These tortillas have ‘the aroma and flavor of Mexican tortillas.’ Here’s where to get them

Inside Look is a Fresno Bee series where we take readers behind the scenes at restaurants, new businesses, local landmarks and news stories.

The sound of the machinery and the hot steam wafting from the puffed-up, freshly made corn tortillas at Tortillería Ortuño in southeast Fresno brings back memories of local tortillerias in neighborhoods across many cities and villages in México.

“The tortilla has the aroma and flavor of an authentic Mexican tortilla,” boasts Ramiro Ortuño Ortiz, 61, the owner of the business.

Ortuño Ortiz – originally from Huetamo, Michoacán, Mexico – boasts that he not only sells quality corn tortillas but that the product evokes the memories and nostalgia of many mexicanos living in the Valley, transporting them back briefly to their homeland.

“I have been doing this for 25 years in México. Here, we’ve been at it for three years,” said Ortuño Ortiz, who returned to live in the United States almost eight years ago.

Upon his return to the Valley, Ortuño Ortiz toiled in the fields and even opened a Mexican restaurant in the community of Salida in Stanislaus County, which he later had to close.

Ortuño Ortiz explained that he started making tortillas because that was what he did in his native country. He still operates his tortilla business in his home state, managed by his brother-in-law.

The concept of the mobile tortillería

The concept of a mobile tortillería was deemed much more practical, Ortuño Ortiz explained, because it is quicker to obtain permits compared to opening a brick-and-mortar store. Tortilleria Ortuno opened its doors at 4542 Belmont Ave. on Sept. 10, 2023.

This Fresno location marks the second branch for Ortuno Ortiz and his family, having launched two mobile tortillerías in Modesto three years ago.

Ortuño Ortiz mentioned that in Modesto, they rent a parking lot at 425 W. Hatch Road, where they already have a loyal clientele. They recently celebrated their third anniversary on Feb. 14.

Margarita Valencia arrived at the mobile tortillería in Fresno to purchase five pounds of freshly made tortillas for her family.

Valencia, originally from the Mexican state of Michoacán, uses corn tortillas heavily in her cooking.

“The flavor reminds me of México and doesn’t contain as many preservatives,” Valencia explained as the reason for her preference.

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Valencia noted that before the Fresno site opened, she used to make the 90-minute jaunt to Modesto to visit relatives and would seize the opportunity to buy tortillas there.

Apart from offering a quality product to customers, Ortuño Ortiz revealed that the mobile operation created a lot of buzz when he launched the business.

A different tortilla

Ortuño Ortiz proudly shared that the tortilla machine, imported from México, can produce 3,000 tortillas per hour. For repairs, he travels to Tijuana for parts to fix the machinery.

Ortuño Ortiz emphasized that he had been working with this machine for 28 years and wouldn’t trade it for any other.

Although the profit margin is modest, considering labor and raw materials, Ortuño Ortiz stated, “We have chosen to minimize profits to provide a superior product.”

A pound of tortillas (approximately 16 tortillas per pound) costs $2 and is wrapped in paper to retain the steam and warmth. Ortuño Ortiz doesn’t cool the tortillas for sale.

Supermarkets like Save Mart sell a pound (16 ounces) of Mission brand, extra-thin, yellow corn tortillas for $3.79.

Asked what sets his tortillas apart from those in supermarkets, Ortuño Ortiz explained that his tortillas are not mass-produced.

“Everything is bad,” said Ortuño Ortiz of the tortillas sold in supermarkets, adding that they have preservatives that allow them to last six months.

Ortuño Ortiz said his tortilla is “a tortilla that is well-formed, that puffs up, and has a good flavor. It also doesn’t come with many preservatives. We mix four flours to find the flavor.”

“The tortilla lasts in the refrigerator for about eight or ten days. Nothing happens to the tortilla,” said Ortuño Ortiz. “And when you heat it up, the tortilla is soft. That’s guaranteed.”

The flour comes with a required preservative, but they don’t add more, he said, adding that it wasn’t easy to find a way to make the tortilla come out good.

“I came from 25 years of experience and I thought I knew everything,” said Ortuño Ortiz. “Starting the process here is very different, although it is the same machine, the cooking is different because it is regulated to work here.”

Ortuño Ortiz said that if they had told him that he was going to do this, he would not have believed it.

“Because there are people who wait up to an hour-and-a-half in line,” he said. “On Saturday and Sunday, in Modesto, I have both machines working and I have a line all day.”

Planning for the future

In Fresno, Ortuño Ortiz said that there are future plans to build a tortillería in the location where the mobile unit is parked, since his daughter bought the property.

“That’s the plan. We already have the entire project, it has already been sent to the city, but the process takes a long time,” said Ortuño Ortiz. “We’re talking about maybe a year-and-a-half.”

Ortuño Ortiz said he is very grateful, especially to the people for the support they have received with the mobile tortilla shops.

Although they have different service hours, Ortuño Ortiz said that in Fresno, on Saturdays and Sundays, they open at 5 a.m., and on weekdays, they open between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m.

If there is a large order of tortillas, they open earlier.

There are days when they haven’t closed until 7 p.m. because of the long line of customers, but if there are no people waiting, they close between 5:30 and 6 p.m.

Ortuño Ortiz has other future projects including that his daughter and son-in-law will open a mobile tortilla factory in Madera, Visalia or Dinuba, and start a mobile flour tortilla factory.

“We have the concept, we have all the desire to do it; it’s just been getting complicated due to the high price of the machine, as there is no Mexican machine certified for export to the United States,” he said. “Nevertheless, the flour tortilla that we plan to make, we will do it in the same way, even without preservatives.”

Ortuño Ortiz said that on May 12, they will host a free event to celebrate Mother’s Day, with taquiza, music, and gifts for mothers at the Fresno location.