The Back Burner

excellent, excellent, excellent! sorry to repeat myself but no other words can really describe the food and service each and every time we have been. one of the best restaurants in the area for any occasion. kudos to the chef and staff!

Good place to eat.
Great atmosphere.
I would go again.
Gives off a fancy feeling but the price is not bad.

For some reason people seem to think this restaurant is special, I think they are just misguided because this restaurant is nothing. There are far more important and more enjoyable restaurants in Wilmington but I think the owner Missy Lickle pays people to put 5 stars on this site. This is a very nasty owner that thinks she owns Hockessin. Had the nerve to force Casapulla’s back out of Hockessin. I’d rather eat at Casapulla’s every night for the rest of my life than ever walk into the back burner. Typical self important Hockessin people.

We just celebrated my mothers 50^th birthday at this wonderful establishment.
The food was absolutely delicious and the service was top notch!
Thank you to the staff and management for making our celebration a success.

NOT ACTUALLY OPEN SUNDAY. Despite what the website says, this place is only somewhat open on Sunday. The restaurant is closed, but the deli is open, serving leftover soup and half assed sandwiches from the walk-​up counter. Blech. I like this restaurant on most days, but skip Sunday. I brought guests here on 12÷6÷15 and was embarrassed.
Hey Back Burner, do it right or stay closed.

Recently we have come and have had amazing food. However most of the time it’s hit or miss. When it is good it’s great but when it is bad it is really bad. Bar scene is nice and the food in my opinion is nice but over priced.

Ok so I usually come here and everything is amazing, but today everything was off. First I came in with my family and the waiter was really nice and asked what we could get to drink immediately, but it was all downhill from there. We got no bread and butter until we had to ask for it 20 minutes after we placed our order and the waitress didn’t even come over and we had to walk over to the bar to ask. As our appetizers came in we had no cocktail sauce for the oysters and again we had to get up and ask for it. Right before we got our main order our waitress came up to us and asked what one of us got cause she forgot to write it down? We told her that we got fried chicken and as the orders came out it was a grilled chicken with fries. It tasted like they dropped it in the ocean and continued to add a pound of salt even after. We told them thy had gotten the order wrong. The shrimp and grits were ok, could’ve been better if it was less salty. I got the house burger and asked for lettuce tomato and onion on it but no mushrooms. The order came out with the patty bun and radish on it. We had to call her over and ask for lettuce tomato and onion for the third time and it only came out 15 minutes later along with the fried chicken. As we left no one even apologized and just acted as if everything was ok. Normally I would think of this as an excellent restaurant, but today everything was off.
Overall, the service was slow, the food was extremely salty, our orders were forgotten and butchered…

We stopped here for lunch on a weekend. The décor is pleasant and the waitress was friendly and attentive. Good variety on the menu with daily specials on top. I opted to try the soup of the day, which was avocado soup. Bad choice– it was super thick and heavy– more like a dip. In fact, that’s what we used it as with the fantastic crisp flatbread they serve. Crabcake sandwich was good and the shrimp and blueberry salad was an amazing combo with super tasty dressing. I think the food quality is good and fresh– you can see right into the kitchen through a huge window. Wait staff seemed good for all tables, but was actually surprised by how many staff they had on the floor for 3 – 4 tables. We would return, but would be more cautious about what we order.

Great crab cakes (gluten free, too)!! But the evening will ruined by our sourpuss waitress who «wasn’t permitted» to bring bread to my friend until after we ordered our meal. It was 6pm — we were ravenous and she was completely unhelpful. I am gluten free and she knew very little about the gluten free offerings. She recommended a soup and I had to instruct her that it contained. gluten (which she then confirmed with the chef). I asked if the sauce had gluten. She «didn’t think so.» WTF??? Lady — I get sick if I eat gluten — could ya ASK your chef please?!
My friend wanted decaf iced tea — which wasn’t available. So she ordered decaf hot tea and a tall glass of ice. This did not sit well with grumpy who asked my friend if she «really wanted to go through this much trouble» [for iced tea]. Translation: it’s too much trouble.
Good thing the food is great. I’ll go back for the crab cakes — but will go out of my way to be served by someone more accommodating. Or maybe stick with takeout.
$ 120.00 dinner for two –but, apparently, extra for good service.

Very nice atmosphere with light jazz playing in the background. Our server was friendly and attentive. We enjoyed our dinner tremendously and especially the chef’s attention to detail. We had the salmon, the rack of lamb for dinner and they were cooked perfectly.

Had a delicious birthday dinner at back burner tonight. I had the shrimp was on which was delicious the corn and crab chowder which was good and I also had the fillet en crute. That was delicious as usual. My husband had the veal porterhouse and it was delicious. Our server was courteous and attentive, we had a great time! We will be back. The signature drink, the border was amazing! Light and sweet. Perfect with antipasti cheeses and meats before appetizers. Bravo Back Burner. This life time customer will be back.

We made reservation but when we arrived our table was not ready. We waited 25 minutes for a table. The food was good and overpriced. We will not return.

Located a little off the beaten path, but offering a dinner menu with both traditional favorites and creative specials, all well executed and presented. (as others have said, the pumpkin-​mushroom soup is excellent) My vegetarian entrée was innovative *and* delicious. Props to the chef.
Service was also very good — our group of ten was expertly taken care of by a server who knew the menu well and coordinated all our courses, drinks, and requests flawlessly.
The country kitchen décor seems incongruous with a modern menu and food that, in my opinion, could hold its own in LA, but that’s a minor quibble and I didn’t notice it after a few minutes.
Highly recommended.

The Little Woman and I have been here numerous times over the years. It’s nice and quiet, the food is very good, the servers are pleasant and professional.

been here three times now… first off, the place is warm and inviting, with odd decorum. the staff is friendly and cheerful, we had Darlene, and she was conversational, and respectful, and very cheerful. which tells me that she may like her job. which in turn tells me that the place is managed with care. so props to the owner, who clearly trusts his/​her staff to make correct decisions.
secondly, the menu is amazing. so many eclectic choices, literally adjacent to favorites like sandwiches and steaks. the specials are always fresh and amazing, the prime rib on Thursdays is incredible. the menu and the freshness of the food tell me another thing: the owner has hired a courageous chef who is interested in new and exciting dishes. this tells me the chef likely feels empowered have fun with the food.
so, being that my career has been in customer service and management, I feel from my observations that the back burner is properly managed, and is likely a fun place to work.
also, the food is amazing.

Delware Dines Out is this week. Wanted to try the The Backburner for dinner. Three course meak for $ 35 pp. Why not. Taking my college kid out to dinner.
The server was GREAT. Knew the menu and was very attentive. I ordered the pumpkin mushroom soup, braised beef short rib with apple cake for an ending. I also had a cocktail. The Patti Crusher.
The pumpkin soup is the highlight here. This is all you need. Forget about the main course. This is it. The cocktail was also amazing! Short ribs fell short, but the soup, drink, and warm bread made up for it. I will be going back just get the darn soup to go!!!

I am surprised to see all these 4 and 5 star ratings. I don’t know if you have to be drinking to enjoy their food but my experience today for dinner, was a let down.
My mother and I decided to get dinner around 5pm. This was our first time here and I notified the staff and our waitress. Sometimes when you let a restaurant know it’s your first time, they go over things with you more comprehensively and want to make your experience a positive one. We were seated in the main dining area, with no other customers; but there were several loud customers at the bar.
Our waitress was named Britney, with blonde hair. She never told us about the specials, like I heard other waiters do when taking their customers’ order. I mean it was our first time, you’d think she would have explained their specials of the night. My mom ordered the stuffed mushrooms and I had their house salad. She liked her mushrooms. I didn’t really like the salad dressing, there was too much vinegar. The different flavors threw me off.
This was the best part, so this place has different staff doing different things. Like the waitress doesn’t bring you your food, someone else does and there are guys around refilling your water. Well when we got our food, the waitress comes over almost immediately and asks, «How does everything look?» How does it look? She should have waited a couple minutes and just asked how everything was. Who asks how something looks? I care about the taste. She wasn’t really attentive and I had to search for her a couple times. It’s not like they were busy, at all either.
My mom ordered the crab cake and I ordered their turkey avocado sandwich. The crab cake was bland and came with this off putting aioli sauce. My sandwich was huge. I tried taking small bites but I would just get some turkey or a piece of tomato. In order to get the flavor of all the ingredients I had to shove my face into the sandwich, leaving my face a complete mess. It was ridiculous. I’m not even sure how good it was since I was trying to just get one bite with everything. Also, the avocado wasn’t ripe and just kept popping out of the sandwich. The chips that came with them were oily and I did not eat the rest. The best thing on the plate, almost, was the pickle.
After our experience there is nothing that makes me want to come back to this place. The only reason I didn’t give it a 2 star rating is because it was clean and well decorated. It reminds me of Harry’s Savoy Grill a little. In the way that I think it’s over rated. For an atmosphere and the prices you would expect the food to be up to par as well. Like I said, reading the reviews, maybe you have to drink in order to enjoy the food.

I visited the Back Burner for the first time this week. I love the rustic, country atmosphere of the dining area!
For my appetizer I ordered crab chowder, and for my entrée the staff was extremely accommodating in allowing me to choose shrimp with the sides that normally accompany the salmon. Everything was delicious, especially the kale and pumpkin risotto (my new favorite combination!). In addition, the service was fantastic and we felt very welcome.
I would love to make it back and try a few other things on the menu that caught my eye!

I grew up in this area but never appreciated what this restaurant had to offer. I’ve come back repeatedly each time I’m in town to visit and several thing stand out:
–Pumpkin mushroom soup
–Amazing thin well-​seasoned lavash served in lieu of bread at lunchtime
–Bourbon flight paired with my husband’s entrée including discovering the delicious Sortilege Maple Syrup & Canadian Whisky Liqueur
–Crab tomato soup (so good we bought a pint next door to-​go)
–Better cheddar (an amazing cheese spread that you must serve when entertaining — only available to-​go next door)

First of all, I like to comment on how beautiful the restaurant is! high ceiling, sophisticated country resort style, and a very homey atmosphere.
However, food — I thought was nothing special… I got the lobster tail and filet mignon combo. For me, it was lack of flavor in both… the meat of the lobster was too stiff, the steak tasted like a piece of coal. On the other hand, I believe my boyfriend got the strip steak and I actually enjoyed that over mine because it had a little more meat flavor. Maybe it’s because i’m used to complex flavors of new american style, my meal at back burner did not stand out among the other experiences at all. I was a little disappointed having it being fine dinning and all.
we also got the pumpkin mushroom soup. A very nice starter indeed. Light on the tummy before the big meal. But still I don’t think I can have too much of it.
service was fantastic! Very friendly, helpful, and attentive.
ambiance? typical delaware scene. business casual for most people in expensive restaurants. mostly the older crowd, so I felt like my boyfriend n I were the odd ones out with our t shirts and flip flops. but the staff didn’t judge! Their service attitude is certainly laudable.