Tucson Tamale Company

We ordered a JoJo Tamale Plate with chips and black beans for $ 4.99. That’s pretty cheap for what we got. We also ordered a Burrito Plate with cold slaw and basmati rice. Had to return the rice because it was half cooked. All that plus a bottle of Blue Moon, total was $ 18.30. Not bad for lunch of two. The food was tasty, it was memorable. We had a good time.

If you’re looking for a quick yummy lunch Tucson tame company is a great option. They have these all over Tucson and even up towards Oro Valley.
Although I’m no longer a vegetarian I still opt for their vegetarian options. The green chile tamale is my favorite. If you’re looking for something more meaty you cannot go wrong with the pork.
This place is set-​up like a fast food joint. You walk in, pick up their huge paper menu and order at the register. They have soft drinks, bottled drinks or you can opt for an alcoholic beverage.
This place is incredibly clean, almost so that in a couple locations it smells so strongly of cleaning products you have to eat outside. Other than that it’s an A++ for me.

Hard to believe this place has such high ratings. Cold & mostly ALL MASA tamales, do not stand apart from any other tamales I’ve tasted, these have less meat & lots of green olive filler.
Small plastic container sides of beans/​rice. NOT worth the price.
Friendly service, pay upon entering/​ordering at the counter. Salsa/​jalapeño serve-​yourself.

Best place ever!!! We would eat here daily if we could afford it and not gain 10 000 pounds doing so

I have been here a few times now, and the tamales are always outstanding… but they really need to up the game on their sides! They only offer rice, beans, and a type of slaw… I think if there were more varieties of sides to pick from, I would be a bigger fan. I know, I know, when you go to a tamale place, you should expect your typical rice and beans accompaniament, but their versions are super boring in comparison to their tamales — I found them to be bland and unappealing.

This place did not disappoint! I love tamales and have extremely high standards due to some close friends from Mexico who make them for us every once in a while. I had the Santa Fe which was just the right amount of spice and flavor. Even if you’re just driving through Tucson, make the short detour off I-​10. You will thank me later!

Had dinner there last night. Got the New Delhi and vegan blue tamales. Love the vegan choices and love the guacamole too! The Madison tamale is also a classic. If you are around during breakfast I recommend the breakfast burrito with bacon. It’s amazing!

Be still my heart. As a New Englander, I can’t get a tamale in the East, let alone a good one. So while I’m on vacation I hunted down somewhere to fill my craving and this place did not disappoint. I should mention I have a bunch of obnoxious food allergies as well as a preference for organic and non GMO food, and this place fulfilled the requirements both of those. Gluten-​free, vegan, vegetarian… I had two tamales and two sides for $ 7.52.
When I found out they ship I almost fell out of my chair. I’ll definitely be ordering from them soon!

Tucson tamale company is a staple in Tucson! Everytime I go there they treat me like family! Great staff, great food!
As someone with celiac disease, it is often hard for me to find a place to eat that doesn’t make me sick, so when I discovered Tucson tamale company’s tamales were gluten free I was very excited! Since my discovery of tucson tamale company, I have yet to get sick from eating here! Which is saying something since I go there to eat often!
If you are in Tucson I highly recommend stopping in and enjoying some delicious tamales!

Holy Tamale these are good! For $ 8, I got STUFFED. Choice of 3 tamales (out of a selection of about a doZen, meat and vegetarian varieties), plus 2 sides. The blue corn tamale was one of my favorites as I’ve never had anything like it.

Tamales are ok – they offer a wide variety and good selection for those with food restrictions.
This is more of a local fixture than a really wowing food experience. Good to try but not a tamale I would dream about and plot about how to get another one.

Ate lunch here yesterday and had a great time. Beyond having a wide variety of excellent tamales, the atmosphere and music at Tucson Tamale Company is great.
I had the Chile Relleno tamale plate, and it was delicious. In the past I have also had their blue corn tamales and their pumpkin dessert tamales. I have never eaten anything here that I didn’t love!

Amazing tamales here and a very wide selection. I can’t remember all the various flavors I have tried but it doesn’t really matter because they are all delicious. Nice bold flavors and perfect texture. I have also purchased their frozen tamales which you can find at the restaurant or in various local grocery stores. If you’re feeling adventurous, try their seasonal pumpkin tamale for dessert. It’s like freshly baked pumpkin bread and pie all in one. Yum!

The tamale was really good, and the salsa bar was pretty good. The chips and the presence of a microwave make this three stars.
Maybe I am spoiled, but I expect homemade chips when I go to a Mexican restaurant. The chips were stale and mass-​produced. PLEASE reassess the chip situation as it is most definitely the weak link to what could be a quality restaurant!
Also, why is there a microwave in this restaurant? WHY? Microwaves do not belong in quality restaurants. I do not go out to eat to have my food microwaved!

I love tamales. I’ve had many in my life and all across the country. The best I’ve had were in NYC and Los Angeles. Just wanted to start off with that disclaimer.
On a trip to Tuscan, my girlfriend and I decided to grab some tamales. A quick search on Unilocal (where else? Duh) brought us to Tucson Tamales. There were so many great reviews that we knew we had to try it. We were about 15 minutes away, ready to get off of I-​10 East so we were going to call in an order. We were placed on hold for 7 minutes and was about to arrive at the location anyways so we hung up. We thought it may have been a busy night. Upon arrival, we ran in and placed our orders. There was 1 seated table, 1 group leaving, and 1 group reviewing the menu by the front door. It was NOT busy at all.
We grabbed our food in about 10 minutes and went to our hotel which was 3 minutes away. Opened our food and went straight for it. The black beans were great. Seemed like it was cooked in coconut oil. Great flavors. Took a bite into the basmati rice that my girlfriend got and the rice was hard; like very undercooked hard. Almost inedible. The Mexican rice was also undercooked but not as hard. The texture was very off putting.
Onto the tamales. The Arizona (chipotle beef) was pretty average. There was a tiny bit of heat but not enough seasoning. It was missing something. The blue corn was great. Big bold flavors. Large chunks of vegetables. Nice oozing cheese. I would order this one again.
Overall, the undercooked rice, bland tamale, and slow customer service just didn’t add up to the reviews we saw. Maybe these tamales are great for the area, but I’ve had better and more authentic tamales. Maybe I’m spoiled by the tamales from Los Angeles.

Hands down the best tamales in Arizona that I’ve had. Surprisingly quite comparable to the best ones I’ve had in southern California and my aunt’s homemade recipes.
One day at a Safeway in Flagstaff, I came across these tamales in the frozen section and decided to try it, and I am so glad I did because eventually I had to come here the next time I visited Tucson, which happened to be today! My favorite is definitely their Blue Tamale, a vegan option that just happened to also be their most delicious option. They have a variety of vegan, vegetarian, and meat tamales that you can choose from, both freshly made and frozen for take out.
I would in addition highly recommend their spicy Spanish rice and spicy black beans. Neither are too spicy and complement any tamale that you choose extremely well. I even ended up buying a stack of frozen tamales (Sante Fe, Santa Cruz, Sonora, New Delhi, and Chile Relleno) on the drive back up to Flagstaff because those tamales are that amazing!

This location is the best. They have a lot of different options and even vegan tamales! If you’re not vegan try their famous Tucson Tamale, it is so good. If you are vegan try the Blue tamale and the Madison. Also their pumpkin tamale is delicious. It literally tastes like pumpkin pie. I always get a side of black beans because they are so tasty. The chips and salsa are good here as well. The salsa always tastes fresh and homemade. If you’re not from here go to Tucson Tamale. It will be one of your favorite spots when you come back to town. If you are from here, why haven’t you gone here yet??? Try it.

The best tamales in the world! They are so affordable and delicious, and the hot sauce has probably the most flavor out of any hot sauce I’ve tried, and it still packs a punch of heat. I like ordering the Arizona and the Jojo tamales, and the beans and Spanish rice are also really good, as are the chips and salsas. They have the best green salsa I’ve ever had. Yum!

I stopped here while I was visiting univ of AZ and was excited to find a highly reviewed/​rated tamale shop because I absolute LOVEEE tamales! Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. I thought the flavors were pretty bland and the tamale itself was bordering on
the dry side. Maybe I have high expectations because The Tamale Guy, a small canopy you can find at few farmers markets in Southern California, has just set the bar for all my tamales. It was a poor decision on my part thinking any other tamale could live up to his.

Thanks Unilocal for directing me to this little slice of Tucson heaven! I am almost mad I found it because it’s so good I will have to hit it up every return trip! I wanted one meat tamale and one vegetarian tamale. So thanks to the help of the front counter attendant– I got the JoJo and the Green Chili Corn… and she was kind enough to throw in the Tucson at no charge! And yep ate every last bit it was so delicious. They have a salsa bar that has a hot red a mild, red and a verde. The spicy items were not too spicy, just right!
I highly recommend!

Really good tamales — even for someone with the most bland-​centric palate imaginable. The food ranges from mild to holy-​god-​make-​it-​stop and I was able to eat without problems, although it did limit my selection a little. I had chicken tamales with double pintos.
A little more selection to the healthy eater (no chips) who can’t handle heat would be nice, but heck, it’s Mexican food… when in Rome etc.
It’s worth the trip.

I was raised around GOOD Mexican food, then left after graduation for the woods and waters of Maine. No more Mijares tamales :*((Bummer.
Imagine my delight then, when forty years and many culinary disappointments later, a big box of Tucson Tamales arrived at our door here on the northern tip of Hawaii Island, courtesy of my daughter and her girlfriend from Tucson! (They did prepare us by phone for a late Christmas perishable arrival on the 30^th, also my husband’s birthday, but I forgot).
Fast forward to the 30^th: sitting and wondering what to make him for a birthday lunch, I noticed FEDEX marching up to the door. Holy wow! Here was The Delivery — still frozen, in fact, after 2^nd day air from Tucson! 30 minutes of steaming in the bamboo steamer brought old memories back to life. These are the real deal and more. Well worth ordering for ourselves next time!

We have never eaten in the restaurant, but we have never been disappointed in the food. Since we no longer live in Tucson, when we visit, we stop here and pick up at least a half-​dozen tamales. I wish I could tell you my favorite, but they have all been so wonderful that I wouldn’t want to slight any.
I will say that we traveled on Christmas day to get home to New Mexico before the blizzard hit. We stayed in Las Cruces that night, and our dining options were limited to one or two national chains that were open… or we could scrounge forks at the front desk and dig in to some tamales! The chile relleno tamales were fabulous — a perfect Christmas dinner on the road. I also truly appreciate their food is gluten-​free, as that is an issue for me.
Do yourself a favor, and stop in and pick up a dozen or more of these tamales. They are worth going out of your way for!

Wow this place is good. I have never seen so many option ranging from full on meat to various veggie to gluten free. We ended up trying four tamales for the ride back to Phoenix, and another dozen frozen for later consumption. The flavors are fresh, balanced, and the ingredients, such as fresh corn, are top notch. I would prefer to have had them more spicy (I use Sriracha on everything, literally) the salsa bar allows you to tailor your heat level.
They will mail tamales anywhere in the United Stated.
Why not five stars? First of all they screwed up the order, forgetting two of our tamales. A verbal read-​back is recommended on large orders. Second, the bathroom door mechanism is off and locked in one of my family members. Luckily they called me via their cell, and I had the help them escape the bathroom after messing around with the outer lock.

It happened. My mother and I came here finally and ordered a dozen variety of tamales and peach empanadas. They were all frozen since we were taking them to go and my mom had to travel back up to Phoenix.
Anyways, we ordered Santa Cruz, Blue Tamale, Green Chile Relleno, Chipotle Beef, double Sonora. The Blue and Green Chile are both vegetarian options we got specifically for my sister. They have so many other vegetarian and vegan options! Yummy.
The Santa Cruz is a traditional red chile beef tamale but I found it to be too salty. The Chipotle Beef was delicious! The masa is the most wonderful consistency and really makes these tamales. The Sonora is chicken with green chilies and it is probably my favorite tamale I had by this company.
Because we bought a dozen tamales, we got two containers of salsa for free. The best one is the green tomatillo salsa. The mild has oregano in it which I’m not a fan of.
I do have to note these tamales are on the expensive side. It was $ 5-​$ 6 for two tamales frozen. Just get the Sonora and you’ll be happy though.
Update: I had to knock this down a few stars based on the pricing. My mom is a tamale person and knows her tamales. She thought they were way too overpriced for what you get. She didn’t particularly like any of the tamales we got, and we got several different kinds. Although I thought the Sonora was good, I will have to let my mom influence this review (she is my mom, duh) and knock off two stars because of price and her distaste for the tamales. It’s not that they are terrible, they just aren’t worth it. She did rave about those empanadas though, so apparently I have to pick those up again before I go back to Phoenix for Christmas. Will not be purchasing tamales for her here ever again though.