This article appeared in the May 7th Issue of TV Times
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By David Maull
TV Times

If it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder, then Lisa DiFebo and her husband, Jeff Osias, must have been jumping for joy on April 20. That is the day DiFebo's Cafe & Italian Deli returned with a new building to carry the business into a new era.

After closing temporarily on Nov. 9, 1997, the DiFebo family spent five months building a new restaurant that is more than twice the size of the cramped and rapidly-deteriorating house where the business once stood. The old house was torn down and the new restaurant built on the same site on Route 26 in Bethany Beach.

Loyal customers who missed the restaurant's Italian cuisine during the winter can take comfort in the fact that their feelings were shared by DiFebo and Osias.

"We've missed them," said Lisa, who started the business with her father, Bob, 10 years ago. "For 10 years, we've seen the same faces coming in every day." Said Jeff: "I'm very anxious to get back into the business." The new restaurant features a dining room with a seating capacity of nearly 100, a carryout area, two kitchens, a full-service bar and an upstairs office and storage area. The additional space will allow the staff to expand its dine-in and catering operations while still providing the top-notch carryout service for which the restaurant so popular. It will also bring to an end the days of customers waiting more than an hour for a table in the small, cramped house. "I think what needed to be done was obvious," Jeff said.

"I think everything DiFebo's does - eat-in, carryout and catering - we're just going to have a greater capacity to do those three things."

"It (old building) wasn't very accommodating the way the business was heading," Lisa added. By placing carryout and dine-in services in separate sections of the building, and having separate kitchens for each, the restaurant can provide more efficient and organized service. It will also allow Jeff and Lisa to devote more energy to the quality of the food.

DiFebo's has nearly tripled its number of employees but Jeff and Lisa stressed the menu and prices remain the same. Along with carryout subs, sandwiches and deli meats, DiFebo's offers a dining room menu featuring a wide variety of Italian entrees, appetizers and salads. A children's menu and gourmet takeout menu have also been added.

Those eating in the dining room will also enjoy the Mediterranean decor designed by Lisa's mother, Charlotte. While Jeff admits it was difficult to shut down the business for five months last winter, he noted the changes were made with one goal in mind. "To keep our customers happy,'' he said.