Casa Verde began as a farmer's market dream. A decade later, we're still sourcing from the same neighbors who inspired us.
In 2014, Elena Vega was a culinary school graduate selling grain bowls at the Temecula Farmer's Market, and Marcus Vega was a produce buyer who couldn't stop tasting her sauces. They married in 2016. Casa Verde Kitchen followed in 2017.
The idea was simple: build a restaurant that works the way the farmer's market does — know your grower, know your season, cook what's actually ripe. No frozen proteins, no mystery sauces, no industrial shortcuts. Just food that tastes like someone cared.
"We don't decide the menu. The farms do. Our job is to stay humble and cook what they hand us."
— Elena Vega, Executive ChefThey opened with 12 tables, a wood-fired grill, and a handshake agreement with two local farms. Today they work with nine farms within thirty miles. The handshakes are still the contract.
These aren't mission-statement words. They're the decisions we make every day.
If it isn't in season in Southern California, it isn't on the menu. This means the menu changes — sometimes weekly. We think that's a feature, not a limitation.
We pay fair prices to people who farm responsibly. Every ingredient on the menu has a name and a face behind it. We visit the farms. We know the families.
Every sauce, broth, vinaigrette, and dessert base is made in-house. We've never used a pre-made shortcut. We don't intend to start.
Trim becomes stock. Spent grain feeds the compost. We measure waste weekly and treat it as a performance metric, not an afterthought.
We hire locally, partner locally, and give back locally. Temecula Valley isn't a backdrop — it's the reason this restaurant exists.
Temecula Valley has sixty-plus wineries. We pour them, pair with them, and celebrate the fact that world-class wine country sits fifteen minutes from our door.
We source from nine farms within thirty miles. Here are a few you'll find on tonight's menu.
Casa Verde runs on a small crew who've been here long enough to know where the good tomatoes come in and who called in last Tuesday.
Reservations are recommended on weekends. Walk-ins always welcome at the bar.