The Best Italian Spots In Delaware For Incredible Chicken Parm, Ranked By Locals

Italian-American cooking has a few dishes that stand on their own, and chicken parm is near the top of the list. Delaware holds a handful of Italian spots where locals have strong opinions about who makes it best.

The chicken comes out crisp at the edges and tender through the middle. Marinara simmers low and slow until it turns rich and deep.

Melted cheese blankets each cutlet, bubbling at the corners. Plates land on the table next to a heap of pasta that could feed a second person.

Regulars argue over favorites the way sports fans argue over teams. Every ranking here comes from people who eat at these places week after week.

These restaurants prove that a great chicken parm can settle any debate.

Three Tables And A Line Out The Door

Picture Wilmington in 1940. A woman named Tresilla Robino starts feeding Italian immigrants at three tables inside her own house.

Word spread faster than gossip at a wedding. Soon people were lining up outside her home, waiting for a plate of her fresh pasta.

Some of them probably skipped lunch just to save room.

The demand got so big that Tresilla made a bold move. She bought a building on North Union Street and turned the ground floor into a restaurant.

Her family simply moved upstairs, which might be the shortest commute in Delaware history.

That building is still home to Mrs. Robino’s today. More than eight decades later, the same address serves the same style of cooking that once drew crowds to a living room.

Here is the fun part. The restaurant never chased a fancy new location or a trendy makeover.

It stayed put in its circa-1940 row house, right in the middle of Little Italy.

For anyone planning a visit, it helps to know the neighborhood. Wilmington’s Little Italy is packed with history, churches, and old family businesses.

A short walk around the block adds a lot of flavor to the trip before the real flavor shows up on your plate.

So if you want chicken parm with a backstory, start right here at 520 N Union St, Wilmington, DE 19805.

Recipes Passed Down Like Family Jewelry

Some families hand down rings or pocket watches. The Robino family hands down recipes, and honestly, that seems like the better deal.

Since day one, members of the Robino family have run this restaurant. Four generations have kept the cooking going, each one guarding the same dishes Tresilla first made.

These recipes started in Italy. Then they crossed the ocean and got adjusted for life in America, using what cooks could find here.

The result is classic Italian-American food, the hearty, red-sauce style that many people grew up eating on Sundays.

What makes this matter? Plenty of restaurants switch up their menus every few months to keep up with trends.

Mrs. Robino’s goes the other way. The goal is to cook things the way they have always been cooked.

That steady approach means the meatballs, braciole, and chicken parm taste connected to the past. A dish ordered today follows a path that runs all the way back to a home kitchen in the 1940s.

A helpful tip for first-timers is to think about the menu like a family scrapbook. The classics are the pages that have survived the longest for a reason.

Order something old-school, and you are basically tasting a piece of Wilmington history. No museum ticket needed, and the exhibits come with garlic bread.

Red Checkered Tablecloths And Family Photos

Red-checked tablecloths are basically the official flag of old-school Italian dining. Mrs. Robino’s flies that flag proudly.

The dining room is cozy and down-to-earth. Warm lighting fills the space, and the walls are covered with family photographs that tell the restaurant’s long story.

Those photos are worth a slow look. They show decades of family members, events, and moments from the neighborhood.

It is a bit like flipping through a photo album, except the album also brings you pasta.

Nothing here tries to be flashy. There are no neon signs or trendy light fixtures shaped like abstract art.

The style leans vintage and family-style, which fits the food perfectly.

Since it sits inside a renovated row house, the layout has a homey feel. Dining here can seem like eating at a relative’s house, assuming your relative cooks for hundreds of people every week.

The setting also works well for groups. The restaurant hosts gatherings like wedding luncheons, rehearsal meals, and family celebrations, often in a back room set up for parties.

A smart move for big groups is to plan. Busy nights fill up, and a larger party will have an easier time with some notice.

Bring the grandparents, bring the kids, bring the cousin who always takes too many photos. This room has room for all of them.

Pasta Made By Hand Every Single Day

Boxed pasta has its place, mostly in college dorms. At Mrs. Robino’s, the pasta gets made by hand in the kitchen every day.

Fresh pasta has a different texture than the dried kind. It is thicker, heartier, and has a soft chew that grabs onto sauce instead of letting it slide off.

The house spaghetti is noticeably sturdy. Anyone expecting thin, delicate strands should adjust expectations, because these noodles mean business.

They are built to hold up under a heavy ladle of red gravy.

Homemade pasta also shows up in ravioli, including cheese ravioli and a meat version. On special occasions, the kitchen has even served lobster ravioli, which sounds like a holiday all on its own.

Why does handmade pasta matter so much for chicken parm? Because the cutlet usually comes with a side of spaghetti.

A great side can turn a good dinner into a memorable one.

Here is a practical tip. Try a pasta sampler if you cannot decide.

The Taste of Italy option and the special dinner sampler let you try several classics at once, which beats staring at the menu for twenty minutes.

Another tip is to pace yourself with the bread. The garlic bread arrives in very thick slices, and filling up early is a rookie mistake you will regret around the second bite of pasta.

The Chicken Parm Everyone Comes For

Two chicken breasts. Not one, two. That is the first clue that the Chicken Parmigiana at Mrs. Robino’s is serious about filling you up.

Each boneless breast gets breaded, topped with provolone cheese, and covered in the restaurant’s traditional red sauce. Provolone gives it a slightly sharper, nuttier taste than the usual mozzarella, which makes this version stand out.

It arrives with a side of that hand-cut spaghetti. Together, they make a full, hearty meal that could easily become tomorrow’s lunch too.

Now for the plot twist. There is also a Chicken Parmigiana Alfredo, which swaps the red sauce for creamy Alfredo and pairs the chicken with fettuccine Alfredo.

It has become one of the most talked-about dishes on the menu.

Choosing between them is tough. Red sauce fans will want the classic, while anyone who loves rich, creamy food might lean Alfredo.

Splitting both with a friend is the diplomatic solution.

The sauce here is thick and deep red, the style many people call gravy. It clings to everything, so expect your fork to come up loaded.

One more tip is to ask for a to-go box before you even start. The portions are known for being huge, and saving half guarantees a second round later.

Leftover chicken parm might be one of life’s greatest small joys.

Beyond The Parm On The Menu

Loyalty to chicken parm is admirable. Still, skipping the rest of this menu would be like visiting the beach and never touching the water.

Braciole is a big one. It is thin beef rolled up with seasonings and simmered in sauce, a true old-world dish that many Italian-American families save for special Sundays.

The meatballs and Italian sausage are classic partners for that homemade spaghetti. Eggplant parm is another standout, with the eggplant breaded by hand, making it a strong choice for anyone skipping meat.

Seafood fans have options too. Lottie’s Special mixes shrimp, scallops, and crabmeat in a creamy sauce.

It is named after an employee who has worked there for more than twenty years, which might be the sweetest menu tribute around.

There is also a crab cake, a nod to the region’s love of crab. Pizza lovers can try the 1903 Howland pizza, topped with long hots, sausage, garlic, olive oil, and ricotta.

Fun fact for the dessert crowd. The tiramisu has its own fan club, so save a little space if possible.

The restaurant also offers a vegan menu and can work with gluten-free needs. That makes it easier for families with mixed diets to share one table without anyone feeling left out.

Grandkids Who Now Bring Their Own Kids

Imagine eating spaghetti here as a seven-year-old. Then, thirty years later, you are back in the same building, cutting meatballs for your own seven-year-old.

That loop happens a lot at Mrs. Robino’s. Kids who first came with their grandparents now return with their own children, adding new chapters to old family traditions.

The staff plays a big role in that. Warm, familiar service helps a first-time guest feel like they have been coming for years.

It is hard to fake that friendliness for over eight decades.

Birthdays, anniversaries, and even post-wedding luncheons have filled these rooms. The restaurant helps with group menus, sometimes even printing names on them for special events.

Small touches like that turn a regular meal into a keepsake.

There is something comforting about a place that stays the same while life keeps changing. Schools change, jobs change, phones change every year.

The red sauce stays put.

A helpful idea for families is to make a visit part of a yearly tradition. Pick a birthday or a holiday and come back each year.

Snap a photo at the same table and watch the kids grow taller with every picture.

Those photos might not end up on the restaurant walls. But they will definitely end up on someone’s refrigerator.

A Little Italy Landmark With TV Fame

Guy Fieri does not show up just anywhere. When Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives rolled into Wilmington, Mrs. Robino’s earned a spot on the show.

That TV moment brought in visitors from far beyond Delaware. Road trippers heading home from the shore now make a detour, and some are surprised to learn Wilmington even has a Little Italy.

It does, and this restaurant is one of its anchors. Mrs. Robino’s has stood as a neighborhood cornerstone for generations, holding steady while trends came and went around it.

Fans of the show can order the special dinner sampler connected to that appearance. It gives a tour of house favorites like braciole, which makes it a smart pick for curious first-timers.

So why do locals keep ranking this spot high for chicken parm? It comes down to the full package.

Handmade pasta, thick red gravy, two cheesy cutlets, and a room full of history make a strong case.

Here is a final tip. Pair a meal with a stroll through the neighborhood, especially during community festivals when Little Italy comes alive with music and food stalls.

Delaware might be the second smallest state, but its appetite is not small at all. For chicken parm with real roots, this row house on Union Street is hard to beat.