From a pickup truck to a restaurant: The inspiring journey of this Columbus hidden gem
Dell’s Food is tucked in next to a Marathon gas station down the street from Columbus State University.
But the inconspicuous restaurant with its modest sign thrived over the years after the business started and grew during the COVID-19 pandemic when many other restaurants struggled.
Now, when foodies on Facebook ask for advice in finding Columbus’ hidden gems, fans of Dell’s Food ensure the restaurant is included in the list.
Owner Kastadell Ford is proud of how his business has grown, granting him the opportunity to mentor others and have a passion he can pass down to his children.
Creating Dell’s Food
Ford learned to cook soul food from his mom, Isabella Ford Davis, growing up in Fort Mitchell, Alabama.
As an adult, Ford soon realized he wanted to be a business owner.
He opened his first restaurant in Columbus on Second Avenue in 2008. It was called Hot Dogs and More, located alongside Pat-A-Cakes Bakery.
The restaurant was primarily to-go only, he said, but they built up business doing catering.
Hot Dogs and More was short-lived, Ford said, and it closed down in 2012.
Although he didn’t have a restaurant, Ford kept selling food to people whenever he could out of the back of his black 2000 Chevrolet Silverado.
“We had a technique on how we kept the food hot in that truck,” Ford said.
They’d go to car washes, barber shops and work catering jobs. Ford’s son, Keynan, worked with him to build the business.
Eventually, they moved past the pickup truck and started an actual “Dell’s Food” food truck in 2018.
“It got to be where we were getting popular,” Ford said. “And then we outgrew the food truck.”
That’s when Ford knew he needed to move his business to a brick-and-mortar location. Ford was about to partner with someone else to open a restaurant, but the plans fell through.
Ford’s pastor, Rev. Ernest Snead IV of Faithful Missionary Baptist Church, knew about his aspirations to be located in a building. One day, Snead was in the Marathon gas station on Manchester Expressway near Ole Times Country Buffet and found out the owner of the gas station had restaurant space available.
The gas station owner asked Snead to reach out to Ford.
“They want to offer you that spot in the gas station,” Snead told Ford. “You want it?”
“Yeah, I’ll look into it,” Ford told Snead.
In 2019, he opened Dell’s Food in that gas station.
Soon, his business began getting more traffic despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. They never shut down, Ford said. He and his employees wore personal protective equipment and delivered orders to the curbside.
While some restaurants and other businesses struggled during the pandemic, Ford saw his restaurant outgrow the gas station as it did the food truck.
“I think it was a gift from God,” he said. “He took favor of us.”
After outgrowing the gas station, Ford moved his restaurant to its current location at 3466 University Ave. in 2021.
‘The best hidden gem’
Ford aimed to cater to all types of people when he created the menu for Dell’s Food.
“I try to just mix up the menu because people come in my doors, they want everything,” he said.
The restaurant serves a different meat and three daily, along with a more expanded menu that customers can order from including burgers, wings and hot dogs.
Dell’s Food also offers breakfast all day, except for some Saturdays, he said.
Although his mom died before he opened the restaurant, Ford said, her presence is in the food.
“We make some of the best chicken salad you’ve ever had and you’re ever going to eat,” he said. “And my mama taught me how to make that chicken salad.”
An assortment of sliced cakes is another fan favorite at the restaurant, Ford said. He bakes all of the cakes himself.
Dell’s Food employs about nine people, he said, with many of them being high school students. Ford enjoys helping young people grow as employees.
One young man came in off the street, he said. Despite a rough beginning, that man is one of his best workers now.
This young man and Ford’s son, Keynan, are now trusted to run the front of the restaurant when Dell isn’t able to be there.
Knowing that his restaurant has a good reputation through word of mouth is an amazing feeling, Ford said. And he loves seeing the smiles on people’s faces when they eat his food.
“People say we are a hidden gem,” Ford said. “I think we are the best hidden gem.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
