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Easily missed, but what a find

BY PETE TITTL, Contributing columniste-mail:
ptittl@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Jul 01 2009 05:50 PM

Last Updated Wednesday, Jul 01 2009 05:50 PM

Delimart on Rosedale Highway is the kind of place you'd probably drive right past if you were looking for a restaurant.

If you were gassing up the vehicle, you might stop in for a snack, but you probably wouldn't expect a home-cooked meal inside.

That would be your mistake, and one you'd regret in these days where it seems like every gas station is also a human fueling station, often with branded fast-food products such as Taco Bell or Pizza Hut. Delimart, just west of Fruitvale, is a different animal, but I didn't discover that through clever sleuthing. Reader Ray Pruitt sent me an e-mail.

"You need to check out the new Deli Mart," he wrote.

"It was previously located for about the last 25 years at the corner of Rosedale Highway and Calloway. The owners were recently forced to relocate because the property was sold, and have relocated to the old Hungry's Deli."

"The owners, Greg and Diana (Meyer), have really fixed the place up and are serving the same great food they served at the old Deli Mart. You have to try the steak sandwich, their specialty."

I was unsuccessful in trying the New York steak sandwich, which I later learned is available Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the quality of the rest of the food on breakfast and lunch visits convinced me that Ray is on to something. At breakfast I went in just to get a ready-made egg and sausage muffin sandwich ($2).

I noticed odd things, like it tasted homemade and the sausage disc inside was unevenly cut -- thick on one end and thinner on the other. Like a real human being made it.

The sausage was great, and a name brand.

I also noted that the Delimart is the working man's breakfast choice and, like me, those guys didn't have time to sit a spell with their coffee, but they were walking out with breakfast burritos ($5.09) and containers of the deluxe breakfast plate ($5.49, including eggs, toast, hash browns and chicken-fried steak or chicken-fried chicken patty).

Went back for lunch. There is a lot of seating inside -- nine tables if you don't mind looking at shelves of groceries, wine bottles and the like. At lunch all but one table was occupied, and most were eating sandwiches or burgers.

No waitress service -- you order at the counter, pay at the cash register and grab a seat.

We tried the tri-tip sandwich combo special ($7.49), a cheeseburger ($3.99) and a grilled cheese sandwich ($3.79).

All were solid, home-cooked efforts. The star was the tri-tip, with smoky, thick strips of Bakersfield's favorite beef laid on a French roll with salsa by request.

I also appreciated the cheese choices offered. My companion's grilled cheese (on wheat bread, a nice touch) included pepperjack, Swiss and cheddar besides the offensive American.

All three of those would've been excellent. I noticed the fries were also popular and I could see why: crinkle-cut potatoes fried very crispy, but not scorched or too dark brown.

Still soft inside. The hamburger was OK, nothing special other than the toasted bun and clearly inferior to that tri-tip.

One warning: though a sign said the kitchen was open from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m., we visited one night when the kitchen had closed early. (The co-owner said they'll be shutting it down at 5 p.m. from now on.) If you're going to visit late in the day, I'd call ahead to make sure they're still cooking.