how are you going to compensate for this. This is not right. He wouldn’t budge and did not compensate or rectify the problem. Therefore it is bad management and I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone in Wilmington De. Or Fire that so called Manager Harry because If I owned that place I would of at least gave your customer house price for that wine!! See you on “BAR RESCUE !!!

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 4