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Restaurant's split personality offers laid-back lunches, elegant dinners

By HELEN ANNE TRAVIS
Published July 14, 2006

BRANDON - By day, Della's Delectables is a mom and pop shop specializing in everyday deli fare.

Customers stand in line and order at a counter in the back of the restaurant. While waiting in line, they squint at the chalkboard above the window that boasts an array of reasonably priced sandwiches, salads, and homemade soups, trying to make a decision.

Della's sells more than 100 pounds each week of its signature chicken salad. That's probably how much you'd gain if you feasted on the creamy mix of grapes, almonds and chicken each day. Enjoy it in a stuffed tomato for $4.95 or even more fattening and more delicious on a croissant, $4.95.

Their Cubans (also $4.95) could subdue even the heartiest of appetites. Try a half Cuban and bowl of soup, a much lighter option for $4.50.

Salads aren't Della's specialty. A bland Greek salad ($3.95) was redeemed only by its huge chunks of salty feta. Stick with the soups and sandwiches.

The day brings a host of regular diners who know the staff by name. Seniors loudly discuss their church groups over liverwurst on rye sandwiches ($4.25), and workers on their lunch break sit with their nose buried in books or the paper.

But by night, the atmosphere at Della's changes.

The clientele becomes young couples on dates, and families celebrating special occasions.

The chicken salad is replaced by New Zealand rack of lamb and lobster tail medallions. Entree prices creep up to $20.

A live band takes over for the piped-in elevator music that serenades the retirees and nine-to-fivers, and a thick green curtain is drawn over the order window and homemade brownies on display.

A restaurant with split personalities, Della's gives you a lot of food and taste for your buck. Just make sure to bring your appetite.

Helen Anne Travis can be reached at 661-2439 or htravis@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 13, 2006, 12:52:16]