Tonic Seafood and Steak
/tänik/ Adjective 1. Providing a feeling of vigor or well-being; invigorating.
Tonic Seafood & Steak is downtown Wilmington's hottest destination for creative cuisine, including some of the best steaks in the area. Multiple private dining areas make it perfect for all entertaining needs. The bar encircled with flat screens is always happening. Whether you are joining us for the city’s most talked-about Happy Hour or your favorite sporting event, we want each guest to have a feeling of “Tonic”. We are building lasting relationships with our guests by serving excellence. We look forward to welcoming you into our restaurant and sharing our experience with you!
Safety precautions
- Surfaces sanitized between seatings
- Common areas deep cleaned daily
- Digital, disposable or sanitized menu provided
- Sanitizer or wipes provided for customers
- Contactless payment available
- Sealed or wrapped utensils used
- Limited number of seated diners
- Distancing maintained in common areas
- Extra space between tables
- Waitstaff wear masks
- Diners must wear masks unless eating or drinking
- Sick staff prohibited in the workplace
Popular dishes
Hanger Steak
8 reviews
French Onion
caramelized onions, beef broth, french bread, swiss & provolone cheese
3 reviews
Grilled Peaches
prosciutto, house ricotta, pine nuts, balsamic drizzle
3 reviews
Electrical issue caused lights to go up and down every few minutes. 2 parties that night were very loud and distracting but otherwise the food was amazing.
Amazing food, setting and definitely would recommend others to go! I will be going back for sure!
This was our first time dining at Tonic. The Caesar salad and rolls were very good. My husband and I both felt our steaks, mashed potatoes, and risotto were severely lacking salt. We both ordered our steaks cooked medium, and my filet was medium rare and his NY strip was medium well. Our server was pleasant and very attentive. Overall, not a bad meal, just a little underwhelming.
Food was great, service was fine. Would dine here again.
Their food was great, it was a nice ambiance and the service was beyond excellent.
This restaurant is in a great location downtown. The ambience was wonderful, lighting was just dim enough with tables spread out and romantic music playing. Our waitress was all business, efficient but not particularly pleasant. We did not wait long for our meals and when the food came out it was hot. The best thing we ate was the baked potatoes which where crispy and buttery. My wife’s steak was tough like leather and my crab cakes were runny and tasted like mayonnaise. Not the quality we expected for a high dollar downtown restaurant where entrees run 35-40+ and everything al a carte. We may or not return based on our service and meals. If the restaurant could bring the food quality up to match the price and excellent ambiance it would be a winner.
My girlfriend and I had a great experience at Tonic for Valentine’s Day dinner. Kim N was our server and helped answer all of our questions. The food was absolutely phenomenal and the atmosphere was great. We will definitely be back again soon!
Dinner reservation at 7:00 with no wait whatsoever. My wife and I both had the fillet and it was cooked to perfection. Great place to dine - we will be back soon
Outstanding food and excellent service. One of the best steaks I have had in a while- perfectly prepared.
Our waitress Kim made the experience amazing. She provided great service. The food was good and the restaurant is beautiful inside. Nice place for a date or girls night or just happy hour. Multi purpose ambience!
Went to dinner with my date for Valentine's Day fully expecting to cover a high tab, so that's not a problem. My issue with the food cost comes in that for $56, I expected my dry-aged 16oz. ribeye to be absolutely mouth-watering. What I got was a bland (yet tender) steak and some tasteless mashed potatoes. When I say tasteless mashed potatoes, I mean there was absolutely no flavor beyond the demi-glace, which was admittedly delicious in its own right. And no vegetables. Most every higher-end meal I've ever had has been protein, starch, vegetable. Seems like a cheap omission.
As for the service, I was very unimpressed. We waited nearly 10 minutes for every round of drinks we ordered, had to ask for bread (an amenity automatically provided to other tables nearby by other servers), and had to wait with empty plates for at least 10-15 minutes before we were able to order our next course. It seemed like our server couldn't wait to run off again every time they showed up, even though there couldn't have been more than 4-5 tables in their section.
Lastly, the ambiance was very lackluster. We were sat in what appeared to be a small ballroom (wide open, hard floors, no décor) under a harsh spotlight, in a corner. The only part of the restaurant that seemed to have any ambiance whatsoever was the bar area.
I probably won't ever go back to Tonic for anything other than cocktails. It was 4-star money for 2-star food.
Had been to this restaurant several times when it was Deep Blue and always had an enjoyable meal, not so with Tonic. From the minute we walked in the door, the hostess, who by the way was dressed in jeans and devoid of personality, to the minute we left, I regretted my choice of Tonic. The server was nice, but my martinis were terrible as was what was identified on the menu as filet mignon. It was tough and dry on the outside and virtually raw on the inside as if it had been frozen, it didn’t look or taste like any filet I have had before. The duck we ordered was OK, zero ambiance. Will not be going back and do not recommend.
We had a wonderful experience atmosphere perfect band nice food excellent!!!!
The food was good but not great.
The goat cheese appetizer was the best part of the meal.
Server/Bartender was very nice. Food was terrible. Had a $48 steak that was simply awful. Won’t be returning and I don’t recommend this restaurant.
I will start off by saying that I understand it’s Covid. There is some serious stuff happening in the world . We are people who spend for a great meal. Our experience walking into Tonic was one of the most offputting and inhospitable initial impressions we have ever encountered.
Once we were seated our hostess told us we had 90 minutes to use the table because it was going to be a busy Saturday night. We felt like our entire meal was on the clock , in fact they should have just a plunked own a timer because after that we didn’t really feel like we were there to imbibe and enjoy ourselves . We were a party of two celebrating my birthday we had layers of appetizers a seafood tower two fillets we were there to spend on food and drinks and when it came to our 90 minutes our lovely server asked if we would like dessert and we said we couldn’t because we had to go we were told we can only have the table for 90 minutes. We could tell that she wasn’t happy and she even went as far as to find us some seats at the bar but we were not comfortable as they were spaced closely together . We finished the rest of our evening across the street at LaCavalier where we spent handsomely but we would have gladly spent that money at Tonic if we were not made to feel like we were not supposed to be there
The ambience, the service, the food, the location. Everything about this restaurant has made it a space that I frequent regularly and recommend it to anyone.
We tried Tonic on the advice of a friend. Parking was near-by and inexpensive. We were promptly escorted to our table and seated alongside the windows of the dining 4room, which provided a great view of the passing street scene. The interior ambiance was also very welcoming. It was "modern bar" warmed by some creative light fixtures. Live music was being sung and played in the opposite room, but we were able to see the performer and hear her quite well. She was very good. There were also television sets on the wall for those who wanted to follow sports. Neither were obtrusive. They were nice to have. Our waitress, Heli, was pleasant and well informed regarding the specials and preparations. Her timing was very good. We were neither rushed nor neglected. The menu in general is rather meager. The wines by the glass offerings were scanty, but we both found acceptable choices in a Chardonnay and a Super Tuscan. My wife started with the Grilled Octopus, while I had the French Onion Soup. Freshly baked rolls were served and Heli provided olive oil in place of the standard butter, at our request. For entrees, my wife had the Halibut special and I chose the NY Strip Steak. All food ordered was delicious, cooked precisely to order, and served appropriately hot. We finished the evening with cordials (Limoncello and Port) and Cappuccino. It was a very pleasant dining experience and the cost was reasonable. In my opinion, after 2-3 visits I would run out of menu options. That is the only thing keeping Tonic from a 5-star rating.
We both had the crabcakes. They were small but excellent tasting. Sauteed spinach was yummy ! Salad was very fresh and delicious.
Our meal was great. We sat at the bar so the bartender would tipped. She did a great job.
Tonic was recommended by a friend. What a great recommendation it was!!! Our server was very efficient and friendly. We were about an hour early for our reservation, we were immediately seated. Very good menu selections. Excellent Beer, Wine, and Spirits list. The flow of our meal was perfect. apps were great, my 16oz bone in ribeye was fantastic, cooked as ordered. We will make sure to go back!
The Oysters and Seafood Salad was Amazing! I came back the next day for the Seafood Salad, that’s how much I LOVED it!
Excellent service and delicious food. We ordered the seafood tower and each of us got a different cut steak, each one was done to our liking...tender and delicious...maybe a little more coarse salt to caramelize during sear but...excellent meal regardless!
I'd absolutely recommend anyone to dine at Tonic. The food is excellent and the service and ambience are top notch.
Great service, comfortable atmosphere, tasty food!
We had a wonderful outdoor dining experience in chilly weather. The service and food were fantastic. Look forward to another meal there soon!
We had the most amazing dinner. Our waiter Cory was prompt and knowledgeable and really added to the experience. The food was absolutely perfect. The filet was cooked perfectly, crab cakes were the perfect combination and the fried calamari was the best I have had. Thank you for making our special night!
We are so happy to hear that you had a wonderful experience and that Cory took good care of you! Hope to see you again soon!
Great restaurant with great service! Our server Teddy was awesome!
I took my boyfriend to Tonic for a nice birthday dinner, and we were very excited to check It out. We ordered 2 rounds of drinks, the “after school special”, the “RAD”, and the “la fresita” and all were very good, but the food was a different story. For appetizers, we got the calamari (which was just ok) and the sticky cauliflower which was subpar. The cauliflower was basically just steamed cauliflower with a pool of sauce beneath It, and lacked any flavor. For dinner my boyfriend ordered the crab cakes, which were about $30 and were not good. The crab cakes were soggy, lacked flavor and tasted like they were frozen or sitting under a heat lamp for a longtime. I got the curry chickpea cakes, which the cakes themselves were good, but the cauliflower purée had a strange taste to It. It also was a turn off when we ordered our entrees and they came out in less than 5 minutes... therefore telling us they were not made to order and were not fresh. Despite the disappointing food, our server was great and very nice! She noticed that my boyfriend had not eaten his crab cakes and took a round of drinks off our bill. Overall, It was way too expensive for the quality. The bill was almost $200 (with tip) and nothing was impressive. If we ever go back, It would just be for cocktails.
The server brought water over but didn’t ask for our drink order. It took several passes by our table to finally say we wanted drinks. Other than that, the service was fine. My ribeye was just mediocre. Definitely not worth the $42. My wife said the same of her filet. The Brussels sprouts were very good however with a variety of flavors and textures that complemented each other.
If we were to come back, we’d only order apps and stay away from the steaks. We expected more based on the prices.
Place is beautiful, the service was good but the food was not as we expected. Menu sounded great but Halibut dinner was so bland and I didn’t feel full, it was a decent size piece of fish but you get arugula and fruit with it. Not filling at all for the price!! The mushrooms ravioli came out in heaping bowl but were not very good. Barely any sauce on them. Overall, they have a Nice drink menu and the live music was cool for a Saturday night. I’ll definitely try it one more time to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Came to see our friend’s band play Saturday night. Our group all ordered steak dinners of various cuts. Dinner was delicious & service was very good. Tonic is always one of our favorite places to visit for good music & great food.
We're so happy that you enjoyed your Saturday night with us! We have live music every Friday and Saturday, so please come back again soon!
Very nice dining experience at Tonic. The service was outstanding. The menu options were extensive. Very enjoyable!
Thank you for your 5 star review Annette! Hope to see you soon!
The 16oz bone-in ribeye was to die for!! Melt in your mouth juicy and cooked to perfection.
Thank you for your 5 star review! We're so happy you enjoyed your steak! Hope to see you soon!
The service was very quick and our waitress answered any of our questions.
Thank you for your 5 star review! Hope to see you soon!
My birthday
Had dinner at their outside area. Good food and service
The lights kept going up and down; they need to stick to one level.... Annoyed me the entire time. Also, they need a bigger menu.
Excellent service, excellent food. Perfect birthday dinner.
Brandy was fantastic. The food was excellent.
FAQs
You can order delivery directly from Tonic Seafood and Steak using the Order Online button. Tonic Seafood and Steak also offers delivery in partnership with Uber Eats. Tonic Seafood and Steak also offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (302) 777-2040.
Tonic Seafood and Steak is rated 4.5 stars by 991 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.