If you haven’t already sampled it for yourself, one of our city’s finest little homestyle restaurants has just made a colossal move.
Geographically speaking, Diablas Kitchen has simply hopped from the east side of the Snake River to the west side. For establishment owner Deana Brower, however, the new location at the Westbank Building (525 River Parkway) is much more than a new space. It’s home to one of the oldest restaurant facilities in town.
Diablas started dabbling in food service as a catering company in 2009, then expanded into an Historic Downtown dine-in restaurant in 2011. It may still be a small kitchen at heart, but its capacity at the Westbank is now more akin to a full-fledged dining hall.
“We went from about 36-38 seats to 120-130, so that’s a huge development,” Brower said. “The kitchen alone is massive compared to what we had before. Now we don’t have to close the restaurant down like we did before just to accommodate catering.”
One thing that hasn’t changed is the Kitchen’s mission to provide delicious seasonal comfort food, with everything made from scratch.
When we caught up with Deena and her staff in July, the summer lunch menu featured a reuben sandwich, pork verde burrito and classic cheeseburger. For lighter appetites, Diablas offers a duck breast with cherry port sauce, a filet with fresh chevre and blackberries, and barramundi with a light cream sauce. Seasonal items are also in the works for the fall menu, which kicks off around early November.
The menu alone makes quite a statement, but if you’ve ever had the pleasure of dining in at the downtown location, you can expect the same comfy ambiance on River Parkway.
“For me, it’s all about bringing a really good meal to the town. When you come in here, I want you to feel like it’s the best meal you’ve ever had, and it’s in a comfortable space,” Deana told us. “I want people to come in and feel like they’re in their own home, or their grandma’s home. It’s really about the comfort, along with all the twists that we add to all our little homestyle dishes.”
The new location also looks promising for the catering side of the business.
“As the Westbank hosts events, we’ll be the caterer for all of those, so we’re working together to make something fantastic,” Deana said. “There are so many rooms here that are available for catering, we’re hoping that a lot of our jobs come here so we can keep it all ‘in-house.’ And the view, well, it’s just beautiful. There’s nothing else like it in town.”
Similar to Diablas’ old location, lunch hours at the Westbank are 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Dinners are served 5-9 p.m. Tues.-Sat, and brunch runs 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat.-Sun.
For catering details, upcoming events and menu items (soups, salads, sandwiches, brunch and “everything else”), visit www.diablaskitchen.com or ring up the establishment at 208-522-1510.
Click here to read more of the September issue of Idaho Falls Magazine.