Deli Delicious celebrates big milestones, plans to expand outside Valley

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Since the early 90s, the Central Valley has been the exclusive home for sandwich shop Deli Delicious.

From Bakersfield all the way to Elk Grove near Sacramento, they serve them up hot and cold and people keep coming back for more.

That is why they have more than 50 restaurants.

"We want to serve food that people would be proud to take home to our family," said Nathan Gilbert, Development Director of Franchising. "We want to treat people a certain way when they walk through the doors of the restaurant, they might as well be walking into our home."

Now they are adding a new location and branching out to a different audience. They are taking their sandwiches out of the Valley and into the city of Corona outside Los Angeles.

Gilbert said the franchisee made their decision to expand easy.

"We thought, these are the guys that we would really like to work with and we have the opportunity to promote the brand in a new market," he said.

This is the first time they are venturing out of the Valley, but not the first time they were requested to do so.

"We get calls from Utah, we are getting calls from Washington state, we are getting calls from southern California," said Gilbert. "As an organization, you have to be very aware of maybe not going too far too fast."

They are also celebrating another milestone. They were ranked among the top 500 franchises by Entrepreneur Magazine.

This should come as no surprise since they have charted the last five years. Every time they move up in the rankings.

"Be proud, Fresno," said Gilbert. "You have got the Deli Delicious Company growing out of your backyard and we are currently 351 on the Franchise 500. Next year let's move up,"

As for what is next, Gilbert said they will be adding some new items to their menu later this year.