Hot Tamales Mexican Restaurant

Don’s review piqued my interest with the magic words «ghetto building» and «tamales». As the theory of Mexican dining goes, the uglier the building, the better the tacos (and tamales).
It’s a one man show inside, with owner/​chef/​cashier/​busboy/​maker of delectable treats (also known as Carlos) running the entire show.
I was informed that in order to keep things as fresh as possible, he only keeps a few tamales ready to go at any given time. With that said, I ordered every single one he had.
The entire time Carlos was cooking he kept dialog going with myself and any other patrons that wandered in, popping out from around the kitchen corner to chat about the neighborhood and introduce me to his dog Lola.
I had a vegetarian tamale, the boyfriend had chicken. Both were declared quite tasty and one was more than enough. That said, they’re not traditional tamales, or at least, not tamales as I generally picture them. They were loose, eat me with a fork, plate sized monstrosities.
Bonus glorious fact: anything to be had here can be made vegetarian.

The sign went up on the side of the small, ghetto-​looking concrete building about a month-​and-​a-​half ago. «Hot Tamales» it reads. Well, consider my curiosity piqued.
Tired or at least burned out on all the other local taco carts, and in search of a decent burrito, I found myself drawn to what looks like a sketchy joint perched amongst Chinese groceries, a pottery statuary, and other non-​sequitors in a funky little stretch of SE Division just east of 82^nd.
Looks like I found a little diamond in the rough here. I walk in the door to a quaint, spartan little setup, bereft of people, but with some Mexican decorations, and lots of chalk drawings on the black-​painted cinder block walls. Miranda was here… and so were many, many others, each claiming a cinder block, in any open space between the random sombreros and ponchos that primarily adorn the walls. A few little tables grace the small place, which is flanked by a big screen TV.
A friendly proprietor (the owner, Carlos Juarez), greets me with the message I absolutely don’t want to hear: «We’re out of tamales for the day.» DAMN! Well, that’s a curse and a blessing at the same time. Seems the guy just can’t keep his tamales in stock. That’s a REALLY good sign. He tells me that he is busy making 100 tamales for a school the next morning, and has people buying them by the triple-​dozen. Hmm, sounds enticing.
So I order a «Cabo Wabo» burrito, which consists of rice, beans, chicken, salsa, cheese, and has some sour cream and lettuce mix on the side. What came out was an impressive looking plate, made by the owner himself, of fresh, quality food. No chicken stock in the rice, no lard in the beans (whole beans), fresh, char-​grilled white meat, home made chunky salsa with BIG chunks of veggies. YUM. I usually go for the greasy, divey taqueria burritos, full of grit and grease, but this was a very welcome change.
After spending some time conversing with the owner as I voraciously chowed down on my burrito, I determined that he can make anything vegetarian, and since he uses no meat, lard, or meat broth in any of his base ingredients, he can make VEGAN tamales too. He makes each and every ingredient in-​house, and claims some awards for his salsa and burritos (what kind of awards? who knows!!!) He also claims to make any type of tamales you could want, all you have to do is call a day in advance (and order by the dozen).
With the quality of the burrito, the awesome SW-​style salsa, and nice, friendly, honest service, I trust that I will be rolling back over to Hot Tamales very soon to try their namesake food.
I have no idea what awards they claim, but they can now claim a 4-​star award from me based on the burrito and the service alone.
Please don’t go to this place with any pretentious attitudes or expectations. It is a little hole-​in-​the-​wall taqueria, with NADA in the way of ambiance… simply put, its all about the food here. And to find a place with some fairly authentic flavors, but without all the grease and unhealthiness of your standard taqueria, is completely awesome. This is the kind of happy ground between healthy (for mex food), delicious and sinful.
I was a little scared to try this place, but I am so glad I did.