The Tacombi-Produced Food Brand You Can Find In Grocery Stores

What all began inside of a vintage Volkswagen bus in Playa Del Carmen, a beach town along Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, is now, in the words of Eater, one of New York City's most loved taco joints. However, it wasn't as simple as beans and rice, or tortillas, more specifically. Tacombi, a name that brings together two words — taco and "combi," which is Spanish slang for "minibus" — has come a long way since its days on the beach (via Collins Dictionary). While it may have traded four wheels for four walls in what Forbes identifies as one of the restaurant industry's toughest cities, one thing has always been put first — the quality of its tortillas.

After moving to the big city, Tacombi found that the tortillas from the local suppliers were not meeting its standards. As the neighborhood taqueria, it was their mission to connect the local community to Mexico. But, in order to do that, the tortillas had to be just right — so they made them themselves, the traditional Mexican way. Made from 100% nixtamal, they cook all the corn for their tortillas themselves, with no masa harina or corn flour necessary (via Eater). Made from scratch daily, the tortillas were originally only served in Tacombi restaurants. Now, they're bringing Mexico to everyone, everywhere, with a line of grocery store products called Vista Hermosa.

According to Grub Street, it all began in 2016 when a Whole Foods employee asked about getting Tacombi's tortillas in the chain's New York City stores. With the vision of having a line of products that looked and tasted as if they came straight from Mexico, CEO Dario Wolos had the tortillas made under a different name — Vista Hermosa — named after his grandparent's neighborhood in Michoacán. Since then, the Vista Hermosa name has created flour tortillas made with avocado oil, tortilla chips, and frozen burritos — sold at Whole Foods, Sprouts Farmers Markets, and other specialty grocery stores.

It hasn't stopped there, however, as Wolos told Grub Street about the line of grocery products. "This is like Disney," he said. "Except in our case, the metaphor for Disneyland is actually Mexico, and we didn't create it, so our job is just to borrow and share the best ideas from it." As of now, those ideas include Lupita, Tacombi's line of agua frescas and Mexican sodas, and La Antigua, its line of Mexican chocolate and coffee. 

But, if Tacombi has yet to bring Mexico to a neighborhood near you, just know that it's only a matter of time. In a 2021 press release, Tacombi announced that it raised nearly $30 million in funding. With it, they plan to expand to 75 new locations in the next five years, beginning with Chicago, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Long Island.