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MANSFIELD — After months of renovations, Andrew Bolesky opened the doors of Deja Food’s brick-and-mortar restaurant this fall.
The restaurant hosted a preview day in June and has been welcoming new customers ever since.
Located at the former Fork & Fingers restaurant, Bolesky and his wife, Rosell, bought the building in April. They updated the restaurant’s flooring, repainted and added kitchen equipment.
Deja Food is still operating its food truck, which the Boleskys started in 2018. Andrew Bolesky said the truck is convenient for parties, but he doesn’t think he’ll be scheduling the truck for as many events now that he has the restaurant space.
“It’s a lot more work now with the restaurant, but I still love it,” he said.
The restaurant’s kitchen space has allowed Deja Food to expand its menu. Bolesky cooks his regular menu items, including crab rangoon and pork dumplings, and has two cooks helping him.
Deja Food is known for its Filipino-American dishes, and Bolesky said he wants to expand the menu to include more pastas, seafood and steak.
“We don’t really have a strict box that we put ourselves in,” he said. “The food truck menu was kind of limited on what I could cook in there. Here, we can pretty much do anything that we want.”
The restaurant has all the same menu items as the food truck, but is expanding its American dishes, Bolesky said. The full menu is online.
He said he couldn’t pick a favorite dish he makes, but complemented chef Nick Harris’ pasta.
“Believe it or not, I kind of get tired of my food, because that’s all I cook and all I eat,” Bolesky said.
Including himself and Rosell, Bolesky said Deja Food has seven employees. Bolesky said he plans to hire another server and bartender when more customers come in.
Bolesky said he also wants to remodel the outside of the restaurant in the spring.
Depending on liabilities and discussions with the city’s codes and permits department, he said he’s considering adding a rooftop bar in the future.
“You can see all of downtown from up there, so down the road, that would be cool,” Bolesky said.
Customers can reach the restaurant at 567-560-2151, on Facebook or via its website dejafoodeatery.com. Deja Food regularly hosts live music and announces those events on Facebook.
Bolesky said he invites everyone to try their food truck favorites or a new menu item from Deja Food at 54 Park Ave. West.
The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and 4 to 10 p.m. Saturdays.
