Wayfarer Deli & Bistro

I was just looking for a new place to have lunch in downtown Wilmington and what a gem this place is. I have heard that there are lines to get in on the weekends and now I know why, the food was beyond great. A nice cozy atmosphere with not a lot of tables. The waitress was so nice and friendly. I ordered the Rachel with the s’mac and cheese on the side and just about licked the crumbs off the plate. They do take reservations and I most certainly will be returning to try the rest of their panini’s

Great place for a weekday lunch. Good service, great food. Inside seating very limited.

High quality food, local sourcing, attentive waitstaff, great experience.
I was visiting my mom, and like trying the downtown Wilmington restaurants. We tried wayfarer for lunch based upon Unilocal reviews and we’re quite pleased.
I had the Yo Mikey Italian sandwich with Mac and cheese side and mom had beef onaweck.
The Mac and cheese was stellar, wish I had ordered bowl. Wait, I did order a bowl, but got a side. The sandwich was good. I was expecting huge sandwiches based on the review, but the sandwiches were standard size.
The beef onaweck had a salt encrusted bun that I didn’t like, but that’s beef onaweck. Mom says it wasn’t as good as college sandwich shops beef onaweck. I’d say, if you go to an upscale deli, don’t order beef onaweck. Order the Italian sandwich or some of the other offerings where the wayfarer shines
My rating is a ³⁄₃. The highest score possible for a deli in a southern city.

I have had mostly all of the sandwiches here and Karrie keeps inventing new ones for me!
Great food, great service and great prices for the value of the sandwiches. PS: Try the Bison Burgers… you won’t be disappointed! :O)

This was horrible. I ordered a Turkey sandwich. I requested avocado instead of bacon and cheese. I was told they only had ‘guacamole’ which was fine. I was charged almost $ 20 for that and a water. I thought ‘whoa it better be good’. It was disgusting. The turkey was so sparse in didn’t cover the bread and it was like a thin slice of pink slimy rubber. I ate a few bites and threw out the rest. I spoke with the manager who said she would remedy the problem through email. I emailed twice and was ignored. I just want my $ back

Great Food. Honestly, LOVE the food… However, they have a few policies and/​or flaws that I can’t agree with.
1^st)They serve HUGE portions at a heavy price, and they charge extra to share a plate??? I mean, come on.
2^nd) You will notice (non)official signage on the door «No Weapons» it carries no legal codes, just a cheap sign. So if you are a CCP holder, leave your tool in the car, it’s not allowed! (Be safe)
3^rd)Good Luck getting someone on the phone for a call in order. I once tried for 30 minutes to get someone on the phone for a 17 person order. A workplace takeout. I wanted to share with everyone how good the food was, and called ahead for the size of the order. I called at 11:30am on a Thursday (they open at 11:00) no answer for 30 Minutes.
4^th) Not Kid Friendly. When I took my family, the waitress acted like it was a HUGE inconvenience to make accommodations for my two little ones.
Again, probably one of my favorite meals, but the experiences leave my looking to other options.

Some of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life. Not hyperbole. The staff is always friendly and gracious whether you’re on the phone or in person.
This is the place I take family and friends for lunch when they visit Wilmington.

Not only was the staff A-​MAZING, we took our order to-​go and were planning our return after the first bite taken at the first stoplight after we left. I have no idea what we ate — some turkey panini special recommended to us by our server — but I have no doubt (based on how difficult it was to decide what to order) that anything you ordered would be a «bite of heaven,» as my husband said. (He also said, «The best review for that place would be ‘Shut up, and take my money.’»)

Wayfarer is unassuming in appearance, but bold in taste. The sandwiches are hand-​crafted and expertly prepared. I ordered the santa fe the last time I went and it was packed with taste and flavor. I will be coming back here for sure. I loved the charm of this place. I do wish it were just a little bigger though– but that’s probably that charm I am yammering on about.
I read some other reviews and while yes, it is on the more expensive side for a Wilmington deli, $ 10.50 isn’t a crazy amount to pay for a huge sandwich, chips and a pickle. You can tell the ingredients make the difference. Their sides and substitutes are on the higher side, but I suspect this is due to the type of ingredients they use to make them.
At the end of the day, I was pleased with my Wayfarer experience, and well-​fed!

This place had great reviews and was listed as kid friendly, so we walked there and got an order to go. First of all, they don’t allow strollers inside, so we had to wait outside while they cooked everything. To their credit, the waitress was super friendly and came outside to take our order, and she was really nice to our kids.
When we got home, we found that the fruit cups had an off smell and taste. We each took a few bites and threw the rest away. My wife’s veggie burger was a previously frozen run of the mill patty– I kind of expected more. The arugula on her sandwich was old and yellow. She’s a bit of a lettuce snob, but even I agree it was bad.
The worst part is that one of the yellow peppers on my sandwich still had the sticker on it, cut in half. I lost my appetite immediately. I question whether they washed any of the veggies before cooking them.
My family’s lunch cost $ 40. I would have been okay with this if the food was acceptable.
Very surprised this place was so highly rated. The only reason I’m giving two stars is because everyone was so nice to us.

This place is only small but the food is absolutely amazing. The «three little piggies» is a must! Between us we ordered 2 panini’s with the Mac n cheese and potato salad sides and couldn’t finish a whole panini between us.

I received the wrong sandwich in which I could not eat bc I am allergic to artichoke hearts, good thing I checked my sandwich before eating.
Placed a delivery order. After delivery charge, for one chicken sandwich, ended up being 13.78(it did include a small bag of chips)
Phone service was friendly.
Would possibly try it again for a better experience

Great food, just very over priced. Bison burgers are wonderful, just wish it wasn’t so expensive, and there should be an option to order it as you like. I’m not a fan of the various ways they reinvent the burger, and usually just order it plain with cheese. Apparently they do not take that into consideration when pricing it. I’m basically paying for 5 other toppings that I don’t want or get. I also would love to see a basic Mac n chz without pork.

It seems as though I only want to write reviews for restaurants that I really like. This is one is my favorite by far. I love their homemade sangria, it is almost as good as a sangria I had at the Delano in Miami. Their Mac in cheese is so delicious and absolutely love their sandwiches. I might make a trip there today.

Amazing! I come here as often as I can. Never disappointed with the food or service. Always order the bison burger special

Rustic ambiance in restaurant. Staff was friendly. Food was tasty but on the pricy side: $ 27 for two sandwiches and small sides. I would recommend the Ben Franklin for those who enjoy roast beef: tender, juicy, and light.

Note: this is a follow up to a manager’s reply of my original review.
I find it terribly innapropriate that the manager of this establishment feels the need to tear apart every review on Unilocal that isn’t satisfactory. My review, like most, was based solely on my opinion. I didn’t post anonymously as was stated in the manager’s retort; however, in case it wasn’t clear, my name is Robin Jeffers. I’ve been a resident of Wilmington for 8 years. I’m 36 years old & I’m an independent blogger/​writer. My opinion is my own.
I explained to readers that my review was based not only on the food, but that stars were deducted due to my poor dining experience. To suggest that videotapes were reviewed & my claims were debunked in order to discredit my review is absurd. Furthermore, suggesting I should have reviewed menu prices & chosen to eat somewhere else disregards my point entirely while attempting to insult me. I didn’t have a problem with the prices when I chose to dine at the Wayfarer. I only stated that I felt the prices were a bit high, considering the amount of food that I received. I left hungry & so did my husband. I was kind enough to leave that out the first time. If this manager were truly concerned about my dining experience, perhaps he should have described the new heating & air updates & made an effort to invite me back. Those updates were likely not yet made during my visit. I failed to mention that my visit was not recent. If that is pertinent, I apologize. The timing, however, doesn’t change my experience.
At this point, I wouldn’t give another dime of my money to this establishment & that’s based solely on the restaurant managers hostile, disingenuous reply to my not-​so-​bad review. You have to be able to take the good with the bad & have willingness to absorb some criticism in life, especially as a business owner. If one or two poor reviews sends this manager running to a keyboard to discredit his customer’s experience, then he only validates that he & his business deserve my bad review.
I would also bet that it’s safe to assume that if you continue on this path of replying rudely to every review that you don’t like, you’ll only guarantee more negative feedback. The law of attraction is alive & well. Keep putting it out there & you’re bound to get it back! This opinion is my own.

When I saw the name, «Wayfarer, «I immediately thought seafood. But, there was a sign outside that mentioned vegetarian options, so I was intrigued.
Tiny, cosy, cute, quaint place. We had the option of two seats at the counter or a table outside. It was a beautiful, not too cold winter day, so we chose to sit outside. I loved sitting among a tangle of vines and rustic brick pavers. It felt like we were on a little Italian terrace.
Our server was excellent. He immediately took our drink orders. My husband had the Brooklyn Chocolate stout, and I had a glass of Chardonnay. Nice to order a reasonably priced wine and receive a generous pour.
I was also impressed that this restaurant had a section dedicated to vegetarian paninis. My husband chose the veggie burger option, which was served on a Kaiser roll and therefore a unique type of panini. He enjoyed a side salad as well with delicious balsamic dressing. I went with The Thin Hunter. Love the name because I am on the slender side myself, and I only hunt for vegetables. It consisted of olive tapenade, roasted and seared green tomatoes, roasted red bell peppers, gruyère and spinach on pressed sunflower bread. I ordered the slaw as a side. Wow! The sandwich tasted like your best friend who has access to a gourmet farmer’s market made it for you. The slaw was light and fluffy, not a sodden mayonnaise mess like some can be.
Loved this place so much that I wanted to take it back to Charlotte with me.

The only reason I wouldn’t give this place a 5 star is solely because of the server. She was good to a point, but never seemed to be able to help the place up the rating to 5 stars.
Everything else and I mean everything else was so cool, interesting and good — it’s a solid 4 star place for sure. The food was so damn good — sorry for the language — but it was really really good and I’d return to this place many times if I lived here!
The selection of food was great and everything our part of four ordered was taste tested by each of us and I found each entrée as good as the next! The pricing was a bit high — but just a bit — the place was small, very small, but that’s what made it so cool.
Just stop in and give this place a try!

Came here for lunch on a Wednesday. No wait and managed to get a seat outside. I think they have parking to the side but I paid the meter across the street. There were so many sandwiches to choose from. I ordered the Italian salad with a side of Mac and cheese and a black cherry soda. The salad was HUGE. The mac and cheese was really creamy and loaded with tons of cheese. There were tiny pieces of shrimp inside too. It was a little heavy and I couldn’t finish it. Service was really good. My server was really nice and came back a few times to check up on my meal.