Tina Tamale

Wow, «unprofessional» doesn’t even begin to cover it.
We are planning a company picnic and wanted to use this Mexican food place.
From the start Tina really had an attitude.
My first phone call w her literally started «We are so busy I’m glad we could actually find the time to talk».
Ooook sorry to inconvenience you with the possibility of thousands of dollars in business.
Since that phone call like five weeks ago, I haven’t been able to either have an email returned or receive a phone call back.
I am super unimpressed with this business owner. Not sure if the rumor that she catered Libby Schaff’s inaugural party is true? Maybe that’s why we regular people aren’t worth Tina’s time?
Pass on this food truck and spend your $ on a business that appreciates non-​politicians.

Can’t say enough about Tina and her crew. Good folks. Great food and locally owned. Well worth the trip.

Tina Tamale catered our son’s birthday party this weekend and she was great. She and another colleague served tamales, mini burritos and chips and guac to a big crowd of adults and kids and wowed everyone with her delicious food. Tina made everything as easy as possible by dishing portions up by customer order and then setting up a separate table with chips and individual servings of guac and salsa. Everything was delicious — the tamales were bursting with fillings, unlike some other tamales I’ve had in the past, and were very generously proportioned. The burritos were pretty much decimated by the toddler crowd in record time, and the guacamole was some of the best we’ve ever had, very fresh and tasty. We also appreciate that Tina uses all compostable materials for serving. She was a pleasure to work with, very quick at getting back to us with the initial quote and then working with us on order size and variety of food. I’d hire her again for a party in a second! Thanks again, Tina!

A good tamale. I don’t know if it’s the best I’ve ever had but it was pretty good. I wouldn’t pay 3 dollars for it though. It’s too small and didn’t taste THAT amazing. It’s worth 2 dollars for sure.

When I saw on Facebook that Tina Tamale was going to be at Pegasus Books on Solano New Year’s Day I knew I had to go there. New Year’s Day is the start of Pegasus’ calendar sale and the lines to check out generally wind around the perimeter of the store. I’ve gone once on the first day and would never go then again. I generally wait a couple of days or go over to the Shattuck store, which seems less insane. But I haven’t seen Tina in too long and definitely not since she got her truck. I drove over, parked in the nearby bank lot and walked up. The truck is beautifully painted, colorful and clean. There was a line for the tamales. I sort of got in it, but moved to the side to talk to Tina. I wanted tamales for dinner. I looked behind me and the line had grown. I’m not sure what I expected, but I wasn’t in it. A nice woman in the line invited me in front of her. They had at least 4 types of tamales: original pork, white meat chicken, chile and cheese and a vegan one w/​green beans and something else. They also had Diet Coke, Mexican Coke and water to drink. There’s a sign up specifying that the corn is non GMO, which really pleased me. I ordered a pork, a chicken and a chile and cheese for Alan and me to share. I asked that they not be unwrapped, since I was taking them to go. They came w/​a bunch of lardy chips and two salsas, one red the other green, in small containers.
It had been our intention to have them for dinner last night but after seeing «Lincoln» in the afternoon at the Shattuck Cinemas w/​Nina and Larry we ended up for dinner at Ajanta. We had them tonight instead. Alan steamed the tamales for about 10 minutes and then unwrapped them. We cut them in half so we could each taste all of them. They were all delicious! I think my favorite was the chile and cheese, but they were all good and I would have them again. The chips and the salsa were wonderful, even better than I remembered. The salsas were flavorful w/​o being spicy, just the way we like them. So, «Like» Tina Tamale on Facebook or follow her on Twitter if you do that and you too can know where she’s going to be w/​her gorgeous truck so you can score some of her tamales.

Not sure why the low scoring reviews. These are great tamales! Fast service too (compared to some of the other trucks/​carts). I must try the super nachos with the ground beef and cheese splooge. Looks fantastic.

Laaarrrrrrrrrdd. Keepin’ it real.
The Mexican version of corn on the cob is called «ELOTE» $ 4. Try it. I just prefer straight-​up corn though rather than adorning it.
I like how the AGUA FRESCA $ 3 was only lightly sugared to let the strawberries’ natural taste be the main presence.

Tina Tamale had tamales (3), nachos (4), aqua fresca (3), mexican coke (3) available.
locale: bites on broadway (⁶⁄₁₀)
tamales were original pork, veggie and something, green chile, green chile & chicken, etc.
sampled the pork: semifirm masa, tender to dry pork, not that juicy, no sauce added. tamale was so-​so
frijoles refritos:
–offerings pricier than in fruitvale, smaller tamales @1.5 –2 .
–booth inefficiently organized. vendor takes a while to service patrons…