Mama's International Tamales

One of my favorite restaurants in LA! The food is delicious and made fresh. It is owned by a lovely family that are super kind, and you can tell they love cooking and serving food. They have a full vegan menu too. Just finished my lunch and I am already looking forward to the next time I get to eat there. They also do catering/large orders so keep them in mind for big gatherings.

TLDR: Order the vegan pupusas and the pan sin pollo! Loved everything about this place from the many vegan options to the staff ! I told my friend I would go vegan if he could find me a good vegan pupusa and he definitely did. We ordered the plátano (ate to fast to take a pic), pan sin pollo, and both of their vegan pupusas de masa de arroz. Everything was fresh to order and the flavor was immaculate! They make their own vegan crema centroamericana from cashews and it’s to die for ! The non vegan crema has a very dístinct flavor and Mama’s captured it perfectly. My friend thoroughly enjoyed his pan sin pollo and couldn’t get enough of the consomé. I tried the vegan bean & cheese and revuelta pupusa with jack fruit. I was so happy to learn that they made the vegan pupusas out of masa de arroz! The salsa has the perfect consistency and the flavor complimented the pupusas. We washed everything down with a cold cola champagne. We were also offered a vegan Chile verde that wasn’t even on the menu yet! I can’t say enough good about this place. The family that owns and operates the place was extremely friendly and really made us feel at home. They were so kind and willing to answer any questions we had. I was thrilled to learn that the mother of the family had developed many of the recipes we were able to enjoy ! I will definitely be back again and again!

Food was very bad . The cheese in the tamale was very watery. And the contents in the pupusas had a very unpleasant gooey texture and bad taste. The tomato sauce that came with the pupusa also was very gooey and tasted like puke . I think maybe it was expired because it had a rotten taste. They charged me $20 for this … Never eating here again.

Ive been coming here for over 5 years now. I wish I lived closer so I can visit more often. Their food reminds me of my grandma's cooking and always hit home for me.

Love this place. Food is always delicious. Vegan options for everything. Vegan tamales, pupusas, panes, salvi breakfast, and horchata. Try it!

The food is good. Friendly service. It's a bit of a wait after ordering, but the food is worth it.

One of my favorite meals in LA was at this colorful cozy family owned and operated Salvadoran restaurant. The food was authentic and delicious, and the service was excellent. I got the vegan Desayuno and Pupusa Revuelta.

Mama’s Tamales non-GMO blue corn jack fruit, (plant based / vegan) cheese and bean pupusa’s are the best in existence. The café is very, very vegan and allergen friendly, and they don’t shy on the amount they put inside for the feelings. The pupusas are served piping hot (which is how they should be served!) and are accompanied with a perfectly acidic and vinegary side.

You guys... The absolute best Vegan Authentic Salvadoran kitchen out there.. My lover and I tried the Salvadoran style tamale, Salvadoran style breakfast plate, and a vegan pupusa con Queso y Loroco. Yall the salsa and curtido was A+.. as a vegan everywhere i go for something like home is just.. rough.. Mama's has a very specific touch i cannot describe. The Salvadoran Tamale cured me.. for a second i couldn't tell if it was jackfruit or meat! As 12 years vegan and one bite in i didn't really care if it was LOL it had all the fixing and the perfect masa! Wrapped in a banana leaf and the perfect size.. i dream about it still.. Our pupusa scared me for a sec with yellow cheese, but ohmygod so delicious! This vegan pupusa had a cheese pull?!!! That's so hard to achieve!!! Flavor and size was wonderful! Our breakfast plate tied everything together with a tofu scramble that somehow carried a rounding flavor reminding me of the Huevo's revueltos con Salchicha my mom used to make me as a kid hahahaha! The platanos were melt in your mouth.. with the perfect salvi style tortilla and rice.. I'm so grateful to be able to enjoy a nice meal that feels like home as a vegan.. not a lot of places have the ability to create both menus.. Check this place out for their dreamy tamales.. vegan or not! Service was very helpful and kind..really sweet and patient folks. The decor is also very homey as well with hand painted furniture and beautiful murals! Thank you for the incredible and memorable meal

This place is amazing! Love that they have vegan options. The food is so flavorful and delicious. Plus, the employees there are so helpful and nice. I got the Vegan Breakfast plate with tofu scramble, beans, rice, plantains, crema, and two homemade tortillas. The scramble cooked with peppers was the best egg dish I've ever had (vegan or not). Highly recommend. I also got the cucumber chia limeade, which was great as well. I love that it's affordable too. Location is easy to get to (near MacArthur Park). I hope this place stays open forever!

Very nice people. The vegan pupusas hit the spot. I would definitely recommend to anyone that likes a good pupusa.

What a great restaurant that is absolutely worth going a little out of your way for. They have an entire vegan menu including 4-5 different types of vegan tamales. Incredible. I got the jackfruit verde one and the potato mole one and loved both. The staff are also so kind and accommodating.

Tried some of the vegan tamales, to go-- they were great albeit more pricey than before at $6 -- they are still pretty big so you probably don't need more than two. I really like the verde salsa in either the vegan or meat tamales.

Highlights: You want to come here if you're looking for vegan Salvadoran food. Food: I tried the verde (green salsa) jackfruit tamale w/ and beef adobo tamale; both were really good and I would get them again. The beans that came with the combo are also amazing. I also had the jackfruit (revuelta) pupusa and pollo (chicken). They were delicious. Again, the standout of this place is the vegan offerings on these items. Pro tip: For the two pupusa "toppings" they give you, you're supposed to open the pupusa up and stuff them in instead of putting them on top of the pupusa. Recommend: If you love spice, I recommend going with their green sauce. It's very good. Parking: Parking here is typical down downtown LA and is difficult. If you are doing pick up, you can stop in front of the shop on 7th in the no parking zone and throw on your flashers. Otherwise, there are parking meters near the restaurant and also quite a bit of parking meters around the park and on Wilshire. There's also a paid lot off Lake behind the restaurant.

Bomb vegan tamales, and the most scrumptious beans and rice! I've been eating Mama's tamales for years and can't believe I neglected to leave a review before. During COVID, they're taking online orders and orders over the phone for easy pickup at their restaurant location. Today, I got two combo plates - and opted for two tamales as the main item. Two jalapeño cheese, one red jackfruit, and one green jackfruit. The plates come with beans and rice - SO filling. Jalapeño Cheese Tamale: it's vegan! This is my favorite, favorite tamale. It's so cheesy, spicy, and moist. The absolute best tamale in existence. Jackfruit Red Tamale: Jackfruit inside with a flavorful yet mild on the spicy scale red sauce. My second favorite! Jackfruit Verde Tamale: jackfruit inside with a mild green sauce. I prefer the red one, but always get both for the variety. I've said this before - rice and beans are the most important part of a Spanish dish, and Mama's Tamales rice and beans tie for first place favorite rice and beans in Los Angeles. Please check them out - they're an important Latin-owned business who offer so much to the vegan community and are supporters of Black Lives Matter. Eyeball their Instagram for mouth-watering updates. They make vegan pupusas, vegan chile relleno, and vegan quesadillas. And they've been selling rice and beans in bulk since COVID, too.

I'd be lying if I said we didn't already love their food from trying them at vegan events but we have wanted to come to their brick and mortar to try some new things they don't offer at the pop ups. We were not disappointed! Papusa as always was great and can't beat Curtido on the side. Tamales were delicious. Asada torta was excellent and got nice and crispy in the air fryer for leftovers. Pan sin pollo was ok but I wouldn't get it again because I just prefer their asada a lot more but I love that it comes with curtido. Their platanos were also very good. Pastelitos are probably my new favorite thing from their menu. I would go to the brick and mortar just to get those! So do yourself a favor and go try everything!

They sell some really delicious Tamales. I would come more often. However, they have some Bizzare working hours. But if you're able to come while they are open. It's totally worth buying some tamales

Yum! Simple ghetto fab tamales and pupusas $4. Vegan version for everything!! No AC, but they have a big fan. Located by the MacArthur park. Loved it!! And the spicy cole slaw type side veggies. - Sweet corn is a great dessert tamale to get too. - Pupusa cheese only is a bit more of a crispy outside vs with meat could get a little mush/soagy. Probably only authentic place in LA I know that has vegan versions!

Always a good experience when you scoop up some food from Mama's International Tamales! My go-to item is always the Vegan pupusas (bean & cheese is bomb.com and the jackfruit one is also amazing). The service is speedy & sweet! So grateful for this little place in LA.

This place is legit! My friend had saw something on the news about vegan tamales at this place in Whittier/East LA. But when I called them, they said they had "vegetarian" tamales and only had 6 left for the day. So I did some research and found Mama's. Called them and ordered a dozen tamales to go - they had a variety of flavors - Bean, Jalapeno, Queso, Spinach and Mushroom, etc. All were pretty good but the Jalapeno and Cheese ones were the best. I found street parking and walked over. Staff is very friendly and helpful. I was hoping there might be some vegan desserts like the pictures I saw on Yelp, but they only had vegan rice pudding. Still the tamales were nicely packed, stayed warm and tasted delicious!

Thank goodness I didn't actually go here because the co-workers that went to pick up the order state that it was a madhouse in there. They placed the order over the phone prior to picking up. I originally wanted the Peruvian quinoa with marinated tofu but upon arrival my co-workers were informed that that item is only available for catering. It was recommended that I order either the pupusa or tamale. I wanted one of each, but because of how hectic things were inside I ended up getting two Jackfruit tamales. As far as vegan tamale options, there are: jackfruit, nopales and mole. Vegan Jackfruit tamales: They were large, fluffy and had a little spicy kick. I enjoyed the tamales but would have liked some salsa paired with it. There wasn't much to them, but they had plenty of flavor. B+

YOU NEED TO COME HERE! From the minute you step foot in the door to the minute you leave, you feel like you are home. The owner was very kind and made sure we had everything we needed while we were eating. I had the vegan pupusa and the vegan tamale with cheese and jackfruit. It is the best food I've ever had!!! Please come and support this business. You will leave with a happy heart and tummy.

Parking is a toughy. My husband and I almost gave up and went to ktown instead. We ended up parking 5 blocks away in some residential area. We sampled a handful of their tamale options as part of combo platter. In addition, on our way in, we saw a lady making fresh pupusa and were convinced to order a cheese and bean one to share. Chicken in tomatillo, beef in red salsa, chili relleno, pineapples, guava and cheese tamales were all delightful. Each was almost burrito sized. One and a half tamale was plenty to eat for one individual. We packed so much leftovers (2 full meals) home! Pupusa - I personally liked the pupusa more than tamales. Who could possibly resist crispy shell bursting refried beans and oozing cheese? Topped with house made slaws and hot sauce - beyond delicious! Overall - Prices were fair. Each tamale and pupusa was about $3 each. if the parking situation isn't so terrible, we would def return to sample more of their menu.

I love the ambience. It felt nice and homely. I think it's run by a father-daughter duo. I ordered the pan con pollo, which took a reasonable while. The place is decorated nicely. Personally, I love it and would definitely come here often if I lived nearby. The prices are reasonable. As for the food itself, I had no idea what a pan con pollo was before ordering it. It was my first and I don't have anything negative to say. I think they're LGBT friendly as well; I'm part of the community. Overall my experience was positive and it satisfied my hunger.

Whoa. Yes, whoa. Their pupusas had me salivating. She magically stuffed them brimming full of cheese and squash/bean and cheese, yet their covering remained uniformly thin....how?? The accompanying brined cabbage was the stellar accompaniment, laden with chopped bay leaves. Yum! And they sat a whole vat before you to have at it, till you wanna stop. Okay...heres the clencher....each pupusa was a mere $2.50 and the brined slaw is included.....what???? kid you not. Then on the way out our gaze was averted by a display case of dainties. We chose 2 pineapple tart thingy's for 50cents each, yet she gave us 3 for $1 Since we bought 2... Again, whaaat???? All the ladies and gent were patient and sweet..we don't read Spanish, but they spoke perfect English too, so no problemo!!!

I caught them at a pop up on Burnank Blvd Strohm Ave. Excellent vedanta Saladorean Tamales and Papusas.

Tamales from Mama's FOR my Mama! These will make the trek home to Pismo Beach with me where the judge herself will enjoy the pork with verde sauce...chicken for dad...and I'm going to delve into the vegan Jackfruit (Salvadoran style tamale in banana leaf) for the first time - they look amazing! Just wish I had realized that Cyclavia (so?) is on today, parking was a nightmare UPDATE: Holy Sweet Baby Jeebus those were SO GOOD! I had the Salvadoran style chicken & potato steamed inside a banana leaf, and mom had a traditional pork tamale. They were the size of big burritos, and absolutely wonderful. The masa on that Salvadoran style reminded me of Mexican rice that had been ground into a Masa- super moist and flavorful. Mom just kept going on and on - and finally said it was the best tamale she's ever had, which is saying a lot because mom has eaten a few in her 82 years!

This Tamales are the worst you can buy and worst expensive a dozen was $60 when a Dozen of very well made and taste amazing tamales at Gracias Madres coast way less. If I would've known I would placed my order w them. Not only presentation wise were horrible they were huge tamales never had I seen big tamales the taste awful, jackfruit taste bitter on both. Salvadoran were missing salsa normally authentic ones have there masa made with tomatoes to give the masa that nice red color these were missing. no one liked them, we had to pretty much burn them and put plenty of hot sauce to make them eatable. I order both the Mexican and salvadorian and what a disappointment.

This is by MacArthur Park. I was excited about this place. It's supposed to have authentic handmade tamales. I ordered a chicken verde tamale for $2.75. The masa was doughy. I didn't even finish it.

I just googled the pictures and sent it to my friend because I usually make tamales every Christmas so I found her the perfect place she lives in Hollywood so not too far away

I cannot say enough great stuff about this place. I lead a retreat for around 20 women and we used this restaurant for catering. They were kind and professional, they are decently priced and the food, THE FOOD! Is soooo delicious. We ordered all vegan and gluten-free food. Some of the attendees were not vegan or gluten-free but EVERYONE enjoyed the meal. They couldn't believe it was vegan. It made the whole event! Claudia the owner, is awesome too. She is who took my order and delivered it as well.

I use to go to this place a while back, excited to support a place that was offering good food and also training for the local vendors...in addition to letting them use their kitchen. The tamales were great and the place stood out for it's beautiful colors and art. This place has changed, the quality of the food is not the same.

This is some FIREEE(underline underline underline!) ass food!! I was craving some tamales since christmas was just yesterday and couldn't have my own families tamales since they're not vegan so I checked yelp to see what's good for some spots in the Los Angeles area and came across Mama's and LORD I am so thankful I found this place!! I ordered the tamale plate which comes with either one or two tamales with sides of rice, beans, and salad. They were low on their hot selling flavors but still had a few options to choose from so I picked the spinach and mushroom tamale and also got to try half of the mole and potato tamale and they were both out of this world amazing. I also ordered the jackfruit and cheese pupusas and I can't even begin to explain the taste of flavors my mouth was receiving, I could just cry tears of joy thinking about it. (was so good forgot to take a pic before devoured) Overall if you couldn't tell I LOVED this place and will be coming back once they make more vegan tamales. 12/10 definitely recommend.

Mama's tamales taste okay, but contrary to their name, this ain't your Mama's tamales because they are doing way too much fusion shit here. I mean seriously, kimchi tamales and chicken adobo? For a second I had to make sure I was in the right restaurant and not some Roy Choi-inspired bastardfication of Latino food. Whatever happened to just chicken or pork? Anyways, the tamales they offer change daily and when they run out, they run out. Also they close early with business hours between 11 AM and 3:30 PM Tuesday through Saturday. So you may want to call ahead to make sure they are open. Hell, if they are closed you can always go to Langer's a block over. By the time I walked in at 12:30 PM they had half the chalkboard menu of the day's tamales crossed out. With diminished choices I ended up getting a combination platter consisting of two less popular tamales and a tortilla soup. I also ordered a strawberry-flavored agua fresca. The tamales I ordered were the plantain leaf wrapped chicken Guatemala and a Filipino-inspired chicken adobo in a corn husk. The chicken Guatemala was an interesting tamale that consisted of shredded chicken, peppers, and raisins in a thick masa (corn-based dough). It was a good tamale but the plantain leaf did nothing to add any notable flavor accents that a corn husk could not do. The chicken adobo was okay, but lacked any depth. Nothing much to say really. The best part of the meal was the tortilla soup, which consisted of a large bowl of soup, in what I believed to be chicken stock, that was served with fresh tortilla chips, peppers, and cheese crumbles. However, it was slightly bland so I requested lime wedges that added the necessary tanginess that made the soup taste better. Then again, lime makes all Mexican food taste más bueno. The strawberry-flavored agua fresca was good and the fact that my friendly server Carlos kept refilling it was an unexpected surprise since most Mexican places don't refill your agua fresca for free. As for the salsa verde and salsa roja that accompanied the complimentary chips, let's just say that I have had better. Call me ghetto fabulous, but people that know me know that I've never been one to shy away from eating Mexican street food (even in Tijuana) and it's because of this that I hesitated when I had to pay $2.50 for a tamale when I can get a more authentic tamale on the corner of Wilshire and Vermont most mornings for a buck... that is if the Sheriffs and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health aren't patrolling. So at the end of the day, the prices combined with the lack of parking and mediocre food were a bit of a downer. Perhaps if they took away the complimentary chips and lowered their prices a little I wouldn't feel as gipped. * BTW, I found out that Mama Sandi no longer owns this restaurant. ** Maybe they should call this place Not the Mama Tamales Cafe. ------------ Pictures: My Full Meal http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/mamas-hot-tamales-cafe-los-angeles-2?select=FYbDW0sG-VyE6oQMDmGVXw#VuFIqSU12NT2GvTYO8h6mA Tortilla Soup http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/mamas-hot-tamales-cafe-los-angeles-2?select=FYbDW0sG-VyE6oQMDmGVXw#Pl7W4X95DyuID3MILZZE0A ------------ Blast from the Past Video - Dinosaurs TV Show "Not the Momma!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNR4hKbSH7I

Hello Silver Lake Crowd! Come one and Come all! Just your style. Strawberry Tamales and Spinach Drink! This was far from real Mexican food and barely even good. This is similar to the "cool" places I have eaten in silver lake that are not even authentic or tasty. It's like eating pho from that truck in West La and saying I ate real Vietnamese food. No thanks. Tortilla soup was YUMMY and 5 Stars! I will come back just for this. Parking sucks. Several guys tried to sell me bogus IDs. Yes, probably your ID. BUT, the owners opened up their back parking lot. Thank you. My suggestion, if you come here order the authentic dishes. The tortilla soup was 5 STARS all the way. I would come back just for that. The regular tamale was OK. Keeping this place on hand for their tortilla soup.. I will be back for that!

Lunchtime win!!! Day Three of a training nearby and we were desperate for good food for lunch. It was a bit of a jaunt from our training site but boy was it worth it. I had the vegan tamal with mole, potato and cactus. Outstanding!! I would never have guessed it was vegan, which is a good thing in my book. My friend also had a tamal and an enchilada, which were delicious (I sampled.) The rice and beans were delicious, too. I added the tortilla soup, which was a flavorful way to start the meal. The jamaica agua fresca was so good! The atmosphere was so cute and the service was extremely nice. Thank you!

I really enjoyed the Verde jackfruit tamale and I do need to add that their tamale sizes are double the size of most standard size tamales you buy at other restaurants and stores. My only complaint is that they're a bit pricey. A tamale alone could range between $3-$5 (including the extra $1 for the two popular tamales of cheeze & jalapeno or Verde/Rojo jackfruit). The pupusas are $4 each. I ordered the mole cactus tamale also, but it wasn't good imo sadly since I thought it would have more of the authentic Salvadoran flavor to it since it was wrapped in a banana leaf. We bought two orders of the two tamale combos, a horchata, and an agua fresca all totaled out to be $32. It seemed kind of steep considering the amount of food we got (about half a cup of beans and half a cup of rice with a very small serving of salad in each combo).. Just all seemed pricey and there wasn't a set menu with direct prices for everything. I would actually label this restaurant as "$$" instead of "$" at least for their vegan selection..

I was so excited to visit this restaurant as I've seen so many posts about them in Instagram and finally just visited last week but I was a bit disappointed... We ordered some vegan pupusas with Hibiscus water it was great and and the gentleman who took our orders was really attentive. The service and food was good I'm very pleased but the restaurant needs more attention, maybe not enough time or staff to clean? We saw some small black spots on the lid :( on the container where we got the curtido...

I went to this place after a Doctors appointment and I really enjoyed it. The Gac was some of the best Gac, I've had out in a long time. The cheese and chill tamale was the best. Really nice old fashion mexican food. The place was small and cozy and the lady that ran it was lovely and welcoming.

Based on the food alone they would deserve a 5 star rating. The actual location is very disappointing. There was dust everywhere, empty boxes, storage at the entrance, even a shirt on a hanger randomly on a table. It looks very very dirty. It was shocking to see the state in which the restaurant is. You can tell that they have not done a deep cleaning in years. It looks neglected and not cared for. I went for the vegan food but I will definitely not come back. I saw the B rating on my way out and regretted driving for an hour to get the food. I had only had their food from vegan events and was dying to visit their restaurant but left kinda grossed out.

Order tamales which were overpriced, ordered a tamale meal and It had a hair in it and I had to send it back. I do not like the area where the restaurant is, across the street from MacArthur Park which is full of homeless people and trash everywhere. I'm just concerned about sanitation because I know there is rats and roaches all at the park and I'm pretty sure they're running across the street to all the little restaurants any trash around the area and they have a B on the wall from the health department so it's a no for me

Mama's Tamales! What can I say about this place?! Everything is so good and the servings are huge! I have had them at vegan fests and had them cater for me many times. I have never been disappointed by the quality or the flavor. Their tamales are worth the price because one will really fill you up! I recommend the cheese (a little spicy) or the red jackfruit. The pupusas are like crack! I have eaten two of those without even thinking! There is no bad dish in this place. Be prepared to eat really well before you go!

OVERHYPED, and overrated I'm going to give this place a solid Two stars. I've been here a number of times. Given that I'm Salvadoran and will support any local mom and pop in LA. Plus, I'm a tree hugging vegan, and I love pupusas. Not many places in Los Angeles cater pupusas, which is why I was drawn to this place. My first experience here was after a camping trip, I was craving pupusas and came across this "hidden gem". Truthfully the pupusas were descent. Nothing spectacular, just blah. Masa, beans and vegan cheese. That's it. The recipe to a pupusa is fairly easy. Yet, I refuse to make them at home (ha). As I ate my vegan pupusa I noticed crap interaction with the guest, and dirty filthy tables with plates. The owner is a gentleman who I believe is a pastor, and is a proud business owner who clearly neglects the customer service. Solely focuses on "making money" of the millennials like myself, etc. My first time coming here I was looking forward to the food, but the dirty tables and me simply asking questions about the food was a bit odd to them. Not only that but the owner tried selling me everything vegan. Yeah just because the food item is "vegan" does not intentionally mean I will try it. Second time around, I came here unintentionally. I was out of vegan options and ended up here with my gal. I ordered a simple vegan cheese pupusa with beans. The minute I took a bite, I noticed the cheese was "regular". I politely asked if they can remake my pupusa because I was not comfortable eating it. The owner said it's "vegan okay"! As he was on Facebook not being proactive. He Scolded the chef lady, and told her what did she do wrong! The owner made his way to the kitchen and showed me the vegan cheese block they use to make pupusas. I mean, all I asked was if he can remake it? lol. My third time around was disastrous. I promised vegan motherland food to a few family members, and I was out of options within the area. At 10am I placed a simple order of 5 pupusas. I reassured they were all made accordingly, and I needed them by 1pm. I arrived shortly after 1pm to find out that my meal was not made to order. In addition, they were confused about what I wanted to order. Cashier girl asked for my debit card, and I gave it to her. Later, she said she could not process my order because I had not processed a payment. I responded with, "the why did you ask for my card?" She later explained that they were the best vegan pupusa place in Los Angeles and they always showed case and have come a long way. I did not ask, second... congrats! But I'm only here to grab my food and leave. I waited an additional 20 minutes. As I waited a host asked me "if I needed help, and why was I standing there?" Clearly- they do not care about customer service or care to know their own business environment. Two servers were in training- and man, they don't deserve a job like that. This place is unorganized, and the egotistical owner needs to calm down. It's all money for him and lacks customer service. Get it together man... you are not the hottest thing around.

Words can't really express how awesome the food was at Mama's. this place is exactly what I've been looking for. Super super nice people making delicious food. We tried the bean pupusa, a jackfruit pupusa, sweet corn tamale and jalapeño and cheese tamale. And guess what- IT WAS ALL VEGAN AND ALL DELICIOUS Even the bean rice and cheese burrito was awesome. I will definitely be driving all the way from Orange County to eat here again and I will tell everyone I know that they should be eating here. Especially vegans.

Every year around the holidays, I crave tamales. Luckily, I live in Los Angeles, one of the most eclectic food cities on the west coast. I found this Salvadoran restaurant, Mamas Tamales on yelp. After reading the glowing reviews, I called ahead and ordered a dozen frozen tamales. Each one is a full meal and OMG the best tamales EVER! Their sauce is also delicious! Unfortunately, I don't think they are available all year, but they have lots of other things on their menu.

At the LA vegan street fair, they were selling tamales and pupusas. They were good... but... they charged extra for vegan cheese! What kind of foolery is this. I repeat: You don't sell beer at a beer festival and charge extra because it contains alcohol. It was already $5.50 for one tamale or one pupusa. Boo.

There tamale breakfast is amazing there service is top notch it's definitateky worth the visit and the service here is perfect

I don't usually write reviews because I see it as a non important but I just want to say this place has an amazing variety of vegan options and employees/ owners are so tented and nice. I just had to try their jackfruit verde Tamale and wow was it amazing! I also ordered the corn tamale which left me wanting more. They were all vegan and hopefully next time I can get their arroz con leche. I will definitely be returning even my mother who doesn't really eat those type of food said she wants to go back and said to give them 5 stars

I don't understand why they don't have a delivery service. I'm dying to order from them and support but they said they would have to hire someone to deliver which is too expensive.

I really wanted to support small businesses during these rough times. However the customer service I received when trying to purchase was disappointing. I was not unable to make a walk in purchase until noon, so I left empty handed. I've had the vegan tamales previous years and they are decent. Didn't know pre ordering was required.

The vegan options here are absolutely amazing!!! I usually go to their popup events, but finally made it to the restaurant. Everything I have tried from Mama's has great flavor and is so filling. The bean and cheese papusas are absolutely amazing because the beans are prepared so well. The jackfruit and potato papusas are also good. I never thought I was going to be able to have good, quality tamales again since going plant based but Mama's has you covered! The cheese and jalapeno, Jack fruit red and jackfruit green are all favorites. If you like mole that one is also good. I recently had a party with non plant based eaters and the Jack fruit tamales had them all fooled, needless to say there weren't any left overs. And my favorite fresca is the chia seed limeade which is oh so refreshing. Give Mama's a solid try, you won't be disappointed

100% authentic and delicious food. An LA original. Great to patronize small business that get it right.

Their vegan jackfruit verde tamales are soooo good! All time favorite for sure! They have a delicious vegan and bean pupusa as well. My son loves their cheese pupusas and jamaica. I have also tried their champurrado, made with almond milk. It tasted more like hot cocoa with a hint of cinnamon, but it was good nonetheless. I also tried their vegan burrito, it was okay. I'll stick to the tamales and pupusas The service is pretty good and friendly. Street Parking can be a bit hard, but they have a lot that gives you a discount depending on how much you spend here. (Haven't parked there as of yet)

A great little mom & pop shop, owned and operated by super nice family. Though Yelp categorized as 'Mexican' but I believe this is more El Salvadorian cuisine and the tamales were awesome with lots of vegan options to choose. The owner suggested and we had Jackfruit (mock chicken?) and Mole w/ Cactus and all were glorious. Texture wise, the masa consistency and taste is very different compared to its counterpart from Mexico, unique of course but still very good. Only downside is that prices are somewhat high per tamale. We also ordered the Vegan Ceviche (marinated hearts of palm with cucumbers & pico de gallo) and it was very refreshing as well. I myself had the Mojarra Frita, a fried whole tilapia plate served with rice, salad, fresh made tortillas and chips. Finishing off with some El Salvadorian-style Horchata and Jamaica. All in all a very pleasant dining experience.

Popeye's juice and tamales. Went here for lunch because Nick H found a new tamale spot. Parking is a hassle here. Parked @ the meter but both meters were broken. Didn't know they had a parking spot in the back. Aqua fresca...Lynette T mentioned aqua fresca before so I thought hey let me try that. I ordered spinach (yes SPINACH) because the lady said that that's the special for that day and many people like them. It tasted just like its name....ice cold SPINACH juice. I didn't even drink one tenth of the drink. One sip and I stopped drinking. Nick H said he couldn't even leave me for a minute before I ordered weird stuff. Chicken Tamale with Red Sauce: not the best tamale I had but I could eat it. Just couldn't finish it though. Pineapple Tamale: it tasted like weird sweet tamale...didn't taste any pineapple. The meal consisted of 2 tamales and a tortilla soup. Boy I was glad I ordered the tortilla soup (you are welcome Bolsa boy). It was tasty, fresh and goey with cheese. The cheese stuck to the spoon with every scoop. Fresh tomatoes..yummy tortilla...did I mention goey cheese? Probably best tortilla soup I"ve had. 2.5 stars!! Mama's Hot Tamale's tortilla soup is yummylicious!!

According to their website, Mama's Hot Tamales was established as an economic development project aimed to mentor young people and revitalize the neighborhood of MacArthur Park: http://www.rediscover-macarthur-park.com/. They also have a location in Pasadena and together they offer an array of delicious Latin American dishes and a colorful ambiance that can't be beat. I came here with Oiyan P. and a mutual friend for a tamales hunt, and the place was amazingly delicious. The decor is colorful and clean, with a huge beautiful mural on the wall and plenty of cultural artifacts displayed all around the restaurant. This place epitomizes the vibrancy and hope of MacArthur Park and is a must visit for anyone who wants to learn more about Latin American culture and cuisine. Initially we were tempted to try their kimchi tamales that Oiyan had during her last visit, but they were out of several menu items by the time we got there. Instead, my order of two tamales, one of which had green salsa with chicken and the other with cheese and jalapeno, were humongous and tasty. We all elected to have our tamales wrapped in corn husk instead of banana leafs, and the texture was on point with plenty of fillings. Even though my green salsa chicken was a bit dry, I thought the chewy cheese and jalapeno fillings were fantastic and moderately spicy. It was 108 degrees with no breeze but we followed Oiyan's lead in getting the tortilla soup and it was delicious. I must admit that I've had better tortilla soup elsewhere but this place gave each of us a huge bowl served piping hot with lots of hand pulled chicken and hearty tortillas to keep us craving for more. Even though the restaurant did not have AC, but we still managed to finish our soup. We were all sweaty trying to finish the soup but it was way too yummy to put down the spoon! Oiyan also ordered a huge plate of cactus salad for us to try, and that was another highlight of our meal. As an avid consumer of cactus, our salad was very flavorful with the cactus having a nice consistency and was not overcooked. The salad was nicely blended with Mexican cheese, onions, tomatoes, cilantros, and jalapenos. I must have eaten most of it. Forget the tortilla soup! I would love to get this dish every single time I'm there. Our mutual friend end up ordering more food as she gave each of us a beef empanada. The exterior was crisp and freshly fried with plenty of beef and melted cheese intertwined at the center. We were already super full but I had to take a few bites just to make up for missing LA's UYE Empanada Crawl. Certain dishes can be made vegan friendly upon request. Service was very attentive, humble, and down to earth. They gave me plenty of refills on my tart, sweet, and very refreshing tamarindo. The young server also returned my $10 bill once they learned that I had overpaid. Even though we stayed half an hour after they were already closed, Sandi Romero also known as "mama" still graciously came to thank us for visiting the restaurant. Love it! Anyone can easily get full on less than $10 here. Considering that we missed out on their kimchi tamales, I thought it was 4.5 stars strong for the fabulous visit. Thanks Oiyan, for introducing me to such as valuable community asset at the heart of LA. I hope to hang out with you again real soon.

Spinach and mushroom tamales, that's all I'm really going to say. No, I don't have to add more details if I don't want to, it's my review. You can't make me, find out for yourself. These tamales are the bomb and I've sampled a LOT of tamales in my day, take that as you will. Spinach.And Mushroom.Tamales. DONE!