Already a home for Atlanta-area Colombians, the Buford Highway restaurant Las Delicias de la Abuela plans to become “the home of the World Cup”

Kelly Delgado rises at 6 a.m. every morning, excited to get to work, says her husband, Johnny Acosta. With her grandmother’s recipes as a guiding force, she is devoted to the kitchen at Las Delicias de la Abuela, the couple’s Doraville restaurant. Already one of the most popular Colombian eateries in the Atlanta area, Las Delicias is busier than ever these days: This is a soccer-loving crowd, and the World Cup is just around the corner.

On a recent weekday afternoon, as customers dined and workers busied themselves with cables and construction materials, Johnny sat at a cafe table beside the bakery display and explained, “Estamos haciendo unos pequeños detalles cosméticos para así generar un espacio futbolero y volverlo la casa de la selección, La casa del fútbol, la casa del Mundial.” We are making some small cosmetic touches to create a football-centric space and turn it into the home of the national team—the home of football, the home of the World Cup. It’s an exciting time, he said. “Somos un país futbolero; desde niños jugábamos en la calle, descalzos, con pelotas de plástico. Entonces llevamos el fútbol en la sangre,” Johnny said. “Y ahora tener este mundial aquí en Estados Unidos es algo muy emocionante.” We are a soccer-loving country; as children, we played in the streets—barefoot, with plastic balls. So we truly have soccer in our blood. And now, having this World Cup here in the United States is something very exciting.

Las Delicias de la Abuela has been a destination for Atlanta’s Colombian community since Johnny and Kelly opened it in 2014; the first location, though, was much smaller than the current one. “Empezamos como todo el mundo, solamente con las uñas, con las ganas, prestando dineros en intereses súper altos,” Johnny said. We started out just like everyone else: with nothing but sheer grit and determination, scraping by and borrowing money at sky-high interest rates.

Kelly’s grandmother taught her how to cook, Johnny said—so the restaurant’s name, which translates to Grandma’s Delights, honors her. “La sazón de las abuelas es algo que nunca se olvida.” Grandmothers’ cooking, it’s something you never forget. Johnny is originally from Medellín, and Kelly from Bucaramanga, the capital of Santander in the country’s northeast. The dishes served at the restaurant, though, are from all over the country. “¿Cuál era la necesidad?” Johnny said. “Recordar la comida de Colombia.” What was the need? To remember the Colombian cuisine. The first item on the menu was sopa de letras, a homemade chicken or beef broth filled with letter-shaped pasta, potatoes, carrots, peas, and cilantro. Then they incorporated more foods that they missed, such as lentil soup and arepas filled with cheese and eggs.

“My wife has all the recipes in her head,” said Johnny. “She loves to cook. That’s the main thing. That passion [is in] everything.”

At the original location, the food—and the atmosphere—seemed to resonate quickly. “La señora dueña del local, veía ese local muy lleno, entonces trató de ponerlo en la renta demasiadamente alta,” Johnny said. “Ahí fue cuando tomamos la decisión de empezar a buscar y dimos con este local en Doraville, que es tres veces más grande que el anterior. “The landlady—the owner of the space—noticed that the place was always packed, so she tried to hike the rent up to an exorbitant level. That’s when we made the decision to start looking for a new location, and we stumbled upon this spot in Doraville, which is three times larger than our previous place.

Constantly adapting to changing demographics, tastes, and the needs of the moment seems to be key for the couple. For the first few years, Johnny and Kelly mostly served people of Colombian descent—there are nearly 50,000 in the metro area—but with time they’ve attracted a more diverse clientele. They’ve had the Doraville location since 2017, and now have locations  in Duluth, Alpharetta, and Lawrenceville, and inside Plaza Fiesta in Chamblee. At every Las Delicias location, the bandeja paisa is the best seller. Originally from Colombia’s Antioquia region, the dish consists of white rice, red beans, ground beef, chicharró on, fried egg, sweet plantain, chorizo, avocado, and an arepa, all arranged on a large platter.

The couple has expanded beyond Colombian food too, with a coffee shop, El Cafe by La Abuela, and a halal Latin rotisserie-chicken place called RIKO Chicken, both in Duluth. They also have their eyes on even bigger plans, Johnny said: “El sueño que nosotros estamos buscando hoy en día, estamos estructurando, armando recetas, armando plan de trabajo, armando roles de manager, rol de cocinero, rol de mesero, todos los estándares para poder vender franquicias.” The dream we are pursuing today—we are structuring it, crafting recipes, devising a work plan, and defining roles for managers, cooks, and servers—establishing all the standards necessary to be able to sell franchises. 

In the meantime, World Cup preparations continue—they’re installing big-screen TVs in Alpharetta and Duluth, too. At the Doraville location, Johnny is working on getting permission to sell alcohol, and hopes to set up an outdoor viewing area in the parking lot. Between the dining room and the outdoor screen, he thinks he could host up to 400 people at a time—and is expecting all the seats to be filled, like they were in 2024 during the Copa America. Then, almost 1,500 people came to watch the games. “La gente se sentaba encima de los carros a ver la pantalla,” Johnny said. People would sit on top of the cars to see the screen. This time around, he himself has tickets to watch the Colombian team play in Miami. 

Although fans are excited for the World Cup, many communities have raised alarms over the prospect of federal immigration officials at these events. A ways down Buford Highway in Chamblee, the increased presence of ICE agents has already hurt businesses at Plaza Fiesta, where vendors told 285 South that sales had decreased due to declining traffic from immigrant customers, fearful that leaving their houses will put them at risk of arrest and deportation.  

But despite the fears, Johnny is still expecting people to come out and enjoy the World Cup. “La gente se está olvidando de eso un poco,” he said. “La gente está saliendo, la gente rumbea, la gente maneja.” People are forgetting about that a little bit. People are going out, people are partying, people are driving.