Lopez Sr. was born in Degollado, Mexico, and moved to California to work picking strawberries and grapes. He moved to Roanoke, Virginia, and began work in a restaurant, first as kitchen help and then as the cook. That experience and his work ethic caught the eye of an investor who wanted to open a place in Virginia Beach. After some looking, they landed on their present location. They wanted to call it "El Toro Loco," but that came with legal issues from a similarly named restaurant. Instead, they made that the corporate name and Mi Casita became the restaurant's name.