In 2022, we launched our first-ever #TortillaTournament Invitational by heading down the 5 Freeway to Padresland. Unlike the baseball team, it was successful. So successful, in fact, that for this year's Tortilla Tournament, we expanded the Invitational from 16 tortillas to 32 — 16 corn, 16 flour. We also went all over San Diego County, from Chula Vista to regular Vista and beyond.
It's too easy for Angelenos to mock San Diego. Obligatory, actually. (We in Orange County are indifferent.) But not when it comes to tortillas. In fact, this Orange Countian thinks San Diego County tortillas match up to the rest of Southern California and even best them in crucial ways.
For one, they're closer to the U.S.-Mexico border than the rest of us, which means the flour tortilla scene is generally superior to the rest of Southern California since flour tortillas are the historical default in Northern Mexico. Because of that proximity, it seems more San Diego markets and grocery chains make their own tortillas, corn and flour, than in the rest of Southern California, and they stock more than just the usual Mission/Guerrero crap.
Don't hate, L.A.: eat!
With this year's San Diego #TortillaTournament Invitational, you have a lot of great options.
It was as brutal as the L.A. one, and there were less bad tortillas than we usually find in the bigger tournament. Like last year, the San Diego finalists in the corn and flour categories move on to the full #TortillaTournament, with the winner getting the #5 slot in one bracket, and the runner-up getting the #6 slot in the other. There was one exception: El Indio, which automatically returned on account of its run last year into the Suave 16.
I was the only judge in the San Diego #TortillaTournament Invitational because my San Diego friend came to L.A. and didn't hang out with me. We'll figure out a San Diego judge for next year, though. Want to check out all the tortillerias? Find their location, addresses, and phone numbers at our map here. Happy eating!
The Results:
San Diego Corn Tortillas
Can't you just smell the masa at Tortilleria Leon in Vista? Photo by Gustavo Arellano
ROUND 1
#1 Tortilleria Lily vs. #16 Foodland Mercado: Tortilleria Lily, the former was the winner in last year's San Diego Invitational, and what I loved about them then remains true: They're hefty in texture and flavor but not overwhelming. Foodland, on the other hand, makes corn tortillas as thin as a bargain napkin and it gets worse from there.
Winner: Tortilleria Lily
#8 Pancho Villa's vs. #9 Tortilleria Hermanos Reyes: Pancho Villa's, a beloved market chain with a hell of a name — take THAT, Jimmy John's — has a good, light flavor, and chewy. Tortilleria Hermanos Reyes in Vista is almost as good but "almost" doesn't win tournaments.
Winner: Pancho Villa's
#5 Carnival Supermarket vs. #12 Kaelin's: I don't know much about the rivalries of cities in San Diego County so I'm not sure what it means when El Cajon faces off against San Diego in anything, let alone tortillas by beloved markets. But Carnival's corn tortilla was thin and brittle and curled up like a chip on the comal. Kaelin's was chewier and better.
Winner: Kaelin's
#4 El Carrito vs. #13 Rodo's: El Carrito, a Barrio Logan restaurant located in a former streetcar, makes a thick, gnarled tortilla with great texture that almost hits perfection. Rodo's started good but the flavor quickly disappeared.
Winner: El Carrito
#6 El Nopalito vs. #11 Otay Farms: What about Encinitas? Does San Diego care about this coastal town? They should when it comes to El Nopalito's small, thick corn tortillas, which celebrate 40 years in 2023. The only issue is that the great flavor quickly disappears. The opposite happens with Otay Farms — little flavor at first that slowly opens up. Both have great texture — but flavor above all.
Winner: Otay Farms
#3 Selecta International Food Market vs. #14 Porkyland: Porkyland's corn tortillas stayed smooth, like a membrane. Do you like tortillas that look like membranes? I don't. Selecta's corn tortillas don't look or taste like a membrane.
Winner: Selecta
#7 Tortilleria Leon vs. 10 Tortilleria La Estrellita: The smell of masa hit me when I visited Tortilleria Leon, located in a Vista shopping plaza, early one morning. Each freshly made tortilla had tiny char marks, always a wonderful sign. Their flavor was good and dense, just like La Estrellita's corn tortillas. The only difference was that Leon's entry was thicker, which meant more corn flavor.
Winner: Tortilleria Leon
#2 Las Cuatro Milpas vs. #15 Garden Farms: Las Cuatro Milpas in Barrio Logan is iconic for a reason: their tortillas. Both the corn and flour tortillas (more on the latter in their respective bracket) are irregularly shaped, and the corn ones taste like the rancho. Garden Farms, meanwhile, looked pale and tasted that way. Do you like tortillas to taste pale?
Winner: Las Cuatro Milpas
The tortillas at San Diego's Tortilleria Lily are winners to us. Photo by Gustavo Arellano
ROUND 2
#1 Tortilleria Lily vs. #8 Pancho Villa's: This matchup was closer than I thought it would be. Lilly wins but just barely, and only because its masa flavor is stronger than that of Pancho Villa's. Sorry, Dorados.
Winner: Tortilleria Lilly
#4 El Carrito vs. #12 Kaelin's: El Cajon beats San Diego again! El Carrito's corn is good but Kaelin's somehow leveled up its game in the second round even though I was eating from the same pack.
Winner: Kaelin's
#3 Selecta International Market vs. #11 Otay Farms: Lost my notes on this one except for the winner.
Winner: Selecta
#2 Las Cuatro Milpas vs. #7 Tortilleria Leon: The latter makes a very good corn tortilla but machine-made rarely beats handmade, and it's not happening here.
Winner: Las Cuatro Milpas
Las Cuatro Milpas in San Diego's Barrio Logan neighborhood produces a top notch corn tortilla. Photo by Gustavo Arellano
ROUND 3
#1 Tortilleria Lilly vs. #12 Kaelin's: Kaelin's is a surprisingly good tortilla but Tortilleria Lilly is just better.
Winner: Tortilleria Lilly
#3 Selecta International Markets vs. #2 Las Cuatro Milpas: Selecta was good but no way could it compete with Las Cuatro Milpas.
Winner: Las Cuatro Milpas
CORN FINAL ROUND
#1 Tortilleria Lilly vs. #2 Las Cuatro Milpas: Lilly can match up with any machine-made tortilla but it's a different proposition when matched up against a handmade legend like Las Cuatro Milpas. There's a reason why the lines for the latter can take an hour. Lilly, meanwhile, doesn't get the love it deserves from San Diego, mostly because it's in an awkward retail spot. Imagine if it was in Barrio Logan or Chula Vista. It would be a legend. But "would be" doesn't win in tournaments.
SAN DIEGO CORN INVITATIONAL WINNER: Las Cuatro Milpas
Gustavo's Take: Judging corn tortillas is way harder than judging flour. While flour flavor is diverse, corn flavor is different, relying on subtle gradations of masa. Going through San Diego's entries was a delight because there were very few duds this year, which can never be said for the regular #TortillaTournament. Tortilleria Lily returns to #TortillaTournament as a #6 seed in my bracket while Las Cuatro Milpas becomes the #5 seed. How far will each go against their L.A. corn cousins?
Now, onto flour!
The Results:
San Diego Flour Tortillas
Las Cuatro Milpas did well in the corn division. Will it do as well with its flour tortillas? Photo by Gustavo Arellano
ROUND 1
#1 Manolo Farmers Market vs. #16 Coyotas: I loved Manolo's slightly raw flour tortillas last year, when they won the San Diego flour crown before losing in the second round of the regular tournament. I loved them again this year: buttery and luscious and they sizzled on the comal — always a great sound for a flour tortilla. There was just no way a cassava flour tortilla like Coyotas (made for gluten-free folks who still want their flour fix) could beat them. I tend to laugh at gluten-free flour tortillas but Coyotas makes a good product. They just didn't hold up against Manolo.
WINNER: Manolo
#8 Otay Farms vs. #9 La Canasta: Otay was salty in a good way but not particularly memorable. La Canasta came raw and cooked so fast that I had to heat up a second one because my first ended in a crispy mess. Once I mastered it, I tasted a beautiful sweetness with the tiniest hint of smoke at the end. What a find!
WINNER: La Canasta
#5 Selecta International Grocers vs. #12 La Estrellita: A cross-border favorite, Selecta's de harina has a good, wheaty flavor. Another cross-border favorite, La Estrellita starts fine but has the slightest bitter taste at the end.
WINNER: Selecta
#4 Carnival Supermarket vs. #13 Foodland Mercado: Another Carnival flop! Unmemorable, bland. A lot of San Diegoans won't be happy with my assessment of this institution but it is what it is. Foodland, which is not related to the legendary Hawaiian supermarket chain, easily wins with a creation that's lard-forward and marvelous.
WINNER: Foodland
#6 Pancho Villa's vs. #11 El Nopalito: While El Nopalito's flour tortilla was good, no way a market named after Mexico's most famous revolutionary was going to lose in the first round. Not only that, its entry was slightly uncooked, which meant its buttery essence blossomed with the heat.
WINNER: Pancho Villa's
#3 Las Cuatro Milpas vs. #14 Kaelin's: Las Cuatro Milpas' corn tortillas won its side of this invitational and their flour tortillas are even better: mealy and powdery and almost Tex-Mex in their thickness. Kaelin's, meanwhile, was a bit thin in countenances and flavor. It's not a good duo, and a disappointment given how good their corn tortillas were.
WINNER: Las Cuatro Milpas
#7 Garden Farms Market vs. 10 Tortilleria Hermanos Reyes: I got my Garden Farms ones so fresh that I couldn't even hold the bag that contained them because they were so hot. I ate one immediately. The texture was wonderful and they kept their flavor after I froze and defrosted them, per the #TortillaTournament constitution. Tortilleria Hermanos Reyes were good but could've been better.
WINNER: Garden Farms Market
#2 Old Town Mexican Café vs. #15 Porkyland: As I stated last year, there was consternation among San Diegans when Old Town made it into the regular #TortillaTournament last year because the spot is a tourist trap. Sometimes, there's a reason tourists go places — because they're good. These are handmade and not available to purchase individually on weekends, because the dine-in crowds eat so many of them. Porkyland is a deceiving tortilla. It doesn't look like much but it's far better than a #15 seed deserves to be. Still, it loses here.
WINNER: Old Town Mexican Café
Outside of Foodland Mercado. Photo by Gustavo Arellano
ROUND 2
#1 Manolo Farmers Market vs. #9 La Canasta: Thick versus thin. A longer-than-usual time to cook thoroughly versus a quick turnaround. Both are great but there is the tiniest bit of bitterness at the end of a bite of La Canasta, one imperceptible to the regular palate but not to a Tortilla Master like myself. No such sins with Manolo.
WINNER: Manolo
#5 Selecta International Grocers vs. #13 Foodland Mercado: The wheatiness I tasted in the first round for Selecta didn't appear until the end. Foodland started strong, and ended slightly sweet for its second upset in a row.
WINNER: Foodland
#6 Pancho Villa's vs. #3 Las Cuatro Milpas: This one was so close that I had to go through three rounds to determine a winner. Pancho Villa's transforms on the comal, while Las Cuatro Milpas is a winner from the start. Both scalded my palate because their respective binding agents — lard for both, I'm assuming — bubbled up. Both sizzled on the comal. Las Cuatro Milpas is a bit saltier, Pancho Villa's is sweeter. While I usually have more of a sweet tooth than a salty one, Las Cuatro Milpas' flour tortillas have achieved icon status in San Diego for a reason — they're nearly flawless. Sorry, Dorados.
WINNER: Las Cuatro Milpas
#7 Garden Farms Market vs. #2 Old Town Mexican Cafe: While I enjoyed Garden Farms' flour tortillas, they can use a bit more flavor compared to the competition. They should take a lesson from Old Town, which shows you can serve the masses yet remain delicious.
WINNER: Old Town
The flour tortillas from Manolo Farmers Market ended up winning the flour division of our San Diego #TortillaTournament Invitational. Photo by Gustavo Arellano
ROUND 3
#1 Manolo Farmers Market vs. #13 Foodland Mercado: These two places show all other market mini-chains that you can make mass-produced, spectacular flour tortillas, something fiendishly hard to find in the rest of Southern California. They're both flaky and wheat-forward, perfect for quesadillas or burritos or quesadillas or whatever. Foodland stays with you but Manolo stays in this tournament.
WINNER: Manolo
#3 Las Cuatro Milpas vs. #2 Old Town Mexican Café: The opposite of Manolo vs. Foodland, yet the same… famed restaurants who haven't let their quality slip. Las Cuatro Milpas' food is far better than Old Town, however, which means its tortillas are as well.
WINNER: Las Cuatro Milpas
FLOUR FINAL ROUND
#1 Manolo Farmers Market vs #3 Las Cuatro Milpas: Could a grocery store chain beat a mom-and-pop? Without belaboring the point, yes. Las Cuatro Milpas deserves its reputation but Manolo's take on flour is more versatile and lingers longer It wins the San Diego Invitational for the second year in a row. But Las Cuatro Milpas also advances. Watch out, L.A. Their corn and flour is a one-two punch of the type that too few Angeleno restaurants offer.
SAN DIEGO FLOUR INVITATIONAL WINNER: Manolo
Gustavo's Take: Manolo gets the #5 seed in Connie's bracket, and Las Cuatro Milpas gets #6 in Sean's bracket. I said this last year, and I'll say it again: San Diego's flour tortilla scene is pound-for-pound better than Los Angeles's. Some of the lower seeds in the San Diego could've easily bested some of the higher seeds in the regular #TortillaTournament. But bad luck is what happens when you live in San Diego and not L.A., you know?
Want to check out all the tortillerias? Find their location, addresses, and phone numbers at our map here. Happy eating!