El Nopalito Tortilla Factory Market & Restaurant has operated as a Latino-owned Mexican grocery on Santa Fe Drive in Encinitas since 1983, producing fresh corn tortillas, house-made salsas, and chicharrones from an on-site kitchen that supplies both the retail counter and an adjacent taco shop. The tortilla factory runs a daily production cycle using nixtamalized masa ground on premises, a traditional preparation method shared by Encinitas Mexican food corridor neighbors like Lourdes Mexican Food. A full meat counter stocks fresh carnitas, carne asada, machaca, and tamale-ready cuts alongside queso fresco and seasonal produce for home preparation. The taco shop menu extends into breakfast burritos, huevos rancheros, costillas de puerco en salsa verde, and mole plates—traditional recipes that draw from the same local produce pipeline as Sprouts Farmers Market on Encinitas Boulevard. Nixtamalization of the corn tortillas involves soaking dried maize in a calcium hydroxide solution before stone-grinding, a process that increases niacin bioavailability and produces the pliable, aromatic tortilla distinct from commercial alternatives.