Nicola’s

I want to say that this 3 star review is only off of one visit. However, the visit was so bad I don’t want to try it again. I came here because I had heard so many great things. We had a reservation for three on a Friday night. Our waitress was very sweet but our drinks took literally 30 minutes to get there. The salads took 30 minutes. The lemon salad was really good, actually the highlight of the meal. After waiting 20 minutes for a round of drinks we were quite frustrated though. The bread was delivered and good but when our meals came out we were so disgusted with the penne vodka. It seriously tasted like Food Lion powdered macaroni and cheese. We sent it back and the waitress said the chef tasted it and he agreed it «tasted weird.» She said the sous chef made it. So, they comped it and brought another one (which was better) but still not a great Penne with vodka sauce (Siena trattoria in town is fantastic.). My pescatore had one piece of shrimp. The homemade linguine was really good and the sauce was very good. The seafood was very scarce. I am disappointed in our experience but wish nothing but the best for this local restaurant.

Excellent on all fronts!
Great food. Excellent service. Fair pricing. Super atmosphere.
Our server, Grace, was a pro. Polite and on the ball.
All five of us enjoyed our meals. The apps were tasty. Salads fresh and fantastic. Main courses were delicious. Desserts were awesome.
It’s rare for a place win me over on all aspects and really be excellent from beginning to end, but Nicola’s earned a customer tonite…
We will be back!

We love Nicola’s! The food is absolutely fabulous. We eat here at least 5 times a month. The short ribs are dynamite, the risotto is great, Nicolas pink sauce tortellini one of my favorites, the chicken pesto pizza is awesome. The hot bread with olive oil and roasted garlic. Usually we can get right in but we always call for a reservation. We are a family of 6, kids from 11 – 17 and everyone always agrees when we say lets go to Nicola’s. Nicola’s has a thumbs up from us.

A sad fall for a once good restaurant. Embarrassing service. Undercooked ravioli. Uncleaned mussels. What a shame.

We arrived at 6 with a baby. The parents and the baby left att 7 with no meal. We got our meal, the fish-​special was dry and not tasty. The piccata was no good. The eggplant was okay. Overall awful. Terrible meal. Terrible service!

We got off to a slow start, but the manager provided an appetizer at no charge. The food was excellent! If we were local, we would be regulars.

Came here with my husband and daughter for my father’s 90^th birthday (told the server and there was no free dessert, no singing, just a «How nice!» from the server. And that’s fine.) Drinks and salads arrived quickly and were very good. Took a while (20 minutes?) for our entrees to arrive. Food was mediocre, nothing special — we got the veal scallopini (one of the specials that night), eggplant parm, and shrimp risotto. All were just «OK,» but rather bland and mediocre. Probably would not return here, we have had much better Italian food elsewhere for less money! Overall rating from us: «Meh.»

As always this place will not disappoint. The Filet Mignon was so good. I would highly recommend going back

I wanted to love this place.
I was impressed when I walked in, it was a modern vibe but still relaxed. Even with a reservation we still had to wait about 10 minutes, which is not the end of the world but we were quite hungry. Once seated our waitress got our drink order and gave us water. We ordered a salad and our entrées and we’re told «your salad will be out in a couple minutes». While waiting, I sat for a good 20 minutes watching my boyfriend go through 2 loaves of bread… I can’t eat bread, I’m officially hangry at this point. I haven’t eaten since 10 am, it’s now almost 8 pm. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO PUT A SALAD TOGETHER? Thank the sweet baby Moses the salad arrived. It was the Nicola salad, and it was good, however it wasn’t worth waiting for.
After another 15 minutes or so the entrées arrive. My boyfriend got the mushroom and filet risotto. He loved it, although the boy would eat roadkill if he was hungry enough. I ordered the chicken carbonara with gluten free pasta. Now, I’m not expecting the pasta to taste like «normal» pasta, that’s impossible. I do expect it to be cooked. This was hard and rubbery. The chicken was dry. The sauce smothering everything had a decent taste, but it was gritty. I ate the entire plate because I was starving and needed to eat… but I still left hungry, there wasn’t much on the plate. Had I been able to eat my weight in bread, like my boyfriend, I’d probably been a little happier.
The staff is friendly, the restaurant is clean, the food was hit and miss.

A major disappointment as the reviews seemed good and a friend confirmed them. Decent manicotti although the mozzarella was stringy. The fettucini with clams was a disaster. Home made pasta is always welcome but the risk is that it cooks much faster than commercial pasta, particularly when served in a bowl of warm insipid clam broth, with neither taste nor character. The pasta became quickly over cooked and became soft and mushy. Truly awful.

Very disappointed. First one in the door with a party of 5. Bread was average, vinaigrette was OK. Wanted Angel Hair Pasta for 5 people. Our server said it was available on certain nights? Not tonight? Took 35 minutes to get our Luke warm food. I’m an Italian from NY, don’t waste your money here. Elizabeth Pizza or Pizzettas is better.

Good food. It takes a long time for the food to get to your table though, especially if you order pizza.

Ate here on Valentine’s day. Had a 9:15 reservation but, didn’t get seated until 10:09. However, the food and service made up for the wait. Everything was amazing. Started off with risotto cakes with a mushroom sauce. It was absolutely delicious. They brought a warm loaf of crusty bread to the table with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping. That was great as well. For our entrées I had lasagna and my husband had prosciutto and mozzarella cheese topped chicken breasts that sat on a bed of spaghetti noodles flavored with an orange sage sauce. Both entrées were amazing. We also got a free zeppoli dessert for checking in on Unilocal and it was magnificent. We will definitely be returning very soon. We have no complaints other than the wait.

Great atmosphere and a well staff.
Drinks were properly served and a lot of attention to details.
Salads were big enough to be meals by themselves and the meals were equally good.
Friendly staff and a overall great experience, finally found a good Italian food place in Wilmington.

Incredible! I have nothing else to describe Nicola’s. I have tried a good portion of the menu, and never received a meal that was less than spectacular.
Great specials all week. Real wood fired brick oven pizzas. The best coconut cake in Wilmington, I’ve tried them all.
The staff is great. They don’t ask if you need something, they bring it before you think to ask.

First, the service was excellent. I really enjoyed my waitress, Sky. She added a nice touch to my dining experience.
The food was delicious. I started with a salad that had nice mixed greens, and I am picky about my greens. I was in the mood for a simple dish, so I went with linguine in a garlic & oil sauce with shrimp. Of course, a few more shrimp would have been nice. I can never get enough shrimp. I’d like to go back & try the meatballs with red sauce. I am a fan of meatballs. I know that the homemade pasta will be good.
There was a nice selections of wines, and several varieties were offered in ½ bottles. I liked the ½ bottles, because I was going to have two glasses anyways.

This review makes me a little sad to write. I am sad that I did not discover this amazing restaurant sooner. It was one of my last restaurant meals while living in Wilmington, and it was… did I say, ‘amazing’?
Myself and my date wanted someplace we haven’t tried, and were having trouble agreeing on the type of cuisine. So we finally agreed on Italian, and I heard Nicola’s was the only place who made their own homemade pasta, so it was a ‘go’.
We arrived on a Wednesday night, I think it was around 6. There were others seated, but it was not crowded. It seemed to be a somewhat older crowd, either dates or friends — I do not remember seeing any families with young kids. The menu, however, is diverse enough to accommodate picky eaters (e.g. kids).
I looked over the menu and decided on the Dolce Piccante, which is pasta with red sauce and sausage. I substituted the penne for angel hair (the waitress was clear that they would accommodate mostly any substitutions, which is awesome). There were several specials that looked delicious as well. We got calamari for an appetizer, and my date ordered the linguini carbonara.
Our calamari arrived quickly and was really delicious. I would definitely order again. My dish arrived not long after we were finished our appetizer. WOW. One of the best meals I’ve had in Wilmington. It’s been a while since I’ve had homemade pasta, and I loved it. The thin angel hair broke apart elegantly and practically melted in my mouth. The sauce had the perfect amount of spice and was very flavorful and multidimensional. The sausage was high-​quality. I have no complaints. I had a taste of my boyfriend’s meal and it was also amazing.
Do yourself a favor and skip the other places typically suggested for Italian meals in Wilmington and go straight to Nicola’s. Much higher quality than the chains, OC, wherever. I look forward to returning next time I visit Wilmington.

It was a pretty good restaurant. The garlic knots were delicious! Probably the best thing we had. I had the Alfredo with meatballs, the pasta and sauce were wonderful but the meatballs were too smooth and more similar to Chef Boyardee than a gourmet restaurant (in my opinion). My boyfriend had the lasagna which was really good, both meaty saucy (and a hearty portion). The waitress was really great though, kept our drinks full and was very attentive. We will try it again :)

I love this place. Found it looking for a pizza place and it turned out to be a incredible Italian restaurant that also makes fantastic wood fired pizza. Now whenever I travel to Wilmington for work or vacation I eat there. I’ve been there six times now and look forward to my next. Prices are great, food is excellent, atmosphere is attractive. It is in a strange location and I would have not noticed it if I had not found them online. If you like authentic fresh Italian this the place for you.

We ordered out in a pinch based on wonderful reviews over on google. My wife got the chicken parm. I had a calzone. We both had basic salad and an order of garlic knots. It came with bread.
All three breads were totally different. The bread it came with was soft and good! My calzone was way too soft, I wasn’t sure at first it was all the way cooked. And the garlic knots, which I took a picture of (see above), in a dozen ranged from 1″ to 3″ in size. They had little flavor and ranged from medium hardness to as hard as a hard pretzel. Honestly not even edible.
My calzone was okay. Nothing to write home about. The very soft bread was just odd to me. Filing was good.
My wife’s chicken parm was pretty good. Had a not typical flavor but good. Pasta was definitely ‘home’ made.
Marinara was okay. Should have been a bit more flavorful.
Salads were good and big for a side. My blue cheese seemed watered down. My wife got two dressings by mistake. One was a balsamic which was average and then some type of lime vinaigrette. That was a home run.
I’d go back again but be a bit cautious. Regardless of quality we got a decent amount of food for the price.