Anyone looking for a spot to get dinner and drinks after work, a quick sit-down lunch or drinks before a show at The Grand will have a new option by the end of the month.
The Public House Wilmington is slated to open on Monday, Oct. 19 on Market Street, just a few doors down from The Exchange.
The space, formerly a lounge in the apartment building on that block, has soaring 35 foot ceilings and two mezzanines. Gary Cardi, of Public House, said they plan to be able to seat around 150 in the main dining room, and an additional 60 or so on the mezzanines.
Public House doesn't aim to be a special occasion restaurant, Cardi said, but rather a place where you can go twice a week for lunch and once for dinner, then stay for drinks with friends.
The price point and menu reflects that, with the most expensive entree a 12 ounce New York strip steak with oven-roasted fingerling potatoes, wild mushrooms and asparagus spears for $23. That's joined by a pan-seared chicken breast ($19) and a yummy-sounding tavern style meatloaf ($18) with fettuccini carbonara, english peas and natural pan gravy.
We also like the looks of their beer list, with Dogfish Head, Flying Fish, Sam Adams and Twin Lakes on draft, among others, and the selection of decent wine for $6-$10 a glass.
Cardi said they do plan on having acoustic music or a jazz trio during dinner and a DJ at night.
The folks behind Public House and Cardi are also currently running the show at CW Harborside, and have been since June.
Their first challenge, Cardi said, was to try to create an identity for the restaurant. He and his team took the many different menus CW was using and combined them into one menu. On Monday, they'll be rolling out their new fall dinner menu, along with a lunch menu and a bar menu.
The feel at CW now is similar to what Public House will be -- casual, but with good food and good service, far from CW's first incarnation as the high-end, white tablecloth Conley-Wards.
Other changes they've instituted at the CW include new plasma televisions in the dining room and a 120-inch projection television in the bar area.
Up next, maybe a name change. "We're going to leave that as a variable," Cardi said. "If we need to, we will. It's going to stay for now."
