Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez
Audio By Carbonatix
Stroll any Denver-area grocery store and you’ll find shelves full of flour or corn tortillas from Mission Foods in various sizes. Only they won’t be made locally anymore.
According to a statement distributed by UFCW Local 7, the union representing workers at the Mission Foods tortilla plant in Pueblo, the company announced on Friday, Aug. 14, that the plant “would cease to operate effective immediately” and all workers “were told to immediately pack their things and leave.” About 100 workers were impacted by the move.
“Mission Foods should have done better by its workers,” says Kim Cordova, president of UFCW Local 7. “This closure was the natural result of years of chronic underinvestment in the Pueblo facility, and is a consequence of Mission Foods’ decisions to routinely put profit ahead of its people. Not only is this closure tragic for our Local 7 members, but also for the entire Pueblo community. Sadly, this is yet another case of billionaires choosing to line their pockets rather than nourish the communities they serve.”
Mission Foods is a subsidiary of Mexican corporation Gruma S.A., the world’s largest corn flour producer and tortilla maker, which bought the Pueblo plant in 1994. Previously, the plant was operated by a local Pueblo family that ran a popular Mexican restaurant in town and later transitioned to selling tortillas instead.
It’s not clear how, or even if, the plant closure will affect the availability of Mission tortillas in the Denver area. But it does serve as a reminder that tortillas are too important a part of Colorado’s food culture to leave up to international conglomerates. So if you’re looking for a backup, or just want to divert your dollars to locally-owned businesses instead, here are a few longtime tortilla makers in Denver producing fresh corn and flour tortillas for restaurants and home cooks alike.
Helen Xu
Five places to buy locally made tortillas in Denver
Raquelitas
3111 Larimer St.
Raquelitas Tortillas is one of Denver’s oldest and best-known tortilla manufacturers. Salvador De La Torre and his wife started the company in 1959, originally called La Popular, as primarily a wholesale operation, supplying restaurants and other institutions. They changed the name to Raquelitas in 1985 and later expanded to retail operations for direct-to-consumer sales. The company is known for its traditional approach of house-nixtamalized corn tortillas, sourced from smaller, local farms. It also produces a wide range of flour tortillas and more unusual varieties.
Pochitos Tortilla Factory
4421 Tejon St.
Pochitos Tortilla Factory has been a north Denver staple for decades, producing tortillas along with chips, masa, salsas, beans, rice and tamales. The family-owned shop makes tortillas fresh for both direct-to-consumer and restaurant sales, and has received several Best of Denver nods over the years. Everything is made fresh and sold in bulk, perfect for stocking up for at-home feasts.
Panaderia San Antonio
2007 S. Federal Blvd.
While well known for its Mexican pastries and telera bread, this South Federal institution is also highly praised for its take-home flour tortillas. As noted in our Best of Denver 2024 entry: “Tinted pale amarillo from lard and dotted with dark blisters from the hot comal, these are soft and chewy, but not puffy like supermarket tortillas, and they’re perfect warmed and slathered in butter or rolled into a breakfast burrito awaiting its bath of green chile.”
Tortilleria La Amapola
15376 E. Alameda Pkwy., Aurora
This humble tortilla-making operation behind a small storefront has customers lining up specifically for freshly made tortillas made on-site, along with other Mexican grocery staples. Availability of particular sizes and varieties can vary, so it’s worth checking in advance before making a special trip.
Tortilleria Las Tres Americas
2690 S. Federal Blvd.
For more than two decades, this family-owned business founded by Javier and Luz Maria Tapia in 2001 has been making fresh tortillas. The Zacatecas natives previously worked at a Longmont tortilla bakery and spent years dreaming of opening their own shop, and still use a traditional process: nixtamalizing the corn and grinding it into masa before pressing and cooking on a griddle. The shop makes both corn and flour tortillas, as well as fresh masa for tamales.
