Deli 8 Restaurant-Bar

Address: on the Carretera Chapala - Jocotepec, in San Antonio, Tlayacapan
Phone: 376-766-1569
Hours: Open Mon - Fri 7 AM - 6 PM; Sat - Sun 9 AM - 8 PM

Wifi Available; Animal friendly.  
Credit Cards Accepted: MC and Visa
Facebook
 
Directions: From Walmart, drive east on the Carretera for approximately 1/2 mile. Deli 8 is located on the right, next to Handy Mail. Several parking spaces are located in front of the café and across the street on the lateral road.

First Impressions

Deli 8 Restaurant-Bar is a small, sidewalk café located in the strip of shops along the Carretera in San Antonio, Tlayacapan. There are 4 or 5 tables on the sidewalk, under an awning, and a few tables inside the restaurant dining area which opens onto the sidewalk.

This is casual dining with customers sipping coffee and reading the newspaper, others using the restaurant's wifi while expats gather for breakfast, their dogs lying at their feet.

At first glance, Deli 8 looks like just a coffee shop, but it is so much more. This is a full service restaurant that is open all day, everyday, and offers a full breakfast menu, lunch and dinner and even advertises happy hour every evening.

Menu

Deli 8 offers an amazing variety of dishes from their small kitchen. We had breakfast with friends on a cool December morning and found  a table outside. Our friends appreciated that their dog was welcome in the outside dining area.

We had heard very good things about Deli 8 but were unprepared for the large selection of tempting dishes on the menu. This included eggs any style, omelets, eggs Benedict, pancakes, French toast, waffles, oatmeal, enfrijoladas, chilaquiles, and even a club sandwich.


Two of us ordered waffles, one topped with strawberries and whipped cream and the other with cajeta - a caramel like sauce.

One of our group ordered enfrijoladas, tortillas wrapped around chicken and topped with cream sauce, and our other friend ordered pancakes and bacon.

Everything was served hot from the kitchen, though not all at the same time. The quality of our meals was so good that we hardly noticed the minor timing issue.



The enfrijoladas were the best our friend had every tasted - no other breakfast restaurant lakeside comes close, according to him. The waffles were hot and crisp, classic Belgian waffles filled with strawberries and whipped cream or topped with caramel. The pancakes were light and airy served with a generous portion of crisp bacon.

We had coffees and chai tea, but we could have chosen from a wide array of gourmet coffees, including cappuccino, hot chocolate and juices. Everything was so good that a few days later, we went back again for more.

We have only had breakfast at Deli 8, but after tasting the food, we are motivated to return and have lunch. Once we do, we will update this review. But, I couldn't let such a gem go unreported and un-reviewed another moment.

Service and Price

The service at Deli 8 is prompt and attentive. Our cups of coffee were topped off before they got completely empty. The only problem, and it is very minor, is that all of our food did not come out at the same time. The prices for breakfast start at 30 pesos with the most expensive item topping out at 65 pesos.

Their lunch menu offers a variety of baguettes, arrachera steak, spaghetti, hot dogs, hamburgers, bbq ribs, grilled chicken, salads, salmon in shrimp sauce, fish fillets, soup and more.

We can't wait to sample something from their extensive menu when we return. Deli 8 also serves wine and beer.

 

Our Recommendation ****

The owners and staff of Deli 8 go out of their way to do everything possible to delight their customers. What we liked? The delicious food cooked to order, a varied menu, attentive service, reasonable prices, wifi connection, convenient hours, and pleasant, unhurried atmosphere.

Eat at Deli 8. I insist.

Restaurante Delicias

Address :Ave. Hidalgo #277, Chapala  
Phone: 765-5021
Facebook: www.facebook.com/desayunosdelicias
Wifi Available
Credit Cards Not Accepted

Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. - 1 pm.

Directions: From Walmart, take the Carretera east towards Chapala for about 4 miles. Delicias is on the left, just past Hotel Monte Carlo and the Farmacia Guadalajara. Park along the street. 

First Impressions

There is a reason why Delicias is a local favorite for breakfast. You can order just about any breakfast food you can imagine. The food is simple and tasty and the prices are right.

Delicias is easy to miss. It is housed in a plain brown building that fades into a long line of other, nondescript buildings along the Carretera., just west of Chapala. 

Like many restaurants in the Lake Chapala area, you cannot judge the quality of the food by looking at the exterior of the business.

The double doors open into a large, Mexican style dining room with plenty of seating. Through the back door is a pleasant patio dining room surrounding a fountain. Smoking is not allowed on the patio.

There is limited parking along the road outside the restaurant, however, if you are willing to walk about a block, you can park west of the restaurant, on the road that runs between the Farmacia Guadalajara and the Monte Carlo hotel.

Delicias is clean and pleasant. Restrooms are just off the patio area, with separate facilities for hombres and dames. They are spotless.

We seated ourselves on a quiet Friday morning and the waitress brought our menus, took our drink order and gave us time to look at the menu. She returned with a pot of hot coffee and a basket of warm, whole wheat rolls.

Menu

The breakfast menu at Delicias is extensive, offering the most varied breakfast selection of any lakeside restaurant. Eggs are  cooked almost any way you can imagine; eggs benedict, Mexican style eggs, ranch style eggs, omelets, burritos, and American style breakfast with eggs cooked al gusto ( as you like them).

You can also choose chiliquiles, served with or without chicken or chorizo and with red or green - or both - sauces. The menu also offers waffles, hot cakes and crepes.

Many meals come with bacon or link sausage, hash browns or beans. The three page menu is  chock full of choices. What do you feel like eating? It is most likely on the menu at Delicias. Beverages include coffee, tea, shakes, smoothies and juices.

We ordered the hot cake combo, served with three hot cakes, 2 eggs, 2 sausage links and hash browns and an order of waffles, with strawberries and a side of bacon.

The scrambled eggs were cooked just right, not too dry, and the pancakes were light, served with butter and syrup packets. The waffle was crisp, the strawberries freshly cut without the juice that makes a waffle soggy.

All in all, a satisfying meal. The coffee was good and the waitress came back to the table often to top off our cups.

Price and Service

Almost all the breakfast entrees are priced between $50pesos and $65pesos. Our meal, including coffee, came to $203pesos, or about $15US.

The service was very good, the waitress did not speak much English, but we were able to make ourselves understood and got exactly what we ordered. The menu was written in English, so when in doubt, we could just point to a selection.

Our Recommendation ****

We tried Restaurante Delicias last year and thought the food was quite good. We have not gone back since then because during our research, we read some bad reviews on a local expat forum. None of the negative comments we read mirrored our own experience at this restaurant, so I would caution visitors to take the information gleaned from these forums with a grain of salt. If you are looking for a delicious, hearty breakfast, at a reasonable price, we recommend Restaurante Delicias to you.