How SF’s Casa Sanchez tortilla chips became a California staple

Today Sanchez is the president of Casa Sanchez, a third-generation, San Francisco-born business that’s known for its thick-and-crispy chips (aka “gruesos”), chunky salsas and arguably some of the best guacamole found in grocery stores nationwide.

The origin story behind this family-run business, however, is one built by an indomitable work ethic followed by decades of innovation and even a bit of risk-taking. But it all started with a few humble ingredients and the time-tested recipes that have kept Casa Sanchez a household name for almost a century.

‘There’s nothing better than a hot tortilla’

Roberto and Isabel Sanchez (the grandparents of young Robert) immigrated from Zacatecas, Mexico, and landed in San Francisco in 1924, where the couple would open their first business on Broadway. Back then, R. Sanchez Tamale Company operated as a grocer selling “Spanish food,” which included tortillas, spices and chorizos. 

The exterior of the original Casa Sanchez headquarters at 1759 Broadway, circa 1930, at left. Co-founder Roberto Sanchez I, at right wearing a black tie, inside the Casa Sanchez kitchen during the 1930s. (Photos courtesy of Robert Sanchez)
The exterior of the original Casa Sanchez headquarters at 1759 Broadway, circa 1930, at left. Co-founder Roberto Sanchez I, at right wearing a black tie, inside the Casa Sanchez kitchen during the 1930s. (Photos courtesy of Robert Sanchez)

In 1953, with the support of the next generation, which included children Juliana, Lupe and Robert, the business expanded as a Mexicatessen with a tortilleria at 1923 Fillmore St. — where 5-year-old Sanchez first laid eyes on the assembly line of fresh-made corn tortillas.

“There’s nothing better than a hot tortilla that puffs up with nothing on it,” Sanchez told SFGATE. “In those times, it was all tortillas, corn tortillas.” 

He noted that as the Hispanic community started to grow in the Mission, so did the demand for tortillas. But with so many tortilla deliveries to local restaurants, the Sanchez family would eventually wind up with a few day-old batches. 

“They were still good, but they were kind of stiff. So what do we do with them?” Sanchez said. “We just started cutting them, salting them and putting them into bags. That’s how we got into chips.”

In 1968, Casa Sanchez moved to 2778 24th St. It was at this time that the family also evolved the iconic logo, which depicts a little character with a friendly smile and a yellow sombrero as he blasts off into space straddling a corn-shaped rocket. 

“At that point, they were sending excursions to the moon. So my dad got together with the designers and said, ‘What can we do that’s contemporary? That’s right now?’ That’s why we have a guy on a corn rocket,” Sanchez said with a smile.

The family-run company carved out its own niche by producing and delivering its popular tortilla chips to now-defunct stores like Cala Foods supermarket and Bell Markets. They even delivered to El Faro before it was a taqueria, back when it was just a store.

As the boom of taquerias began to spread throughout the Mission District, the demand for more Sanchez foods soon followed. According to Sanchez, by the mid-1960s, the family brand was earning $1.1 million in annual sales.

“My parents measured success by how many hours they worked. They used to work, work, work,” he said. “My parents looked forward to working six and a half days a week. And then, on Sunday afternoon, they went to the movies, or went dancing.”

A gamble that paid off

By the late 1960s, Casa Sanchez chips were already available in a handful of Bay Area Safeway stores. But in the early ’90s, the supermarket chain invited Sanchez and his wife, Linda Renteria, to discuss whether the brand wanted to up the ante to more than 200 stores.  

“I said yes, not having any finances, no trucks and no way to do it,” Sanchez said. “But in life, when opportunities come, you have to do it. My wife’s going, ‘Don’t do that!’ Now, that Safeway buyer works for us. He’s our general manager.”

Renteria recalls the exchange a little differently.

“I kicked him under the table. ‘There’s no way, Bob. How are we going to do this?’” Renteria recalled. “He did it. The guy came back later on and said, ‘I challenged several companies and you were one of the few that made it.’”

That risk paid off big time. 

It was the pivotal moment that launched the Casa Sanchez brand throughout the Northern and Southern California regions. Now, Sprouts, Whole Foods, Walmart, Albertson’s and more all carry the Bay Area brand.

“We didn’t know how we were going to make all those chips and salsa. But, we just couldn’t say no,” Sanchez said. “You just throw the dice and gamble and see if it works. That’s why we’re loyal to Safeway because they gave us our first chance to break into the big market.”

Another gamble came in the form of permanent ink: the Casa Sanchez tattoo craze of the 1990s. Sanchez credits the idea to his sister, Martha. If a customer showed up to a Casa Sanchez restaurant and presented their tattoo of the iconic rocket man, they’d get free food for life.

“It was a hit! It received national publicity,” he said.

The restaurants are no longer in existence, but Sanchez said there are still Casa Sanchez loyalists who spring for a permanent homage to the brand in order to receive the occasional free bag of chips and salsa. 

“There’s about 35 people who have tattoos right now, but we don’t always want to see where the tattoo is at,” Sanchez said, with a laugh. 

‘Nothing beats fresh’

With Casa Sanchez expanding rapidly, it moved its headquarters to a 90,000-square-foot facility in Hayward in 2015. Sanchez invited SFGATE behind the curtain to see where 30,000 tubs of salsa are made daily. It’s a place that emits the most tantalizing aromas of ground corn and roasted salsa imaginable. 

We watched as endless stacks of air-dried corn tortillas were gathered by hand and placed onto a machine that slices them into triangles before they travel down a conveyor belt toward the next destination — an industrial-sized deep fryer. Immediately, the toasty scent of freshly fried tortillas chips filled the area.

Starting at 2 a.m., everything from fresh avocados from Santa Paula to hand-picked onions from Gilroy arrive at the factory. The secret behind Casa Sanchez’s delicious guacamole is that it all starts with real avocados. 

“Nothing beats fresh. Nothing beats having the whole avocado. We order it at the right ripeness point and we hand-scoop all of our avocados,” Sanchez said. “That’s our secret. We just go with the freshest ingredients we can find: the freshest tomatoes, freshest peppers, cilantro. It starts there.”

More than 40,000 avocados are hand-scooped weekly at the Hayward facility. 

Freshly made avocado salsa is packed at the Casa Sanchez manufacturing facility in Hayward, Calif., on Feb. 15, 2023. (Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE)
Freshly made avocado salsa is packed at the Casa Sanchez manufacturing facility in Hayward, Calif., on Feb. 15, 2023. (Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE)

As Casa Sanchez went from party food to comfort food during the pandemic, Sanchez said sales hit an all-time peak — and it hasn’t stopped. Although the brand endures varying degrees of hardships when it comes to the price increase of key ingredients and the ongoing need for skilled labor, it’s still a company that finds itself innovating. 

Casa Sanchez fans may have noticed two new items on grocery store shelves that launched last year: Picosos and Casa Sanchez coffee. 

Picosos are Casa Sanchez’s habañero and lime-flavored chips, which unapologetically crack the spice whip. The Casa Sanchez-brand coffee is made from beans grown in Mexico and roasted right here in San Francisco, each bag stamped with the beloved family logo. 

Sanchez hinted at even more new products making their debut in the near future, a testament to a brand that’s built a long-lasting business out of the challenge of what to do with day-old tortillas. And, whether you prefer the thin-and-crispy chips, or the thick-and-crispy variety, it’s all made with the same methods that have proven fruitful for the past 99 years.

“Good people make that product. Good people. Really good,” Renteria said. “Our employees are wonderful. Familia.”