Eateries to bring new life to Savannah Road strip
New life is coming to a stretch of shops at 1201 Savannah Road in Lewes thanks to two very different eating establishments.
Hopkins Farm Creamery is opening a second location in the middle space, between Teller Wines and the recently closed Lewes Diner.
The diner space will become a wine bar called Vino Del Mar, Spanish for Wine by the Sea. Owner Sharon Pole said it will be wine-focused with a diverse food menu.
“I’m looking at small plates, tapas, a lot of sharing plates. I’ll have gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options,” Pole said.
This will be Pole’s first restaurant after spending 20 years doing cybersecurity.
“I was burned out, beat up and tired, but I love wine and food,” she said. “I’m a Level 2 certified wine dork.”
Pole said she did not expect to have a space as big as the former diner, but she said the decor will be cozy, “like walking into a wine cellar,” she said.
Pole has been posting updates on Facebook and sending out a newsletter.
If everything goes right with renovations and permitting, she said she hopes Vino Del Mar will be open by the end of January.
Right next door, in the center of the strip, Stephanie Heslep and Michael Hopkins will be opening a walk-in ice cream shop. They said it will be an extension of the popular takeout window on Dairy Farm Road west of Lewes.
“We’ll be dipping ice cream, cones, cups, milkshakes. It will be our ice cream that we make here at the farm every day,” Heslep said.
They said there are some big advantages to opening on that part of Savannah Road.
“We have a bike path in our backyard. It will be easy for families coming off the trail. And we have free parking, which can be tough to find in Lewes,” Heslep said.
Heslep and Hopkins said their goal is to open in early spring.
Heslep said they will be posting updates on the Hopkins Farm Creamery Facebook page.
“We’re excited to open and to grow along with the community,” she said.
Teller Wines, the third business in the shopping center, posted on Facebook that it is currently closed, but will be reopening soon under new management.
Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.
