8th & Union Rated One of the 50 Best Brunch Restaurants in the U.S. by The Food Network!

Presenting 8th & Union Kitchen
It Replaces Union CIty Grille; Features American-Meets-Southeast Asian

Union City Grille owner Matthew Curtis, who has operated the restaurant since 2008, has turned the Wilmington eatery over to Brian Ashby, who will rename it 8th & Union Kitchen. The restaurant will feature a blend of contemporary American foods with strong Southeast Asian influences, says Ashby. The restaurant is slated to open this spring.

Craft beer, gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options will all be available, alongside tiki drinks and classic American-style cheeseburgers. The 150 seat restaurant will include a 25-seat deck, banquet area and more.

Ashby, also a chef, spent a few weeks in Thailand when he attended culinary school in Australia in 2007. He also worked in a Southeast Asian restaurant that focused on street food. "I've always been in love with it {Southeast Asian cuisine}, " Ashby says. READ MORE...

New Places, Familiar Faces

The Far East in Little Italy

Ashby, who studied at Le Cordon Bleu, has rearranged the restaurant's footprint. There's a 30 seat copper-topped bar and a total capacity of 150 indoors. He also added 24 seats outside. The hip décor features subway tiles and natural materials, including reclaimed wood. 

Ashby worked in a restaurant featuring Southeast Asian cuisine when he was in culinary school, and he's incorporating some of those dishes into the eclectic menu. "For lack of a better term, it's gastropub, but I'm not offering any sushi," he says. Although he could handle the kitchen, he's hired a chef, Scott Morozin, with whom he worked at Espuma in Rehoboth Beach. READ MORE...

It RESTAURANT TO VISIT IN WILMINGTON: 8TH & UNION KITCHEN

A new eatery has hit the streets of Wilmington—8th & Union Kitchen!

Serving up American and Asian cuisine with a contemporary twist, 8th & Union is already creating quite a buzz. On the Asian cuisine side, pork dumplings and pho are popular options. If you prefer to partake in American cuisine during your visit, the rib eye steak and fish and chips are exceptional as well. READ MORE...

A Gastropub with an Asian flair

At 8th & Union Kitchen in Wilmington, chef/owner Brian Ashby specializes in contemporary American and Southeast Asian cuisine—with a big emphasis on the latter. Think soft pork dumplings, piquant Thai beef salad and fragrant pho, the Vietnamese noodle soup that encourages “slurping.”

For hesitant palates, items like burgers, rib-eye steak and fish and chips are pleasant alternatives. READ MORE...

8th & Union Brings Asian food, L.A. flair to Wilmington

WILMINGTON – Customers tend to go through various stage of emotions when a familiar restaurant changes hands. First, there's sadness and, maybe, a little anger.

Oh, no! Why are they closing?

Then comes acceptance and anticipation.

What will the new owners do differently? Will it be better or worse than what was there before?  READ MORE...

Two new restaurants open in Wilmington

The former Union City Grille has been reborn as 8th & Union Kitchen. The new Southeast Asian inspired restaurant, in Wilmington's Little Italy neighborhood, opened in late April.

In November 2014, chef/owner Matthew Curtis announced he was selling the 805 N. Union St. eatery he purchased in 2008. The building had once been the home of Tarabicos restaurant. READ MORE...

Culinary school spotlight: Brandon Spencer

Owner Brian Ashby opened 8th & Union Kitchen in Wilmington last spring – just in time for Culinary School graduate Brandon Spencer to begin work.

Known by fellow class 39 classmates as Spence, the opportunity to attend the 14-week training program was exactly what he needed.

“The Culinary School helped me out a great deal,” he explained. READ MORE...

8th & Union Kitchen 5K

Click here for more information!

Wilmington Bar-Hopping Not Just for Trolley Square

Don’t look now, but Trolley Square is starting to face a little competition as Wilmington’s biggest bar district.

The city’s Little Italy has been adding trendy taverns and restaurants in recent years, giving the neighborhood more bar tops in a five-block stretch of North Union Street than even downtown’s Market Street.

In November, NorthQuarter Creole (837 N. Union St.) opened, giving bar-hoppers yet another stop among the cluster of Little Italy restaurants and bars that include newer spots 8th and Union Kitchen READ MORE...

Delaware Dining: The Old, The New and The Re-Do

Get out the tissues, vegetarians and soup-a-philes. Fresh Thymes, a hidden gem in Wilmington’s Forty Acres, has closed. Jenn Adams and her mother, Jane, opened the store in 2009, but decided to move on. De La Coeur Café has taken its place.

Sunna Juice Bar & Café in Trolley Square was open less than a year. Owner Alisa Morkides, who also owns the Brew HaHa! READ MORE...

Despite Hearing Impairment, Culinary Student Sets Big Goals

Matt Machulski is deaf.

But he never let his hearing impairment stop him from accomplishing his goals.

With many years experience in the food service industry, Matt came to The Culinary School with significantly more experience than some of his classmates.

Culinary School Spotlight:  Brandon Spencer

Owner Brian Ashby opened 8th & Union Kitchen in Wilmington last spring – just in time for Culinary School graduate Brandon Spencer to begin work.