Photograph by Paul Myers
Co-owners Everardo (left) and Olivia Valencia serve traditional Mexican food at Casa Valencia, their cantina and restaurant in the Vasona Station shopping center on Winchester Boulevard. Behind them are (left to right) Salvador Ochoa, sons Ricardo and Carlos Valencia, Patricia Lopez and Teologo Campos.
Traditional Mexican food is the fare at Casa Valencia cantina and restaurant
By Suzanne Cristallo
Everardo Valencia wanted more than his village in Michoacan, Mexico, could offer him. In 1972, at just 18, he left his family, bound to meet a brother in San Jose.
"I came over the fence," he recalls of his border crossing. "I didn't want to stay in a hole."
Today, Valencia and his wife, Olivia, have three restaurants, 40 employees, six children--the eldest two in college--American citizenship and a formula that works: "I provide good food, a clean place and nice servers, and [customers] come back," he says simply.
They've been coming back to Casa Valencia in Los Gatos since 1997, when Valencia bought the cantina and restaurant on Winchester Boulevard in the Vasona Station shopping center near the northern border of town. He has two other Mexican eateries: Chimichanga in Morgan Hill, which Olivia runs, and Mexico Lindo in San Jose.
Casa Valencia has a Mexican village atmosphere: red tile floors, arched doorways and colorfully painted parrots--enlivened recently with a new color scheme.
Teal is the new color of the comfortably stuffed upholstery booths that line one wall of the bar and complement the "outdoor" green walls.
Nearly 70 titeres, or string puppets, dangle along the ceiling. In the dining areas, the walls come alive with huge oil murals on canvas by "Ricardo." The scenes reflect Valencia's memories of his growing years in Michoacan--children celebrating at a piñata party, village vegetable stands and fishermen in boats near the island of Janitzio, where a huge monument looms from the center of the mountain.
"I spent my vacation there," Valencia muses, recalling that 500 people at a time can move up the circular staircase inside the monument.
The food is traditional, with lots of enchiladas, chiles rellenos, tacos, chimichangas, burritos and tamales, served with rice and beans in the $8 to $11 range. One popular plate, pollo borracho, is boneless chicken marinated with beer, wine and spices, then grilled and served with rice, beans, nopalitos (peeled cactus leaves), salsa and tortillas for $11.55.
Seafood lovers might enjoy fresh shrimp cooked in a sauce with onions, bell peppers, tomatoes and garlic, then served with rice and guacamole, sour cream and tortillas. For the conventional taste, hamburgers also are available with all the trimmings. Breakfast starts at 10 a.m. during the week and is served all day. There's machaca--shredded beef with scrambled eggs, onions, tomatoes and peppers, or eggs with sausages, potatoes, ham, cheese and chorizo (fresh pork sausage).
All of this can be washed down with a Bloody Mary, Piña Colada, Margarita, Daiquiri, Kahlua or Mexican coffee from a roomy cantina with comfortable stools.
Valencia had been in the country 15 years--entering it as many as 10 times in the early years to wash dishes, clear tables and cook--when he decided to buy his first restaurant in 1987. By then, he had a wife and four children to support.
"It was a big jump," he recalls. "I had to make it, because I knew that one bad decision and I'd be washing dishes again."
His "jump" was aided by a good newspaper review that brought in hordes of new customers, resulting in a scramble to find relatives to help out.
Valencia now divides his time between his San Jose store and the one in Los Gatos, while Olivia has full control of the Morgan Hill restaurant near where they reside. Life is good for them.
Casa Valencia, at 14101 Winchester Blvd. in Los Gatos, is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 4-10 p.m. Call 408.871.0565 for more information.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
