VELA FARMS MAKES EVERYTHING FROM JAMS TO PASTA

View from the front of the dining room at Vela Farms On The Square.

By Matthew Westmoreland/mwestmoreland@vicad.com

BY CIARA MCCARTHY cmccarthy@vicad.com

In downtown Victoria, there are lots of options for food and drink. You can take a scone from Bella’s Bakery to snack on at DeLeon Plaza or stop by Huvar’s Artisan Market for a lunchtime sandwich. But one of the most versatile options sits right on the square. Vela Farms on the Square offers everything, from its signature jams and jellies to coffee and sweets to freshly prepared meals. And now, the homegrown shop offers one more thing: cooking classes, so that you can bring a little bit of Vela Farms back to your kitchen. Vela Farms was first opened by Sara Vela and her family as a jams and jellies business. The family-run company made spreads, like Texas sweet tea jam or orange chili marmalade, and sold them to local grocers.

In 2016, Vela opened her first retail space, offering all her usual wares plus a space where customers could grab a bite to eat. Last year, Vela moved a few doors down on Main Street to a bigger space, allowing her to expand the restaurant and even launch a catering business.

Her favorite dishes on the menu? All of them.

“I decided early on I make things I like,” she said. “I love great cookies; I love kolaches; I love muffins; I love pasta; I love jelly. I make things that I like to eat.”

Vela saw her business grow quickly as Victoria residents and people from across the state fell in love with her homemade jams and jellies.

In June, Vela expanded her offerings even further after she converted the space above Vela Farms’ downtown location into a place where she could teach her customers how to make their favorite meals.

Vela Farms offers classes that teach everything from how to make your own pasta to how to make strawberry shortcake. Kids can sign up for summer cooking classes or join their parents in a Mommy and Me class. Adults can learn how to make Vela’s favorite dishes via Girls’ Night or Date Night classes.

Vela and her family are fifth-generation farmers and ranchers from Victoria. She explained that her business’s expansion — from a jelly wholesaler to a restaurant to a catering and cooking business — has felt natural because it all stemmed from her love of good food.

“I love my hometown,” she said. “ I feel like if I put the best product out, and I do it with an honest heart and joyfully, that somehow I am able to impart that into other people.”  IF YOU GO

VELA FARMS ON

THE SQUARE

104 N. Main St. 361-649-8352

HOURS // 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday