We have all the details on a new downtown Wilmington restaurant from Toscana's Dan Butler

UPDATE: Dan Butler said on Monday, April 22, he had to push back the scheduled April 22 opening date for his new breakfast/lunch cafe The BlueBird at 500 Delaware Ave. in downtown Wilmington. He said he and partner Brian Walsh are currently doing menu prep and training at the site and are waiting for permits. "We're getting close," Butler said.

Piccolina Toscana owner Dan Butler is planning a new downtown Wilmington restaurant scheduled to open later this month.

The aim on Monday, April 22, is to open The BlueBird, a restaurant serving breakfast and lunch, at 500 Delaware Ave. in what is known as the WSFS Bank Center, Butler told Delaware Online/The News Journal.

Butler's partner in the project is longtime Toscana employee Brian Walsh, who has worked with him at his Trolley Square Italian restaurant for 12 years.

The site for The BlueBird, formerly occupied by PureBread Deli, is owned by The Buccini-Pollin Group.

Butler said he has known the real estate, acquisition, development and management company's founders, brothers Chris and Rob Buccini, since they acquired Wilmington's Brandywine Building in 1999 from the DuPont Co. A year earlier, Butler had opened Deep Blue Bar & Grill, a nearby seafood restaurant on West 11th St. that became Tonic restaurant in 2015. Butler is no longer involved in the restaurant, now owned by the Jamestown Hospitality Group.

Butler said Chris Buccini approached him about opening a restaurant in the former PureBread space that has been vacant for several years.

Butler is considered one of the city's most well-known and respected restaurateurs. He has been operating Toscana in Trolley Square since 1991. President Joe Biden has been a long-time Toscana customer and stopped in the restaurant in late March to visit with his campaign leadership team, who gathered at the Italian restaurant at 1412 N. Dupont St. for a weekend retreat. Butler's niece Sheila Grant works in the Biden White House and is a special assistant to the president and a senior advisor to the deputy chief of staff.

PureBread temporarily closed its Wilmington location in July 2019 after a man who was shot outside the city crashed his car into the building and later died. The damage to the building, which was repaired, included smashed seats and tables, and a knocked-over stone-veneer fireplace.

PureBread Wilmington reopened in August 2019 and again closed its doors during the pandemic. It still operates cafes in Greenville, Pike Creek, and Stanton, as well as Pennsylvania sites in Glen Mills and Kennett Square.

Butler said the Buccinis are planning a major renovation to the WSFS plaza to update the look and appeal of the building and wanted to provide a quality restaurant in the former PureBread space to complement the upgrades.

"That's when it clicked," said Butler, who initially planned on opening a bakery on Market Street in the city but then pivoted to a restaurant.

He said he would eventually like to open a Wilmington bakery.

"That's not dead," Butler said.

Plans have been in the works for The BlueBird since September 2023. Renovations to the interior of the building began more than a month ago.

In February, Butler closed his Toscana Pizza e Panini kiosk after operating one year at the Chancery Market, Food Hall & Bar at 1313 N. Market St. Butler told Delaware Online/The News Journal he wanted to concentrate on a new downtown Wilmington restaurant project.

The BlueBird will have 60 seats indoors and have seating for 60 people outside on the plaza.

As construction workers Wednesday climbed ladders and installed an 8-foot round fixture that will light the dining room, Walsh and Butler toured the interior, pointing out where blue and brown banquettes and tables for six people will be located.

Sunlight streamed through the restaurant's 25-foot high windows, and Butler showed where wooden and porcelain tiled floors soon will be placed. The restaurant also will have maple butcher block tables, high-top tables, booths parked in corners, and individual window seats facing the plaza.

Customers can order at a kiosk, at the counter or online. Delivery and catering will be available for downtown businesses and workers. Walsh said the website, thebluebirdwilmington.com will be "very user-friendly."

Butler said the location is key for the restaurant. "We are in the midst of all the business in downtown. All the banks and law firms" are nearby, he said.

Butler and Walsh said they are not worried that some area businesses don't have employees working daily in their offices. Butler said the restaurant is located near hospitals and office staffers have returned a few days a week at law firms, banks and the courthouse on King Street.

He said the partners also are encouraged by the building of downtown apartments, including The Press, a 14-story residential tower with 243 apartments under construction at Eighth and Orange streets. It is scheduled to open in the summer of 2025.

"We acknowledge the world's changed," Butler said but added that he and Walsh know that the restaurant is needed because they deliver many orders to the downtown area from Trolley Square's Toscana To-Go takeout shop.

Walsh said workers can bring a laptop, park at one of BlueBird's tables, and work: "This will be nicer than your home."

POTUS returns to a favorite spot: President Biden visits Wilmington restaurant that catered his daughter's 2012 wedding

The BlueBird will be open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., but Butler said the hours and days could be extended after the restaurant is up and running. The kitchen will be staffed with longtime Toscana employees, some of whom have worked with Butler for 30 years.

The menu will include bagels, egg sandwiches, pastries and baked goods made on-site, panini, soups, salads, sandwiches, bowl dishes, and other healthy options.

Lavazza coffee will be served, but no alcoholic beverages.

There will be no pizzas or pasta.

"This is not Toscana," Walsh said.

If you want to read more stories from Patricia Talorico, visit   delawareonline.com/staff/2646617001/patricia-talorico You can find her on Instagram, X, and Facebook. Email [email protected] or leave a message at 302-324-2861. Sign up for her Delaware Eats newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: New Wilmington restaurant from Toscana's Dan Butler is coming soon