Taco Maria is selling tamales online for pick up at the restaurant. $72 for a dozen. I’m sure they are delicious but way more expensive than anybody else on this list.
Pork chili verde
Chicken mole
Cheese with pumpkin seeds and jalapenos
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The website won’t let you get 4 of each for your dozen.
I asked before but no one answered. If you’re buying them now, do you freeze them til Christmas?
They do freeze well. But It’s more likely the case that most checking out various places to decide on their favorite buy for the holidays
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks.
Thats a bummer. I was thinking of maybe doing the same as you - 4 of each.
St. Francis Center downtown is a charitable organization that serves the homeless and extremely low income families (generally under $10,000 of income for a family of 4). Interestingly, the “clients” of the programs form a community of sorts. About ten years ago, a group of women clients wanted to give back to the Center, and proposed a tamale cookoff, which became known as Top Tamale.
They each prepared their best tamale recipe, and there was a tasting and a winner chosen. Then, all of the participants volunteered to make that woman’s recipe, and the tamales were sold to raise money for the Center. The program has expanded, and this year, instead of another competition, the women agreed to make the favorites from the past ten years. My favorites are the cheese and sweet tamales, but the pork and chicken are also tried and true.
They cut it off at 450 dozen, and are about half way through the season. I just put in my order.
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Love Me Gusta…
Not a bad idea since I assume “famous” places are swamped during the holidays… You can even microwave them w/ decent results…
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For those interested in Sandra’s as of today, they are no longer taking pre-orders. Come in to order, and stroll over to the Citadel and shop or whatever while you wait for your return time.
I fondly remember our old nabe in SF where a lady sold them on a street corner.
Just saw that Amor Y Tacos in Cerritos is offering tamales for the season, too.
- Pork Chile Verde
- Short Rib Rojo
- Rajas con queso
- Sweet corn
- Chicken Chile Verde with vegetables
They’re charging $14.75 for each half dozen ordered. No mixing and matching. Must order by the half dozen. Will try to stop by or call to order by this weekend.
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Just picked up 1/2 dozen pork and 1/2 dozen cheese tamales from St. Francis Center. The masa is light and fluffly and the flavor is good. However, there is little to no sauce in or on the tamales so they are kinda dry–particularly the pork. The cheese one benefits from the cheese being…cheese and naturally fatty. I would recommend the cheese. If you have a bomb salsa to add to it, I would still recommend the cheese. 
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Tried this during Christmas week. I ordered 1/2 each of the short rib, pork, chicken & vegetable, and sweet corn. The masa tasted delicious…well-seasoned, but was a bit on the dry side. The filling was also okay, and a bit dry, too. What’s interesting here is that they were wrapped inconsistently. Some were wrapped in just one corn husk, while some were wrapped in the corn husk and then wrapped in parchment paper…the parchment paper ones being smaller than the corn husk only ones. I’m on the fence about these tamales…and I’m a huge fan of Amor Y Tacos.
One positive side note, their sweet corn tamales were really good. Masa was moist and well-seasoned…but the kicker was it ate like eating savory (and slightly) buttered corn, and finished super sweet. It’s probably the first elote tamale I’ve eaten that hits all the marks for me. We loved it. These guys are double wrapped in corn husks and are huge. I would gladly buy these next year.
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Tamales!
Yep, that’s where my cousin got hers for her recent Xmas Eve Pajama Party.
When I first moved to California and was eating a lot of Mexican food I didn’t like Tamales because of this… then learned there is a difference.
Mr. Fixit aka Husband #2 (just kiddin’) comes with a bag full of long Tamales he gets in the morning from a vendor at the end of his street - Chicken / Green Chili Cheese / Red Chili Pork / You name it. I’ll try to get more info. Every time I ask he just says “I’ll bring more.” Good flavors, good masa to filling ratio.
Sorry, not a better visual of the actual Tamales. The first one is Green Chili Cheese topped with some really good, fresh ground beef from my CSA box. Are all these toppings sacrilege?
P.S. I’d like to pick @Dommy’s tamale brain.
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What does that mean? You have to get 12 of the same kind? At $72.00?
Wish we lived close. I love sweet / savory corn tamales.
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Avoid the ones at Guisados. Stopped by the WeHo location on 12/29 and decided to order the elote and the cheese. Ew. Both had horribly dried out masa, and cheese was still completely solid.
Not a all. In Yucatan, most tamales are served with sauce on top. Further, there is a wonderful Mexican American Tradition of Tamale Boats. Last week a neighbor had a Tamale emergency (needed last minute Tamales in the neighborhood. Ironically I could conjure them up when we lived in Culver City no problem, but the Expo Park Tamale lady is crazy secretive and passed by our block to get over to the easy pickins’ of the soccer fields) and I pined for the days that Earles Grill used to buy La Indiana Tamales for his Tamale Boats… I haven’t had one in EONS. But i used to love the ones at Tommys. I want to convince the new George’s Burger Stand in Boyle Heights to also add it to their menu…
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It would appear that is the case.
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LOL!
My brother would get yelled at for even putting salsa on a tamale. The word sacrilege got thrown around. Mom is def of the camp that the sauce with the filling should be enough. Family is more from Central Mexico though.
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