Tamale Man

A place where you could just come in and relax good people great customer service And most important Great Food ! 5 stars in my book

Good stuff. Order a dozen and a half. Half green chicken and half red pork. I believe it’s $ 2.00 a piece. Not bad thick, meaty, with kick and not dry. Yeah a little pricey but hey it’s worth it if it’s not dry. We also got a carne asada burrito it’s OK. The beans and rice will always be a winner for my daughter. But it wasn’t bad.
We ordered and thought we were going but decided to have just one of each. While we waited for the burrito,
Rice and beans. They told us they were closing which was weird cause the menu said they closed at 7:00pm and it was just 5:00pm. Oh well guess you can close whenever you want. But glad we made it.
The place was empty. I guess they said forget it lets closed. But they were very nice people here. Polite and friendly. The bathroom was clean. Well cause they just finished cleaning it. Dining area was also clean. Nice décor and has a TV. Parking is street.

Some of the best tamales on the east side. They beat Lilianas tamales, even better than the Indiana St ones too and those other ones in commerce. The cheese and rajas de chile tamales at Tamale Man are the best. I love these tamales because they’re never dry or skimpy on the cheese/​salsa. The place is nicely decorated and is family owned. Much love to these guys.

Kicked off 2016 at Tamale Man with the Tamale Breakfast. Red pork and cheese tamales were delicious. Only four stars because I feel they needed more meat/​cheese filling. The mass was on point. Beans were delicious as well. They serve café de canela which is always good! Definitely will be back.

This place is so close to my house and I love tamales I wish they were better. Probably the worst tamale in north east and east Los Angeles. The fact that the staff is rude is besides the point the tamales come In two standard flavors salty and blah. I forgot one other flavor salty fire. If your going to serve bad tamales at least be nice.

December 23^rd and everyone in the office was craving tamales! Sent two girls on a mission and they did not have to stand in line and were out the door in less than 5 minutes. Tamales taste great! Will def. be coming back for more :) Thank you Tamale Man!

Just ate a cheese and pork tamale. They are Heaven. They have now earned my business. Will be ordering 11 dozen of various variety for my wife’s family Christmas. My late mother used to buy them after church at All Souls Catholic Church in Alhambra over 17 years ago. They were great then and still are today. Used to get my tamales at La Mascota on Whittier Blvd off Soto. The family sold the business and as expected, the flavor went with the family. Tamale Man is now my «go to» place for tamales.

Awesome Tamales! The Red chili pork tamales are huge and have lots of pork! I recommend this place to anyone who loves a good tamale!

I went in about a week ago and had 3 different tamales, they very yummy. The masa is very soft, I like them. They aren’t out of this world but then again, my grandma makes tamales out of this world so, it’s hard to compare to them, lol.
The reason I’m giving them a 5 star review is because the 2 ladies– cashier and the owner — were both very nice and willing to talk to me, the customer. We talked about how business was, the customers, the appearance of spike tv’s hungry investors.
The place is nice and clean which I like a lot.
Thank you gals for a good time, good food and I’ll be back one day

The tamales were good but the service wasn’t so fantastic on a Sunday morning. I’ll give it one more try on a Friday or Saturday evening.

What my sister and I do every year is to try and find places who cook like our grandma did when we were little. Our grandma didnt show us how to cook her ways. She was very secretive that way. Well we have found a place that made our heart melt in the tamale section.
We went to a little hole in the wall place in El Sereno after visiting a friend. We ordered a tamale roja. We had to at least try it, the name of the place was called Tamale Man. The masa was so soft that it melted in our mouths. The pork and red sauce brought us back to our grandma’s kitchen. Memories started flowing. We were just mesmerized by the flavor of that one tamale.
Next we tried the wet carne asada burrito with salsa verde. It had rice and beans, cilantro, onion, chesse, and crema drizzeled on top. It was a bit salty. In fact maybe a bit to much. My sister likes hot things and she needed chili really bad. It had flavor but just to darn salty.
What caught my eye while i was exploring the menu was the pozole. I LOVE POZOLE!!! Whether it be red, green, or white like my fathers, I must have it all the time. This bowl was huge. It came with the basic condiments. I try the juice to see if I needed to add salt. But, of course, I didnt need too. It was perfect. The chunks of pork were tender and a very nice cut without any fat on it. It was so easy to chew and not tough at all. This bowl was not joking around. Once you add all your condiments, the bowl was over flowing. It was a beautiful way to end our day.
My sister ordered an Horchata drink cause thats what she does. I personally dont like it because everyone uses the fake powder stuff. She told me to try it and I said No. She said I’d like it and so I took a sip. Well it wasn’t the powder stuff. In fact, it’s one place I would totally drink it.
This place looks like it had a little remodel going on. The owners have been there for 20 years. They will try to make you happy while your enjoying your food. I hope to get a chance to try and go back. They have a selection for breakfast to choose from also with eggs on your tamales. But, thats another experience. Please give them a try, I feel like you wont regret it.

Soooo these guys were featured on spike tv. I just so happened to be getting carne asada across the street when my boyfriend and I spotted this place and since we were hungry and it was lunch time we said why not. Took tamales to go. 2 chicken w/​Chile verde and 2 de puerco con salsa roja. Each are $ 1.50. Pretty dang good and they don’t mess around with the filing, which other places tend to do. However, I loved the pork tamales way better. The sauce had an adobo taste to it which made them unique and flavorful. The chicken were good but the sauce was a mixture of tomatillos and red chile which I didn’t care for and was kind of sour. All in all, I give this place a thumbs up. Can’t believe we just discovered it. I will defenitley be going back. I’m curious to see what other stuff they have.

Ample seating, and food service was fairly quick. Had the chicken tamale, pork tamale, and a asado burrito. All the food was good but not great. The tamales have a bit too much of the breeding and not as moist as I like my tamales. If you go, I would recommend the pork over the chicken tamale, and skip the burrito.

I love tamales and my friend recommended to me this place. Just like the shop name they specialize in tamales. They’ve been open for over 20 years. They got 4 flavored: pork (red), chicken (green), cheese (green) and sweet. I got 2 tamales of each besides the sweet one. I got it to go so it was a bummer I didn’t get the red and green sauce to put on top. Honestly the tamales didn’t meet my expectations. The size of the tamale was relatively big but there was too much corn meal compared to the portion of the meat filling. There needs to be a better balance of ratio. The corn meal though is very fluffy and light. But to eat all the corn meal I’d need the sauce on top, which sadly I didn’t have so that why it bright down my expectation. I’ve had tamales made by local Latina ladies and they taste amazing just by itself! So I’d give this place anther chance but it’s not the best place in town.

I agree with other reviews in reference to the order taker/​waitress — seriously needs some customer service training, lack in communicating, slow in serving… We didn’t receive our flour tortillas, instead of bringing multiple things at one time, silverware, napkins, drinks etc she would go back and forth slowly and doing other things in-​between, kept us waiting.
Eggs (Huevos Rancheros) — Good
Beans — Semi cold– without flavor
Rice — Semi cold and too dry– without flavor
Fresh Squeezed Juice– Celery and Orange– THE BEST!
Coffee– Good
Restroom– FILTHY
The food lacked flavor overall. I will only return for the fresh squeezed juices!

Best place for tamales and Sunday breakfast! It’s located across the street from La Tapatia Meat Market. It’s a modern Mexican restaurant, very casual but trendy.
Everyone in my party got tamale combo with sunny side up eggs on top, also comes with a side of rice and beans, not very much but the huge tamales make up for it.
I got the carne asada taco combo. It comes with three street tacos, rica and beans. The taco meat was nice and juicy. Cooked to perfection. We received fresh cooked tortilla chips which were awesome served warm!
Our orders got mixed up with the combos but the cook came out and apologized for the mix up which was very considerate of them. Great service overall. Would definitely come back.

Saw this place months ago on tv and all I have to say is, John taffer, you made a great choice by investing in this place. Tamales were moist, succulent and the salsa is authentic. It tasted just like my grandmothers. I had the special tamale with crema, chicaronness, tomatoes, and green salsa. It was so good! So far the cheese tamale and pork was my favorite.
My boyfriend had the carne asada burrito and we shared a chicken quesadilla the meats were seasoned to perfection, the asada was juicy and the chicken in the quesadilla was juicy and seasoned. Everything was above my standards.
Great jobs guys. Definitely be back when I’m in the area.

After eating at a handful of other tamale places, I have to up my rating on tamale man. Hubby and I always get cheese tamales with salsa verde on the side. The masa is well flavored and moist and the cheese is always melted.
Their horchata became milkier than I remember but their tamales always hits the spot.

I found this place while watching an episode of «Hungry Investors»
check out the link it’s a great story of a Family run business! these are the kind of places «I totally support», unfortunately for Tamale Man they don’t get the 5-​Star sympathy vote, Pancho always keeps it real.
The menu
is pretty simple as their claim to fame is Tamales and it seems as the variety varies by day, John Besh said they were Voted Best Tamales in LA, well I didn’t see that list but they had me with the small family business so I was excited to check them out.
My first issue was with Charlie’s Sister Maritza Jr., she’s the order taker/​waitress and seriously needs some customer service training, lack in communicating, slow in serving… not food out of the kitchen, but instead of bringing multiple things at one time, silverware, napkins, drinks etc she would go back and forth slowly and doing other things in-​between, kept us waiting.
Carne Asada Combo ($ 10.95)
This cut of meat is OK for tacos that will be chopped up, BUT if you’re going to sell a Plate or Combo as they call it you gotta use Skirt Steak NOT
… it was grilled nicely and had real good flavor I give them that!
Tamale Breakfast ($ 7.95)
Two Tamales, I got (1) Green/​Chicken and (1) Red/​Pork topped with two over easy eggs, rice and beans!
BEST Tamales in Los Angeles…
Green/​Chicken
This thing is a brick of masa! the masa itself is nice, moist BUT it’s too thick and b-​a-​r-​e-​l-​y had any chicken, Best I think not, it’s closer to failure and that’s coming from a Mexican (ME) who has made many tamales in my day!
Red/​Pork
same as above… these guys don’t know how to make good tamales! they might be good for the Gabacho’s who don’t know any better, I mean the masa is moist and flavorful, put a bunch of salsa on top and yeah it will taste good, BUT not a good tamale.
Rice —
I’m not a rice eater so???
Beans —
Two thumbs up
Eggs — Were cooked beautifully…
Overall Tamales are a Fail IMO, eggs and beans were good —
Tacos —
Carne Asada —
Nicely grilled and good flavor
Carnitas —
Average Carnitas nothing more nothing less.
Salsa’s —
Good Flavor
very good flavor!
Other than the BAD Tamales one thing that really annoyed me and the reason I’ll never return… we asked for WATER to drink, Maritza NEVER mentioned «We CHARGE for WATER» until I questioned the total when I paid, now it was only a couple bucks BUT…
1) IF you’re charging for something like Water you should tell your customer FIRST… 2) Charging for WATER #HijoleCabron!

つº oº つ RAISE YOUR CUTLERY つº oº つ
Tamales are a component of Southwestern cuisine that are particularly close to my heart. They’re perfectly unique, even their wrapping is unusual. Even if it’s a rather far drive, great tamales are worth seeking out. I stumbled upon a Groupon for Tamale Man, and boy did I get stoked at the prospect of tamales from the same part of town that produces some of LA’s best tacos.
The interior of the restaurant is super clean and well kept, and is decorated nicely. The various accolades that Tamale Man has earned over the years is impressive, as well.
Tamale Man’s menu covers a variety of options, but I think the real reason anyone goes here is for the tamales. They have 4 kinds: Chicken with green salsa, pork with red salsa, cheese, and sweet tamales.
I am admittedly not a tamale connoisseur, but the chicken and pork tamales are amazing. The meat is tender, the salsas add great flavor, and everything is in balance. I think the pork ones are their best work, they’re large, messy, and delicious. Even the masa is of high quality, every part of these tamales set themselves apart from lesser tamale peddlers. The sweet tamales are very interesting, the texture of the masa is different from the others, and they’re filled with raisins and pineapple pieces instead. They were fantastic as well, and had the perfect amount of cinnamon.
You certainly get your money’s worth at Tamale Man, if you happen to be in that part of town (which, I think, is called El Serreno?) check ‘em out.
— The Gourmand League