11 Best Italian Restaurants near Leland

“excellent pizza. Very friendly staff.“

“Have had many items from their menu, from pizza mainstays to specials and every item is amazing! Always great service and food. If you’re upset about having to wait, maybe there’s a reason so many people are there… 🤤“

“Olivero is easily our new favorite spot. The homemade pasta was unlike anything we’ve had before—fresh, perfectly cooked, and paired with flavors that were unexpected but worked together beautifully. Every dish was impressive. The service was just as outstanding. The team worked seamlessly, bringing fresh plates and silverware after every course and keeping the table spotless. No awkward moments of figuring out where to put your utensils—just smooth, attentive service that made the whole experience feel effortless. Incredible food, impeccable service—Olivero sets the bar high. We’ll definitely be back often!“

“Excellent evening out that included amazing bar and table service with stunning views of the downtown riverwalk. We received just the right amount of attention and interaction from the staff from our arrival starting with pre-dinner drinks at the bar, a smooth transition to a lower section table for dinner, and finishing with some amazing deserts before departing. We will be booking another evening dinner soon at Sugo as there are so many delicious choices on the menu!“

“Huge shout out to Vance Matthews and his crew at Quanto Basta: Wilmington for an amazing experience last night. The staff is always on point with fast and friendly service. My buddy and I tend to go on Wednesday nights (1/2 price bottles of wine) and get a Caesar Salad and one of the most delicious pizzas in town. The Molto Carne pizza is out of this world! DID YOU KNOW...they also have a cool side room that would be perfect for rehearsal dinners, small parties, corporate events etc. Yeah, I own an event space myself Belle Vue Wilmington but I never look at people as competition but rather as options. COMMUNITY > COMPETITON 100%%%% So next time you are downtown consider checking this place out, you won't be disappointed! Cheers!“

“delish!! 🤌🤌 will return!! nothing left on our plates from the drinks, app, the entrees and dessert! service was great. Skylar thanks!“

“Wonderful service from Tyler! Made our night!“

“If I could give this place a billion stars I would. Easily the best pizza/bagels in Wilmington and my favorite place to go here. The staff are all great and build connection with their customers. Local and clean ingredients with no bullshit. Salita knows how to make some amazing food!“

“Let’s start with the Deli , my favorite the Haley. Now I am a retired culinary Particulartarian ***yes I made this word up ; however I have never been displeased with customer service, the loving spirit of staff or with the quality of food. The course meal dining experience is out of this world! My review is based on bringing 12 - 15 of my support group front liners to dinner to let them know how grateful I am and we are blown away each time. Joe , his wife and staff deserve our 5 star rating.“

“The pizza at ZAPIE is expensive, but I find myself ordering it time-and-time again as a treat. It's basically gourmet pizza and I prefer it to some of its nearby competitors.
I normally order pizzas from places that specialize in gourmet pizza-making and are not part of a franchise, ZAPIE has lots of pizza recipes that other places don't offer, especially where white pies are concerned. My favorite is Paula's Choice, it's a white pie with a garlic oil sauce, mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and spinach and I add anchovies to that. I also like my pizza well-done.
One of my favorite pizza places in town was Pizzettas before they closed and another restaurant opened up. Elizabeth's Pizza also used to dish out amazing pizza until it closed down during Covid. The latter was Italian-owned, which I appreciated since I am from Italy and know the makings of a good pizza. 🍕
Anyway, the pizza at ZAPIE is generally good, but it's expensive pre-and-post Covid.
A couple of nights ago I had an issue where I placed an order for delivery an hour before closing and their online system gave me confirmation of the order completion and that I had been charged and then unbeknownst to me, the order was cancelled somehow because my confirmation stated the pizza would take about 60 minutes for preparation and delivery, but myself and guests waited over an hour and a half before ordeing food from another place. Needless to say the pizza never arrived.
I originally wrote a bad review because when I spoke to the manager the next day he simply apologized with no offering to mitigate the circumstances of myself and my friends' inconvenience of waiting for hours for our late-night dinner.
After my poor review, the same manager I had originally talked with left me a very nice and respectful voicemail informing me that his intentions were to discount my pizza upon my next order if I was willing to give the business another chance, which I intend to do because systems get glitches that sometimes cause failures in the processes we have in place, but that's how we learn how to take the preventative measures to ensure better outcomes in the future.
Every good business deserves a chance to make things right for their customers and when I write my reviews, my goal is to help potential customers as much as the business itself because a good business takes no customer for granted.“

“The food was delicious!! Far exceeded my expectations. Highly recommend the award-winning clam chowder and the fettuccine alfredo! Should have taken a photo but we ate the entirety of our plates quickly, it was so good. Service was wonderful as well!“