Cafeteria La Loma

Continued my Mexican kick again and had some wonderful tamales here. The pork was super flavorful and full of juicy strands of porky goodness. The nice gal gave me two since one was kind of smallish. Nice!
The corn tamale was excellent too. With a little crema it reminded me of the roasted corn I ate all summer.
Cheap and tasty lunch!

Holy mole!!! Tamales here are in a different league!!!
I had tamales before and was always kind of disappointed: they are often kind of bland in a slightly sweet way that makes the texture kind of unpleasant to me. Sort of like sick people food. Not what I usually want. But I kept hearing about how delicious the tamales from la Loma tamales are, so I decided to give it a try. And I am so glad I did!
The first tamale I tried was the cheese one. I got just one and I shared it with H. We both loved it: flavorful, firm and crumbly, just a hint of sweetness and a touch of heat that made it interesting. We fought for the last bites.
After 5 minutes (and numerous tacos from la Hacienda), H looked at me and, rightfully ashamed by his gluttony, asked if he could get another one. I shamefully agreed. And we scarfed down another tamale, this time the Oaxaqueno one that is in a banana (?) leaf instead of the a corn husk. This one is more spicy, comes in a red and a green version and is delicious as well.
Between the two I think I liked the simplicity of the cheese one better, but they were both exceptional and I cannot wait to go back and have more!

No real atmosphere to speak of, just a small shop with a couple tables. I got a mole chicken, a basic chicken, and a pork tamale. Basic chicken was pretty plain, but chicken was really good. The mole and the pork one were huge – particularly the mole – and incredibly tasty! Will definitely come back to grab a sack of some for takeaway, as it’s really not worth staying around unless you’re really hungry. This gringo asked for some horchata and got a touch of side eye-​not that kinda spot. But the tamales are definitely worth the visit.

The best tamales in the city hands down.

All I have had here is the champurrado (delicioso!) and the elote (corn) tamale. But both were delicious. The corn tamale was amazing, actually. Awesome breakfast or snack.

This place doesn’t get enough credit. Like other reviews I agree the tamales are delicious. They are authentic moist and flavorful. Definitely worth a try if you are craving tamales.

Amazing tamales, shitty service.
Tamales:
–Big, cheap, delicious
–Chicken tamale, lots of savory pulled chicken inside, they don’t skimp on the meat
–Sweet corn, fucking delicious, more like a sweet corn cake
Service:
–Very apathetic chick at the counter, forgot to put in my order and made me too sad watching other people eat for too long

Note: this experience is only about the food and service, not the restaurant itself. The food was acquired at their stand set-​up at last weekend’s Powderhorn Park Art Fair.
Being a tinge hungry after biking over from St. Paul, and it being many hours since breakfast, I was delighted to find a tamale stand very close to where I parked my bike. It’d been a long time since I’d had a tamale and for $ 2.25, it sounded very good.
I requested one pork tamale and was handed one by the woman fulfilling customer requests. I handed a $ 10 bill to the young girl who was managing the cash box. She handed back to me only $ 5.50. I reminded her that I bought only 1 tamale and wanted the correct change back. She then handed me an additional $ 2.25. I thought it strange that I had to ask for the correct change.
I walked over to a shaded area on the lawn and sat down to eat my little stuffed corn husk. It was filled with some delicious, nicely spicy pork and masa (ground corn). I savored each bite, and then imagined eating another.
Next time I get over to a La Loma Tamales, I’m going to try other fillings and also make it a point to try one of their sweet corn tamales.

Good stuff! Good food, great area. The tamales are the bomb diggity however the bitch behind the counter referred to me as a gringo which annoyed me more than it probably should have.

Recently I have hooked myself with tamales, started at La Loma panaderia in Crystal shopping center. No idea what was it til I tried it and realize it must be tamales. 2^nd visit just for tamales, they said they only had tamales on the Saturdays and Sundays only. But I can get them on week days at Lake St location. Ok, so today I spent myself driving to E Lake St just to get tamales. The place was pack and small. But with a note from Unilocalers here I knew what I wanted to order. I got oaxaqueno and the other one I didn’t remember what was it but it was smaller size and have a pork in it wrapped in corn husks and off course atoles, vanilla flavor.
I ate my breakfast and save the pork one for lunch. One oaxaqueno and medium size of atoles were very fulfilling! I shared the remaining pork tamales with my husband and now he hook up also. Now need to come back there next weekend. It will be worth of a trip.

The tamales are to die for! Come early because once they sell out, they’re out. Other dishes are not as great, however. Stick with the tamales and perhaps a jarritos soda.
La Loma also sells 6 packs of frozen tamales that you can bring home. I’ve tried these many times and am always happy. I recommend microwaving them because the corn husk steams the tamale.

This is my very first Unilocal,so I thought I would make it easy. La Loma tamales transcend space and time, and nothing beats them the morning after a vigorous date with messy booze hounds. But I digress, they are the best i have ever tried, especially the spicy Oaxaqueno wrapped in a banana leaf. I also like the Pollo and am gravitating toward the sweet corn one as time continues to be transcended.

My husband said he didn’t like tamales. When I was at MGM today, I decided to buy some anyhow for dinner. Like his past relationship with tomatoes and eggplant, I thought this weird aversion was something he got into his head without any basis. We just finished off a six pack of chicken tamales — of which he ate 4. Guess I was right again. Why he bothers to think for himself, I’ll never know.

Went here here on a busy Saturday to get some of the tamales everyone keeps raving about. Had the sweet corn and Oaxaqueno (spicy chicken). The sweet corn was good but the real star was the Oaxaqueno. At first I didn’t like it but after a few bites I was hooked it’s really spicy and tasty.
As mentioned by Alison C in another review you must try the Atole it’s a hot flavored milky drink. I had the vanilla and it was perfect for a cold Minneapolis day. I haven’t tasted vanilla like that since childhood before everyone started using artificial vanilla in their food. Just perfect.

Desayuno fantástico. GREAT Mexican breakfast here. I’ve had the chilaquiles and the huevos a la Mexicana, and they’re spot on authentic. I love getting rice with breakfast but their potatoes are damn fantastic. Pretty good deal, too.
Sadly, have never made it out at lunch or dinner to actually try a tamale at the cafeteria, as I’m a sucker for the freezer end-​caps at Kowalski’s and always pick them up there. But I shall be back!

The boy swore to me that he didn’t like tamales. I knew this couldn’t possibly be true, because he likes everything! So I took him to La Loma. He had the pork & chicken, and now he loves tamales.
I like the sweet corn tamale the best, but I normally get a chicken one too. It’s nice to go here with someone else so you can share a few varieties.
And that is all I have to say about that.

Great tamales. This was my favorite work-​week breakfast stop, right off my bus line.

the tamales are awesome, the atole is fantastic. the only better place to get a tamale is Mexico. not the most fantastic atmosphere, i mean it’s kinda like a cafetera but the food is great.

If you like tamales and spicy chicken you have to try the Oaxaqueno tamale at La Loma. It’s soooo good! Even if you aren’t sure if you like tamales, if you like spicy chicken, try this out! The sweet corn tamales are good as well, but they seem to run out of them quite often. Most tamales are about 2 bucks, the Oaxaqueno is twice the size and is 3 – 4 bucks. A great deal for a delicious meal.

My favorite breakfast is a fresh churro from the bakery next door and a champurrado – a warm drink made from cornmeal which supposedly has healing qualities for the body. At least that’s what the lady who owns the smoothie shop told me. I believe her though because all the Latinos that I work with upstairs swear by them and every morning people walk around carrying their La Loma cups, sipping away.
My favorite lunch is 2 rajas (cheese & pepper) tamales and a strawberry atole. The tamales at the La Loma Café are the same tamales that they sell at other Twin City cafes but this is the original restaurant that sold them. They even have them at Cub Foods now but the best is a fresh one from this Cafeteria (coffee shop). They only have 2 vegetarian flavors and the other one made with sweet corn kernels tastes more like cornbread so I like rajas because it is more like food-​food. And they are cheap! Tamales are less than $ 2 apiece.
Anyway, the best thing to wash down your tamales is an atole. Atoles are hot milky drinks that are so tasty they make me wish I was Mexican so I could drink them all day long. They come in lots of flavors like vanilla, cinnamon, and chocolate but I like strawberry since it tastes the most like melted ice cream. I’ve got all my white friends hooked on them now. Seriously if you are white and have never had an atole, you need to go try one today.