The Original Tamale Co.

My dad drives out to get these tamales at least once a month and today I came with him. The tamales are so good and moist. The price per tamal recently increased but the quality is still good and makes it worth it. The champurrado was was the right amount of sweetness and the consistency was in between too thick and too runny. There is a parking lot on the left side where you can try to find a space and then walk to the sidewalk where the storefront is. Also good to know that they take tap card payment.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Taste of True Mexico! (or "My New Go-To for Authentic Tamales!") I've been on the hunt for truly authentic Mexican tamales, and tamales express absolutely delivered! From the moment I walked to the window , the aroma of simmering chiles, fresh masa was intoxicating.i recommend 👌.

Ate here at Street Fair at college of the dessert on Sundays open from 8 to 2 The tamales are so flavorful and large! They even season the masa! Customer service is 2nd to none. And actually gave us samples so we could make the best brunch choice. I recommend this restaurant & will definitely be back when I come through again

Yummy tamales. Good flavor. Best I’ve had. Original is a hole in the wall. But the food is quality.

My favorite SF Valley tamales. Always so good and moist. Large too! I stopped by here anytime I have a hankering for tamales and pick up a dozen so I could freeze the extras or give them to friends. .

As a tamale lover and having tried them all over the world, I would say this is the 2nd best in the world. The first being Carrillos in San Fernando on Pico. This spot is amazing. The MASA is delicious. The fillings are substantial and high-quality. The hot sauce is very unique and delicious. This is my go to for every Christmas Eve when I serve our Christmas Eve brunch. My favorite here is the chicken tamale. It is the best I’ve had in the world. The cheese and chili tamale is phenomenal. Do not pass up this place. If you’re looking for tamale, you will not be disappointed, I promise. Please note this restaurant is not a dine in restaurant. It’s for to go orders only.

This place was SO GOOD, probably some of the best tamales in the area, honestly. The masa is very moist and not dry at all. I think my favorite meat tamale from here is the beef, but pork is a close second, and the chicken is okay, just beef and pork have so much more flavor! I also had the chili cheese tamale and the sweet corn. Both are so good!! Next time, I'm definitely getting beef, sweet corn, and chili cheese. Both of the salsas are delicious as well--the red is hot and the green sauce is mild, but both have so much flavor. I also had the champurrado, which was so perfect, and you shouldn't leave without trying it! Definitely check this restaurant out--it will probably be the last tamale place you buy from :)

They have amazing Tamales, my first time trying was at the farmers market in Santa clarita. The tamales are big too

The service was absolutely amazing and the rajas con queso tamale was very good, hot and fresh! 10/10!

I've had these and they are delicious! Come and try them. Yum. Yum. Yum. .... . ..

so good very moist the perfect amount of meat i had great service definitely recommend

AMAZING tamales in the valley!! Will definitely be back for their chicken in green sauce (5/5). The corn breading was super soft, and with the green sauce the chicken was really flavorful. These tamales were also BIG. After ordering, we got our food right away. There is limited seating and parking in the back.

The Original Tamale used to be called Mi Gusto Tamale. I don't think the tamale recipes have changed over the years. I bought two red pork tamales and two green pork tamales to try. I ate the red pork tamales, I liked the masa, it wasn't dense or too wet, the meat to masa ratio was just right and the tamales are bigger than most. The red sauce had a bit of a kick and after burn. The Green Pork Tamales were much milder and needed a bit more flavor. The masa and the ratio of meat to masa were good too. Very consistent quality between the two tamales. Although the Red Pork Tamales have a bit of a bite, I will be picking up the red pork tamales on my next trip. For good service, big tamales, value and taste, The Original Tamale is one of the better tamales in LA so swing on by and try the tamales.They also bag the tamales by type and put stickers on the bag so you know exactly what the tamales are...excellent labeling.

THE BEST TAMALES IVE EVER HAD!! My absolute FAVE is the pollo (chicken)! I love the green sauce so I always get extra. The workers are always so nice and it's always very quick. Lines can get long but it's a quick process regardless. I would think these are healthier since they don't use lard! $3.50 for a chilled tamale to eat later and $4.38 for a hot!

Who said Tuesday is for Tacos !!! I'm at the Farmers Market on a glorious Tuesday Afternoon on Figueroa & Ave 58 As I walk past the hummus and chips tent I see a glorious sight... Gourmet tamales At $5.50 a tamale I ask thyself... is this tamale worth the price?! Well the answer is... it's not only worth it... it's worth changing "Taco Tuesday" to ... TAMALE TUESDAYs and it happened here first...thanks Gourmet tamale ...for making my Tuesday a little better... a little better than Monday too.. With their utmost popular Chicken tamale; the one to try first of their varied assortments ...and believe me... they got the meats...! The flaky soft steaming semi sweet corn dough with healthy portions of delicious chicken shredded meat goes best dressed in halves... 1/2 red salsa and the other half green salsa... these salsas are special...make me move my feet...pure perfection well worth the $5... and filling too... aperitif meal !!! Tamale Tuesday at Highland Park Farmers Market baby... It all started here first MY BOY! PS They gonna be on my Christmas Wish list this year ... ya hia?! I'll be singing my "mañanitas" lleno!!!

Very tasty tamales!! Location is a lil small but service is fast and the employees are nice. The location is Pacoima which isn't anything fancy but the food makes up for it.

I wasn't impressed! Award winning to me means a bomb tamale with some meat. These were dry with no filling. (No, let me give a bit of credit), I mean moist with no filling. I will give them that. The strawberry flavored one was moist. Don't eeeeven try to do a Chicharron tamale if you can not add chicharron!!One measly piece and and quick swipe of beans. It was so sad. Let me tell you the price....... 6 dollars! YUP! I'm a sucker! Well, I tried it and will never be back! Lol! I'll stick to the lady on the corner of State St and Marengo! 2 stars for the sweet girl working that day!! Thank you for reading my review!!

I first had these delicious tamales at the La Canada Farmers Market and had to come to the brick and mortar kiosk. My favorite tamales are the cheese and chile and beef in red sauce. Service was great and having parking is always a plus! Can't wait to try more tamales here!

Fast service, the food is big portion, different prices for cold and hot, come all the way from San Diego

I got a chicken tamale at the Pasadena Farmer's market. This was so delicious! This tamale was packed with flavor and I loved the tomatillo sauce. Their pineapple tamales are lovely too-they were sweet without being overly so. Their tamales are girthy and well done. It was a quick stop in the farmer's market, but a very welcome one. Their tamales also make for great leftovers the day after. I would 100% recommend them. They even provide salsas/hot sauces to go upon request.

Amazing service!! & great prices Came to River park farmers market just for these tamales

The tamales here are good asf ! Yall missing out. The service is good there really kind and respectful.

I've been told to come here for a long time and I finally did. I also was told that they feel that this is a very pricey place but my grandmother makes tamales she's been making them since I was little she used to sell them in front of her house she's now 90 years old and she said it's a lot of work so I think it's only fair the price that they have. But you can tell that it's a very busy place. They were very welcoming very kind. Very patient. Wonderful service. But now let me get into the food. I got chicken, pork, and Chicharron. And of course, I have to get a Chaparro. And let me tell you it was perfect. It actually reminded me of my grandma's tamales not so much masa but the right amount of meat They were delicious as well as my drink

Best tamales in the whole valley Best deals Family, friendly And open to the community Fast service

Best corn tamales ever. The tamales are sweet and perfect for a cold or sunny day! A bit pricey but worth every penny!

Best tamales in LA! The chicken and pork with green sauce are amazing! Great prices!!

Súper delicious tamales , very tasty and soft I like that has no lard and no msg, and their salsa is amazing , come and try them

I prefer the chicharon tamale from the lady that sells the in the corner not this place they are to expensive at 5.50 each and it's mainly masa instead of the meat they put in it the flavor is bland not good.

Great tamales! Quick service and Really big and filling! Worth the price ! Would definitely come back.

I'm always looking for good Tamales and this spot did not disappoint at all. I didn't expect much on service because you order at a window and the gentleman did his job no more or less. I'm told the spot has been there a long time, not much on ambiance and didn't seem to have a sit down area. The tamales were delicious with a very clean taste, if that's your goal then you'll be happy.

These are some amazing Tamales. I had a large cheese one and it's definitely top five I ever ate. Service was nice from the friendly man at the booth off Wilshire at the farmers market across from SAGAFTRA HQ on Wednesdays. Prices under $5 for above avg. value. Recommended.

Was recommended this place for New Year's Eve tamales! This is for the actual location on Van Nuys Blvd/Laurel Canyon where they have a table side storefront for their off site kitchen; they usually go around the city at various farmers markets. You can get warmed tamales ready to eat, and also cold ones for later. Cold ones are tax included in the price (no added sales tax) while the warmed ones are sales tax additional. Regular flavors are $3.33 while specials are $4. They also take credit card. We got chicken to eat now and cheese, pork and chicharron for later. Comes with green and red salsa ramekins. I'm used to grocery store tamales that are made like a "masa burrito" with the fillings inside surrounded by masa. These tamales are maybe 50% larger and seemed to be filled more like a "masa hot dog," at least the ones we received had a groove down the middle with the filling packed into the valley. Parking is available in a small lot and when it gets busy there can be a line. Many people seem to be picking up large orders (you can call ahead too).

Great service and great Tamales come and check them out the sweet amount is amazing and you should try the beef with red sauce, delicious and on weekends you can try the fried shrimp empanadas amazing

Found them at the Monrovia Farmers market on Friday and the tamales were delicious. Totally fresh and the meat content was juicy. Super moist tamale and nothing was dry. For $5 it's a bit on the pricey side but quality hits!

The best tamales in town.my family has been coming here for a long time. The quality is always great.

The service here is always quick and they are very friendly. Best tamales in LA. And they huge!!!! Love love love !!!

Not all tamales are this good, so if you find this spot, consider yourself very lucky. You cannot go wrong with any other offerings.

Very good tamales always full of meat. If you want a good tamale get them here . Always friendly as well!

We get tamales here every year and they never disappoint! I usually order their red pork, green pork, beef, cheese and chili, Elote, and chicken and everything is delicious. Next time you're in the area, stop by!

Some of the best tamales I have eaten in the San Fernando Valley thus far! Service is always quick with super friendly staff. I have never gone to another tamale place with fresh hot tamales with little to no wait, and reliable every time I want a tamal. My favorites are: cheese with chilli (rajas) and green chicken. The pork, beef, and sweet tamales are also very flavorful. A nice patio in the rear of the shop allows you to sit if you cant wait to try them. I've been coming since before they renamed; I will continue to recommend, and savor every bite.

C'est bon Mui bueno They did not have hot chicken at farmers market los Al last Saturday as they ran out. Maybe next go round (when we get there round 11:30/12 noon) they will have some hot chicken tam Please bring more ready to eat (hot ckn tam) por favor:)

Best tamale in town. I drive from Hollywood. I love the beef and bean and cheese. The sweet corn are also great.

Still serving OUTSTANDING tamales. My favorite are the Red Beef and the Cheese tamales. Avoid factoring in the morons with the low ratings and low scores, hater's gotta hate! The only thing that can be considered bad is the surrounding neighborhood. Park in their lot, go there in the daylight and don't dress flashy and you'll have probably the best tamales in your lifetime, stick to the basics, the beef, pork, chicken, cheeeeeese. The other tamales don't wow you like the basic ones there.

First tried these tamales at a farmers market, I've always been too far to just stop by the shop but today I was in the area and remembered their location was in the valley. Great tamales, hope they never change the recipes.

Tamales are good. Highly recommend the tamales from this place. It is best to order different type on your first time visit. There is only a few tables for dining. This place is just mainly for pickup. The service was to the point and nothing special. All business.

While driving exploring murals low an behold there's a small tamale spot I swore I seen. This business is easy to miss if a first timer. We drove by 2 times trying to find it lol . Tamales where very moist not too hot we ordered cheese & chicken they had available fresh or frozen. Fresh cost more I didn't mind. We made our order and enjoyed the Tamales at home. Continued on our road trip for murals. Behind this small business is the company which they cater and have there own tamale trucks around town.

The Tamale Fiesta is delicious. Had them at Irvine Nights last summer. I think it's the same as Me Gusta Gourmet Tamales because it's the same address that's advertised. I would go out of my way to come here. Got the Pork in Green Sauce and Chicken in Green Sauce. These tamales were amazing, perfectly seasoned, the masa was so soft and moist. The tamales are huge, I was struggling to finish two, one would probably have been enough. It's good to maybe share if you want to try everything. I wanted to try some other tamales too but some of them had already sold out. You can find them at events and farmers markets all throughout SoCal. The event I went to is located at Great Park, it was a night market. There was a line but the line moved quickly. Parking was easy for this event, it's free in the parking lots. Everyone is friendly, a very wholesome and family environment feel. Service was friendly. I thought prices were reasonable, food trucks/vendors on average are going to be more expensive, very similar to going to a farmers market. There are a lot tables to sit outside and eat. The park in general is very nice and they picked the perfect spot to hold the event next to all the palm trees and hangar. Bring cash if you can but I think they took card too.

Very fast and great service always smiling And offering good vibes and chile always making sure that I have my napkins and forks plates

Giving Me Gusta 5 stars because I ordered two nights in a row and they were consistently AWESOME. I am on a quest to find great tamales that deliver to me and I think the search is over. I'm a creature of habit, I like what I like, and what I like are Chile and cheese tamales with salsa verde. No frills. That's all I want. We did initially put in an order with corn tamales and vegetable tamales - but they were out of veggie, and the corn tamales were too sweet for my taste. But the Chile and cheese... I needed a repeat STAT. Not only are they delicious, well wrapped, well seasoned, well proportioned (read: HUGE), but the price is ON POINT and delivery is so fast, it's stupid. I love the salsa verde and they read my silly specific requests on ubereats and make sure to get it right. Just... amazing. Thank you. You have my business!!!

This quaint little spot has the warmth of authentic Mexico. The tamales are delicious. Hot and fresh. Wish I lived closer I would start every morning with their moist and fluffy veg tamale. The beef are generous and the sweet corn is perfect for my vegetarian granddaughter. Thank you friends.

Each year I go in search of a new extraordinary tamale and today, I ended up here. I purchased pork with green sauce (I green sauce and have never seen pork with green sauce), rajas with cheese, pork with red sauce and chicken with green sauce. The first one I had was the pork with green sauce. Let me preface this by stating I love masa - I'm a carbs girl. I've always wondered why you can't buy just a masa tamale but I digress. As you can see from the pic, these tamales are pretty big. The particular one I had was was mostly masa. I went back to reviews and this doesn't seem to be a common complaint so I'm going to chuck it up to perhaps they were running out of filling as they made the one I had. Stay tuned as i eat the others. Nonetheless, the little filling I had was yummy in my tummy. The masa was good too -- it was almost buttery and moist -- so no complaints from this carb lover. Note that if you're buying to take home, opt for the cold version to save a little bit of money. They're fully cooked, you just have to steam or microwave them. I also got the champurrado and it did not disappoint. All in all, go check out this place. There were only a few people in line at 1 p.m. but it's a couple of weeks out from Xmas. They have a very small parking lot but there's a McDonald's right next door where I'm sure there's ample parking. *UPDATE* As you can see in the additional photos, my tamales from the original haul all had an adequate amount of filling. About a wk later I went back for more pork with green chili tamales and they had a normal amount of filling. After trying the flavors mentioned above, the pork with green chili is what will keep me going back to this place - the other options were ok but do not receive a yummy in my tummy rating.

More pricier than other places, but well worth the drive from Wesco to the Pacioma. More meat than masa :) Can't go wrong with this place.

Very good service, well organized to come and pick up. We ordered then uncooked to have them warm on Xmas Eve. Excited to try the new Guava ones!

They are a regular vendor at the Bixby Knolls Thursday Farmers Market at 46TH and Atlantic. Tamales are $5 each, and they have beef, chicken, pork and other flavors. At $5 each it's not cheap but the tamales are pretty large, 6-8" long and a fat 2" thick. They do not skimp with their fillings, close to 60/40 ratio masa to filling. The beef was my favorite, 5/5. Rich red sauce, stewed and shredded beef with chiles, rich flavor and slightly sweet and very fluffy and tender masa. This vendor is award winning for a reason! Pork was runner up: nice green Chile flavor, not overwhelmingly porky. 4.5/5. Chicken was very good too: if you're looking for a very mild but satisfying tamale with just a hint of green chile, this is the one for you. 4/5 They has a slightly spicy red salsa and a miles (but not spiceless) green tomatillo salsa. Both are wonderful. I was really impressed by the quality of these tamales. I've been searching for a craveworthy tamale, and I'm so glad I found it. I was just in a supermarket today thinking of making them, but why go thru the hassle when you can find. A six pack of them is $30, plenty for a dinner for 2. In fact we had leftovers. A great reason to visit the Thursday Farmers market in Bixby Knolls!

Best Tamales in town, flavorful and authentic. Can't go wrong with this one! Great tamales, best in town. Tried tamales before but these are the best ones hands down!!!!

The best tamales best tasting Love them Highly recommend After church Come get your tamales

Yummmmmmmm! Delicious tamales! Such a large tamale and well priced. Will definitely eat again