perucci's classic italian restaurant — Restaurant in Millville

Now that I'm home from Bethany Beach, I wanted to take a few minutes to write about our experience at Perucci's. During the second evening of our vacation, we attempted to get a reservation at another Italian restaurant in the area. The wait was over 1.5 hrs, so we decided to drive around to find other options. I was craving Italian. While we travel to Bethany Beach several times a year, we had never been to Perucci's.

From the moment you drive up, the restaurant exudes charm. The decor is both warm and inviting.

Upon entering the restaurant, the hostess was friendly and eager to accommodate our party. We sat outside and were greeted by our server, Cass. When you eat at Perucci's, be sure to ask for her. She is not only friendly and charming- Cass is extremely knowledgeable about the menu, the preparation of the food, and her passion for the restaurant was profound. She made our experience a true pleasure.

I began with the Caesar salad and it was delightful- freshness in every bite.

My son has a dairy allergy, and the restaurant prepared a lovely tomato pie (Sunday Sauce) for him with pepperoni. This was such a special touch.

For the entrees, we had both the Cioppino and the Gamberetti con aglio e vino. The Gamberetti was truly a standout with plentiful, well-prepared shrimp, and the heirloom tomatoes that accompanied the dish were delicious. The sauces in both dishes were so enjoyable. Simplicity creates a happy palette.

On the last night of our most recent trip to Bethany, we knew we had to return to Perucci's. This time- we did carry out so that we could enjoy our time in our beach home. The restaurant was extremely busy, but the hostess confirmed everything for our order and was once again, very pleasant.

When I arrived at the restaurant, there was a family there that had a 9:15 reservation, and they were upset that it was now 9:20. They were causing an unnecessary scene.

Despite the rudeness of this family, the entire staff at Perucci's maintained their poise, politeness, and professionalism. I gently told the family that the food was definitely worth the wait. I hope they listened!

Our carry out order was just as good as the food we enjoyed the other night. There is nothing like consistency in a restaurant.

We cannot wait to return to Perucci's, and to see Cass again!

Truly a...

We love this restaurant but very disappointed in service last night. We had reservations for a party of 6. We were seated right away however, we sat for a good 10-15 minutes before the waitress even acknowledged that we were there. We did not have water until then. When she did come over, she did not introduce herself and was not very friendly. We seemed like an annoyance to her. We waited again for another 10 to 15 minutes for her to come back and at that time all of us decided to put our full order in so we did not have to wait for her to order. Our food was amazing and did come out fast. The waitress barely came over to our table to check in with us causing our party to ask the other waitress for refills. One person in our party asked the waitress for a straw and she said "um well all we have is kid straws just get her a kid straw" to one of the young girls there. Once we got our check we looked it over. On their menu it says for a party of 6 or more 20% gratuity is added. However this was not the case. The waitress came over to us and said rudely "I see that you have been looking at the check for awhile and just so you know I did not add the gratuity on the check like our menu says". It came in our favor due to her service not being the best but still there was no need for attitude. Our overall experience with customer service would be a 3 and food a 5. The attitude was not needed at all. It is just ashame because we do like the restuarant but do not know if we would come back after how we were treated. Hopefully management can address these issues so others do not...

The restaurant in its move to a larger location closer to Bethany seems to have left some of its charm and normally spot-on service behind. We dined frequently at its previous location and tried its new one, located behind the morning buns bakery on 26th. The locale lacks the charm and intimacy of the old building but understand need for space. The food was pricey for what you got: I ordered fettuccine carbonara a reliable standard - portion was small, a bit too thick with the sauce for 26.00. The veal scallopini with Marsala (wine reduction ) sauce was excellent but pricey at 32.00 and lacked in presentation (spooned over a mound of pasta).

The service. Recognize all restaurants short staffed. A little training goes a long way. Pls don’t call your customers, “You guys”. Pls don’t ask if we “are still working on it” when we are clearly mid way thru meal. (we were probably the last seating so why rush us?). Repeatedly came by to ask that, at one point while one of us was still eating to ask if “you guys want a box for that”. For a 135.00 meal it could have been a bit more gracious. Sad to say, but this was probably our last time at...