KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County, including Independence. Share your story idea with Tod.
—
Taco Tuesday is about to get more awesome again in Kansas City.
Like many native Kansas Citians, I grew up on La Tiara taco shells. They were my mom’s favorite and, after I got married, I learned they also are my wife’s favorite.
So, I was disappointed when the factory closed in January 2025 — and I wasn’t alone.
“Our phone started ringing off the hook — city hall, the chamber of commerce,” Gladstone Mayor Les Smith said. “You know, ‘What happened to La Tiara? I went to the store today. Everything was gone. The shelves were empty.’”
For 65 years, La Tiara had manufactured thin, crispy corn tortilla shells and seasoning at an easy-to-overlook plant in Gladstone.
“When I was a little kid, coming with dad to buy shells here, it was just a Gladstone thing,” Smith said.
General Mills, a multinational food manufacturer based in Minneapolis, bought the remnants of Gladstone Food Products with plans to reintroduce the La Tiara brand, add a third production shift and take Kansas City’s tasty stone-ground yellow and white corn taco shells nationwide.
Gladstone and General Mills celebrated the grand reopening Friday, but the factory has been operational again for a few months. Some La Tiara products have started trickling onto Walmart store shelves in recent days, but they should be readily available online and in stores beginning the week of April 20.
“I don't think we knew to the extent of the cult following (La Tiara had) until after (the purchase),” General Mills Gladstone Plant Manager Stave Jarva said, “But (we) love the hype around it, love the local morale and just camaraderie around like people want these taco shells back.”
The Please Bring Back La Tiara Taco Shells group on Facebook amassed more than 22,000 members in the last year.
“It's really exciting for us, because it's become such a hometown pride thing,” Smith said. “... Just FYI, the city’s population is 27,000.”
But La Tiara represents more than a meal for many — it connects generations of families.
“It’s fun to see the passion for this brand,” said Brett White, the president of the Meals and Baking Solutions Operating Unit for General Mills.
White made the trek from the Twin Cities to celebrate the factory reopening with a ribbon cutting.
“It’s fair to say this place has never been just another business,” Smith said. “The bottom line — Gladstone is once again producing the finest, crispiest, the most wonderful taco shells in America. So, let’s celebrate that history and let’s celebrate the return of La Tiara.”
—
