Amid the lively and constantly changing culinary scene of Greater Los Angeles, Casa Vega stands out as a Sherman Oaks landmark that has been serving classic Mexican cuisine and margaritas for nearly 70 years.

Just a short drive from major film, music recording and television studios, countless Hollywood executives and stars have visited the restaurant over the decades – Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, Jane Fonda, Dr. Dre and Sandra Bullock, to name a few. But local regulars consider Casa Vega their favorite hangout.

And at the helm stands Christy Vega, a third-generation restaurateur who isn’t just the guardian of her family’s legacy but also a catalyst for change. She has paved new paths for advocacy and community support – whether speaking to city council members on behalf of L.A. small businesses or advocating for the city’s immigrant workforce.

It’s a tenacity she attributes to her father, Rafael “Ray” Vega Jr., who first opened the restaurant in 1956. “I found my way, I found my fire and I found my voice,” says Christy, who took over the reins in 2012 when her Ray Jr. retired and she eventually assumed ownership.

But her path hasn’t been easy, and in many ways, she says the battles have been tough and more heartbreaking. Ray, whom Christy describes as her “island” and “biggest fan,” died in 2021 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. While she and her family mourned, she still had to find a way to carefully guide the restaurant through two shutdowns – which involved converting two parking lots into outdoor dining space and setting up a drive-through window.

Since then, she has held city and state officials accountable for policies and regulations affecting small businesses, especially those related to fighting crime, addressing homelessness, advocating for filming in Los Angeles and supporting the state’s immigrant workforce.

“I (have been) unapologetically fierce about keeping this family legacy open and keeping the commitment that I have to the employees who work here and everyone who benefits from Casa Vega,” she says.

It’s a critical moment for Vega to find her own footing.

Angelenos are losing some beloved eateries. Among them is downtown’s iconic Cole’s French Dip, which announced it will officially shut down in August after 117 years in business. Cole’s owner Cedd Moses told Eater LA that there were a “litany of reasons” behind the closure, including the lingering effects of the pandemic, rising labor and rental costs, and local bureaucracy.

“The independent operators are really feeling the squeeze,” says Lisa W. Miller, a consumer strategist and consultant at Lisa W. Miller & Associates. “Independent operators don’t have the infrastructure, and sometimes not the depth in the pocket, to sustain these storms.”

Eddie Navarette, chief consultant and founder of downtown-based FE Design & Consulting, echoes that sentiment. “(But) for someone like Christy, (with) the pressure of carrying on the family business, I can only imagine that being another burden, almost heaviness,” he adds.

The Vega legacy

Christy Vega reflects on and draws strength from the weight she bears – the burden before her and her family’s deep entrepreneurial roots. Her grandparents moved to Los Angeles from Tijuana in the mid-1930s, shortly after her grandmother gave birth to her father Ray in National City.

Her grandparents Rafael Sr. and Maria “Mary” Vega opened Café Caliente on Olvera Street, featuring Mary’s long-standing recipes. The café was a popular spot for nearly two decades until it closed. Her grandmother eventually started a catering service business with help from her son Ray Jr., who also once worked at the Olvera Street café and was then exploring business ventures of his own, including selling life insurance.

Yet the dream of owning their own restaurant never faded.

While working with his parents on the catering business, Ray Jr. and Mary were given another opportunity to open a restaurant. That’s how Casa Vega was founded in 1956.

Christy says her father, who was 22 at the time, saw it as a chance to “give my grandparents some kind of a purpose and get back to working.” That mission grew into something much bigger. Ray Jr. envisioned capturing the roots of his Chicano heritage and style – through his mother’s recipes for molé, albondigas soup, carne asada and cheese enchiladas. Ray Sr. managed the bar, and Christy’s Aunt Frances served as the hostess.

The restaurant became so popular among Valley residents that Ray Jr. decided it was time to move to a larger space – thus, the current location, which is two blocks east of its original home.

“One of our first customers to come through was Marlon Brando,” said Christy, adding that the Hollywood legend helped make Casa Vega and Mexican food “cool.”

Brando, who dined at the restaurant four times a week, often brought in other A-list stars like Grant, Rock Hudson, Dyan Cannon and Nancy Sinatra.

While Brando made Casa Vega “cool,” it was Academy Award-winning director and writer Quentin Tarantino who cemented the restaurant’s status as a Los Angeles landmark by featuring it in his 2019 film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Casa Vega has appeared in other movies as well: the 1978 film “The End” starring Burt Reynolds, and the 1983 comedy “Valley Girls” with Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman.

But Tarantino made it a point to capture the restaurant’s charm in his film, starring Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio and set in 1969. “It truly set us apart,” says Christy. Tourists and Angelenos still visit Casa Vega just to take photos of themselves sitting in the booth where Pitt and DiCaprio’s characters were seated. Actress Vivica A. Fox, who starred in two of Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” movies, has a booth in her honor.

“It’s a cultural magnet,” says Miller. “People want to be a part of something … (Vega) is selling that emotional connection, which is difficult to do during these operational challenges.”

Essence of Casa Vega

Becoming a restaurateur felt natural for Christy after she graduated college. She even considered going to culinary school at that time, but Ray Jr. said “no” to that plan. He wanted to make sure she understood every part of the business – from managing the back office to working in the kitchen.

“(My father) would say to me that ‘you can make all the beautiful food that you want but if you don’t know how to keep your doors open, you don’t have a kitchen to cook,’” Christy recalls. Also, “when I first came to Casa Vega, my dad really grilled into me that the employees, and their paychecks, were my biggest responsibility … I took it to heart.”

Leaning on that mindset and determination saved the restaurant during the pandemic and afterward, she says. And she’s made her own mark. Vega has streamlined overall operations by introducing new technologies, including online ordering and reservations.

She has spruced up the menu by sourcing special cuts of meats, seafood and farm-fresh produce. All the menu favorites stay. But in partnership with Chef Royce Burke, she just “notched it up a bit,” says Burke. “One of the first things we did was find out what the flavor of Casa Vega is. Like, what’s the base: what are the chilies, the spices (and) the seeds. … From that, we created a spice blend, (and) that is the essence of Casa Vega and that runs through everything on the menu.”

And in July, she transitioned from renter to the official owner of the building with the red-tile roof at 13301 Ventura Blvd.

“My father tried every year for over 60 years to buy the property – now, I can say we officially own the building,” says Vega, adding that she’s expanding the restaurant patio.

Once upon a time…

Walking into Casa Vega still feels like traveling back in time in the best and most fun way – with its warmly-lit ambience, tufted red-leather booths, and ornate chandeliers. When you arrive, patrons can hear the bartender shaking drinks and making various margaritas – the Casa Vega Classic, the Paloma, and the Dakota – named after actress Dakota Fanning, who also starred in “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” as Manson acolyte Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme.

The latter cocktail is among many charity-based collaborations Vega has created with her celebrity clients to support initiatives aligned with her mission as a business owner. Proceeds from the collaboration are donated to No Us Without You L.A., a nonprofit organization that helps feed the back-of-house restaurant workers who were affected during the pandemic. Christy, who had a small guest appearance in Tarantino’s film escorting Pitt and DiCaprio to leather booths, often saw Tarantino at the restaurant before the film holding an array of meetings with other celebrities; and while shooting, he shared his margarita recipe, which included Casamigos Anejo tequila, citrus juices and Stevia. Viola! The restaurant now features “The Tarantino” on the menu.

At the former Arclight Sherman Oaks, Vega will never forget the evening she and her father finally saw the movie. The theater audience gasped in excitement when they saw the scenes featuring Casa Vega and the tears rolling down Ray’s cheeks. When Christy and Ray left the theater, he turned to his daughter and said: “Mr. Tarantino made sure Casa Vega will be around another hundred years.”

Like her father, Christy often strolls through the dining room most evenings to check on patrons. Some of Casa Vega’s frequent diners stop her for brief chats, asking about her family and how she’s doing. It’s as if Vega has turned the proverbial page on this iconic story of the Sherman Oaks staple on Ventura Boulevard. For Vega, it shows her that “no matter what the economic conditions are and how hard they are, the love of L.A. keeps us going,” she says. “We’re blessed.”