{"id":99823,"date":"2025-12-18T16:41:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T16:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/99823\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T16:41:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T16:41:15","slug":"a-guide-to-the-restaurants-making-unique-mexican-tamales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/99823\/","title":{"rendered":"A guide to the restaurants making unique Mexican tamales"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Yesenia Trujillo Carranza sells tamales across the road from Roosevelt High School at the intersection of South Fickett and Fourth streets. (Photo by Marina Pe\u00f1a \/ The LA Local)<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re lucky, an LA Christmas means you\u2019re unwrapping some incredible tamales.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re really savvy, you probably have your go-to tamal lady.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re both, you probably already know about Yesenia Trujillo Carranza<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDecember is tamales season,\u201d Carranza tells The LA Local. \u201cIt\u2019s much busier for me, but I love it. I love anyone who really gets joy from my tamales.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carranza has been feeding the Boyle Heights community hot tamales, champurrado and caf\u00e9 de olla for 20 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of enthusiasm for feeding the community,\u201d she said from her tamales cart, located across the road from Roosevelt High School at the intersection of South Fickett and Fourth streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carranza makes her Guerrero-style corn-husk tamales fresh each day \u2014 preparing about 50 pounds of masa and offering sweet tamales, classic chicken, pork and queso con rajas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The stand-out is definitely the tamales de pollo served with a vibrant green salsa that has just the perfect hit of spice to make you shout \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d this Christmas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Carranza isn\u2019t alone on these streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some of the best chefs and eateries in Los Angeles are elevating the portable masa meal to Michelin levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get us wrong, tamales like the ones Carranza and your favorite tamales lady sell do not need the glow up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But these tamal makers offer a unique and adventurous take on the ancient masa masterpiece.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Komal<\/p>\n

3655 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90007, Historic South Central<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>A tamal rojo from Komal. (Photo by Marina Pe\u00f1a \/ The LA Local)<\/p>\n

Komal opened in September 2024 at Mercado La Paloma and immediately made headlines<\/a> for being LA\u2019s first craft molino, which basically means it makes some of the best masa this side of the border.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That masa excellence is on full display in their pretty and plump chuchito tamal, a staple on the menu. The chuchito is a ball of masa stuffed with pork and topped with roasted peppers, tomato sauce, and pickled vegetables.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chuchito is from Guatemala, and it represents my team. Most of the people who work with me in the kitchen are from Guatemala, so this dish is a way to represent them,\u201d says Komal\u2019s chef and co-owner, F\u00e1tima Ju\u00e1rez. \u201cWithout them, we truly wouldn\u2019t be what we are today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The flavors feel like a heartfelt nod to traditional dishes found in Mexico City and Oaxaca. The tamales are made with Indigenous corn sourced directly from farmers in Mexico and nixtamalized on site.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn general, the masa and its consistency make the tamal very light. It melts in your mouth, almost as if you were eating a savory or sweet cake. It\u2019s not very dense; it\u2019s juicy and has a lot of flavor,\u201d Juarez says. \u201cA big part of that has to do with how the masa is made, we don\u2019t use lard; we use olive oil and grape-seed oil.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the holidays, Ju\u00e1rez has added some beautiful seasonal tamales. There\u2019s a rojo that\u2019s bursting at the seams with sweet corn and calabacitas, topped with a spicy red sauce. Komal also features a tamal verde with chicken and tomatillo sauce, along with a sweet tamal de leche made with oranges and strawberry jam.<\/p>\n

Guelaguetza<\/p>\n

3014 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90006, Koreatown<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>A mole tamal from Guelaguetza. (Courtesy of the restaurant)<\/p>\n

Guelaguetza\u2019s tamales are simply stunning to look at. Opening one is as close to unwrapping a Christmas present as it gets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Founded by husband and wife Fernando Lopez and Maria Monterrubio in 1994, this ode to\u00a0 Oaxacan cuisine has become one of the most lauded restaurants in the country, thanks in large part to the late Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold, who once called Guelaguetza<\/a> \u201cthe most accomplished Oaxacan restaurant in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tamales come carefully wrapped in a large banana leaf so that there is just enough of an opening to decorate the masa with the Lopez family\u2019s legendary black mole. Inside, you will find a treasure of juicy chicken breast meat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lugya\u2019h by Poncho\u2019s Tlayudas<\/p>\n

4301 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90016, West Adams<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Lugya\u2019h by Poncho\u2019s Tlayudas features a savory amarillo sauce. (Photo by Erick Galindo \/ The LA Local)<\/p>\n

When the humble culinary genius Alfonso \u201cPoncho\u201d Martinez sunsetted his weekend pop-up Poncho\u2019s Tlayudas<\/a> for a six-day-a-week brick and mortar shop called Lugya\u2019h inside the swanky Maydan Market<\/a>, LA\u2019s street food lovers both rejoiced and shed a tear. There was nothing like Friday nights feasting on Poncho\u2019s tlayudas. But now we can get them all week long, and there are some added benefits like access to his beautiful Zapotec-inspired tamales.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the hills of Oaxaca, we wrap tamales with whatever kind of leaves we can find,\u201d he tells The LA Local.<\/p>\n

Lugya\u2019h\u2019s tamales are quite beautiful to look at, but they are also quite lovely to devour. They are turkey tamales wrapped in banana leaves and feature Poncho\u2019s savory amarillo sauce, a blend of hot peppers, tomatoes and turkey broth.<\/p>\n

A T\u00ed<\/p>\n

1498 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026, Echo Park<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A T\u00ed serves a sweet dessert tamal. (Photo by Erick Galindo \/ The LA Local)<\/p>\n

Chef Andrew Ponce says he opened his fine dining-style Mexican restaurant A T\u00ed as a tribute to his father.\u00a0 \u201cMy father worked his whole life and still had time to make it to my little league games,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo this is for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ponce admits he was never great at baseball, but he hit it out of the park with his dessert tamal. Ponce uses blue masa quebrada \u2014 a crumbly, more coarse masa from Kernel of Truth Organics \u2014 whipped butter and a blend of seasonal squash from the farmers market.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be from kabocha green and red squash or red curry squash and honey nut squash,\u201d Ponce tells The LA Local. \u201cAnd I season it with piloncillo and warm spices.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sweet tamal is topped with soft whipped cream and a pecan crumble.<\/p>\n

Tamales La G\u00fcera<\/p>\n

Southeast corner of Broadway and West Vernon Avenue in Historic South Central <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The guajolota by Tamales La G\u00fcera. (Photo by Kevin Martinez \/ The LA Local)<\/p>\n

LA Local community engagement director Kevin Martinez swears by Elisa Chaparro Garcia\u2019s guajolota \u2014 a hot tamal stuffed inside a bolillo, creating a thick tamal torta \u2014 because it\u2019s the closest thing to a Mexico City tamal experience you can find in Los Angeles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The combination creates a perfect balance between the melty ephemeralness of the tamal and the sweet stickiness of the bread. The tamales are served with pork, chicken, queso con rajas, strawberry, pineapple or mole.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bolillo allows the tamal to linger a little longer in the mouth,\u201d Martinez explains. \u201cIt\u2019s not too soggy, not too dry, creating the perfect bite.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tamales La G\u00fcera has been serving her Mexico City-style tamales in South Central for more than 20 years and has become so popular that she opened a second stand across the street.\u00a0<\/p>\n

La Flor de Yucat\u00e1n<\/p>\n

1800 Hoover St., Los Angeles, CA 90006, Pico Union<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The colado from La Flor de Yucat\u00e1n. (Photo by Marina Pe\u00f1a \/ The LA Local)<\/p>\n

This family-owned fixture in Pico Union specializes in Mayan-style, banana leaf tamales.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur tamales come from a family recipe from the Yucat\u00e1n because that\u2019s where our specialty is. We chose bits and pieces from aunts and uncles and made it our own,\u201d says Annie Burgos, co-owner of the bakery.<\/p>\n

La Flor de Yucat\u00e1n has been in the neighborhood for more than 50 years, serving homestyle baked goods like hojaldra \u2014 a flaky, sugar-topped pastry with ham and cheese \u2014 and regional tamales.<\/p>\n

Her parents, Antonio and Rosa Burgos, started the business after baking in their home kitchen in Pasadena in the late 1960s, with Antonio selling the goods door to door and from his vehicle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYucat\u00e1n is so far down in Mexico, so our tamales have more in common with those from Central America and the Caribbean,\u201d Burgos says. \u201cThe consistency of the dough is different, the flavoring is different because you get some of the flavoring from the banana leaf itself, and the tamales tend to be moist.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, they offer three classic Yucatecan tamales wrapped in banana leaves: the colado, a moist, fluffy tamal filled with chicken and pork; the tortiado, a hand-patted tamal with chicken and pork; and the dzotobichay, a chaya leaf tamal often filled with pepper jack cheese.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite would be the tortiado, but in all the pop-ups that we do, everywhere that we go, the one that reigns supreme is the colado,\u201d Burgos says. \u201cYou can scoop into the colado, the other tamales you have to cut into.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yesenia Trujillo Carranza sells tamales across the road from Roosevelt High School at the intersection of South Fickett…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49,54462,54463],"class_list":{"0":"post-99823","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-la","9":"tag-la-headlines","10":"tag-la-news","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","13":"tag-los-angeles-news","14":"tag-mexican-tamales","15":"tag-tamales"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}