Darna Delights seeks lender to help launch Hay River restaurant

A Hay River food business is facing financing challenges as it works to expand from a home-based operation to a full-scale restaurant.

Darna Delights, launched in 2023, specializes in Mediterranean cuisine and is run by Salah Abouelnaga and his wife. Abouelnaga said the planned expansion is ready to move forward, with a business plan, financial forecasts and a location already prepared.

However, the project has had difficulty securing funding from lenders.

Abouelnaga said the couple began seriously exploring expansion opportunities about nine months ago. They researched sources of support, developed a detailed business plan and approached organizations that provide funding for entrepreneurs.

He said the business received encouragement from the Town of Hay River and community representatives.

“We are very eager to extend our business. However, if government lenders can ease the way and think from our perspective and a local perspective, how to support businesses like us, that will be great,” he told Cabin Radio.

“It will open more opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs to actually be active and be supported.”

Abouelnaga said lenders have viewed the proposed expansion as a larger-scale project and encouraged the business to grow gradually rather than take on a significant expansion immediately.

“What we are looking for is not an idea. It’s about a plan to expand our operations and business to a restaurant with a venue that can gather all the family in town – and also support other businesses, support the variety, support diversity of food in town,” he said, adding the couple are committing their own money to the project.

“Our food is made 100 percent from raw materials, 100 percent Canadian, and I would say 100 percent local.”

In a July 9 letter of support, the Town of Hay River described Darna Delights as a valued business with a strong reputation for quality Mediterranean food and customer service.

Abouelnaga said Darna Delights has already demonstrated demand for its food through its home-based operations. He said the business has remained profitable despite operating at a smaller scale and relying on local vendors for supplies.

He pointed to the response the business received when it provided meals for evacuees from Fort Providence during 2025’s wildfire evacuations. Darna Delights donated roughly 20 meals a day at Super A – now Lakeshore Co-op – after evacuees arrived in Hay River.

“We were doing a lot of dishes that actually people like. [They] want us to continue,” he told Cabin Radio.

“We tested that at Super A. We were running all the time out of meals. The meals just gone within five minutes, and the lunch we were providing. That actually encouraged us to go to the next step.”

The proposed restaurant would create at least six local jobs, he said and give visitors and residents another dining option.

“It’s not our decision. It’s about government supporting the decision. We are ready to go. It’s a shovel-ready project,” he said. “We are standing on a concrete project that has everything ready to go.”