DELIght

Right across the El Paso Public Library lies a quaint restaurant called DELIght. After eating there, I can confirm that it truly is a delight to eat there. It's quiet, the ambient is great, the staff is nice, and the food is delicious. After ordering a salmon salad and sitting on one of the high tables at the restaurant, I noticed the menu had a lot of different options, which is fantastic! There were soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, shawarma's, and so much more. There is a little bit of everything for everyone! 

I recently spoke with Jose Gonzalez, the owner, so he could tell me about the restaurant and his vision for it. Jose started talking about how great he finds his job and that he has been working along with his head chef, Carlos Arzola, ever since opening up. Jose was quick to add that besides the different options on the menu, they all have a twist to them. "The aoli's are made in-house. Nothing here is from the "outside"." He added that his aoli's, seasonings, and all the dishes are made there at the restaurant. 

I asked Jose where the inspiration for the name of the restaurant came from and he said that when he was in college he had to do projects for future restaurants and things of that sort and that he came up with DELIght, which he liked and it stuck with him. He then went to saying that he started a project for a deli, which he wanted to try out and that he soon realized that there weren't any deli's downtown. "I wanted to try this because I noticed we didn't have deli's downtown. We used to have Kipp's and they closed down, so I thought "hey a new sandwich place will be great here". We even added Mediterranean food to the sandwich place." As a follow up, I asked him why he decided to add Mediterranean food and he said that, "I and the head chef used to work at Mediterranean restaurants so we picked up a few things here and there. Me, myself, I am pastry chef so I learned to do mostly pastry stuff." All these past jobs and experiences are what add that uniqueness to the menu and restaurant.

"We also have home-made ice-cream, which is off the menu because it depends if we have it or not. We have a couple things here and there, which are specialty items as well. Carlos, our head chef, keeps adding great stuff to the menu. It depends what day we do it. We also have taquitos sometimes and they are not your regular kind. We sometimes make them out of lamb or duck." He added that the restaurant menu is changed every 6-8 months and it's no wonder why there is such a great variety in the food! The chefs have different backgrounds and it works exceptionally with the restaurant because it adds that flair and twist to the restaurant and it brings a "regular" dish to the next level. It's also cool that the menu is changed because it keeps it interesting for the chefs and for one as a consumer. 

Additionally, DELIght has specialty menus twice a month. They have a Salvadorian dinner which happens on a Saturday depending on when they announce it and they also have a wine night, which is a five-course dinner that's $65 per person and each course comes with a different wine. All those event's are announced on DELIght's facebook.

Towards the end of the interview, as a fun fact, Jose added that back in the day the spot where the restaurant is located used to be a Walgreens pharmacy where they treated patients. "This building goes back to the 1920's. When we first got the building there were posters all over the wall of events that happened way back in the day. Sadly, we had to get rid of them because the brick looks super nice." 

A big thank you to DELIght for letting us do this article! Check them out and try their delicious food. 
Follow them on Facebook as: Delight
Instagram: ​@delight_restaurant
502 N. Oregon El Paso, TX

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Photo by Jorge Yapor.