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Geri Koeppel/Contributor

After six years of building a loyal customer base with its food truck, Green Chile Love opened a bona fide restaurant in Ahwatukee Foothills.

It’s open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday on East Chandler Boulevard at South 40th Street, near Trader Joe’s.

The 28-seat shop still offers food truck fan favorites like the chile-smothered Mexican hamburger and pork green chile burritos. But now that owner Dave Castaneda has more room, he’s added specialties like stacked red enchiladas, chili cheese fries, chilaquiles, taquitos and a taco salad in an edible bowl.

He’ll eventually offer desserts like sopapillas, churros and biscochito – a traditional New Mexican flaky sugar cookie with anise and cinnamon – and daily specials like pork belly tacos. 

Castaneda noted that two of the biggest advantages of having a permanent restaurant are offering a bigger menu and being easier to find.

Frequent cost increases for supplies are challenging, he said, but he aims to keep prices fair without sacrificing quality. Most meals hover around $10 to $15, with small burritos starting at $9.

Despite the plethora of breakfast/lunch dining options already in the area, Castaneda is confident he can compete due to his personal recipes.

“No one makes this chili, which is why I started the food truck,” he stated. “We go to Hatch (New Mexico) every year and bring back all of our chile.”

He roasts and freezes them.

Castaneda pointed to a photo of a chile farm on the dining room wall and said he buys about 6,500 pounds of chiles there every year.

Customer Tyler Stratton of Ahwatukee, a longtime fan of the Green Chile Love food truck, said having a permanent restaurant is more convenient, and he likes the expanded options.

“He’s just got a lot more food there, and I’m excited to make my way through the menu,” Stratton said. He added that his favorites include the breakfast burrito with carne asada and the double smashburger.

Also, he noted that anyone can enjoy the food, regardless of their spice tolerance.

“It’s kind of nice because my wife loves the mild, and I love the hottest,” he said. “And they’re all great.”

Green Chile Love offers mild, hot, 50/50 and extra hot sauces.

Family recipes spur business

Castaneda came up with the idea for a business selling food made with green chiles because he was born and raised in Colorado eating Pueblo green chiles with recipes created by his mom, who was from New Mexico, and dad, who loved hot chile peppers and grew them.

“For him, the hotter, the better,” Castaneda said.

After moving to Arizona in 1989, Castaneda found no green chile cuisine like the kind he grew up with. Yearning for the familiar flavor, he started making his pork-studded, stew-like chile for parties and tailgates. 

Meanwhile, Castaneda still worked a corporate job. He started his career in graphic design and veered into desktop publishing and digital printing. In 2018, while he was a director at a marketing technology company, he laid the groundwork for the food truck. 

Green Chile Love’s first pop-up was on St. Patrick’s Day 2019 on Ray Road in front of the former Purcell Tire in the Mountain Park Pavilion center on Ray Road. Soon, Castaneda began taking the truck to events like the Ahwatukee Car Show and Ahwatukee First Fridays at Mountain Park Church.

The truck also became a fixture for five years on Saturday mornings at The Buzzed Goat, which continues to sell its burritos, while Green Chile Love sells Buzzed Goat drip coffee. 

Castaneda also took the truck to his office and events in Chandler, Tempe, Queen Creek, Mesa and even the new TSMC chip plant in north Phoenix. He also has a hot sauce line.

In 2022, Castaneda gave up his office job to focus solely on the food truck.

“When my dad got sick and passed from COVID, I was kind of done,” he stated. “I decided now’s a good time.”

Staying in his community

Castaneda said the Green Chile Love food truck is lucrative but exhausting. 

He’d always considered opening a restaurant and bid on a space at Kyrene and Ray roads in early 2024. However, he missed a call while on his annual mission trip to Honduras that February, and he lost the opportunity.

“It was just not my time,” Castaneda said.

Patience paid off. On Aug. 14, 2024, exactly two months after his mom died, Castaneda got wind of the space in Ahwatukee, a three-minute drive from his house.

“This is my neighborhood, this is my community,” he said. 

He met his wife, Michelle, in Ahwatukee, has been going to Mountain Park Church for 35 years and has a mural of South Mountain on Green Chile Love’s dining room wall.

Right now, Castaneda has six employees and plans to host private parties and offer special events in the evenings a few times a month. As he boosts staff, he might expand the hours to serve dinner six nights a week.

He’s also looking for a food truck manager to keep the mobile business operating.

Castaneda said making food that brings up – and creates – good memories is his mission. In fact, his business name is We Create Memories LLC.

“When you hear someone say, ‘I haven’t had food like this since my Grandma,’ that’s a big deal,” Castaneda said. “Good food triggers memories.”