Marabella Wilmington — Restaurant in Wilmington

We were having a birthday party for my adult daughter. Our traditional go-to was Elizabeth's Pizza, but unfortunately they have closed down. We went in optimistic after reviewing other local Italian places, but we were SERIOUSLY disappointed. Let me start off by saying that the atmosphere, staff and the service were amazing. With that said, the food was not. We ordered both a Caesar Salad ($7.20) and an Antipasto ($9.40) requested by 2 of our guests as a main meal. There isn't any distinction on the menu that it is a "SIDE SALAD", but this is what we were told when we called to complain. The Caesar Salad was literally 7 pieces of lettuce with parmesan cheese sprinkled on it and 2 sides of Caesar dressing. That was ALL! I don't even mean 7 lettuce leaves, I mean 1 lettuce leaf ripped into 7 pieces. The Antipasto was again a piece of lettuce ripped into a few pieces, Lunchmeat rolled up and cut into spirals, 3 red pepper strips and ranch dressing. Two of our guests ordered Philly Cheese Steak Subs, I myself, born and raised in Philadelphia was astonished that the sub came with, lettuce and tomato and it was so greasy that it had to be eaten with a fork because the grease soaked through the bread. I myself ordered the Ham/Mozzarella/Ricotta Calzone, minus the HAM. It was...

First time customer. We went on a Monday we were referred by a friend. We got a large white pizza with a side of meatballs in marinara sauce. We did not have a warm or friendly welcome just meh. The girl waiting on us barely smiled but she seemed new and her trainer’s were socializing in the back with other employees. We paid and tipped ahead as that seemed to be the standard operating procedure for them. It was not communicated. They accommodated us with meatballs on the side a non menu item. The restaurant was clean and slow, it was a Monday night. When the girl brought out our pizza she didn’t bring plates or anything to serve it with. I asked for plates she pointed across the restaurant and said you can get them there. Why didn’t she just grab the plates?! It keeps the mental from burning your hands as you carry the hot tray of pizza. The pizza came out fresh and hot it looked good. The meatballs looked good too. The pizza was okay but it wasn’t unique or special. The meatballs tasted like the standard meatball you get at any pizzeria. The marinara sauce had onions in it and typically marinara sauce doesn’t have onions in it and I found it had too much onion. Overall I gave 3 out of 5 stars because the food was 3 out of 5. I didn’t deduct...

Expected better. First time visit and we were underwhelmed. Perhaps we ordered the wrong thing. My wife and I split a caesar salad for $7.20 and a calzone for $8+. Everything here is pre-made then taken from the fridge or heated up. They grabbed the pre-made calzone that was just sitting in the unrefrigerated display area and heated it up. The salad was pulled from the fridge and delivered to our table by a girl that looked like it was her first day - but first day having never been to a restaurant herself. She seemed lost and unsure of what to do. Although she and everyone else working there seemed pleasant enough.

Our daughter got garlic knots that looked great but seemed uncooked inside. She also got the penne alfredo which again looked good but the alfredo looked like a thick white mac and cheese type sauce, not the alfredo I make from scratch.

Overall, it's great to have a fast-casual Italian option because most Italian places are too expensive in my opinion. But I guess you get what you pay for and what we got was pretty much what we...