Casa de Fruta

We love Casa de Fruita! With two young children, it makes a perfect
Place to stop and stretch. Kids love it, and so do I. Definitely something for everyone.

The last few times my sister went up north, she would stop by Casa De Fruta on her way back home. We decided to check it out for ourselves on our return trip back. The place is a bit far from the freeway, but it is a scenic route with views of farms and ranches. I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived. The property was huge. They even had a family area with carnival games and a train for the kiddies to ride. Unfortunately, the LO was asleep when we got there, so she couldn’t ride the train.
They have s big parking lot, but it was far from where we had to purchase the wine. There were so many selections, it was hard to pick. We got the pomegranate, apricot, and blackberry. They had a special going on, so we ended up filling up a case. These wines are sweet, similar to Stella Rosa. I am not sure if you can get them off the shelf at BevMo, do it was a nice treat to pick these up. The drive out was worth it and I would come again to spend more time checking out all the place.

The best place ever. The restaurant food was great the best mashed potatoes I ever tasted, the best slice of pie I ever tasted «the fruit of the forest» w/​icecream. The store next door had everything, the dried fruit and honey with honeycomb in the jar was the best. The feel of this place is so peaceful, all the staff were super friendly and the antique tractors, merry-​go-​round, train ride, wild peacocks, watermill and kids playground made this stop from a long car ride so worth it.

During the holidays this place turns into something phenomenal. Year around this location serves me well when I am driving through Gilroy heading to Los Angeles and also coming back from Los Angeles I definitely make a stop here if not for a bathroom break for gas but there is a winery here as well. This is a great place for kids families and anyone traveling to make a great pit stop for fruits vegetables nuts candies and anything you want to throw in your car to take home locally grown from the Bay Area. I can’t confirm everything is locally grown but I don’t think it matters because everything says on the labels where they are from. That being said the prices are great the location is great. The customer service is fantastic and in a very competitive farmers market environment they flourish in my opinion and retain their assets from when I was a kid and my parents used to drive past here and make a pit stop. There is a train you can ride during the daytime I believe their hours are limited but you can call them and ask if the train is in operation. There is a carousel and also a place to sit and have lunch, picnic area and park. I can go on and on but you need to come here on your own or with your family and make sure you take a couple bucks and purchase something. Keep a place like this alive and legacy will continue.

Its been so long since I’ve been here. I don’t remember much, I did remember there were fruits and a train ride LOL but when I got here, nothing really clicked.
They have tons of fruits here & they also have a candy/​bakery place AND i believe a restaurant too? We didn’t spend much time here, maybe an hour tops but I have to come back and hang out here.
Perfect for families. Lots for kids to do & perfect spots for pictures.

A fruit, burrito, and peacock filled oasis on the way to coast.
From what I hear this is the «OG» when it comes to highway fruit stands. Not just fresh produce like apples, guavas, plums, bananas, and oranges, but also dried fruits, canned fruit, fresh fruit jellies and jelly amalgams, like my personal favorite the cranberry and jalapeño jelly. Great on a cracker with some creamy Brie cheese, it’s ridiculous.
Casa de Fruta also boasts a very impressive collection of hot sauces, literally any kind of hot sauce you can think of, they have here. The heat index is pretty much mild to hot, hot to burning, and burning to bleeding from your colon and deep feeling of buyer’s remorse, no thanks, I’ll stick with the Verde salsas. Beyond the «bleeding out your extremities hot sauces», you can also find pickled anything from; eggs, green beans, olives, and of course cumbers.
While here I only indulged in a few jellies, some tasty hot sauces and about 4lbs of pistachios, which at eleven-​dollars a pound put a nice dent in my wallet. But I just couldn’t resist loading up on these tasty nuts. Casa de Fruta offers garlic, salt and pepper, chipotle, and even Tequila flavored pistachios. Tequila was ok, but the chipotle ones are perfect. Quick tip, suck on the shell first for maximum flavor.
My casa crew ended up at the deli, at the make your burrito bar. I went with the garlic and onion tortilla with all the fixings; chicken, jalapenos, beans, tomatoes, chili salsa, etc. The burrito was good and much needed belly boost, but the «chili salsa» was just Pace Picante and the burrito took forever to get made and it was pricey at seven dollars and ninety-​five cents.
Casa de Fruta is an amazing pit stop. I suggest hitting the Gilroy Garlic festival and then cruising this way to load up before hitting the road.

When I drive the 152 from Santa Cruz to the 5 Freeway, I pass Casa de Fruta. This excellent little stop is home to a nice but crowded restaurant, a deli, a candy store, a fruit and specialty store, pick nick tables, and a small train for the kids. If you want a quick well made sandwich, I always go to the deli. The gals there put attention to detail, love, and care into their work and make excellent sandwiches to order. Prices at the deli are very reasonable. I have have had mixed experiences at the restaurant, but the deli is a home run for sure. The candy store is crazy as well. Prices are high, but mainly because most people over stuff a bag of candy and then are shocked when their bill is $ 23.00, Did they really need a pound and half of chocolate for the drive to wherever. If you stick to two or three pieces you will get out of there for $ 1.25.
Great mid way stopping point on the 152 freeway. Worth a stop. Thank you Casa de Fruta :)

This place is about 4 – 5 hours from my house. About 3 years ago we came here with our friends and my boyfriend loved their pomegranate wine. We bought 2 cases to take home with us. Then this year we swung by on our way back from our road trip. My boyfriend instantly fell in love with blackberry wine. He bought one case of blackberry and one case of pomegranate. He thought it would last him for a few months but when we got home he gave it away as gifts.
So this Christmas I wanted to surprise him with some wine but didn’t want to make a drive out there just for 2 cases of wine. So for weeks I called asking for blackberry wine. (Not in season) As late November approached they finally have blackberry wine back in season/​on stock. I instantly had them shipped me 2 cases.
I got discount for buying it by the case ($ 16 bottle) and shipping wasn’t that bad. It literally came within 3 days as she promised. Each bottle was carefully placed in foam. I wish they sell it at our local stores.
So my suggestion to you are to either call to place an order over the phone or buy it online. Great customer service, fast, easy and quick delivery.
Merry Christmas!

I loved my experience at Casa de Fruta, maybe because I did not have much expectations, I was just wanted to stop on my way back from a long ride and saw the name in a sign on the road and like if. Then, a oasis of beautiful hand-​picked pomegranates was magically surrounded by nuts of all colors, textures and aromas, plus jams, fruits, candy, dried fruits, wines and all the chocolates and sweets of this world.
Great taste in the decorations, I had the feeling to be like in the set of a movie, I like this kind of scenarios and enjoyed my time checking all the different stores/​displayed paraphernalia in house. I like to see peacocks walking with visitors, freely, but the vintage tractors collection was my favorite. So many, so nicely put, so charming and overall a sweet nostalgia you can bring home in the shape of a round, juicy, pink-​reddish pomegranate.

This is a pit stop made by tour buses as they travel down California in land. They provide clean bathrooms and a great selection of portable snacks to take on the road with you, with fresh fruit, dried fruits, a large selection of flavored nuts and chocolates. Prices are pricier due to the convenience, but nothing unreasonable.
There is also a deli and separate chocolate shop which I didn’t have a chance to check it. Slight downside was I couldn’t find a water fountain to get water from, which would have been nice.
My favorite find, sugar free chocolates and nut brittle! What’s more, the lady told me they made it with xylitol, which totally made my day, and not Splenda or aspartame. Great snacks to take along as we went on our 4 day trip.

This place is set up for tour buses and groups. When we pulled in we had no idea that was what this was. We were just looking for some strawberries and a potty.
They have a bakery, it’s mostly a candy store and just a handful of baked items. I was disappointed as when I saw the word bakery I imagined had made Mexican pastries. They had some homemade fruit pies, just like toaster pies/​pop tarts.
The bathrooms are out back and are plentiful. They are next to the carnival rides. Looked fun for the kids.
In the store they have open bins of dried fruit, veggies, chocolate, nuts, and candy. There were signs all over that said no samples. I get it for sanitary reasons, but I thought they should have a sample person there to assist you. I would have bought something if I could try it. The nuts and dried fruit caught my attention, but it was so overwhelming that I passed and grabbed a basket of strawberries.
We also got a bag of kettle corn. It was a big hit at our party so it must have been good.
This is the perfect snack, lunch, stretch your legs, ect area.

This is a MUST stop for us anytime we’re passing through. It’s such a magical place with peacocks roaming the parking lots and carousel rides aplenty.
Best of all — the fruit and nut snack section! My favorite thing to get here believe it or not is the dried corn. It is really addicting — just try it! The dried apples and apricots are also some of my favorites. I would recommend a fun adventure in this area for sure. They sell them both pre-​packaged as well as by weight.
I also just discovered the mango chamoy snack in the ice cream section — it was heavenly eating this once it thawed just a bit. Brought me back to those awesome childhood days eating yummy Mexican snacks at the flea market.
I wish there were fruit smoothies and more fresh or unique fruits available but I guess the fruit stands in the area will have to do.

This has been a new tradition for us when traveling north. Stopped in and loaded up on dates, walnuts, pistachios, and other goodies that make road trips fun.
They have a coffee shop, restaurant, coffee shop, and clean restrooms. It’s the perfect stop, especially when you have kids that need to stretch out their little feet.
The prices were very reasonable for the items because I consider them to be novelties or gifts. Perfect for when you are visiting family & friends and you don’t want to walk in empty handed.

This is a great stopping point between San Francisco by way of Gilroy /​Hollister and Los Angeles.
There’s so much to see here and shop for, with fun décor (if you go in the fall, there’s pumpkins too!)
I’d recommend stopping here to check it out, it’s worthwhile to visit.

Anyone who has traveled over Pacheco Pass will know Casa de Fruta, but if like me you haven’t done it for 20 years, you will not recognize Casa de Fruta. It is like a small town now!
There is still a fruit and nut stand front and center, but there is so much more, too. In addition to those staples you can get candy, condiments, hot sauces, and so on. All at tourist prices.
I stopped to relive a childhood experience, which no longer existed. If another 20 years passes before I go over the pass again, I will stop. But it’s nothing I need to see again for a while.

The original fruit stand (10 minutes drive east of Gilroy) has morphed and grown into a warren of casa’s, scattered among antiquated and rusted farm equipment — well worth a visit if you’re on a limited budget, have a couple of young ones you need to entertain for an entire afternoon, and can walk away from rooms packed with sweets and goodies with only limited purchases.
Besides the original (and much expanded) casa de fruta, we also sampled casa de sweets and casa de wine (bought some amazing honey wine), and took unlimited rides (I stopped counting after 10) on the casa de choo choo train and casa de carousel!
There is also a giant water wheel where the kids can sluice earth-​packed bags to uncover pretty little glass pebbles and colorful rocks, a pretty little pond with a windmill and waterfowl, a playground with slides and swings, and most surprisingly perhaps, peacocks everywhere!
We plan to visit again before the kids outgrow this delightful little tourist trap.

This is the best stop. Fresh fruit, nuts in bulk to buy, clean restrooms, ice cream, nice atmosphere and possibility to stretch your legs. I don’t know why I would stop anywhere else on the free way. The fruit is perhaps a little more expensive than at the supermarket, but it’s so nice to able to grab some fresh apples instead of a chocolate bar or other at a gas station.

I swear that I could spend hours inside the fresh produce/​dried fruit/​candy store! It’s humongous and there is SO much to look at! The only downfall is that there are no samples — Which makes it difficult if you’re a bit indecisive like myself. I ended up getting a plum, a couple of fresh fig newton bars, a candied apple, pistachio kernels, dried mango and apricots. The plum was so plump and fresh, the fig newton bar wasn’t my favorite, candied apple was good and the apricots were to die for! Can’t speak for the pistachio kernels and dried mango — haven’t tried either of those yet. Let’s just say that I am a happy camper and will make it a point to stop by here next time I’m on the 152!