A new Italian restaurant has taken root on Market Street in downtown Wilmington. Villa Italiana Mediterranean Cuisine, at 218 N. Market St., held its grand opening on Sept. 15, capping more than two years of work.
Diego Molina, whose family owns the restaurant, told Delawareonline.com that the project had been more than two years in the making.
What Diners Will Find Inside
The finished space leans into old-world Italian flourishes. The restaurant features hand-painted murals and a bust in the bar area, according to the same report.
Villa Italiana is open daily. The Molina family is not new to the local restaurant business — they also own Three Amigos, a Mexican restaurant in Wilmington, along with another Mexican restaurant in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
Joining an Already Crowded Market Street Scene
Villa Italiana's arrival adds another name to a stretch of downtown Wilmington that has steadily built a reputation as a food destination. Market Street has grown into what BPG Group describes as a dining destination stretching from La Fia to The Chancery Market Food Hall & Bar, a scene that helped land Wilmington on Condé Nast Traveler's 2023 list of the best places to go in the United States.
That growth has been building for years. The corridor was already being called a dining renaissance, with roughly a half-dozen restaurant openings projected in a single stretch, according to a report from Out & About. That same outlet notes that 218 N. Market St. — the address Villa Italiana now occupies — was once home to the 218 Grille, a spot known for chicken wings, sandwiches and fries.
Part of a Broader Wave of New Openings
Villa Italiana also lands amid a broader statewide surge in restaurant debuts. Delaware's dining scene saw a wave of new openings in 2025, with many new arrivals expanding on a growing local appetite for global flavors, according to Delaware Today. Wilmington already counts at least one other Italian standout in Casa Nonna, an Italian spot from the Bardea Restaurant Group tucked inside the DE.CO food hall.
Whether Villa Italiana can carve out its own following on a block already anchored by longtime favorites remains to be seen. But after more than two years in the making, reaching its Sept. 15 opening night marks a milestone for the Molina family.
