Dining At The Forum

A great of restaurants well worth visiting are located at The Forum shopping complex, which is convenient not only to Wilmington but to Wrightsville Beach as well. Local restauranteur Ash Aziz opened Osteria Cicchetti in December 2007 at the Forum Shops on Military Cutoff Road. A stylish Italian dining establishment with an ambitious menu, the restaurant is open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and dinner daily from 5 p.m. Their brick oven pizzas, antipasto bar, sandwiches and salads are perfect for lunch with friends or a casual family dinner. But to get the full benefit of Osteria Cicchetti’s dining experience, you’ve got to try their specialties: sumptuous Northern Italian pasta dishes and outstanding antipasto bar. And yes, wheat pasta is always available for those who prefer it. If you enjoy a glass of wine with your meal, choose from more than 100 types. The restaurant’s warm atmosphere and comfortable furnishings are conducive to eating and eating and eating.

If you crave a totally different kind of food, go to The Bento Box, a sushi restaurant that is a recent addition to the Wilmington area. A master sushi chef is in charge of the spotless restaurant and serves the best sushi you’ll find in Wilmington, period. Chef Lee also accommodates those who aren’t sure they’re ready for sushi yet: since he moved into larger space he’s able to offer an assortment of Asian street food including delicious crispy shrimp, salmon or chicken teriyaki, steaming miso soup and salads with homemade ginger dressing. A made to order chocolate implosion dessert is also on the menu and is superb. The restaurant is open Monday through Wednesday from 11:30 to 9:00 and on Thursday and Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. In season only, the restaurant opens on Saturday evening from 5:00-10:00 p.m.

Also new at the Forum is Grand Union Pub, the perfect spot for a casual lunch or dinner. Whatever pub food comes to mind is offered here: a large selection of burgers, sliders, salads, soups, fish & chips and nachos are just a few of the many items on the menu. For those who love falafel, you will find Wilmington’s best, traditional falafel here. In too many restaurants, falafel tastes like chickpea flavored garlic. Here it is predominantly chickpeas made with delicious fresh herbs and served with enough garlic to season it, not to overwhelm it. The Pub opens at 11:30 and the kitchen serves until midnight seven days a week. It has a full bar, a dozen good beers on tap and more than 40 in bottles or can, a sizable wine list and 10 different milkshakes for those in the mood for something other than alcohol.