A Taste of Italy — Restaurant in Wilmington

Many, many times I have been to A Taste of Italy to have amazing deli sandwiches, a cheesesteak or an incredible chicken parm. sandwich...but today is the day that this review focuses on a hidden, off-menu sandwich that blew my tastebuds away.

FOOD: Muffuletta Sandwich on a Poppy Seed Roll: To begin, the Muffuletta originated from Italian migrants in New Orleans, LA. It includes Salami, Capicola & Mortadella meats, provolone & mozzarella cheeses, olive oil & a fresh, blended olive tapenade. Although TOI doesn't offer this specific sandwich on the menu, the staff was accomodating & eager to take on the challenge. Glad they did, too! Each bite was packed full of deli meats, generous slices of fresh cheeses. It is savory, semi-spicy & semi-sweet, altogether. There are so many flavors & tones dancing throughout your mouth...you'll yearn for the next bite. The only areas of opportunity & recommendations I have about this sandwich, is that it should be a full-menu option for everyone to enjoy & that I would have preferred the sandwich on Italian bread, rather than Poppy Seed bread. But when TOI is THAT good, they ran out of Italian rolls by 5 pm! But, that's about it. SCORE: 4.8 STARS!!

SERVICE: Family-owned, super friendly & very efficient. The staff always accomodates any & all special requests I have (within reason) without hesitation. TOI is a prime example of how exceptional service is done right! SCORE: 5 STARS!!

OVERALL SCORE: Everyone in my family loves A Taste of Italy. Each time you order anything from this fine establishment, you're certain to be 100 percent satisfied & get your money's worth. When our older children travel to Wilmington to visit or stay...TOI is a must for them to have. This place is truly special....

I am a New York, 100% 2ed generation Italian. The past 5 yrs. I drive 30min. out of my way to get ur authentic Italian goods at ur Wilmington, N.C. store.The past 6 months or so the Italian bread has changed from, in my opinion, from Italian bread to French bread shaped like Italian bread. On 11/21/17@ 1:55pm. I visited ur store & questioned the change. After being passed off to the 3rd person. The man became very defensive. When I brought to his attention he basically called me stupid. He was extremely rude, condescending & humiliating. Being a psychologist & professional, I just left the store while he was still ranting to everyone in the store. Now I know my $40.00- $80.00 every few weeks & my $80.00-$100.00 plus weekly from Nov.through January, is not much to ur business. But I will no longer be a customer in ur store. Also, notifying all my referrals of this horrible incident. My intention is not vindictiveness, but to spare others from the verbal abuse & public humiliation I have suffered. It is a shame that this 5' 8-9",skinny, cripped hair, non-Italian rude, right fighter is driving away ur customers. Ur store has great products & had helpful staff, till now. Maybe it is time to have a second look at ur Wilmington, N.C. store staff. FYI: The other staff looked extremely unconformable w/him. Can't be easy to work with. Also, in his ranting he informed me where the bread was purchased. So I went there & perched real Italian bread for less & the pastry as well. Don't know what is going on w/that employee, but I believe U have a real problem. Sorry, but have to put an end to our last 5 yrs. of business...

didn't want to be the arrogant New Yorker coming in....but..... I realize this is not Italy, or NYC or Brooklyn and I appreciate the Italian effort....and this really is the only spot that has a crumb of Italian flavor in the area. But cardinal sins are all over the spot. This can't be real Italians owning it. No semolina bread off the top. Ok I get it, it's not NY. No speck (smoked prosciutto), no problem, it's a lesser known item. But the staple of any Italian deli should be the fresh mozzarella!!! It should be warm! There should be a big tray atop of the counter at room temperature if not warm! When you take it out of the plastic wrap, a milky liquid should spill all over. It should have a hint of saltiness. It should melt in your mouth. They gave me an almost frozen ball of I guess, cheese? I waited an hour hoping it would come to life at room temperature. No chance. It was basically Polly O, a cheap supermarket imitation mozzarella. A rubber ball with no flavor, no creaminess, no juice................. It's like when you have a juicy ripe tomato out of the garden and it's perfect with a dash of salt, as opposed to a tomato that is sitting in the refrigerator and becomes tight and tasteless. This was the latter. Don't chill the mozzarella!!!!!!!! Come on guys. A Taste of Italy? Really. Hand that mozzarella out in Italy and they'll hang you in the public square. I gave three stars to not crush them because maybe they just dumbed it down to the local crowd. Call it- A Taste of...