Delacata

My husband and I tried it for the first time a couple of days ago. We had the catfish, and the shrimp with cheesy grits. They were amazing. You also have to try the hush puppies. They were the best we have ever had. So moist and full of flavor! Great place for lunch

If you love delicious food then you gotta go here. Don’t hesitate! Best fried food in town I think.
Update on this spot. It is no longer around to my dismay. They turned it into Elk Horn and the quality of the food went way down after that. I’m not sure why. Hopefully they will get back to their roots and make this special food again, but I’m staying away from Elk Horn until they do.

After many a times of tracking them done, I was driving through downtown and actually spotted them. So I stopped by and wanted to give it a go.
The shrimp and grits was tempting, but the po boy got me and chose that. It was delicious, shrimp was tasty as was the ramalaude sauce on it.
One this was a miss and that was the fries. They were really crispy and the garlic Parmesan just wasn’t right.
But first visit was good and I will be going back for those delicious po boy.

We went to Delacata today on a lark. Actually it was a KIA, but it was done in a very «larkish» manner.
My husband used to work at Venture Data very near to this food cart, and I’d wanted to try it for a while. We were wrestling over where to try for lunch and BAM! Delacata!
To be honest, I was hangry and being a snot and completely prepared to hate, Hate, HATE on Delacata. Sorry. We walked up, saw «cajun» listed as the first ingredient in everything (because, duh, Southern food=cajun) and was ready to walk away. But then a sweet little voice piped up, «Not everything is spicy!»
I whirled around, snarling with hunger and rage (not really, but it makes for better television ;D). A sweet little woman was smiling at us between bites of something that looked delicious! The smell coming from the cart didn’t singe my nosehairs (I fully expected and prepared for this, tweezing many of them in advance– they died in vain, fyi.)
A beardy dude piped up from behind the counter letting us know that the catfish and the chicken weren’t spicy «a’tall.»
There are three things I know about eating at new places:
1) Check the restroom. If that isn’t clean you can bet the kitchen isn’t.
2) If you can’t pronounce it or aren’t sure what’s in it– ASK.
3) If it’s a Thai, Indian, Mexican, or Southern restaurant and it has a listed spice you know to be, well, spicy, but they say, «Oh it isn’t spicy a’tall!» They have either burnt off all their tastebuds and are completely incapable of tasting anything that didn’t come from Hades itself or are flat-​out LYING to the Gringa for amusement sake.
There’s no restroom, and the exterior looks clean enough, so check on number one. I can pronounce and understand all of the dishes on the menu, so check number two. As for number three, The Dude looked sincere, so I went with the assumption of the former and decided to go for it. (Actually I only had a half hour left on my break, needed food, and didn’t have two functional brain cells to rub together to come up with someplace else to try.)
We decided to split a chicken sandwich (my husband doesn’t eat fish. Something about watching Aquaman on tv as a kid on Superfriends Saturday mornings changed him man, changed him forever… we don’t talk about it in mixed company.)
We went with a side of fried pickles rather than fries. I’ve had my fill of frozen fries, but from the comments I’m reading here, I kind of want to go back and try them!
It wasn’t a very long wait, in the meantime I spoke more with the groupie hanging out, quite interrupting her lunch and weirding her out in the meantime. (Yeah– sorry ’bout that! New parent, don’t get out much. you know how it is.)
Our sandwich was hot, fresh, and we were glad we agreed to split it– it was about the size of my face. They cut it in half for us. I took a bite and waited to feel the fires of hell burning my mouth-​flesh!
And waited…
And waited…
Nope! No burning.
Instead, the «cajun» added a nice, light flavor that complimented the light breading perfectly. The chicken itself was a bit «toothsome” — not rubbery or leathery but definitely not tender. The bun was a fresh ciabatta roll, lightly toasted. There was mayo and — what was this? Something yellow. I expected the mustardy tang of mustard but no– it was Delightful! It was a delicious mapley honey mustard sauce that took center stage and sang a love song at the party in my mouth. I don’t know what was in it– tears of the Gods themselves? All I know is, I want MOAR.
The chicken sandwich didn’t last long. I didn’t have high hopes for the fried pickles (GAWD I was being such a pessimist!) I don’t like pickles, and usually deep-​fried things come coated in soggy, greasy dough.
Again, it’s like they read my mind and went out of their way to prove me wrong! The pickles were deep fried, but the breading was a very finely ground cornmeal, which had the flavor and texture almost of Panko without the shards that impale the roof of your mouth. To my surprise, the breading was also flavored with flecks of dill. Actual dill, people! I live in a town where «flavor» usually equates to «throw tons of garlic in it and call it good» and I got to experience Delicious cajun seasoning, amazing use of unobtanium in a mustard sauce, AND dill!
Ugh. The whole affair was just so disappointingly amazing. I was so prepared to hate on Delacata and they totally ruined it for me.
Thanks, Delacata! I’ll be back for your catfish nuggets and to try your fries!

Well, I try to avoid 5 stars, but this one really should have it. My friend Jimmy works there, and IT IS AWESOME.
I am too poor to buy food, but he let me at some of the leftovers one day, and man. Really, if you can afford to eat out, you MUST try this place!

I try to not let allow myself to succumb to so much hype. But I did just that with Delacata. After spending nearly 2 months trying to find them open at a convenient location we lucked out after attending a meeting downtown. We ordered chicken sandwiches with garlic fries and hush puppies.
Lets start with the chicken sandwich, which is huge. The patty on my sandwich broke into multiple pieces when pulled out of the fryer. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but when actually attempting to eat the sandwich it made it a mess. The bun was too soggy from the tomato and sauces which made the sandwich literally fall apart in my hands. The lettuce also had a dirt like taste. The chicken was cooked nicely and the sauce was tasty. But impossible to enjoy given the way it was served.
The fries were also a soggy mess that had enough garlic salt on them to form a garlic salt crust which is not tasty at all.
The hush puppies were burnt. I don’t know if it was old oil or if they were just down too long. That was a shame because once past the burnt part they were delicious.
Will we return? Probably once more. I’m hoping it was just a bad day on the cooks part because the food was so close to being so good.

Even though I’d been looking forward to trying Delacata, I knew there was no way it was going to be worth the 20 minutes we’d had to stand and wait for our food. Boy, was I wrong. The catfish, hush puppies, and cole slaw were great and the portions were generous (although a little more slaw would’ve been nice, and $ 2 for a 16 ounce sweet tea was a little much). I can’t wait to try some of their other dishes.

Shrimp Po Boy Amazing! Chicken Parm Sandwhich Amazing! Fried Pickles Amazing! This is TopNotch Southern Style Food for great prices! I will eat here again and again and again!

Ahhhhhh! I give up on these guys! I go onna Saturday, theyre not there, i go onna weekday, the cart is there, but its closed! I look down at my timepiece, double-​check Unilocal to make sure i didnt read the hours wrong… yup, they shooouuuuuuuld be open; buuuuuuut theyre NOT.
When one goes out of their way to take a long journey out to a spot that you either think is going to be there or you think is going to be open, and they are NOT, you cant help but to feel… my money would probably be better off spent elsewhere!
Oh well, i tried, and tried… it didnt ruin my day or my life, but it ruined my lunch plans, more than once.
Like a dude that cant pull a ladies #…ya game just aint tight!

Probably one of the best food carts I’ve been to. We got a chance to try them yesterday while they were parked at Sweet Cheeks. They definitely don’t skimp on the shrimp for the Po’Boy, we couldn’t even finish it. The rosemary/​Greek fries were yummy as well. Although I finished everyone of them, the hush puppies needed a little bit more of the onion/​jalapeño mixture. I realize that they are very upfront about their items being ‘fried’, but I wish they had something that didn’t go in a deep fryer.

Ran across these folks at Sweet Cheeks Winery over the Memorial Weekend. Love their food. Very well done in that original southern style. It just doesn’t get any better.

Tried the shawarma chicken today, it was great! Can’t wait to get it next week!

Simply WOW. To think a shrimp po’boy out of a 10ft trailer could taste like that? Funny sounding accents and you would be in Nawlens. Can’t wait for the shrimp and grits. Located in the M Jacobs furniture lot, this is a fantastic and great meal. Delecata on Facebook for current local, menu and hours. Do it!

Fried, fried, & fried. That’s pretty much all they serve. Fried food. If you’re into that, then you’d love it. Then again, they may not have what you’re hoping to get since they tend to open without all the items on their menu.

So far I’ve only had the catfish, and it was really good. It stood out from other experiences with fried catfish because of the breading spices And like other reviews mention, it somehow doesn’t feel greasy even if you are downing a bucket of oil. The rosemary fries are a nice touch. Dare I say the best hush puppies I’ve ever had?
The main disappointment were the fried pickles. They are listed as chips on the menu and I expressed that I really just liked spears, at which point my husband and I heard the dude (not an owner) tell us that they were indeed spears. And he promised that they kicked Fire On The Mountain’s butt (a Portland joint). Needless to say, these were chips (too much breading per square inch of pickle, in my humble opinion) and they were so god awful salty that they were inedible. This coming from someone who will eat the left over salt and spice crystals out the bottom of a bag of chips. We told the guy how salty they were and he just shrugged his shoulders and suggested they were looking for a new recipe. We gave him back the whole batch without an offer to give us something edible. Sigh.

For a food cart, it doesn’t get any better. Catfish and sides are incredible, great flavor pairings. Rosemary fries, fried chicken, burgers, one things better than the other plus the couple working here is great. Just wish they were open more often/​longer.

I’ve returned to Delacata a few times since the three bites I referenced in my first review, and I have never been disappointed.
I’ve never branched out from the catfish (there’s a lot of meatier things on the menu that I don’t go for) and I really don’t need to. As I said before… The catfish is just… wow. It is breaded with spices that come together perfectly. It’s one of my favorite lunches in Eugene.
I’m not from the South myself but I have a couple of friends who are, and they rave about the authentic nature and top quality of Delacata’s offerings. The folks who work in the cart are consistently super-​nice, as well. The only minor complaint I have is the awkward seating and non-​seating at the corner. It’s perfect for taking back to the office, if you work downtown, but otherwise you might want to consider taking it with you.

I’ve become a regular, going in about once a week. It’s just about the same price as any other lunch I can get downtown, and I’m full for hours after a meal here!
Their daily specials are always amazing – definitely ask what’s new for the day! If it doesn’t strike your fancy, rest assured that anything else you could order on the menu is fantastic. My favorite still may be their catfish – the cornmeal seasoning is TO DIE FOR, especially with the sides of cilantro-​lime cole slaw (droooool) and dill aioli (also comes with jalapeño cheddar hush puppies). In addition, the staff are über-​friendly!
Friend them on Facebook – they’re really good about updating the daily specials and noting when their hours are a little funky.

Amazing! The catfish was a wonderful mix of crunchy breading and moist fish. It was so good it didn’t need any dipping sauce. I also had the BBQ pulled pork sandwich and the piggy was slap yo momma good. I really enjoyed the slaw that came with it, and I’m not a slaw fan.
The beignets are not to be missed, hot and crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside. Be sure to do the beignet lean so you don’t end up wearing the powered sugar.

Nestled in the 8^th and Olive parking lot is this little food truck. I thought the name was a misspelling of «Delicata», so I was expecting Italian food. Imagine my surprise to find that the truck serves southern food! And quite well, I should say.
I just finished eating here and had the fried chicken kebabs, which were quite good. The batter had pickles and onions in it which really added nicely, and the chicken itself was moist and juicy. The salted rosemary fries that came with it were also very good; they were crispy and flavorful.
If you’re in the area, definitely check it out. They also recently added a deep fried hot dog to the menu which, surprisingly, sells out quickly.