La Cocina

La Cocina, a food incubator program based in the Mission, is an economic development program that cultivates low-income food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses by providing affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance and access to market opportunities. La Cocina focuses primarily on women from communities of color and immigrant communities, nurturing 30 or so food businesses at a time. La Cocina entrepreneurs are culinary leaders in San Francisco, and their foods are defining elements of Bay Area flavor.

Born in the city of Mazatlan, Mexico, Alicia Villanueva has been stuffing tamales since she was a child, and in 2010 came to La Cocina with the dream of owning her own tamale cart. Alicia now oversees a 6,000-square-foot tamale factory and has over 15 employees. Through her business Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas, she offers handcrafted tamales and Mexican cuisine using the highest-quality ingredients possible. Alicia sells her celebrated tamales at major San Francisco food festivals including the San Francisco Street Food Festival, SF Beer Week and Outside Lands.

Menu Items

• ESTRELLITA’S SNACKS Bean and Cheese Pupusa
• ESTRILLITA’S SNACKS Zucchini and Cheese Pupusa
• ANDINA Pork or Beef Arepas
• MI MORENA Fried Fish Tacos
• MIXIOTE Loaded Fries