In 1957 Dolores & Julian Varela Opened Lolita's Tamales on the corner of Whittier Boulevard and Indiana. They ran their little shop for 14 years then in 1971 they sold it to a sister and brother named Noemi and Pompeyo. For the next 16 years, they ran Lolita's together. It seemed like it would all continue as always until the "1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake" then it all came tumbling down, the building where Lolita's had been for the past 30 years got condemned due to the damage of the earthquake. Since they would have to rebuild from scratch, they decided to each go their separate ways. Noemi with her nephews Startup Sandra's & Lolita's Tamales now just Sandra's Tamales meanwhile Pompeyo went off with his children to start up Lolita's Tamales.

Since the split in 1988, we have been independent of Lolitas and they of us. For many years people believed we were still the same place, and that is why in 2015 we shorted the name from Sandra's & Lolita's Tamales, to just Sandra's Tamales. We did this with the intention to make it clear to the public that we are not the same company. As of the shorting of the name, there has been a lot less confusion, so it seems to have been a success.

Most people called Noemi Lolita because she was the face of the shop from what I hear. Noemi or Lolita as most of the older clients knew her died in May of 2012 She hated having her photo taken, but if I can find any, I will post it up here.