Aahana Swrup
The Hulu crime-comedy sitcom ‘Deli Boys’ brings a unique story about a convenience store chain that is really a front for an undercover drug operation. The ever-responsible Mir Dar and his laid-back, self-medication enthusiast brother, Raj, are the well-off sons of convenience store tycoon Baba Dar. However, it is only after his unforeseen death that the two brothers discover the ugly underbelly of their father’s business. As it turns out, the DarCo company has been illegally peddling drugs for years—and the business is now technically in the hands of the two brothers.
Consequently, in the wake of their father’s death, which leaves the business in tatters, Mir and Raj find themselves back at the patriarch’s first convenience store, ABC Deli, where they learn the truth about the Caca Brand Achar from their Aunt Lucky. Despite their initial incompetency, the heirs managed to bring good ideas to the table, including the inclusion of distributors like Pakora Palaceino in their system. Since all these elements build up the recognizable world around the Dar family, their potential origins in real life remain intriguing.
ABC Deli Seems to be Unique to the Dar Family’s Narrative
ABC Deli, shortened for the Always Be Convenient, is a central establishment in ‘Deli Boys.’ It’s the starting point for Baba Dar, who goes on to launch his successful brand with multiple stores and products after starting out as an employee at the Deli. In the aftermath of his death—and subsequent FBI raids—this store remains the last one standing, inevitably becoming the base of operations for Raj, Mir, and their Aunt Lucky. Even though the store is intrinsic to the worldbuilding within the story, it doesn’t seem to hold any direct off-screen counterparts. In real life, the audience will be able to find a deli in Harwood Heights, Illinois, similarly christened ABC Bakery and Deli.
Likewise, behind-the-scenes photographs showcase that some of the show’s exterior is, in fact, a real brick-and-mortar establishment. Nonetheless, there aren’t any records of an identical store in Philadelphia, where the show is set, or Chicago, where the filming took place. Therefore, it seems that—for the most part—the place remains confined within the worldview of the show. The on-screen Deli is the headquarters for the Dar Family and the DarCo company to facilitate their cocaine distribution business. Thus, the narrative element plays into the familiar concept of physical businesses, such as convenience stores being money laundering fronts. For the same reason, despite the comedically outlandish equipment of the Deli as essentially a drug cartel HQ, ABC Deli remains a fairly realistic plot device.
The Real Indian Restaurant Behind Pakora Palace
Unlike the other drug-dealing front in the show, Pakora Palace is actually an on-screen establishment with a firm off-screen counterpart. In the show, the Indian restaurant is used as a distribution front for DarCo cocaine. The company delivers its cocaine packages in bricks that are hidden inside its distinguishably marked Achaar (South Asian pickle) containers. While these are easy to sell within the Deli, they’re even easier to move through an Indian Restaurant, where huge shipments of Achaar’s pass without garnering suspicion.
While the real-life restaurant behind this DarCo Company’s business partner bears absolutely no commonality with the latter in terms of their illegal entanglements, the visual similarities between the two remain evident. In real life, Essence of India restaurant, located at 4601 North Lincoln Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, is the off-screen counterpart of Pakora Palace. In fact, the establishment was reportedly closed down for a while in 2024 during the shooting for ‘Deli Boys.’ The effortlessly cozy and proudly ethnic appearance within the real-life restaurant—mirrored as Pakora Palace—brings a level of authenticity to the show’s visual identity.
Caca Brand Achar: A Crucial Plot Device With Surprising Real-Life Parallels
The Caca Brand Achaar, a best-seller across the DarCo-owned Deli franchises in Philadelphia, is central to the plot in ‘Deli Boys.’ The Achaar brand, meant to be a comfort food for the South Asian community in Philly, is employed as an efficient means for cocaine distribution by Baba Dar and his underground drug business. Although the South Asian pickles brand itself doesn’t exist in real life, the plotline surrounding it seems to have some roots in reality.
In 2015, a well-loved pickle seller, Ram Dulare, based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, was discovered to be a notorious drug peddler. Following a raid, the authorities discovered that Dulare was a leading drug distributor in the area. As per reports, he used his pickle business, first established in 1983, as a front for selling drugs to some of his customers. The primary narcotics he dealt with seem to be various forms of Cannabis. Therefore, even though it’s unclear whether or not this particular case inspired the unique drug storyline in the show, the former’s real-life relevance offers a useful context for Caca Brand Achar.
Read More: Is Hulu’s Deli Boys Based on a True Story?
