In the competitive world of East Los Angeles tortillerias, where entrepreneurs fight for customers block by block, Francisco Ramírez and his La Princesita towered above them all.
The native of Cuernavaca, Mexico, sold to restaurants years before his rivals. His earthy, dark-yellow corn and fluffy flour tortillas became the base for hundreds of tacos and burritos across the Southland. And Ramírez also encouraged his children to modernize the family business, ensuring it a place in Southern California’s recent tortilla renaissance.