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The name Delicias not only refers to the “delights” that can be found on the menu, but also to Delicias, Chihuahua (pictures of which can be seen on the wall of the restaurant). I don’t really know of any special dishes that come from Delicias– this restaurant has the standard menu items found around El Paso. It is interesting, though, that they serve flour gorditas instead of the usual corn ones.

Delicias Café does not seem as if it is trying to win any “Best of the Border” awards for its Mexican food or to attract out of town tourists. Instead, it is a neighborhood restaurant with “comfort food” at cheap prices. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since one thing I like about Delicias is its ability to reproduce the same kind of experience that could be found by walking into any restaurant at random in Ciudad Juarez or other cities in the state of Chihuahua. One thing I have discovered about Chihuahua style restaurants is that enchiladas are usually not the best item on the menu (as they usually are in El Paso restaurants), but there are usually one or more other items for which the restaurant is thought to excel by its patrons. I think Delicias Café has a few of these. My choice would probably be tacos de carne asada, and I suspect that other patrons would come up with a long list of other items.

In my opinion some of the food at Delicias Café is either greasy or not very flavorful. Locals, through experience at many restaurants, have a good idea about what they will like here based on many meals eaten at other restaurants. For me the unexciting food is much the same as at other restaurants, the “good” food is much the same as at other restaurants, but my very favorite dishes were discovered by much trial and error. I will list many of them here, but I can almost guarantee that there will be a very diverse opinion about which items people will think are the best, and that a lot of it will depend on what they like best at other restaurants.

Tacos

I will start with what is probably my favorite item at Delicias Café, the Tacos de Carne Asada. These are not like most tacos because it is a large plate of marinated grilled beef covering several corn tortillas that could not possibly hold all the meat that is served, but which may be more of a flavor offset than a conveyance for helping you eat this massive amount of beef. This is a dish I first discovered in Oklahoma City where the dominant Mexican food styles are from Aguascalientes or the area around Monterey, Mexico. I think the way this dish is prepared is so good it was appropriated by restaurants in Chihuahua and other states as their own cuisine. The chile spice as well as the lime, cilantro and tomato flavoring, create the right combination for me to categorize this as the “classic” taco de carne asada.

Chicken Mole

Another impressive dish is the Chicken Mole Dinner. Some may be reluctant to try mole because it is made with chocolate, and this does not sound very much like typical Mexican food. I am fairly confident that many who feel this way have not tried some of the really good versions of the dish, and I agree that the inferior mole is not something I would want. Delicias makes one of the better versions, however, not only because of the sauce but also because of the chicken. Most mole dishes I have seen in El Paso have been the dark brown mole poblano style of the dish, so it is pretty easy to compare them in terms of which is the most flavorful. Carnitas Querétaro has a very good version, with the one at Delicias Café being very comparable. I would not say that the dish at Delicias was better, but I did like the shredded chicken that follows the traditional Mexican style (although I have also liked the ones at the other restaurants when they have served a chicken breast). The main advantage of Delicias Café is probably the more reasonable cost of the mole. It is hard to beat a deal like the one here.

Enchiladas
Although enchiladas in general do not seem to be the restaurant’s strongest point, there are a couple that I especially enjoy:

The Enchiladas Suizas, made with sour cream in a tribute to “Swiss” style food, are one of the daily specials on Tuesday but are available any time on the regular menu. The crema is mixed with a green chile sauce that is not super spicy but leaves a slow burn in the mouth. These are some of the most outstanding Swiss styled enchiladas in the city.

Enchiladas with mole on top, or Enmoladas, are excellent here. You have a choice of cheese or different meats inside the enchiladas, but with mole I think chicken is the way to go. The one pictured is from the small plate menu that is served at a reduced price, and without an appetizer of caldo (soup).

Chicken Flautas
Chicken Flautas have also been one of the better items. These come with fresh guacamole and sour cream as well as white chicken meat. The chicken meat seemed to be better than average in quality. The liquefied guacamole was certainly not noteworthy by El Paso standards, and the shells were rather greasy, but they still tasted pretty good when everything came together along with the sour cream.

Chile Verde

Chile Verde was not nearly as spicy as the New Mexico versions, but it was a pretty typical Chihuahua style dish. Whole green chile chunks were mixed in with beef cubes and a mild sauce. While I thought it should have been spicier, the rich flavor went a long way to make up for it. The main disappointment with the dish was the gristly beef that was served. Those who have eaten more than their share of meals at budget restaurants in Mexico, though, as I have, will feel right at home with the type of meat that is served here.

Chile Colorado

Chile Colorado probably has better meat than the chile verde, but is made with pork. I enjoyed the flavor of the sauce, and I thought this was another good choice for a meal.

Other Items
The menu is so comprehensive all I can do here is pick out a few items to highlight:

Cheeseburgers are served here, but this is something I never seem to remember when I visit some of the area’s burger joints, many of which are not as good as at Delicias.

An order of Sopes is a good way to get different flavors in a single meal.

Breakfast

Delicias Café does a good portion of its business at breakfast. The large assortment of breakfast burritos and tacos are popular (pancakes and omelettes are also available). Huevos Rancheros are excellent by just about any standard, although better ones can be found in El Paso. The egg yolks had the right consistency and the green chiles came in large flavorful chunks. The greasy hash browns and flavorless tortilla detracted from the breakfast plate, though.

Huevos Delicias are a specialty of the restaurant, and presumably a specialty of Delicias, Mexico. There are two eggs over a quesadilla, topped with tomatillo and serrano green sauce. I thought serving them over a quesadilla was a very nice touch, and in this respect I liked them more than the huevos rancheros. The sauce was equally good, although probably not any better than the sauce on the huevos rancheros. I am sure that all the sauces served are fresh, but it was very noticeable with this particular sauce.

For breakfast the Machaca is quite good, and is probably my favorite choice. It and a number of other items are available in a burrito.

Drinks
The Horchata was thin and not the best in El Paso. The Melón (cantaloupe) is very good, though, along with the Lemonade.

Closing Comments
While the dinners at Delicias Café have been quite hit or miss, the breakfasts can compete with most other restaurants in the same price range. The crowds seem to be bigger at breakfast than at any other time, but it is really fairly busy just about any time I go. The service is good and the restaurant is good, but I am more particular about what I order here than at most Mexican restaurants.

Delicias’ web site highlights the tacos, fajitas, and steak (among other items), and these are some of the best dishes that I have tried (although to not make this review ridiculously long I have not included some of them).

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Restaurant Web Site: Delicias Cafe

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RATING: 23

 

Mexican Food Details