A family business is doubling its footprint in north Denver next year as it adds another kitchen and storefront for its sought-after tamales and tortillas.
Pochitos Tortilla Factory, 4421 Tejon St., will expand into another building less than a mile east at 4200 Jason St., owner Levi Luna said. He plans to start renovating next month and open up for to-go sales in March.
Luna, 53, grew up in north Denver and went to school in the Denver Public Schools system. He started Pochitos in 1997, cooking up a tamale recipe with his wife that has grown ever more in demand, especially around the holidays.
Tamales are a Mexican dish made from corn masa, which is steamed inside a corn husk and traditionally filled with pork, beef and other meat, along with cheese, peppers or other vegetables. They are steamed and consumed en masse traditionally around Christmas.
Luna chose a warehouse on the eastern edge of the Sunnyside neighborhood, in part because of its proximity to a development known as Fox Park, which will bring new restaurants, shops and lodging to the area over the railroad tracks. Ground broke on the 41-acre project this year. (The land used to be the site of The Denver Post’s pressing plant.)
“We’re hoping to be a part of that growth and continue to be a part of north Denver,” Luna said.
Like the original location, the new “factory” will have a storefront where customers can order packs of hot green chile and red chile tamales. Pochitos on Tejon will continue to sell tamales and packaged food from its fridges, such as containers of chipotle or habanero salsas, tubs of Mexican rice and cups of creamy rice pudding.
Tamale orders pick up especially heavy around the holiday and a new kitchen will help ease some of the load for his kitchen crew, Luna said.
Pochitos Tortilla Factory is closed on Christmas and New Year’s Day. Its regular hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.