Mayra Esquivel had prepared a special meal to celebrate her graduation from Pima Community College’s culinary arts program: stuffed chicken, mashed potatoes with garlic sauce and vegetables in a wine reduction. Her father, Salvador, had traveled to Tucson from Monterrey, México to celebrate with her. The elaborate and sophisticated dishes were already on the table when he asked a question that would change the family’s story: “And the tortillas?”
Years later, Mayra named her business “Y las Tortillas” in honor of that moment. But behind the name is a deeper story — that of a daughter who wanted to nourish her parents in a healthier way. At the time, her father was living with kidney disease, and her mother, María, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Out of that love grew a business dedicated to creating nutritious tortillas designed to support health without sacrificing flavor.
The combinations at Y Las Tortillas seem more at home in a culinary laboratory than in a traditional tortilla shop. There are tortillas made with tomato, chipotle and almonds.
“They’re antioxidants,” Mayra explains.
Others combine dandelion greens, poblano peppers and cashews. There are also tortillas made with pumpkin and sunflower seeds blended with orange-fleshed squash. Mayra says “all of these combinations benefit the brain.”
There are fenugreek seed tortillas, which, according to Mayra, “help lower blood sugar levels.” Flavors range from spinach and turmeric — “for people who like stronger flavors” — to sweet potato and hibiscus. The latter often sparks mixed reactions: customers either love it or simply do not.
And if a customer is living with diabetes, Mayra has an immediate recommendation: cactus tortillas with chia seeds.
Credit: Summer Williams
Every recipe grew from the same question that has guided her for years: how can an everyday food become a form of care?
“When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I made it my goal to incorporate as many nutrients as possible to support brain health. At the same time, my father, who had chronic kidney disease, was cooking simple but bland meals, and his diet lacked variety,” Mayra told Arizona Luminaria.
Behind every tortilla are years of research, she says. To develop her recipes, she turned to scientific literature, databases and food specialists.
“I even contacted a university in Indiana that focuses on carbohydrates and the detailed study of food,” she says — Purdue University’s The Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research, where she was referred by the University of Arizona.
The beginnings of a dream
Mayra had begun refining her products years earlier, conducting dozens of tests before arriving at her current recipes.
“It wasn’t easy. The tortillas would break apart. Not all ingredients give you the same texture,” she says.
During her workdays at a dry-cleaning business, she began sharing samples with customers and collecting feedback through small surveys she handed out along with the tortillas.
That exchange of tortillas for feedback became more frequent during the pandemic.
“During the pandemic, easily 300 people participated — my customers and people they told about the tortillas,” she says.
At the time, many of her customers were doctors and nurses.
“Talking with them, I told them about the tortillas because my mom needed to eat nuts due to Alzheimer’s, and that’s where the idea of adding nuts to tortillas came from,” she says.
Credit: Summer Williams
The experiments multiplied in her kitchen. She tested different flours, but sometimes the dough would not stretch or the tortillas became hard. A relative in Monterrey — an agricultural engineer with training in food engineering — ultimately helped guide part of the process.
“He supported me on the technical side, with structure and molecular composition. He provided databases to help me understand viscosity and density. If your ingredient contains more protein, you need more viscosity,” she says.
From there, she began experimenting with different flours and vegetables, including wheat, amaranth and other combinations, while researching which ingredients provided the greatest nutritional value.
Formalizing the tortilla business
As she prepared for life as an entrepreneur, Mayra participated in local business development programs including Startup Tucson’s Food Forward, the Women Business Center’s Sabor de Casa, the University of Arizona McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship’s Business Certificate Program, and the City of Tucson’s Sazón Empresarial program. She is currently part of Mexicana Emprende, a program sponsored by the Mexican Consulate in Tucson.
By 2025, Mayra knew she wanted to launch her business, but financial uncertainty held her back. She questioned whether she should leave her job at a dry cleaner. She sought support from Fuerza Local, an organization that helps entrepreneurs and guided her through the steps of building a sustainable tortilla business.
“When I decided to open the business, I was going to invest my savings, and then I discovered that building a commercial kitchen is extremely expensive. It was far beyond my budget. I started looking for rental options,” she recalls.
“At the same time, I still need income to live. I can’t quit my job and dedicate myself entirely to the business.”
Credit: Summer Williams
Originally from Monterrey and a Tucson resident since 2009, Mayra was part of Fuerza Local’s seventh Business Accelerator cohort. She graduated in January 2026.
“Fuerza Local is a branch of Local First Arizona, and it supports all businesses. This particular branch was created to support Latino entrepreneurs,” says Ana Chavarin, business development manager for Fuerza Local.
The organization has a network of more than 200 members in Pima County, about 20% of whom are Latino. Through Fuerza Local, entrepreneurs seeking guidance in Spanish on how to start or formalize a business can participate in the Business Accelerator program.
“We offer one-on-one consulting, classes and sustainability workshops. We have courses on saving energy and water. If business owners want to apply for government grants, such as Green Grants, to improve resources for their businesses, we help with that too,” Chavarin says.
Credit: Fuerza Local
The program addresses a common challenge among small business owners: learning how to register an LLC and understanding the first steps of opening a business. In addition to the Spanish-language program, Local First operates initiatives such as We Rise, which serves Black entrepreneurs. It has also launched a rural program focused on Native American communities, including tribes and reservations.
“We have these three business accelerator programs to help these communities move forward,” Chavarin says.
She recalls being moved by Mayra’s story and how she created a business to support her parents’ health.
“She did extensive research looking for formulas to make nutritious tortillas so her parents could get the omega nutrients they needed through a tortilla,” Chavarin says.
One of the biggest needs among entrepreneurs like Mayra, Chavarin says, is administrative guidance.
“We have to help them a lot with the administrative side — how to formally register. Depending on your business and where you want to take it, there are different legal structures. We teach them about each of those options,” she says.
Ready to launch
At 52, Mayra still works at the dry cleaner but is preparing to launch her business from a kitchen she is building in her garage, which she expects to complete within two months.
“The business isn’t 100% ready yet, but I already have my Cottage Food Program license, which allows you to make food at home and sell it commercially,” she explains.
She plans to begin selling her products at farmers markets and community events.
“That’s why I joined Fuerza Local and other organizations that work with the Latino community,” she says.
Mayra expects to sell the tortillas by the dozen, priced between $8 and $10 depending on size.
“They’re great for tacos, enchiladas. Some have a strong corn flavor even though they contain very little corn flour. People tell me, ‘I like this one for wraps’ or for burritos,” she says.
Once her kitchen is complete, Mayra plans to begin promoting her products on Facebook and Instagram. In the future, she hopes to expand her offerings to include tortilla chips and tostadas and even supply hospitals.
Even as her plans and confidence grow, she is moving forward carefully.
“My advisors tell me to go slowly and start small,” she says.
So Mayra plans to take things one step at a time.
She also understands that when tortillas are on the table, plans can quickly change. Mexicans, for example, eat them with almost everything and at any time of day, just as her family did that evening when she served her father an elaborate meal inspired by Italian and French cuisine. Her father has since passed away.
Mayra still bursts into laughter when she remembers that before taking his first bite, he asked:
“And the tortillas?”
“We all ended up eating a fusion of Italian and French food in tacos,” she says, laughing.
“Mexican style — just add a tortilla!”
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