University Star

Tucked away in a small corner of the shopping center off North LBJ sits Deli-cioso, a lunchtime restaurant offering “tacos, tortas, soups and more.”

Deli-cioso, owned and operated by Rene Palomarez and Adam Gronski, opened its doors Feb. 1, 2012.

“It’s one of those random hole-in-the-wall places where you can stop in for a quick bite on the way to school,” Jillian Wiatrek, education senior, said. “But you’re not going to find another taco in town like the ones here.”

Palomarez, who grew up in a large family and learned to cook from his mother, said he went to the University of Texas for a finance degree because he always knew he would open a restaurant eventually. 

Gronski, Palomarez’ business partner, learned from his grandmother and perfected his skills by taking culinary classes from the Art Institute of Houston.

Both Palomarez and Gronski have been in the restaurant industry for years and are excited to have their own place.

“I’ve always had the dream to open a restaurant,” Gronski said. “You don’t serve food to anyone that you wouldn’t eat yourself.”

Palomarez and Gronski worked for a catering company together for two years before deciding to go into business together. After finding a location they felt worked with the concept in their heads, they set to work perfecting the menu. It includes signature dishes created by the owners, along with some twists on Mexican food favorites.

Palomarez said the restaurant features signature salsas, barbacoa meat and fried avocado tacos.
“Unlike most Mexican restaurants from Austin down to San Antonio, we buy our barbacoa meat raw then season it and slow-cook it ourselves so it’s less greasy and more flavorful,” he said. “It’s one of our most popular items.”

Deli-cioso serves tacos and other street stand-style dishes. They make all of their own salsas, including a spicy-sweet habanero salsa and a ghost chili pepper sauce.

The restaurant offers homemade queso fresco and agua fresca juices, with varying flavors every day such as blackberry hibiscus, cherry limeade and lemonades.

Palomarez and Gronski barely advertised at all when opening their new restaurant and have relied mostly on repeat customers and word of mouth. With their location within walking distance of the bus loop, they have been lucky to catch the eye of passersby on their way to campus.

“Everybody seems to love it,” Palomarez said. “All the feedback we get is overwhelmingly positive.”

With new ideas forming daily, Palomarez and Gronski have high hopes for Deli-cioso. If the business continues to grow as it is, the owners hope to be able to offer delivery service next semester, as well as the ability to accept Bobcat Bucks. Palomarez also talks of opening a second location one day so they can offer the same low prices and quality food on another side of San Marcos.

“Eventually we want to offer a spicy taco challenge,” Gronski said. “We’d make it a three taco combo, one with fried jalapeño, maybe a picadillo taco and something with ghost chili sauce.”