Arturo and Maria Galindo, founders and owners of Las Golondrinas Mexican Food Products, were born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. They were high school sweethearts who spent their youth working and playing in the working-class neighborhoods of the city. After graduation, Arturo joined the Marines and came to California; stationed at the now shuttered El Toro Air Force Base. The young couple married soon after and Maria followed her husband to the west coast.
The Galindos waited until 1984, when Arturo, Maria and several partners opened the first Las Golondrinas in San Juan Capistrano. It was a small store, barely large enough for the corn vats, the mill, and the monstrous tortilla oven. A small kitchen came later.