Cue the margaritas: T&T's favorite day, Cinco de Mayo, is here: a reason to gather, to drink good tequila, and, if you're doing it right, to eat tacos. And it just might be the best day to sample the most delicious tortillas, as they do all the heavy lifting — bringing the fabulous flavors of the season right to your hands.
Los Angeles is an undisputed tortilla capital, where Oaxacan corn, Sonoran flour, and Michoacán masa exist side by side, each one raising the bar for what a pressed piece of masa can be. There may be a never ending debate between corn or flour, but the beautiful thing is you don't have to choose. Here's where to find our faves.
Corn Tortillas
Miramar Tortilleria — East LA
Open since 1955, Miramar is the kind of place that doesn't need to advertise. The tortillas are thick, chewy, and deeply flavorful — the result of properly nixtamalized corn and seven decades of not cutting corners. KCRW has called it one of the gold standards, and anyone who's been there will tell you the same thing. This is the benchmark everything else gets measured against.
Los 5 Puntos — Boyle Heights
Technically a carnitas destination and butcher shop, established in 1967. But the tortillas made in-house at Los 5 Puntos are the kind of detail that turns a regular taco into a religion. The fact that one of the best tortillas in the city comes out of a butcher shop in Boyle Heights is exactly the kind of only-in-LA story we love.
La Jolla Tortilleria — Vernon/South LA
Family-owned, fresh masa daily, and the sort of loyal local following that you only build by being consistently, quietly excellent for years. La Jolla Tortilleria is the place you only know about if you really know — which is exactly the kind of recommendation that makes people feel like they've been let in on something.
Tortilleria La California — Hollywood Area
Tortilleria La California is a historical treasure rooted in 100% authentic corn products and Mexican culinary tradition. What sets them apart for the home cook: they also sell fresh masa to take home. Pick some up, make your own, and suddenly your Cinco de Mayo dinner becomes something you'll be talking about next year.
Masa Catalina — LA
The newcomer on this list and the one that shows where LA's tortilla scene is heading. Artisan, handmade, creative — Masa Catalina is proof that this city's obsession with the tortilla isn't nostalgic, it's alive and evolving. A perfect counterpoint to the old-school classics. Pro tip: buy them at your local farmers’ market for DIY Cinco de Mayo tacos.
Flour Tortillas
Burritos La Palma — Boyle Heights & Highland Park
If there is an undisputed king of flour tortillas in Los Angeles, Burritos La Palma is it. Thin but not too thin, big but not oversized, with that perfect flexibility that makes it work for a quesadilla, a burrito, or just tearing off pieces to scoop with. LA Weekly has called it the best in the city, and the line out the door on any given morning makes the case just as convincingly.
La Azteca Tortilleria — East LA
Their flour tortillas have earned a devoted following, and the move that made them famous is wrapping one around a molten chile relleno with refried beans. It's the kind of combination that sounds simple until you have it and realize it's perfect. La Azteca is an East LA staple that has outlasted trends by simply being exactly what it is.
Sonoratown — Downtown LA
Not a tortilleria in the traditional sense — Sonoratown is a restaurant. But their Sonoran-style flour tortillas are award-winning, Bon Appetit-praised, and the best argument we know for the idea that the finest tortillas in LA aren't always behind a counter. Sometimes they're on a plate, warm, waiting for you to order another round.