Everybody get packing and gas up the RV. Or should we charter a bus?
Tamales Don Pepe - yes! Authentic Mexican. Little spot in a rundown strip center just off Stella Link, S. of 610. Excellent food but often out of tamales.
Mamma’s (Bellaire) - not so sure. I went the first year and liked them but haven’t been back.
Alamo ??? Did they go out of the tamale business completely?
I’ve never heard of The Tamale Joint.
One in Katy but nothing in Shiner? Oh Jaymes, so sad. Or do you just make your own?
Just saw this but, no. I actually drove in from Shiner to Alamo in order to be sure to satisfy our Christmas tamal fix. We still think Alamo are the best.
IMHO the best come from somebody you know who just makes great tamales. The best “in the business” tamales I have had were Ruben’s in San Antonio and that gas station way south on Manchaca in Austin (-ish). Gracious, but I do love tamales. They are great with chili and innumerable other toppings, but my favorite is pink taco sauce, a zingy salsa and crema. I need to try Delia’s (or start a whole head tamelada in the neighborhood).
Not a traditional tamal, but I still miss the vegetarian tamal at Las Manitas, stuffed with mushrooms and squash, topped with a crema based sauce and pecans. Actually I miss pretty much everything about the place.
The Salvadoran tamal de elote at La Roca in Houston was a revelation - silken texture, just masa with a bit of corn kernels, with a dollop of Crema Salvadorena, a wedge of cheese (likely cotija), and, of course, a cuppa Nescafe Instant I never though of using crema on a Tex-Mex tamal - that will be remedied soon.
I hadn’t heard of Las Manitas - wish I had known. Radical Eats was a too-short lived vegetarian/vegan Mexican place here. Never had the regular tamales but had the nacatamal and the enchiladas (mushroom and spinach). Just about take-your-breath-away stuff.
I do not know the name, but there is a place at the southern end of Menchaca (just out of Austin) that has great tamales at Christmas. Reuben’s in San Antonio is also quite good.
Grad school and med school, so yeah, it was like jail time. He had great food and made lifelong friends who were Texan in both places. The humidity in Houston was tough for him (an Ohioan). He fondly recalls wiping his windshield in the mornings while being half-awake.
That’s the Texas spirit!!!
I never though of using crema on a Tex-Mex tamal - that will be remedied soon.
