La Tapatia started as a tortilla factory in the 1950s, at least as early as 1953. In 1958, it moved from 9075 Alameda to 9030 Alameda which is now a tuxedo rental place. It was sold by the original family to the Gus and Ted Rallis, and Mayor Ray Salazar in 1970. They sold it to Alicia Chacon and her sister in 1977. La Tapatia was moved to the current location on 8941 Old County Road in the 1970s. Under the management of The Rallis brothers, some restaurant space was created in the factory. La Tapatia was also known for it homemade tamales.The Rallis maintained a lot of the old fashioned ways of making tortillas and tamales and inherited several workers from the original owners. Each worker could make 75 to 100 tamales a day.
Who founded La Tapatia?
Marcelino and Felipa Galvan was described by Ted Rallis ,as a elderly couple from Guadalajara,Mexico,who could not speak or write English ,but said they made good tamales. According to the 1930 U.S. Census, the Galvans came to El Paso in 1920 and Marcelino was was a farmer laborer. The couple had two children, Luz and Santas and they was living in the lower valley. According to the 1940 U.S. Census, they was living on Lud Road on North Loop with her daughter, Luz and grandson,Jose Gomez and Marcelino profession was listed as a farmer who worked on his own account.
The earliest newspaper article I could find that mentioned La Tapatia was in 1953. La Tapatia used to have a baseball team in a local league,where it played with several other local businesses and the team was considered very successful. Marcelino died in 1973 and Felipa died in 1987 in El Paso.
-Joseph Longo
