(perky bright trumpet music) - [Kae Lani] Hi, I'm Kae Lani Palmisano.

Each week, three different guests recommend their favorite restaurants, then try each other's picks and come together to tell us what they think, right here on "Check, Please!"

(perky bright trumpet music ends) Hi, I'm Kae Lani Palmisano and welcome to "Check, Please!"

the show where regular people from all over the Philadelphia area recommend and review their favorite restaurants.

So here's how it all works.

Every week, we have three guests.

Each guest recommends their favorite restaurant and then the other two go check 'em out to see what they think.

This week, student, Riley Flanagan, thinks the Italian eats at her Wilmington pick deserve an A plus.

But videographer, Ven Schmidt, says the food at his Chinatown spot is a cut above the rest.

Up first though, dance therapist, Priya Roychoudhury says step right up to her recommended spot.

For live music and whiskey tastings, she heads to the Twisted Tail in Society Hill.

(upbeat blues music) - My name is George Reilly.

I'm the owner and operator here at the Twisted Tail in Philadelphia.

We are an Americano restaurant.

We have heavy roots in Southern American cuisine and hospitality.

Our three strengths to our bow really are our cuisine, our bourbon program, and our live music as well six nights a week.

It started off with my travels to the southern part of the States actually, where I became very familiar with Southern hospitality.

At that moment, I was thinking of possibly opening up an English pub 'cause the English pub is all about the social scene, getting to know the publican, buying each other drinks, really learning who your neighbors are from sitting next to 'em at a bar or sharing some food at a table.

And I really found that replicated in the southern part of the States.

We hope that we've done something other than just provide really great food and drink.

There are so many offerings in the city and then their feeling when they come, when they leave is to tell their friends and make their reservation to come back.

- Priya, the Twisted Tail has so much energy in that space.

Why did you pick it?

- I really like the general vibes and energy of the place.

I feel like it's a wonderful area to go to.

I kind of think that after a long day of work, it's good to sink into this place and just relax, eat lots of food.

It's mostly small plates.

There's jazz and blues that's live that plays on the weekends, and there's like wonderful drinks.

I just love it overall.

- And this time around, you started your meal with the Spanish octopus.

- Oh, they're so good.

- How was it?

- It was really good, so they give you two, like tentacles, it's like from the grill.

So they're nicely charred, but they're not chewy.

They're perfectly done, and it's over these like little beans.

So it gives like a good mix of textures.

That little crunch from the beans versus the chewiness from the octopus.

Really nice spice, but not too fishy.

- I completely agree with you.

I think the char on it was absolutely delicious.

- [Priya] Yeah.

- And I was honestly, like not even expecting that.

- [Priya] No.

- So with an octopus, I was expecting more of a fishy type, like creamy sauce.

But it was more charred, almost done as though it was another meat or something like that.

- Yeah.

- But it was absolutely delicious even though it seemed like there didn't have a lot of spices and seasoning on it, but it still tasted delicious and not dry at all.

- You also tried the barbecue ribs and the smoked wings.

How were they?

- Both of them, the barbecue ribs and the smoked wing, they both fell right off the bone as soon as you ate them, especially the barbecue ribs.

I was absolutely obsessed with them because the sauce on it, I couldn't explain the sauce 'cause you know, barbecue sauce, I love that in general.

But it was a like some sort of sweet, mapley taste to it.

- Was that with the ribs or with the?

- The ribs.

- Oh, okay.

- Yes, and it was absolutely delicious.

- Ven, you're a bit of a wing aficionado.

- Yeah.

- [Kae Lani] So you've tried the wings here.

How were they?

- Yeah, I'm not really, I'm an octopus guy, but I do like me some wings.

I thought the wings were really good too.

They were perfectly cooked.

- And, Ven, you got mixed greens as well.

Is that, was that like a salad?

- Yeah, it was, I think they had like a vinaigrette dressing.

It was kind of like sour which I really liked.

- [Kae Lani] Ooh.

- [Ven] I wasn't expecting it to be sour, but it was, I think it was like arugula.

It was a really, really good salad.

- Priya, what did you get for your entree?

- So I actually did the tasting menu.

I think I got the squid ink pasta, the squid ink linguini.

It was super good.

I love mussels because they basically just taste like the sauce that they're in which is usually garlic.

And this was like a very simple tomato sauce.

It wasn't like overpowering.

The squid ink pasta, I think I only had that once or twice before, and it was really good.

It wasn't obnoxious.

The textures again, were a really nice mix of the pasta plus the, like almost chewiness of the mussels.

It was just like this perfect salty, but not too salty.

- Riley, how was the cornbread?

- So, the cornbread was very good.

Again, it was big like the mac and cheese, even though it was considered a side dish, which it should be considered a full dessert, and it wasn't dry at all.

And I was expecting it just to be like a plain old cornbread, just like how normal cornbread is.

This cornbread, they added some maple drizzle to it.

- [Kae Lani] Mm.

- And when they put that maple drizzle to it, I was like, I just couldn't help but wanna eat more.

- Someone here got mac and cheese though.

- Yes, yes, yes.

- Yes, yes.

- You got mac and cheese.

- They're so good.

(ladies laugh) - Yes.

We also got the mac and cheese.

They had breadcrumbs on it, which I, if you put breadcrumbs on mac and cheese, I feel like that's how you know it's going.

- [Priya] It's over.

Right.

It's over.

- [Riley] It's always delicious when you do it like that, yeah.

- [Priya] So it's crawfish mac and cheese, right?

Usually, when you get like a seafood mac and cheese, there's like a couple pieces on top, right?

But there was crawfish throughout the whole thing.

It was so creamy.

There was plenty of fish, plenty of pasta.

- It was like every bite you take, there was like fish- - Fish and pasta, - and everything.

And it was, that's what you're looking for.

- Priya, you also tried a tuna crudo and a burrata.

- Yes.

- [Kae Lani] How was it?

- So the tuna was one of my other favorite part, aside from that, mac and cheese.

It came in this little wonton cup which is a perfect like, bite-size, type thing.

It had cubed pieces of tuna, avocado at the bottom, and pieces of cubed cucumber.

The buratta was great.

I'm a big cheese person, so that was a no-brainer when it came to picking something from that portion of the menu.

It comes with grilled bread, which you know, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, so good.

And then these like long carrots, which almost tasted like potatoes.

I don't know, they were really soft and so it was the perfect thing to spread the cheese on the bread and put a carrot on top, and give yourself the perfect bite.

- So this is beyond just cheese?

- Oh, oh, it's beyond cheese.

- There's also deep love and appreciation for some beets at this table.

- Yeah.

(Riley and Priya laugh) - How were they, Ven?

- They were really good.

I'm not like a beet guy, but the person who I was with us like, "These beets are so good, you have to try it."

And I was like, "What?"

So I tried it and they're pretty good.

Very good color palette too.

- [Priya] Yeah.

- [Ven] They were like decorated on the plate.

- [Kae Lani] Oh.

- [Ven] It was really nice.

- [Kae Lani] A beautiful presentation.

- [Ven] They made these beets- - [Riley] Yes.

- [Ven] the best beets in the world.

- Yeah.

Best beets you've ever had?

- Yeah.

- They were extremely fresh and absolutely delicious with every bite.

- So, really, it was just like, just roasted beets with a type of creamy sauce.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- [Kae Lani] Wow that's.

- It was really simple, but it was really good.

- Ven, what did you get for drinks?

- I got a classic Miller Light.

- [Kae Lani] Classic.

- [Ven] Whenever, I love going to a bar and just getting regular beer, doesn't gotta be fancy.

No, like IPAs or anything like that and just getting some wings.

It's like the perfect combo.

- All right.

- [Ven] I love it.

- And it kind of fits with the night, you know?

'Cause you also watched some live music while you were there.

- [Ven] Yeah.

It's just very chill.

- [Priya] Yeah, no frills.

- [Ven] It's a very chill vibes.

No frills.

It's not super fancy.

It's just like you walk into a bar with your buddies and you're just chilling.

- Riley, what did the flight of drinks consist of?

- [Riley] Two of them were whiskey and one of them was a rum.

I'm a big whiskey girl.

It was like really good whiskey.

You could tell it was very welly brewed.

- And how about you?

What did you try for drinks?

- So first, I had the Lynchburg Basil Lemonade which was like a Jack Daniels and then homemade basil lemonade.

I went on a warmer day, so it was super refreshing.

I knew it was a whiskey bar, so I went with my boyfriend.

I made him get some whiskey.

(laughing) (Kae Lani laughing) They have a whiskey of the month and so they make a Manhattan with it.

- [Riley] It was so smooth.

- [Priya] And then I also had Black Cherry Cosmo.

It was like a perfectly sweet Martini.

- Ven, do you think that the prices were fair?

- I do.

Especially for a bar in Old City where usually it's like pretty pricey and you're like, why is this so expensive?

It was very reasonably priced, I think, for the location and what you were getting.

- Priya, Twisted Tail is your pick.

Sum it up for us.

- I would say it is a laid-back, blues bar, whiskey bar with wonderful New Orleans style food.

Great place to go after a long day.

- All right, and Riley, your final thoughts?

- I think the Twisted Tail is really the best place to go if you wanna go with a big group of friends, have some good, high-quality food, but also a great hangout spot to hang out at the bar, even sit at the couches, and play some games if you wanted.

- All right.

And Ven, bring it on home.

- If you wanna go to a bar in Philly with your buddies and just hang out with chill vibes and good food, the Twisted Tail is your spot.

- Plan your own visit to Twisted Tail located at 509 South 2nd Street in Philadelphia, 215-558-2471.

Reservations are accepted and the average tab per person without drinks is $40.

Ven Schmidt says he knows the best place to sit down and share food with a group of friends.

For soup dumplings and eggplant in Chinatown, he recommends Dim Sum Garden.

(upbeat music) - My name is Sally Song.

I'm general manager of Dim Sum Garden.

The famous dish is the handmade pork soup dumpling is the secret has a soup inside and the shumai and some a lot the small dish.

(upbeat music) The Dim Sum Garden is a Shanghai-based traditional restaurant.

So everything is used the handmade.

For the pork soup dumpling and the pork sauce noodle, make the noodle is always the handmade.

Oh, we story is starting 2003 when my mom come to the USA.

She is the fifth generation of the whole, the recipe, make the soup dumpling.

Everything is fresh and very healthy, and then make sure we choice the production is per days to market to get the fresh food, right?

- Ven, Dim Sum Garden, such a unique spot.

Why did you pick it?

- I'm a big fan of dumplings.

I like soup, so when you put 'em in a little pouch, it's the best.

It's the best dumplings in the city, probably in the country.

- Oh, yeah.

And there's so much variety too.

- Yeah.

- That you can share with a lot of people.

But walk us through these soup dumplings because this is probably one of their cornerstone dishes at Dim Sum Garden.

- It is what they're known for.

It's on the logo, very known for their dumplings.

When I usually go there, I get the chicken soup dumplings and my husband gets the pork soup dumplings.

This time, 'cause of the show, I wanted to try something different, and I got the vegetable soup dumplings, and they were really good.

- What was the difference between like a chicken dumpling and then the vegetable?

What did that taste like?

- Well, the chicken dumpling literally tastes like chicken soup, like a pocket of chicken soup.

And the vegetable dumpling had more of like a sweetness to it that I wasn't expecting, but it was a very welcome surprise.

- Priya, how were your soup dumplings?

'Cause of course, you can't go to Dim Sum Garden without getting the soup dumplings.

- They were so good and that was the first time I had tried soup dumplings, and I found myself like in social situations for months after, being like, "I tried this thing called soup dumplings.

Have you ever heard of it?"

- That was my first time ever having soup dumplings as well and I was so shocked at how delicious and flavorful they were.

I've had dumplings before from takeout places and they've been dry in the past or a little plain but these, like you took a bite, it was absolutely flavorful.

But then the meat itself was really good.

- Yeah.

- They're not injecting soup into the dumplings.

- How did they make them?

- Yeah.

I wanna know how it happens.

- I have no idea.

I have no idea.

I think it's like a secret.

- If you have to go to the restroom, you walk by the kitchen, right?

- Okay.

- And you can watch them making them.

So it's just the dumpling exterior.

Then they put the filling, and it's just a filling, but in the steaming process, part of that filling liquefies into a soup.

So it's like the filling, but also a little bit of broth that kind of seeps out, and of course, it's dim sum.

So there are a lot of other things to try from.

And I know you tried some red bean cakes as well, Riley, how were they?

- Yeah, so I'd say the red bean cakes were pretty good.

They were definitely very high quality, and I really liked them a lot.

- [Priya] Yeah.

I had them too.

I don't know if I've had red bean before.

It was a really good, first of all, the texture was really nice.

It was pretty soft, but not mushy.

- [Riley] Yeah.

- There was sesame seeds on the top and the red bean is sweet, but not overly sweet.

- Riley, how are the shrimp noodles?

- The shrimp noodles were really, really good.

The noodles were so thick, and it was in this really nice good sauce.

And then also the shrimp was cooked to perfection, I would say.

- You also tried pork wontons?

- Yes.

- With the chili oil?

- Mm-hmm.

- Tell us about that.

- Yeah, so I got the pork wontons as well.

And again, that, I was really impressed with the flavor behind that.

So I was expecting it again to be as I've had dumplings in the past.

It was, or like wonton, it's just kinda dry, just plain meat and then the wonton, but they actually added the chili oil on top.

And it also was a perfect blend of sweetness, but then also good pork flavoring.

- Oh, I also got the pork and chive dumplings.

- [Kae Lani] Oh.

- [Priya] I got these ones fried.

It was a burst of flavor.

It was one of my favorites and it's such a simple, such a simple dish, but it was so good.

- So I've been on like a spice kick lately, which is weird.

I don't like spicy food.

But lately, I guess I'm of the age room now, officially an adult, and I'd love spicy food.

(ladies laughing) So I got the sliced beef with hot pepper is what it's called on the menu, and I put some white rice on it.

And it's, honestly, probably, my favorite thing I had- - [Kae Lani] Really?

- in the meal 'cause I'm used to the dumplings now.

So for me, it's like, oh I have these pretty often, but this new sliced beef with the hot pepper, I was like wow, this is so good.

- [Priya] Okay.

- 'Cause it's just sliced up jalapenos with sliced up, marinated beef, so it's just the right amount of kick.

It's not too spicy, but it's so good.

- Priya, what other entrees did you try?

- I tried the duck.

- [Kae Lani] Yes.

- [Priya] It was the crispy salty duck, I think.

I prefer the dim sum.

This was like, it was good, it was good duck, but it was pretty simple.

It was just duck.

- Riley, what kind of drinks did you get?

- So I actually got the bubble tea, and I really like bubble tea.

I drink it all the time and it was really good.

I was really impressed by it.

It was nice and sweet and it was flavorful as opposed to some places when you get black milk tea, it's just tastes plain black tea.

But I like how they put the perfect amount of sugar.

It wasn't over sugary where you were drinking it and you were like, oh my god, I'm gonna get a sugar high from this, but it was pretty good.

- What did you think of the service?

Because sometimes, there can be a little bit of a weight, but you lucked out this time.

- [Riley] Yeah, so for me, I first got there, and it was just around dinner time.

It was a Friday night, so you know you were expecting it to be packed.

I walked past and you could see the whole restaurant, like with the big windows, was fully packed, and there was a line out the door just to get, like put your name in.

And I was like, "Oh, my god.

Guys, we're gonna be here like a little while."

I only waited 15 minutes to get a table and then by the time I got there, I was so overwhelmed by the menu that I kept, like I didn't know what to get.

But our waitress was so good about not trying to push the boundaries, but yet, somehow we were in and out of there so quickly because the food came out really fast.

And it was just all really great.

- Ven, Dim Sum Garden is your pick.

Sum it up for us.

- If you want, probably the best soup dumplings in the city or in the state or whatever, go to Dim Sum Garden with your buddies.

It's always the best time.

- All right, Riley, what are your final thoughts?

- Yeah, quick, good service, but also high-quality food for a good price.

Dim Sum's the place to go.

- And Priya, what's your final takeaway?

- Best dumplings I've had ever.

Great and easy to go with a big group of friends, fast service, great quality food.

It's the place to go.

- Check out Dimsum Garden at 1020 Race Street in Philadelphia, 215-873-0258.

Reservations are not accepted and the average tab per person without drinks is $20.

Riley Flanagan is a self-proclaimed foodie, and she loves the elevated Italian fair at her recommended spot.

For innovative dishes and locally sourced ingredients, she heads to Bardea Food and Drink in Wilmington, Delaware.

(upbeat music) - We opened Bardea back in 2018, and we just wanted to open up a great restaurant downtown.

In the first four months that we were open, we got a James Beard nomination for Best New Restaurant in the country.

That was a game changer for us.

We saw this community root us on, just to be in that list of great restaurants was such an honor, but we saw how much pride this city had.

- Yeah, so our cuisine at Bardea is Italian-inspired.

We definitely kind of take inspirations from all over, whether it be Mexican cuisine, Asian cuisine, but definitely at its heart and soul.

It's, you know, kind of represents even things that my grandmother would cook for me and my Nona would cook for me at home.

- I'm a third-generation restaurant guy.

My great-grandfather used to have bars and restaurants on the docks of Old City and when it's in your blood, similar to Antimo, he's family's been doing it forever, too, it's something, it's just, I don't know life without being a part of the restaurant.

When guests come in here, part of the fun and the magical part is there's a lot of names of dishes that people are familiar or greetings people are familiar with, but the way we do it, the servers walk them through, navigate them through an experience.

It's almost like creating a little miniature tasting menu, and this is our house, and we like to have people feel that way that are dining in our kitchen.

- Riley, there is a reason that Bardea is Italian for the goddess of food and drink.

Tell us why you picked it.

- Because I loved the atmosphere in there.

You walk in, it's bustling, hustling, it's very fun atmosphere.

Every time a food was brought out, there was a story behind every single dish that was brought out.

You could just like almost feel the flavors when they were talking about it and then when you ate it, it made the experience that much better.

- You started your meal with the lobster taquitos.

- [Riley] Yes.

- How were they?

- Usually when you get like a taquito or any type of seafood, they're very skimpy with it.

It was completely stuffed to the full, it was delicious.

I loved the lobster, crab meat in there.

It was very delicious and very flavorful.

- Ven, how did you start your meal?

- I got chicken wings, just like the last time.

- See, you love chicken wings.

- Same as always.

- Of course, you have the chicken wings.

- Well, when you go to a restaurant that has beer and chicken wings, it's like the perfect combo.

- [Kae Lani] Of course.

(Riley and Priya chuckles) - [Ven] So I got chicken wings, got some beer, and it was good.

They're probably the best chicken wings I've ever had.

They had like some green onions sprinkle on top of it, but when I ate it, it just kind of came off right off the bone.

You didn't have to tug at it, it just peeled right off, and it was just so good.

I don't really know how to describe it other than saying these chicken wings were to die for, like everybody should get these chicken wings.

- And then you also tried the risotto.

- Yeah.

- How was it?

- Once again, it was just so good.

There was like this weird, marmalade, I guess it, or like a jelly at the bottom that kind of added like a subtle sweetness to it.

And it was just, it's one of those things where you eat it and you're like, oh, my god, like what's in this?

- [Kae Lani] Risotto is also one of those things that can be a little too aldente or like too mushy.

Was it right in the middle there?

- It was perfect, yeah.

- I feel like this place is special to you was adding that little sauce at the bottom or this little side, you know, sauce or spice, or flavor that really just elevated the whole dish.

- [Kae Lani] Yeah, they're taking traditional Italian flavors and then playing with them and really playing things up.

- And I really noticed that with every single plate.

- I know you tried some pizza.

How was it?

- Oh, it was so good.

- Was it the upside-down pizza?

- It was called the upside-down pizza.

It wasn't exactly upside down.

- Okay.

(ladies laughing) - It wasn't like just.

- It wasn't flipped over.

- They just didn't flip it.

- Right.

They served it to us crust up.

No.

(laughing) It was so good.

There was a great ratio of cheese-to-sauce, which is really important for pizza.

It was like a thin crust, but then the crust at the edges was really just like, you could tell it was very fresh dough.

I'm not usually a crust person, but I ate the entirety of this stuff.

- Now, what makes it an upside down pizza?

Is it the cheese on the bottom and then the sauce?

- I think so.

(laughing) - Okay.

Okay.

(laughing) I just wanted to clarify.

- And the toppings were underneath is from what I remember.

- Oh, okay.

I see.

- Yeah, yeah.

- How about that pork collar.

- Oh, so good.

- Oh, my god.

You can go first.

(laughing) (everyone laughing) - Okay, so there was this like candy ginger as well as this pineapple, right?

And so they're all good separately, but then once you stack it, whole different game.

It's so good, so flavorful.

- [Kae Lani] Nothing like mixing up bites too.

That's really fun.

- [Priya] Yeah, right?

Not a single bite of it was dry, it was like I barely needed a knife.

- You just like used the fork to just, almost like, tear it off.

and it just came right apart.

And it was so juicy and flavorful, you didn't need that.

But then when you added the pineapple and the candy, oh, my god.

It was just, I couldn't get enough of it.

- What other entrees did you try?

- Ricotta gnocchi.

They said, this is actually one of their most popular dishes or their dish, they're known for.

It was really delicious.

And when the gnocchi came out, it was seemed like a very plain dish, but somehow, it tasted really good and everybody was fluffy and I don't know, cloudy, I don't know.

- I saw you nearly jump out of the chair when you heard gnocchi.

(everybody laughs) - It was so good, and it ended up being the first plate that came.

They kind of, you give them a list of what you want and they kind of, the waiter or waitress paces it themselves, so that you don't get too many things at once.

It was just the most amazing thing to start off on.

I don't know it, you're right, it sounds so simple, but it tasted like you're biting into a cloud.

- Ven, how about you?

What other entrees did you try?

- I got the bolognese which was really good.

It's one, again, it's one of those things where it's I eat this pretty frequently, but then when I had this one I was like, whoa, like what's in this?

It's so good.

- Riley, what did you get for dessert?

- Yes, so it came out, and it looked like one of those upside-down pineapple cake things, but it was like a donut and it was flaky, it was doughey, it tasted delicious like a donut, but crispy on the outside, doughey on the inside.

It also came with ice cream and the marmalade.

And you just combined it all together, and it was so delicious and it was like a white, tastes like a white chocolate-like.

- Priya, you had the Tiramisu tart which is a unique combination of desserts.

- It was so good, so first of all, when we order the tiramisu tart, the waitress was like, "Oh, is it okay if there's an avocado on the side?"

And we we're like, "Is it ever not okay (laughing) for there to be an avocado on the side?"

The presentation was really nice.

It came with, so it was like this tart, the avocado and then there was edible gold on top which- - [Ven] Whoa.

- [Priya] just stuck out, right?

- [Kae Lani] Very fancy.

- [Priya] I had never had that before, so it was really, it was very fun.

The tart itself was super good.

The crust was really flaky, but like thick enough for it to not fall apart.

And we ended up dipping the tart into the espresso.

It was great.

- Of course.

Riley, do you have any go-to drinks?

- I'm a huge chai tea latte girly, like I love chai teas.

That's just like my go-to whenever I go to a coffee shop and they had a drink, has all their drinks, like they have really fancy fun names to them.

- Yeah, - Which I really liked.

And one of them was called, It's Worth a Chai.

(everyone laughing) - And was it.

(laughing) - Yes it was.

- Wow.

- It was absolutely so good.

And they had some like foam on top of it, so it looked like a chai tea, but obviously it wasn't.

But it was like an alcoholic chai tea and it tasted like chai.

You were drinking, but like alcoholic, so that was really good.

- [Ven] That's awesome.

- I also tried one that was called The Working Girl and then I ended the night having trying, it was a blueberry cobbler IPA and I was like, I've never seen this before, but I have to try it.

- [Priya] Yeah.

- So I tried it, tasted like blueberry cobbler beer.

(laughing) - What did you think of the service, Priya?

- I really enjoyed the service, so I think they did a great job.

The menu's huge and because it's small plates, like it's always a little overwhelming, right?

You never really know what to do.

Our waitress was really good and straightforward, transparent about, they recommend seven plates for a couple of people and they're very clear about like the plates are different sizes.

- It's a well-paced meal where they work like clockwork where they come, they present one dish, they tell you the story behind it, all of the information and then, you know, make sure that your drinks are topped off.

But it's very orderly and very choreographed.

- [Ven] Yeah, - Well, Riley, Bardea is your pick.

- Yes.

- Sum it up for us.

- Bardea is the perfect place that really cultivates a sharing food experience and also a place that has, if you're looking for some unique, high-quality, flavorful food, that's the place to go.

- All right.

Ven, what's the big takeaway?

- If you want really good food that's really fancy-looking and you wanna impress a date, I would recommend going to Bardea.

It was so good.

I loved it.

- And Priya, what are your final thoughts?

- I think if you want food that sounds like you've heard of it before, but you really need it to be a step up.

You want it to be be a little fancier, a little tastier, have that extra layer added, Bardea is your place.

- Try the inventive Italian dishes for yourself at Bardea, located at 620 North Market Street in Wilmington, Delaware, 302-426-2069.

Reservations are accepted and the average tab per person without drinks is $40.

So on this week's show, we featured the Twisted Tail in Society Hill, Dim Sum Garden in Chinatown, and Bardea Food and Drink in Wilmington, Delaware.

I wanna give a huge special thank you to my guests, Priya Roychoudhury, Ven Schmidt, and Riley Flanagan.

Join us next time for three new guests recommending their favorite restaurants right here on "Check, Please!"

And don't forget to find us on Instagram and TikTok.

We're @checkpleasephilly.

I'm Kae Lani Palmisano, and I'll see you next time.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

- Yay!

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