Food trends for 2024: 4 things to expect from Wilmington-area restaurants

If you follow the constantly changing local food scene, you’ll undoubtedly see some patterns. They often also correspond with larger, national trends. Here’s a look at how some of them are playing out in the Wilmington area and may continue to do so in the coming weeks and months of the new year.

Coffee and cocktails

Social drinking was big locally in 2023, even if there's no alcohol involved. Several new cocktail spots (from Banter to the arcade-focused Rally Point Bar & Arcade) and coffee shops (like Brighter Days) opened in the area. But there’s also renewed interest in combining these two things. Espresso martinis are having a moment. In Wilmington, The Ibis in the Soda Pop District offers coffee by day and drinks by night and is also an example of a trendy vinyl / listening bar. Plus, the newly opened Concorde Espresso Bar in downtown’s Front Street Inn will add cocktail service soon, with a focus on caffeinated alcoholic beverages.

Snacking and noshing

Call it “girl dinner” (which is big on social) or just apps for dinner, but more diners are looking for mezze-style grazing when eating out, according to Yelp’s annual end-of-year roundup. The charcuterie board popularity continues. Grateful Graze, for example, is looking to open a Wilmington storefront this year. And Salita Pizza is one example of a restaurant offering a communal style meal filled with dips and small bites. Meanwhile, snackable seafood towers are big at spots like Seabird and Perla Raw Bar.

Fresh and healthy

In 2023, the Wilmington area saw an uptick in eateries with healthier options, from more poke restaurants (like the new Fun Bowl Poke & Boba Tea) to Nautical Bowls, a new location of which is set to open this year at Pier 33 in downtown Wilmington. It’s not stopping. The Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations, for example, are adding acai bowls to their menu for the first time this year.

Pop-ups and new ideas

Culinary experimentation reached a new level locally in 2023. While chefs have always hosted occasional events with special menus, the area is adding more ways and places for them to happen. Block Eatz restaurant and incubator kitchen opened on the North Campus of Cape Fear Community College and Ellipsis from the We Are True Blue restaurant group is essentially a series of different concepts all the time. And End of Days Distillery installed the onsite Concept Kitchen Co. onsite. Now, a new food hall is in the works in the Cargo District.

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Allison Ballard is the food and dining reporter at the StarNews. You can reach her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Restaurant trends to look for in Wilmington, NC, in 2024