El Molino isn't so much expanding as taking over. On July 18, the homemade-tortilla favorite opens its fourth Charleston-area location at 1264 Yeamans Hall Road in Hanahan, in the former La Tapatia space.
Here's the twist: the owners are replacing their own restaurant. Jaime Tinoco and Pamela Sierra, both from Guadalajara, opened La Tapatia in that exact spot back in August 2024. Less than two years later, they're swapping it for El Molino, the concept they first launched in 2020.
If you know El Molino, you know the draw. Fresh-made flour and corn tortillas, aisles of imported Mexican goods, a real meat and seafood counter, and a bakery. It's a grocery and a kitchen in one, and Charleston keeps asking for more of it.
The new store lands in Yeamans Hall Plaza, right alongside Piggly Wiggly, Cane Pazzo, and the couple's own Kooben Café Mexicano. That's a lot of firepower in one strip.
This makes four in the region. The first opened in West Ashley, another in North Charleston, and a third in Ladson last year. Tinoco and Sierra also run La Taqueria by El Molino out on Johns Island.
Four locations, a taqueria, and a café. Say what you want about a slow summer. Somebody's busy.
This is a summary of an article published in the Post & Courier. Click here if you'd like to read that article.
