KCRW and Gustavo's Great Tortilla Tournament, Round 3: Upsets Continue!
In case you’re just following, here’s where we stand, in chronological order:
*An explainer as to why this year’s KCRW and Gustavo’s Great #TortillaTournament — the seventh edition — is digital only, and why we’re splitting it between this Substack and the KCRW Insider newsletter
*The results of our third #TortillaTournament San Diego Invitational
I do believe that this year set a record for most newcomers in the Suave 16 — ten. Congrats to them! BUT…that’s the thing about tournaments. Although newbies always thrill, they usually lose to perennial contenders that treat the championship trophy like game of a hot potato.
The heavies this year: former Golden Tortilla winners Sonoratown, HomeState and Mitla Café, the legendary San Bernardino Cal-Mex spot that has made it to the Suave 16 every year it has competed but has never made it into the Fuerte Four, leading to memes so hilarious that I kinda don’t mind that they lose, just to see if they can top themselves in hilarious misery (they always do).
What’s going to happen in the 2025 #TortillaTournament? Let’s go to the results. And a reminder that we will reveal our Fuerte Four finalists Wednesday evening on the KCRW Insider newsletter, so sign up right now before you start reading below!
CORN DIVISION
MAZORCA BRACKET
Judge: Evan Kleiman, host of KCRW's Good Food
#8 La Luz del Día vs. #5 Casa De Bandini
Lost my Evan notes, damnit! But I do know the…Winner: Casa De Bandini
#3 Chabelita’s vs. #7 Villa’s Tacos
I did find this note from Evan: “Chabelitas it is. A great handmade tortilla. It's the kind of irregular I love. It makes for different textures as you eat. But one reason I enjoy this one so much is the slightly springy gel quality some tortillas have. The masa was lightly salted so this is an all-arounder.” Winner: Chabelita’s
Evan’s Eso Eight Matchups
#5 Casa De Bandini vs. #3 Chabelita’s
As I wrote earlier, I absolutely love Chabelita’s, a sleeper of a Pacoima diner off Van Nuys Boulevard next to a body shop. Their chile rellenos are among the best I’ve ever had in a restaurant. But what immediately impressed me about them the first time I scouted them was their corn tortillas: yellow and thick, the type of tortilla you could imagine having in Tenochtitlán back in the day. They’ve made it into the Suave 16 every year they’ve competed in #TortillaTournament, so great they are. They’ll be facing Casa De Bandini, which is repping San Diego County proud.
Slam Diego has never had an entry in the Fuerte Four — is this the year? The 818 has something to say about that…on Wednesday!
METATE BRACKET
Judge: Connie Alvarez, KCRW Communications Director
Even though she has a prominent role in KCRW, I still maintain Connie is the station’s secret creative chingona, someone of incredible writing talents and vision. My only issue with my comadre, however, is a big one: trying to get her to sit down and judge #TortillaTournament once we get into the Suave 16 is so impossible that I now go to her compound to ensure she actually eats them. Usually, I have her write her own notes like the rest of us judges, but this time I couldn’t even trust her to do that — so the following is my dispatch of her #TortillaTournament judging.
#9 Bandito Tacos vs. #4 Masienda
Connie’s first matchup was between pink (Bandito) and blue (Masienda) corn tortillas. Both were first-time #TortillaTournament participants, although from wildly different provenances: the former comes from a downtown SanTana taquería, while Masienda is a multimillion-dollar company that made its fortune on masa but now also makes its own corn tortillas, which I bought in the frozen items section at the Whole Foods in Irvine.
Connie went with Bandito first. “I remember I liked this one,” she said as the tortilla heated on the comal (we hadn’t tasted entries in this year’s #TortillaTournament in four months because of…things). She grabbed it, tore off a piece, and began to chew.
“I still like it. Like the texture. Needs a pinch of salt.”
She kept chewing.
“Not as good as I remember.”
Damn.
For Masienda, the verdict came immediately.
“This one’s better. Same lack of salt, no punch and I’m a salty person. But it has a taste, like a spice. Like a Lacroix hint — barely there, but so important.”
Connie then looked at me. “I get to keep these, right?”
Winner: Masienda
#3 Mitla Café vs. #7 Gloria’s Cocina Mexicana
Battle of institutions: San Bernardino fave verses Downer Downey classic (with an outpost in Ontario). “I’m already picturing my huevitos with weenies,” Connie enthused as Mitla heated up first. She cleansed her palate with a slice of avocado — “it’s better than water because it resets my taste. Not so strong of a flavor.”
Her eyes opened wide as she tasted Mitla. “Mmmm!” she exclaimed. “This is nice. Very traditional.”
She essentially said the same thing about Gloria’s entry. Besides the size difference (Mitla is bigger), the color, thickness, texture and flavor of the rivals was almost even.
“Literally, not a lot of difference,” Connie said as she ate both of them again. “Mostly the texture.”
Connie stayed quiet for a bit. “Damn, I feel like I have to pick a winner.”
Um, that’s what a tournament is about, Connie.
“I think I like Mitla’s more,” she concluded. “They taste similar, but Gloria’s is too hard. Mitla would seem it would hold better as a tortilla. “This one” — she raised Gloria’s tortilla — I can turn into a tostada. This one” — Connie now held up Mitla — “I can put some beans inside.”
Winner: Mitla Cafe
Connie’s Round 2 Matchups
#3 Mitla Cafe vs. #4 Masienda
Gustavo’s takeaway: See what I mean about Connie? Even though she’s my comadre, it was even better covering her as a subject: well-spoken, funny, and hilarious (“Damn, I feel like I have to pick a winner” — IT’S A TOURNAMENT, CONNIE). When she decided her winners, I informed Connie that poor Mitla has never beat a blue corn tortilla in its #TortillaTournament career and now had to face off against Masienda, she said “No way!”
Way (or rather, since we’re Mexicans, “Güey!”). Can Mitla break its blue curse? We’ll see next week — and yes, I’ll be writing the dispatch again from Connie World Headquarters!
Flour Division
RODILLO BRACKET
Judge: Gustavo Arellano, L.A. Times columnist and #TortillaTournament namesake
#1 Heritage Barbecue vs. #4 Super A Foods
Super A Foods is a supermarket mini-chain that goes from Fillmore to SELA to Highland Park. Not all locations make tortillas, though, so the ones I got were from their Paramount location (Bell Gardens WTF). While their corn tortillas are whatever, their flour — powered by sugar! — are wonderful, and their charm start right when you put one on the comal and it sizzles. Soft and sweeter than most flour tortillas, Super A Foods sells the best supermarket flour tortilla in Southern California.
But could it beat Heritage, the San Juan Capistrano BBQ giant who won our flour category last year in its first try? Heritage’s secret is its flavoring/binding agent: beef tallow. That made their tortilla sizzle even more on the comal, and gave them an incredible barbecue flavor I’ve never tasted in a tortilla. It’s small and think like the tortillas in Pueblo, Colorado and a meal unto itself.
And yet…that Super A tortilla kept calling me back. They tied on the first round, and I went for a second round — didn’t have to eat anything afterward, so full I was. Super A has a spectacular tortilla, and the fact they’re machine-made makes them even more remarkable. But handmade Heritage wins — but just barely. Close finish for the ages. Winner: Heritage.
#3 Sonoratown vs. #7 Perro Taco
Two northern Mexico-style tortillas, the former as thin as a napkin, the latter semi-thick. Both of them were sizzlers, but Perro wasn’t as great as I remembered from the first two rounds — still delicious, though. But when you get this far, you better not just return with the greatness that got you here, you better level up. That’s what Sonoratown did. The only real critique I can offer is that it’s so thin, anyone who buys them and reheats at home needs to monitor the task assiduously — you flip these every three seconds, instead of the seven seconds most flour tortillas can bear on a hot comal. Then again, those char marks I unintentionally created allowed the lard Sonoratown uses for their tortillas to caramelize. Mmmm…caramelized lard. Winner: Sonoratown
Gustavo’s Eso Eight Matchups
#1 Heritage Barbecue vs. #3 Sonoratown
Gustavo’s takeaway: Handmade versus handmade, the way it should be. Sonoratown continues its streak of being in every Suave 16 since the start of #TortillaTournament — along with friendly rival HomeState and the late, great Taco María, the only tortillas to have accomplished this feat. Gonna be a hard one!
MANTEQUILLA BRACKET
Judge: Eater LA reporter Mona Holmes
#1 HomeState vs. #5 Casa De Bandini
They both held up to the same standard when cold. But I reheated both, and Casa Bandini tasted absolutely delicious. Winner: Casa De Bandini
#6 Burrito Exchange vs. #10 Fat Burrito
Fat Burrito and Burrito Exchange both have excellent consistencies and hold up nicely when sopping turkey gravy. But Fat Burrito wins because it was properly seasoned. Winner: Fat Burrito
Mona’s Eso Eight Matchups
#5 Casa De Bandini vs #10 Fat Burrito
Gustavo’s takeaway: WOW! As I said earlier, HomeState was one of just three tortillas — along with the aforementioned Sonoratown and the late, great Taco María — to have made it into the Suave 16 all seven years of #TortillaTournament, and the only one along with Taco María to make it into the Eso 8 each year. And now they’re out, beaten by first-timer Casa De Bandini, which is now the only tortilla maker to have both its corn and flour tortillas make it as far as the Eso 8. Their tortillas are thin and butter and the complete opposite of Fat Burrito, another first-time contender whose thick, powdery tortillas are so huge that I had to cut them into slices ala a pizza just to be able to freeze them. Can Carlsbad beat Rancho Cucamonga, a question probably no one has ever asked?
Reminder folks: We’re going to announce our Fuerte Four— our finalists — Wednesday on the KCRW Insider newsletter, so sign up for it already. Then we’ll announce the winners…somewhere soon. See you over there, then over here!