[As with all the content on this blog, I am not be compensated in any way for this review. The thoughts are my own. This is purely for my enjoyment and your entertainment.]
Date of Visit: Thursday, August 14, 2025.
After hearing about the chain Grotto Pizza for years discussed among contacts familiar with Delaware, I made it known to my family that I wished to stop there on our way home from the beach instead of the usual fast food suspects. I’ve heard it described as a “Delaware Thing”. Since I do not know that many special “things” about Delaware outside of certain presidents, beaches, banks, and pharmaceutical companies, I felt like we should give it a try.
Grotto Pizza has 20 locations across Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, thought many of its locations are situated in the Delaware beach areas. It’s lone Pennsylvania locations can be found around Wilkes-Barre, where Grotto Pizza originated.
Would it live up to the hype I wondered?
We arrived around 1:45pm on a Thursday in August and were quickly shown to our table by our server, an affable young man. The restaurant was relatively empty, which might have been due to the timing of our visit. We came both after the lunch rush but before dinner.
I was dining with my husband and two sons ages 9 and 7, nicknamed Mr. Man and Nugget respectively.
Our server our Rick* (not his real name) took our drink orders. I then explained that I had never visited a Grotto Pizza location before and I was looking for recommendations. Rick said his favorite thing was the chicken sandwich on the lunch specials menu some personalized substitutions that he specifically outlined. I thanked him.
While I appreciated his willingness to share his food preferences, I was looking for more of a pizza recommendation. I probably should have been more specific.
We asked for some time to discusses our ordering preferences.
As an appetizer, we ordered eight bone-in chicken wings with their Signature Grand Slam Sauce. The sauce tasted like hot sauce, garlic, and blue cheese dressing. They wings tasted really good and the texture was just right. The wings had a crispy skin that I appreciated against the juxtaposition of smooth sauce on the outside. They were both crispy and tender and not overly fatty. I would certainly order these wings again.
After some discussion, most of us decided to take advantage of the $9.99 lunch specials. Mr. Man, Mr. Katie, and I ordered personal sized pizzas which included a soup or a salad with the pizza. Mr. Katie and I chose the plain pizza, Mr. Man specified his be topped with pepperoni. Mr. Katie and I chose a cup of Maryland Crab soup and Mr. Man ordered a salad, which he shared with the table since he was not interested in soup or salad that day.
Nugget decided to go his own way and he ordered two slices of pepperoni pizza as his meal.
The menu has a variety of options including pizza, sandwiches, calzones, wings, burgers, and fries. However, I did not feel overwhelmed with too many options. It is more that they have pizza and you can add toppings from a list. They also have some specialty pizzas to chose from as well. There are also some other options. Perhaps, it is the way that the menu is constructed but I never felt like it is an insurmountable obstacle as menus can feel at times in other restaurants.
The crab soup that Mr. Katie and I ordered with our meal was very vegetable forward. I enjoyed that eating it made me feel like I was getting a serving of vegetables with my meal. I didn’t didn’t find much crab in the soup, but I liked that it was not overly seasoned with Old Bay as some foods in that coastal area can be. I liked that the lunch specials came with the addition of soup or a salad.
After an appropriate amount of time, our pizzas came. Mr. Man’s pizza was missing the pepperoni that he ordered. He told the server and his order was fixed and returned to the table a few minutes later.
Our personal pizzas were nicely sized which was a bonus because we were very hungry. The personal size was a little large for Mr. Man and he took half of his home. Grotto Pizza’s pizza is unusual in that they ladle sauce on top of the cheese in a signature swirl pattern.
The pizza dough has a thin crust, there is a plentiful amount of cheese and the tomato sauce is flavorful. We all liked our pizzas.
After scarfing our food, it was time to ask for our check and depart for home.
We did not partake in alcohol while we were there but Grotto Pizza also has large attractive bar area. It is located in a separate room.
Grotto Pizza’s name is a bit misleading. It is more casual dining restaurant with pizza than a traditional pizza parlor. It looks like it could be a location for a work event or happy hour with its bar area and open dining area and large bar.
We were impressed Grotto Pizza and were glad that we stopped. I would recommend Grotto Pizza and visit again especially is I am in Delaware.
