{"id":88881,"date":"2025-12-15T18:59:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T18:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/88881\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T18:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T18:59:07","slug":"exploring-el-pasos-rich-tamale-tradition-beyond-yelp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/88881\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring El Paso’s Rich Tamale Tradition Beyond Yelp"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Yelp released its list of the Top 25 tamales<\/a> in the entire United States, it was framed as a guide to spots \u201cworth traveling to.\u201d The list was compiled using ratings and review volume from Yelp\u2019s Elite Squad, with restaurants required to be open as of Nov. 13, 2025, and to have passing health scores.<\/p>\n

Two Texas cities made the cut. Dallas had one entry. Houston had one entry. Albuquerque also landed a spot.<\/p>\n

El Paso did not.<\/p>\n

Pepe’s Tamales Facebook<\/p>\n

Pepe’s Tamales Facebook<\/p>\n

For a city that many consider a tamal capital, that omission raised more than a few eyebrows.<\/p>\n

According to reporting from the El Paso Times<\/a>, the lack of local representation does not mean El Paso lacks standout tamales. If anything, it highlights a disconnect between how Yelp measures food culture and how tamales are actually experienced here. Many of the most talked about tamales in El Paso do come from well-known brick-and-mortar locations, but longtime locals will tell you that some of the best tamales in the city are sold by independent cooks outside grocery stores, out of coolers, or through word of mouth, places that rarely rack up Yelp reviews.<\/p>\n

Vianey Molina<\/p>\n

Vianey Molina<\/p>\n

The El Paso Times also pointed out that this is not the first time El Paso tamales have gained national attention. In a now-famous moment from 2000, then Texas Governor and President-elect George W. Bush ordered 13 dozen tamales from Pepe\u2019s Tamales for his last Christmas Eve dinner in Texas and for inaugural events in Washington. Bush and his wife, Laura, reportedly remembered El Paso tamales as \u201cthe best,\u201d a detail that locals still proudly reference.<\/p>\n

Google Street<\/p>\n

Google Street<\/p>\n

To further underline what Yelp may be missing, the El Paso Times published its own list of top tamale spots in the region based on Yelp reviews from November 2025. That list includes Pepe\u2019s Tamales, Gussie\u2019s Tamales & Bakery, Tamales Lupita, La Tapatia, La Moderna Bakery, Chepe\u2019s Tamales, La Colonial Tortilla Factory, El Prado Bakery, Carlos Bakery in Sunland Park, and Hilda\u2019s Tamales.<\/p>\n

It is a solid list, full of longtime staples and local favorites. Still, it barely scratches the surface of El Paso\u2019s tamale culture.<\/p>\n

So the question is simple. Do you agree with Yelp\u2019s national list leaving El Paso out entirely? Do you agree with the local list, or do you think it misses the cooks and pop-up sellers that many El Pasoans swear by every holiday season? In a city where tamales are tradition, not trend, it may be time to ask who really gets to decide what the best tamales are. It is worth mentioning one more time that El Paso tamales were ordered by a former U.S. President, so, yeah.<\/p>\n

Yelp: Best Steakhouses in Texas<\/p>\n

Gallery Credit: Courtesy: Yelp.com\/mashed.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Best Burgers In El Paso, Texas<\/p>\n

Best Hangout Spots For The “Older” El Paso Crowd<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Yelp released its list of the Top 25 tamales in the entire United States, it was framed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139,141,142,143],"class_list":["post-88881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-featured-carousel","tag-include-in-newsletter","tag-local-el-paso"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}