Winter Dining Specials

One of the best parts of winter at the Delaware beaches is the dining specials. Here are the good deals that I am aware of. Let me know if you have others:


Monday

Frogg Pond -- Half Price burgers and wings
Iguana Grill (Milton location) – half price quesadillas
Wahoo - $3 burgers

Tuesday

Iguana Grill (Milton location) – half price pasta night
Nicola’s Pizza – half price pasta night

Wednesday

Arena's - half price sandwiches
Iguana Grill (Milton location) -- $5 burgers
Adriatico (Midway location) – buy one entrée, get the second entrée of the same or lower price for free. Must pay cash.

Thursday

Frogg Pond -- half price entrees
Adriatico (Midway location) – buy one entrée, get the second entrée of the same or lower price for free. Must pay cash
Nicola’s Pizza – half price Nicabolis.
Iguana Grill (Milton) -- half price wings

Friday

Iguana Grill(Rehoboth) -- half price quesadillas
Stoney Lonen -- half price Fish & Chips

Sunday

Stoney Lonen -- half price fresh fish entrees
Tijuana Taxi – half price entrees all day

The Blue Plate Diner

The Blue Plate Diner used to be a favorite of mine. It seemed to be closed down for awhile (I think the owners were focused on opening their new place in Rehoboth Beach). Anyway, this past summer I noticed it reopened. J & E were in town and we decided to give it a shot to see if it was up to its old standards. When ended up with a slow start to the day, so the original plan for breakfast turned into lunch. We had patty melts, and they met our standards for this classic diner meal. The one odd thing that we noticed ... while the Blue Plate was mostly empty when we were there, there were many dirty tables around us. Several of them looked like the food on the plates had barely been touched. Where did these people go? Why did they leave so suddenly? Why didn't the staff clear the tables? Strange.

Milton Family Restaurant

Hey, I gave the Milton Family Restaurant on route 16 a try for breakfast. You know, eggs, pancakes, the works. The service was awesome, and the food was what you would expect from diner fare. The prices were reasonable as well, so the Milton Family Restaurant gets a recommendation from me.

Stoney Lonen

J and E were in town, and we decided to give Stoney Lonen in Rehoboth Beach a try. We didn't know much about it other than it was an Irish place, so we were expecting pub-like food. When we got there, we looked at the menu posted outside, and based on the dishes (and prices), we realized that Stoney Lonen is fancier than we were expecting, but the descriptions of the menu items sounded interesting, so we decided to give it a go.


E ordered onion soup, and the server brought out some dinner rolls for the table. E described the soup as very blah and forgettable. The dinner rolls were also bland -- the type of thing that you'd get at any rubber chicken banquet. Since I'm a bread fanatic, I decided to get a side order of thegrilled brown bread. I was excited, as I've had real brown bread in Ireland, and it's awesome. Unfortunately, what's served at Stoney Lonen is NOT real brown bread. Somehow they managed to suck all of the taste out of it, and this stuff was BORING.

Eventually, J's chicken dish was served, as was E's crabcake. (My food was nowhere to be found). We waited and waited, and I insisted that J and E start eating, as my food showed no signs of appearing. Just by appearances, you could tell that J's chicken dish had been sitting under heat lamps, as it had a very dried out appearance. The sauce sounded interesting from the menu description (fresh herb fontina cream sauce) turned out to be flavorless. E's crabcake with lemon dijon cream sauce was acceptable, if not exceptional.

Eventually my cod and clam dish arrived. It was completely tasteless, and the interesting sauce/broth that was described by the waiter appeared to be nothing more than water.

The Bottom Line: Stoney Lonen -- bad service with bland, boring food, at tourist prices.

Mr. Pizza

I really like Mr. Pizza in Lewes. The pizzas are made in a traditional brick oven, giving the crust that little something extra. I've been there several times, and the service is always friendly and attentive. If you are really feeling decadent, order the fried mushroom appetizer. The mushrooms are the size of your fist (alright, maybe a child's fist, but really, they are huge as far as mushrooms go!) and are covered in a really flaky batter. Hmmm.

If you are looking for pizza in the Lewes area, go no further than Mr. Pizza.

Iguana Grill - Milton

The restaurant choices are a bit limited in the Milton area, so I thought it was great when I heard that the Iguana Grill was opening a new location there. Based on my first visit, I think Milton is still looking for a fun spot with good food. Who knows, maybe Dogfish Head will finally get around to opening a pub at its brewery location in Milton. But back to the Iguana Grill ...

C & I went there and got a seat on the outdoor deck. The location is great, and overlooks a pond. It has the makings of a fun hangout. We tried an appetizer sampler, which was a platter of tasty, but unhealthy fried stuff. C ordered a southwestern steak wrap, and she was satisfied with it. I ordered a french dip sandwich, which was a special of the day. Unfortunately, the special list didn't mention that the sandwich would come slathered with a thick layer of horseradish sauce, which I don't like. Also, my sandwich also showed signs of sitting under the heat lamps for quite some time. I don't get it ... I've worked in restaurants, and it's possible to time the meal/food so that the food comes out hot, but not dried out. Needless to say, I was disappointed in my meal. I'm willing to give it one more shot, but Iguana Grill needs to do better next time.

Japonica

C & I were in the mood for Japanese, so we headed off to my favorite Japanese/Sushi place in Rehoboth Beach, The Cultured Pearl. Unfortunately, since it was a crowded Summer weekend at the beach, The Cultured Pearl was packed and there was no way we were getting in. So we headed off to try Japonica, the relatively new place in town (I think it's about a year old). Japonica is located on Rehoboth Avenue, on the beach block. The restaurant is in a storefront space. It's not too large, but nicely appointed. We started with a tempura appetizer, which was an excellent combination of shrimp and seasonal vegetables. We also had some miso soup and a salad with an excellent ginger dressing. We followed all of this with a sushi and sashimi sampler (we split this), which came with a side of seaweed salad. Wow ... this was awesome. I say ... if you like Japanese, give Japonica a try. We had excellent service, outstanding food, and reasonable prices!

Harpoon Hanna's - Fenwick Island

When I'm in the Fenwick Island area, I like to get a beer and some appetizers at the bar on the deck at Haroon Hanna's. It's a fun, relaxing atmosphere, with good service, and good, if not memorable food. In previous visits, I really enjoyed the live music as well (a solo guitar player, singing and playing fun, beachy music from the 60s and 70s). However, during my most recent visit, they had the stereo cranked to the point that I could not have a conversation with my fellow diners.

Smith & Co

Lots of people are talking about Smith & Co in Milford. Everyone seems to be surprised that such a good, and somewhat fancy place has opened in Milford, and I wanted to check it out. In order to sample what Smith & Co. has to offer, we decided to sit in the lounge and order off of the bar menu. First, I have to say that the service in the bar area was awful! I was ready to walk up to the bar to get drinks, menus, etc. but I was assured that there was a server handling the tables in the lounge area.

The waitress finally showed up to take our dring order. Strangely, she took the order for the two other people with me, but walked away before I could order. Eventually I flagged her down to order my beer. After a long delay, our drinks arrived, and once again she disappeared. Eventually we tracked down the waitress to place our food order. I ended up ordering a chicken parm. sandwich. This turned out to be a typically frozen, breaded piece of chicken that was deep fried to within an inch of its life. It was waaaay waaaay overdone. It was bad, so I was in no hurry to eat it. Which was good, since I couldn't find anyone to get me silverware or napkins (the red sauce on the sandwich was dripping everywhere when I picked up the sandwich).

So with dinner over, it was time to get the check. Of course, the waitress was no where to be found. We waited, and we waited. I went to the bartender to see if he could find her. He sort of grunted that she would be right back. She eventually arrived and we paid quickly before she had a chance to wander off again. The poor service seemed particularly strange, since the bar area was not particularly busy.

Recommendation: Bad food, bad service. Don't go!

Nicola's Pizza

Nicola's has always been my favorite pizza place around Rehoboth Beach. I was there recently, and we split a large pizza and a pitcher of beer. As per usual, the service was impeccable, and the pizza was excellent. They have excellent sauce at Nicola's, with a bit of zest, and none of the sugary sweetness that you get at some places. Nicola's has excellent pasta dishes as well. If I'm not in a pizza kind of mood, I get the baked ziti, which also comes with toasty rolls. Hmmmmm.

Recommendation? If your looking for pizza, go to Nicola's. Of course, it's pretty tough to get in during the summer season. If your local, make sure you check it out in the off season, when Tuedays are half price past nights.

Lazy Susan's Hot Fat Crabs

Lazy Susan's is a local institution, loved by both tourists and locals. Whenever I have guests from out of town, they always request that we go to Lazy Susan's. It's a typical, informal crab shack, with picnic tables with paper pulled from the big rolls to serve as table cloths. Order a mess of crabs and a pitcher of beer and go to town. I've been there three times this summer, and have had great food and service every time. If you don't feel like picking crabs, get the crab dip or a crab cake. If your group is a bit slow at picking crabs, order them 1/2 dozen at a time, so that they are always steaming hot for you.


My recommendation? If your looking for crabs at a reasonable price, Lazy Susan's can't be beat! The only downside is that Lazy Susan's is popular, so you may have a wait to get a table.

Roadster's Liquor Store

I know, I know ... not exactly a restaurant.

I few weeks ago C and I popped into Roadster's Liquor Store near 5 Points to pick up a few things. After I handed over my credit card, I noticed that I had been overcharged. The clerk told me that he had voided the transaction and reprocessed it with the correct total. C had made her own purchase ahead of me, and I asked her to check her receipt. Sure enough, she had been overcharged as well. A few weeks go by and I get my credit card bill. Of course, both transactions had gone through. I called the store, and they told me that it would be easiest for them if I stopped into the store with my bill so that they could process the credit. A few days later, I pop into the store, and wait patiently in line to talk to the clerk about the problem. The clerk was very pissy with me for having the nerve to not want to be billed twice for a purchase, and asks me to wait until he takes care of the last person left in the line. By the time that he finishes up with the person behind me, 3 or 4 people are lined up, and the clerk continues to take care of the new people, ignoring me. I finally interupt him and ask if he will only help me resolve the credit issue when the store has no other customers. He finally summons some help from the back, and after a bunch of waiting, I finally get my credit.

So, my recommendation? If you go to Roadster's, check your total, and pay cash! Better yet, go to Atlantic Liquor's near the Rehoboth Mall.

5 Guys Famous Burgers and Fries

5 Guys Famous Burgers and Fries is a rapidly growing regional chain (based out of D.C., I think?). A store recently opened on Highway 1 near Lewes, and I went to check it out. I gotta say, LOVED IT. You order at a counter in the same manner as you would at a fast food joint, but that's where the comparison ends. First, the beef is fresh, not frozen, and you can really taste the difference. Second, the selection of free toppings is unusual, with choices like sauteed mushrooms, fried onions, and jalapeno peppers. I found the topping selections so tempting, that I decided to forgo the toppings that you need to pay extra for, such as cheese and bacon. The fries were fried in peanut oil, and were very tasty. While you are waiting for your order, grab some peanuts to munch on. 5 Guys offers burgers in two sizes, "standard" and "little". I found the "little" to be plenty big (particularly if you are also getting an order of fries, which is of generous size). I loved this place ... I'll definitely be back.

DiBonaventure's Provincial Bakery

Alright, so it's not a restaurant, but I have to pass along the good word about DiBonaventure's Provincial Bakery just outside of Lewes. I popped in there the other day and bought a loaf of garlic mozzarella bread, and it was awesome! The bread at DiBonaventure's is baked in a wood fired oven, creating an unbelievable crust. I look forward to going back to this place to try their other breads and focaccia.

Tijuana Taxi - Rehoboth Beach

I don't know what we were thinking heading toward downtown Rehoboth Beach on Memorial Day weekend. However, we were craving Mexican, and wanted to check out the new Dos Locos location on the avenue. The front of the restaurant was packed, made worse by the hostess chatting with friends rather than taking names for the waiting list. After eventuallly finding out it was a 45 minute wait, we decided to walk across the street to the Tijuana Taxi for our Mexican fix. I hadn't been to the Taxi in years, and friends had told me that it has reallly gone downhill. With low expectations and growling stomachs, we heading in the door, pleasantly surprised to find tables readily available.

The meal started off with the standard-issue chips and salsa. Unfortunately, the chips were slightly stale. My main course was a chorizo quesadilla. This selection was very tasty and was a huge portion. My DP's (dining partner's) fajita was also tasty. Overall, if your looking for reasonably priced Mexican without having to wait for your table, give Tijuana Taxi a try.

One other note: if you like Margharitas, order the smallest size. I'm a bit of a geek, and it's more cost effective to order the smalls. Yep, I did the math. The price/ounce of beverage goes up as you increase in size. Weird ...

Irish Eyes -- Milton

It was the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend ... all of the restaurants in the region are going to be ready for the crowds, right? Irish Eyes has been in the area for a long time now, with locations in Rehoboth Beach and Lewes. The Milton location has been open for a year or so now, and we decided to pop in for a (theoretically) quick lunch. It turns out that Milton was having their horseshoe crab festival, and parking was a bit sparse. We made our way into the restaurant, and surprisingly the restaurant was only half full. It took a long time to get seated, which should have been our first warning sign of things to come. We ordered the conch fritter appetizer to share, and we each ordered sandwiches. The server asked if we wanted the conch fritters with our sandwiches, or as appetizers. We said that we were pretty hungry, so we would go with whatever would get us our food the quickest. She said that she would put the whole order in together, so as to not delay the sandwiches. Wow ... if that was Irish Eyes version of NOT delaying something, I can't imagine what the slow service is like. We waited, and we waited ... and did I mention that we waited? After filling our iced tea glasses for the umpteenth time, the server asked if we needed anything. Ummm ... how about some food? I'll take to the manager, she politely stated. I don't want to tell Irish Eyes how to do their business, but it shouldn't take intervention from the manager to get food produced in the kitchen. The food eventually made it to our table; unfortunately, I can't say that it was worth the wait. The conch fritters were okay, in a "dump some frozen food in a deep fryer" way. My chicken teriyaki sandwich was inedible. The surface of the skinless, boneless breast had hardened to crunchy crust. I literally tore the sandwich apart to make sure that a foreign object hadn't accidentally made it's way to my food. The rest of the chicken was completely dried out.

By the time we paid our bill, people had wandered over from the Horseshoe Crab festival and the restaurant was starting to fill up. Based on the slow service we received when the restaurant was half full, I expect that those people are still waiting for their food.