Casa Villa

Home at the Mouth

Happy Cinco de Drinko!

*Hidden Gem Alert*

Locally-owned mom-and-pop restaurant that's been serving up legit Mexican eats in East Willow Glen for over three years.

I'd seen Casa Villa many times before, as we frequent nearby Cider Junction, but never really paid much attention to them as Mexican restaurants are pretty ubiquitous in SJ. Boy, was that a mistake!

Luckily, they were one of the restaurants featured in the "San Jose Gift Cards" by Synergy (https://www.thesanjosegiftcard.com/) that are available for purchase ($60 for $100) at local Costcos. So we were feeling like Mexican and decided to give them a go.

The Good:

*Great décor and ambiance

*Lots of Veg-head friendly dishes and a few vegan ones to boot.

*Outdoor dining

*Unlike a lot of Mexican places, the food was cooked to order and wasn't brought out to the table in five seconds.

*Great, friendly service

*Mexican beers and Micheladas are available

*Housemade corn tortillas! #NuffSaid

*I loved that my Carnitas Plate didn't just come with beans and rice, but grilled nopales (cactus), grilled Jalapeño, and fried cheese to really round it out. Everything was delicious and authentic as it gets.

*Carissa's Al Pastor tacos were fantastic, but we wished they had more pineapple in the mix.

The Meh:

*Place is kinda small and fills up fast

*Parking lot is shared with a lot of other businesses, as well as some restaurants, so parking could be an issue at prime times. There is some limited street parking on both Willow & and Bird, but be aware of street signage before parking.

The Ugly:

*Chips & salsa aren't complimentary, which is fine, but when you charge for C&S, they better be damn good, and these were, quite frankly, pretty bad. The salsa was too sweet, no heat, and just not much flavor. The tortillas were just the standard store-bought variety.

Conclusion: Fantastic Mexican food with reasonable prices and great service in a well-decorated environment--just skip the chips and salsa. Highly recommended.

Great coffee. Nice service - that's all

Chips and salsa were plain and unseasoned. Entree (huevos divorciado) came with 5 chips and no rice as the menu mentioned. Upon review it looked like they had two different menus, one with rice and one without. The server did bring me rice upon request, however I had to wait for its arrival.

My husband ordered the shrimp empanadas which were under filled, lacking cheese, and super greasy

So glad the coffee was delicious or I would have left even more disappointed than I'm currently feeling. It stinks cause I want to support the small businesses, and I see how many good reviews they have, so maybe our experience was a one off.

Disclaimer: this is specifically for the vegan options.

Casa villa is okay - not good, not great. I came in specifically to fulfill a simultaneous Mexican + vegan food craving. Casa Villa is cozy, and there's not a lot of space to move around. In terms of overall environment, it's a little more done up than a no-frills taqueria.

Service was great all around, and I had no qualms about the nachos. My dish, the vegan Chile Relleno, was (unfortunately) a disappointment. There's not much that goes into vegan Chile Relleno, and there's not much that went into this one, either. My primary qualm was with the flavor, or moreso the lack thereof. It was kind of like just eating bland vegetables stuffed into a chile. I don't know why I was expecting more, but I was. Thankfully, the nachos were good enough to get me by.

Overall, Casa Villa is worth a stop, but perhaps not a repeated stop for the chile relleno. Hope to try this place again for their non-vegan stuff.

I'm a big fan of chilaquiles, so I'm always looking for the next best one in San Jose! We decided to try Casa Villa since I saw it on their menu. No wait to set seated on a Saturday around noon. There was plenty of parking in the lot, and they have both indoor and outdoor patio seating.

I'd say the Chilaquiles was a winner! You can get either red (salsa roja) or green (verde) sauce with their chilaquiles, but I asked our server, and she said you can get half and half! The chips were smothered in sauce with pico de gallo, sour cream, queso fresco, and two eggs on top. It's served with rice and beans, and you have a choice of either pinto or black beans.

I also tried some of the Breakfast Burrito, which I didn't like as much as the chilaquiles, but it wasn't bad! It has scrambled eggs, chorizo, mozzarella cheese, rice, beans, pico de gallo, and a side of country potatoes with bell peppers and onions. They give a side of salsa on the side, which was on the spicier side!

We tried this place for the first time and had a mostly good experience. The service was good. My husband had fish tacos and loved it; it was not a big portion, and he finished the meal. I had the veggie burrito, which used beyond "meat" along with rice, beans, and veggies. I ordered a side of sour cream. The burrito tasted fine when I ate it there. (But when I had the leftovers the following day, it had a strange taste. I cannot understand why.) I also ordered a chicken fajita meal for my daughter to go. When we got home, my daughter was disappointed to see they neglected to include the sour cream, pico de gallo, and guacamole that should have come with it; she said it tasted good other than that. If I go back, I'll have to try ordering something else.

Patrons are packed in tight in Casa Villa's narrow space with close-together tables.

Their menu is vegan & vegetarian friendly but according to my dining companions, their meats leave something to be desired (flavorless carne asada & "just ok" al pastor & beef birria.)

We shared two micheladas which came in flavors you don't see everyday -- La Pitufa ($10.99, blueberry mix, modelo especial, & a sticky, melty candy blueberry rim) & Mucho Mango ($11.99, mango puree, modelo especial, & a salty tajin rim.)

I ordered Chile Relleno ($18.99) which was stuffed with ground beef & sauteed peppers & covered in a vegan marinara sauce. Would've better enjoyed a traditional sauce & cheese filling.

Casa Villa doesn't measure up to the plethora of great Mexican options in San Jo so I'd only come back to for their fun micheladas. The tamarind flavor sparked my interest.

Ownership changed the prepackaged corn tortillas to a variety that contains 30% flour, so many of the dishes that were previously gluten free are no longer gluten free.

We were all craving Mexican food and that's how we ended up here. Relatively small place with a very earthy color palette and decor. They serve breakfast all day as well. They do not have free chips and salsa so we had to order that separately. Got our regular favorites chicken burrito and chicken fajitas. And to try something new- enmoladas from the chefs special.

The salsa that came with the chips was not spicy and had a strong roasted garlic aftertaste. Chips were decent and not very oily. I didn't love this salsa but the ones that came later with the burrito were bomb.

Burrito was pretty tasty, lots of cheese, guac, rice, beans and properly cooked chicken- all the good stuff. The two salsas that came with it took it up another level.

Fajitas were easily the best I had. The chicken was well cooked and not rubbery which is a shortcoming I find at most place. The spices it was cooked with were delicious. The plate only came with three or four tortillas, we needed two more to finish up the dish though.

The chicken enmoladas were sweet. I had mole before but never came across a sweet version. I didn't enjoy the dish much and tried to eat my way around the sauce.

A small restaurant with a 20 to 25 seats.

Came in here to cerebrate a birthday and I got the Pozole. I have the say it was very good and had lot s flavor. The meat was very tender and juicy. My bowl didn't have a lot of meat in it compare to another bowl.

The service was pretty fast, sever was friendly. One of the drinks we ordered came in a Tiki cup which I thought was pretty cool!!!

A small restaurant with a 20 to 25 seats.

My friend recommended we meet at Casa Villa for a meal and we both left satisfied! There are countless Mexican restaurants throughout San Jose but we came since the restaurant offered vegetarian and vegan options. It's an unassuming, humble, and no-frills establishment.

The restaurant is colorfully decorated and quite spacious and the service was good but a bit distant. There's indoor and outdoor seating available--we chose the former.

We enjoyed our plant-based food! We both ordered their Vegan Chile Relleno. I've never tried a Chille Relleno prior because of the meat and cheese but found their version to be sufficient. It was packed with various vegetables, the portion was reasonable, and the tortillas were appreciated. I just wish it had a bit more seasoning or flavor to it. I also got a Horchata to drink which was creamy and delicious. They serve plenty of food from appetizers, entrees, drinks, and a happy hour menu!

Casa Villa is a great Mexican cuisine option for breakfast, lunch, or dinner in Willow Glen. The restaurant is off Willow Street with a free lot in front. The establishment is small on the outside but offers options for all in the area.