This Federal Boulevard Tortilleria Is a Must-Visit

Federal Boulevard is packed with diverse places to dine, but don’t overlook its markets either — particularly Tortilleria Las Tres Americas.

Javier Tapia, a native of Zacatecas, came to Colorado in the 1980s, looking for better opportunities than those available in Mexico. He quickly found employment at Longmont-based Las Americas Tortilleria and often worked at the tortilla bakery on weekends, when demand was high.

One weekend, he met Luz Maria, who’d moved up from Durango, Mexico; she was the niece of the owners of the tortilleria. The two became close, and often collaborated on tasks such as making masa, packaging tortillas and handling customers. During one of their shifts, Luz Maria’s aunt and uncle made a suggestion. “They gave us the idea to open a tortilleria in Denver,” Luz Maria recalls. “With their help, it was possible to open up our own business.”

But the process wasn’t easy…or fast. After the couple married, children started coming, and the parents had more mouths to feed: a girl and two boys. Daughter Alexa recalls her parents working throughout the week and then spending the weekends with their children. The parents would often bring tortillas from Las Americas Tortilleria to pair with beans, meat and eggs. However, when it came time to decompress and relax with the family, Luz Maria would often make tortillas for their meals.

“My mom would hand-make them for us, since we did not like the tortillas sold in the grocery stores,” Alexa says. “My mom is an amazing cook, so we always had fresh-made food to go along with the tortillas.”

All the while, the Tapias continued looking for the “perfect location” for a tortilleria, as well as the right equipment. Luz Maria remembers the trials and tribulations of finding machinery, as well as perfecting their masa recipe.

They finally found a place off South Federal Boulevard and West Evans Avenue, in the College View neighborhood, and in 2001, the Tapias opened the doors to Tortilleria Las Tres Americas.

“The first month was very difficult,” Luz Maria recalls. “We had to both quit our jobs to make this dream a reality. Sales were very limited and we commuted daily from Longmont to Denver.”

The work was time-consuming, too: Every day, the Tapias had to cook the corn, add lime and turn it into nixtamal, then grind it into masa. After the masa was transferred to a mixer, it was placed in a tortilla-making machine; then the round discs are cooked on a griddle and bagged for sale.

After a few months, word spread about the quality of the tortillas being made at Tortilleria Las Tres Americas, and more customers started coming. “Within the first year, a local newscast featured us,” Javier recalls. “That’s when we realized the popularity of our business was increasing.”

Soon, lines were out the door. In 2003, the Tapias moved from Longmont to Denver to be closer to the business, which kept growing. They added flour and whole-wheat options to the tortilla lineup. They also started making traditional Mexican dishes, such as pozole and chile rellenos, in their kitchen, then bringing the dishes to Las Tres Americas for hungry customers. They also began offering sweets like pan dulce and bischocho cookies, as well as condiments and bagged snacks to sell.

But in 2018, the tortilleria took an unplanned break when the landlord decided not to renew the lease. The Tapias began searching for another location and found a commercial space that wound up facing challenges from the city over permitting that they “were not expecting,” says Alexa.

Following two years on pause, the tortilleria finally reopened in May 2020, less than a mile away from its original location. The Tapias worried about how the pandemic and social distancing might affect things, but to their surprise, business boomed almost immediately.

“Restaurants were closed [and] people were cooking at home, so they needed tortillas,” Alexa says. “Construction workers were still at work, which also meant they stopped by for burritos and tortillas. Our product is essential in any Hispanic household, so pandemic or not, people needed tortillas.”

Outside the store, Tortilleria Las Tres Americas has signs with images of corn fields and yellow cobs to signal its bestseller’s authentic roots. The Tapias advertise their products with slogans such as “fresh tortillas made daily,” “prepared masa for your tamales” and “Mexican products for sale” — all in Spanish for their predominantly Spanish-speaking consumer-base.

Today, the tortilleria offers more than fifteen kinds of breakfast burritos, including bean and cheese; picadillo and potato; and egg and cheese — but you need to get there early to snag one.

Las Tres Americas opens at 6 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and fresh tortillas usually ready an hour later for the public. Since the business only allows four customers into the walk-in lobby at a time, there’s often a long line to get in…and the popular items sell out fast.

Not only does the tortilleria offer barbacoa and menudo on Saturdays, but pico de gallo and other homemade salsas such as taquera, chile de árbol and jalapeño are also available to elevate a meal, whether homemade or picked up at Las Tres Americas. But the tortillas continue to be the most popular item.

“Our products are fresh, clean and authentic. They are long processes and involve many people to get them to your table,” Luz Maria says. “Our quality expectations are high and nothing short of what we would consume ourselves. We offer a variety of products, not just tortillas and masa.”

Alexa isn’t the only one working for her parents. All three of their children, their spouses and some of their offspring work for the family business, whether in the original location or at the new spot that the family opened in April on East 85th Avenue and Pearl Street in Thornton.

“We have a lot of customers who would make the trip from the north metro to south Denver for our products,” Alexa says. “They kept telling us that there were no tortillerias up north and a lot of demand for fresh tortillas. So, we took the leap and opened our second location.”

And they may not stop there. “For now, we’re focused on our second location in Thornton,” Javier says. “Perhaps in the future, we’ll have the opportunity to expand and open a third location.”

In the meantime, the Tapias have agreed to participate in the upcoming Harvey Park Farmers’ Market, which will debut next May.

“The Federal storefront is my parents’ dream come true,” Alexa concludes. “It is certainly always busy.”

Tortilleria Las Tres Americas #1 is located at 2690 South Federal Boulevard and is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 720-519-0819 or visit the tortilleria’s Facebook or Instagram pages.