FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for Garlishous Deli on Monday who ensures all their main ingredients are from Northern California.

The owners, Karla Lugo and Jessie Lugo of Arizona say they decided to move to Fresno from Sacramento after their lease was up there. Jessie says when they got offered Fresno, they decided to move.

“When I got offered to Fresno, we looked, scattered, and said you know what? Fresno it’s within a driving time L.A. and back, Bay Area and back, it made sense, and then it’s the garlic capital of the U.S., I don’t know, I want to say the world,” said Jessie. “With all these things in place, and then the school systems that we have here, we were like you know what? We want to go ahead and move the family and grow the business here.”

Karla says what got them inspired was the beauty of Downtown Fresno and the way their Garlish spread can replace several sauces.

“Because of our Garlish spread, you replace your mayo, your butter, tartar sauce, we were like hey, let’s open a Deli,” she said.

According to Karla, their Garlish spread has five ingredients and it does not have sugar, cholesterol, or preservatives. They say their menu includes options for vegan and gluten-free people as well.

“We wanted to make a little bit of difference in Fresno as well, to give them options,” she said.

Jessie says the City of Fresno helped them with the opening of the Garlishious Deli. Their current location used to be another Deli facility that closed down during COVID-19, so he says at first, the kitchen was not up to their standards so they had to upgrade it.

The owners say the support of Fresno residents was something really important.

“We love Fresno people. They are fantastic, they come along, they have supported us all the way. Even when we do events, they would come, and we know already so many of our customers,” said Karla. “We are very blessed.”

The owners say all their workers are full-time employees. They also added that Garlishous Deli is the only Deli where all the products are from Northern California.