You may have read my glowing review of Delia’s Taqueria right here in good ol’ S-D back in December. I pretty much declared that Delia’s is the best Mexican food I have ever eaten, and I pretty much swore off all other Mexican restaurants at which I have eaten to date. Remember that? Well, I found out that Delia’s has a sit-down location in Dayton, TN, and I knew I had to go ASAP. A much-needed personal day from work provided the opportunity to go with Philip, my mom, and my sister for lunch. I was not disappointed!
Delia’s in Dayton is just past the “town” part of Dayton…you might think you’ve gone too far, until you see the bright orange double wide on the left. It’s a dine-in/take-out, with a window outside for those who are taking out. There were not many people dining in when we got there, so we were seated immediately, and baskets of free and unlimited chips and salsa were quickly delivered to our table. That’s one of the advantages to dining in, obviously! The chips were the delicious homemade chips that are served at Delia’s in Soddy-Daisy, but Philip thought that the salsa seemed a little different-less chunky, but still delicious. I liked that the salsa was served in these little mini-carafes with an individual bowl for each person. Double-dip away! (By the way, what do you think of the pics? I got a new phone and the camera is vastly better than the camera in my ipod.)
The menu at Delia’s Dayton is identical to the menu at Delia’s Soddy-Daisy, with the obvious difference in address and phone number. It took me ages to decide what to eat because so many menu items sounded so appealing, but I finally decided on the quesadilla Taco Roc (have you heard of Taco Roc? It’s on Lee Highway. Yep, apparently they own that too. It’s on the list!). Pretty much just meat and cheese on a flour tortilla with guacamole, lettuce, pico de gallo, and sour cream. I ordered mine with steak. Everything about it was delicious, and I ate the whole gigantic thing. The steak had a great grilled flavor and was very tender and sliced very thin. I’ve only recently started eating guacamole, and I thought that theirs was great-not super-chunky, which I appreciated. I also greatly appreciated that the pico did not have huge chunks of onion in it-they were small enough for me to tolerate (I have issues with raw onions, in case you didn’t know). It was also slightly spicy but not overly so. Thank goodness. I’m a huge wuss. I would definitely order this again!
My mom decided on the tacos platter with ground beef on flour tortillas. I’ve had this twice, except on corn tortillas, which I prefer for tacos. As has been my experience in the past, everything was pretty much perfect with this meal-perfectly seasoned meat, great rice, and skin-less refried beans. She really enjoyed it (also, I might mention that the day after Philip and I first tried Delia’s my parents tried it, and they’ve gone there about 100 times since. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But not much of one.).
My sister decided to just have the chicken with cheese sauce, which she ate with chips. As you see below, it was basically just a bowl of chicken, chopped up into tiny bits and sauteed, then mixed with cheese sauce (which, interestingly, is absent from the menu as an “appetizer”-come to think of it, there is no appetizer menu). The chicken was nice and brown and very fresh-tasting, and the cheese sauce tasted great and was very thin, which is how I like it.
Philip had been chomping at the bit to go to the sit-down location so that he could try the chimichanga, which is generally his go-to menu item at a Mexican restaurant. He hadn’t tried the chimichanga at the Soddy-Daisy location because he was afraid that it would get soggy by the time he got it home. He kept it simple and ordered ground beef as his meat. He was not disappointed. He loved that this chimichanga contained sauteed vegetables (green and red peppers and onions) and not just meat like the chimichangas at most Mexican restaurants. He was truly raving about this meal. I tasted it as well and found it to be delicious. Another win for Delia’s!
Delia’s in Dayton is a bit of a drive if you live in Chattanooga or even Soddy-Daisy, but if you happen to be in the Dayton area and you are looking for fantastic, fresh food, go there. It’s fantastic!
Delia’s is located at 8795 Rhea County Highway, Dayton, TN 37321. You can reach them at 423-570-1813. I am including the menu for Delia’s Soddy-Daisy below for reference; prices may differ somewhat.
Comments