A tortilla chip brand with roots in East Los Angeles going back to 1958 is making its way back onto snack aisles, this time in the form of rolled tortilla chips flavored like elote and spiked with lime and heat. The La Reina name disappeared from shelves sometime in the late 1980s to early 1990s as competing tortilla brands crowded the market, but the company itself never stopped running.
According to The Eastsider LA, the factory kept running tortillas for private-label customers even after the La Reina brand faded from public view, and the new rolled chips mark the first products to carry the La Reina name again. Mauro Gomez, identified by the outlet as La Reina's chief growth officer, said the new flavors were built around the tastes of the neighborhood. “Let's bring in these flavors as best we can,” Gomez said, per the same report.
Per the Eastsider, Gomez is the grandson of founder Mauro Robles, who was a native of Mexico and entered the United States through the Bracero Program before starting the business. Company materials describe his path differently depending on the source: one company history from anitasmfc.com states that “In 1943, a young Bracero named Mauro Robles got his first taste of the American Dream,” while an industry account from Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery says he “left his home state of Zacatecas in 1952 to work at American railroad yards under the Bracero Program.” The Eastsider's report also notes that Robles worked at a tortilla factory owned by his future wife's father before striking out on his own.
From a Street Vendor's Flavors to a Package Redesign
The new rolled chips take their cues directly from East LA's street food scene. The company's own description, posted on lareinala.com, says the chips were crafted “inspired by the flavors we grew up with, the street food we love, and the culture that shaped us,” and compares the elote flavor to “the elote you'd grab from a street vendor.” The Eastsider reported that the new snacks were inspired by the community and the ingredients used by street vendors around the neighborhood.
La Reina describes the chips as crafted from traditionally ground, premium whole-kernel corn and made with avocado oil instead of seed oils, and markets them as non-GMO and gluten-free, according to the company's own site. That gluten-free positioning lines up with broader category trends: Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery reported that “fiber, protein, and gluten-free claims remain important” to tortilla chip shoppers, and noted continued growth in premium snacks offering a “differentiated experience.”
The packaging ties the new product back to the brand's history. Per the Eastsider, the new chip bags incorporate the original blue-and-white checkerboard border and crown, with artwork featuring a crowned woman holding a scepter. The outlet reported that Gomez appeared outside La Reina's East Los Angeles location on Ford Boulevard to discuss the relaunch, and that the company is located at 316 N. Ford Blvd.
A Family Business Built Across Three Generations
Robles opened the La Reina business in East Los Angeles in 1958, and the company moved to its Ford Boulevard location in 1961, according to the Eastsider's reporting. Company history pages give differing dates for the founding itself: lareinala.com states “In 1958, our founder, Mauro Robles, started La Reina in the heart of East LA,” while anitasmfc.com puts the date more precisely, saying “By May 4th, 1958, he realized his vision and established La Reina.” The Press Enterprise separately reported that “as business accelerated, in 1961 Mauro Robles moved to a plant at 316 N. Ford Blvd. in Los Angeles.”
The company expanded well beyond its original tortilla business in 1978, when it acquired Anita's Mexican Foods and moved into tortilla chips and taco shells, according to anitasmfc.com. Anita's Mexican Foods itself has been described elsewhere as based in San Bernardino. Decades later, a Los Angeles Times report on a legal dispute identified La Reina Family Brands as the East Los Angeles parent of both La Reina Inc. and Anita's Mexican Foods. Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery has separately described La Reina as the bakery arm of the Anita's Mexican Foods business, producing artisan tortilla products largely for the Los Angeles foodservice market.
Anita's Mexican Foods describes itself as family-owned and operated across three generations, with a plant that has grown to employ hundreds of workers across manufacturing lines producing fried tortilla chips, pellet snacks and taco shells, according to the company's history page. La Reina also offers new product and recipe development, package design and marketing services to other clients, per its own site.
Plans for Schools, Nonprofits and More Flavors
Gomez told the Eastsider that the relaunch carries a community mission alongside the new snacks. “We'll not only shine a light on the community, but give back,” he said, according to the outlet's report. The Eastsider also reported that La Reina plans to release more products beyond the initial chip flavors.
The relaunch arrives as the broader tortilla chip category shows modest but steady growth. Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery reported that U.S. tortilla and tostada chip dollar sales rose 0.6% to more than $2.5 billion in the 52 weeks ending May 17, 2026, while volume sales climbed 0.7% to more than 2.5 billion units sold over the same period. The trade publication also pointed to other new entrants chasing similar flavor territory, noting that Good Eat'n launched its own rolled tortilla chips, called Ragerz, in chile lime and sweet chile crisp flavors this year.
