Fresh Tamales in Lakeview area

Any suggestions for fresh hand made Tamales to steam at home. In DFW Texas you could buy them from trucks along the highway. (One of the very few things I miss about Texas)

Those Mexican ladies with the coolers, carts and unmbrellas? They are selling hot, hand-made tamales. Lots has been said about where to find the best. North Clark in Uptown, corner of Ashland and Division, many places on Lawrence and inumerable places on the South Side in Pilsen, La Villita, Bridgeport, East Side, etc., etc.

The greatest variety of high quality hand made tamales is probably offered by the vans that hang out by Max Gerber (Milwaukee near California) on weekends. Good luck. Mornings are your best bet, as tamales and champurrado are breakfast. As the ladies make them with fresh, delicate masa the night before, you get them hot from the water. They freeze well if you want to keep them for later.

Or you can get inferior ones, cold, at Fox & Obel for big money. I really like F&O (though they stopped carrying Anson Mills (and all other) grits), but I can't fathom buying tamales there.

while not as groovy as discovering a cart, El Milagro on Belmont a couple of blocks east of Ashland (on north side of street) has consistent and moist tamales. I'm especially fond of their green "rajas y queso" tamale (chile and cheese). This is the northside outpost of the El Milagros in Little Village and Pilsen. They make a delightful, twangy puerco in chile verde, which seems to have nopales in it. Perfect, stew-like comfort food for a bitter cold day like today.

bjt

bjt wrote:while not as groovy as discovering a cart, El Milagro on Belmont a couple of blocks east of Ashland (on north side of street) has consistent and moist tamales. I'm especially fond of their green "rajas y queso" tamale (chile and cheese). This is the northside outpost of the El Milagros in Little Village and Pilsen. They make a delightful, twangy puerco in chile verde, which seems to have nopales in it. Perfect, stew-like comfort food for a bitter cold day like today.

bjt

I've had hit or miss luck with tamales from there. The last tamale I had was pretty dry & was "warmed" up in the microwave but not all that warm.

I like getting one of the specials from the steam table there. It's a nice option in that neck of the woods.

you know, I am almost always getting my tamales from the Pilsen El Milagro and getting the steam table guisado from the Belmont location (altho I have had tamales a few times at Belmont) so sorry about that. The tamales at the other locations are sitting in a low steam/heat drawer which keeps them moist. They move very quickly and if you go too late in the day, they are often sold out. But if they aren't moving at the Belmont shop, I can see how they'd get dry.

bjt

JeffB wrote:Those Mexican ladies with the coolers, carts and unmbrellas?...

The greatest variety of high quality hand made tamales is probably offered by the vans that hang out by Max Gerber (Milwaukee near California) on weekends...

Just wanted to add there is a lady on California and Milwaukee at morning rush hour during weekdays.