Tucumcari native acquires Del's

A Tucumcari native has fulfilled his dream of acquiring the city’s oldest restaurant after working there as a young teenager.

Chase Waters, 30, closed the deal Wednesday on Del’s Restaurant, which has operated on Route 66 since 1956. He celebrated the acquisition the next day with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting organized by the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce. Waters also moved to Tucumcari last week from Amarillo.

The previous owners, sisters Yvette Peacock and Yvonne Braziel, had owned the restaurant for more than 26 years. Yvette’s son Aaron also was a part owner of the business.

Waters, who grew up in Tucumcari, worked as a waiter at Del’s starting at age 15, then was a cashier at Kix on 66 restaurant when the sisters owned it. Waters also managed the sisters’ Rockin’ Y’s Roadhouse for five years before a fire destroyed it in 2015.

Waters managed a Chili’s in Amarillo and an Olive Garden in San Angelo, Texas, but Del’s never was far from his mind.

“It’s been my dream, since I worked at Del’s and fell in love with it, to own it,” Waters said in a telephone interview. “Fifteen years later, I’m buying it.”

Waters also noted his uncle, Paul Adcock, worked for Del’s original owner Del Akin and his mother worked for Jessica Braziel, the restaurant’s second owner starting in 1978.

Waters said he began in earnest in the last 18 months to two years to save up to buy Del’s.

Peacock noted she and her sister, both wishing to retire, had been “keeping an eye out” for another buyer for several years. She expressed satisfaction with turning over the restaurant keys to Waters.

“I thought he’d do well,” Peacock said in a phone interview. “He’s from here, and a lot of people like him. I thought it’d be a lot better than turning it over to someone who’s a total stranger.”

A sale price for Del’s was not disclosed by either party.

Peacock said she’d stick around Del’s for two or three weeks to help Waters with the transition and has offered to talk to him on the phone at any time.

“We’ve told him we’d consult with him,” she said. “We want him to have a good start and a good, long life there.”

In a social media post, Peacock noted that when the sisters owned three restaurants, “we were the largest private employer in Quay County.”

“We have never had an easy life, we work very hard and many times people have disagreed with our decisions,” she wrote, “but we have always said a prayer and tried to do what we felt was right and fair to all. We will be forever thankful for our team that stayed with us through the years, the good and the bad. We will miss you all very much.”

In a nod to longtime customers, Waters said he wouldn’t change anything on the Del’s menu but might add some items in the months ahead.

Waters also said he wouldn’t change any of the staff, either.

“Del’s wouldn’t be what it is without the team we have now,” he said.

Peacock said she’ll have more time to visit a son in Fort Worth, Texas, but she’ll also still be in Tucumcari often.

“My mom is still here; she’s 91,” she said. “We’ll still be around.”