Business Beat: Deli Delicious on its way to Merced

Deli Delicious, a Fresno-based sandwich shop, will open sometime early this year on West Olive Avenue in Merced.

In addition to the Merced location – which is right next to Starbucks – Deli Delicious sites are set to open on Countryside Drive in Turlock and on McHenry Avenue in Modesto.

As reported in our sister paper, The Fresno Bee, last year, Deli Delicious started small. Mohammad Hobab and his wife, Zohreh, bought the original Deli Delicious when its owner retired in the early 1990s. They and their three sons did everything from baking the bread to mopping the floor.

They found a recipe that worked and eventually grew their business to seven locations. In 2009, they started franchising. Now there are 27 Deli Delicious locations from Bakersfield to Sacramento, with 22 more “on the books,” franchise spokesman Nate Gilbert said.

All of them focus on delivering premium sandwiches with a focus on locally procured ingredients.

“We try to keep all the dollars local, working with vendors right here in the Central Valley,” Gilbert said. “We put our money where our mouth is.”

All sandwiches can be made into lettuce wraps, which have proven popular, he said. “We also have french fries now, for those who like a little crunch and munch with their sandwich.”

Whatever they are serving up, it seems to be working. Gilbert said he is getting a lot of interest in new franchise locations from all over and could see 500 sites just on the West Coast one day.

A shop recently opened in Lemoore, and the owner had an unusual request: “He asked us not to advertise for them,” Gilbert said. “They were too busy.”

Our publisher, Valerie Bender, tipped me off to the Deli Delicious news. Thanks, Valerie! She previously worked in Fresno, and said Deli Delicious is worthy of its name. I am eager to see for myself.

Elsewhere around the Business Beat:

Restaurants, including fast-food establishments, are increasingly looking for ways to broaden their appeal. In recent months, several of them have started promoting healthier fare in an effort to do just that.

This month alone, I got news releases from Del Taco and El Pollo Loco announcing, respectively, a partnership with turkey manufacturer Jennie-O and an under-500-calorie menu.

I don’t know if these measures will do much for our national waistline, but it is nice to have choices. And it is good to see restaurants putting some effort into healthier food. Aa few years back, I ordered a veggie burger with no mayonnaise at one chain. Turned out, mayo was the only condiment that came on the burger, and having it dry felt a bit like eating glue.

Turkey tacos and a skinny chicken quesadilla – those sound like food that would be a heck of a lot tastier.

This story was originally published January 30, 2015 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Business Beat: Deli Delicious on its way to Merced."