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Thursday, December 10, 2015

Tamales in Orange County for the Holidays

The way this entry works is that when we find out about a tamale deal at a certain place we list it here under the year in which we found out about the deal. If we then find out that they renewed it for a new year then we will move their listing to that new year. If a place isn't listed under the current year it doesn't mean they don't have tamales; it just means we haven't officially confirmed it yet for a new year, but it might still be worth calling them find out.


2016

El Zarape
Tamale Ad

El Fenix
Tamales for the Holidays


2015

Trader Joe's
IMAG0722

Chocolate Raspberry Tamales

Mi Casa
Mi Casa’s generous-sized “wrapped goodness” tamales are available in pork and chicken by the dozen for your holiday feast.
$29.95 a dozen
For many families across Southern California, tamales are an essential element in celebrating the Christmas holiday. Since 1972, Mi Casa’s traditional tamales have been a Southern California Holiday tradition!
“Our customers that have been with us since 1972 know the taste of our original chef Jose Perez’ homemade pork tamales, which are still prepared with the same recipe today,” says Owner Ryan Moore. The tradition continues and Mi Casa’s famous tamales are made the same way. “It’s time, labor and an intensive process. Wet masa is the secret to making our tamales light and fluffy!” says Moore.
For more information about the great food and enjoyable dining experience at Mi Casa Restaurants, or to pre-order your holiday Tamales by the dozen visit http://www.micasa1.com.
Costa Mesa – 949-645-7626
Rancho Santa Margarita – 949-635-9538

Click to enlarge

Taco Rosa
Miguel's Jr.
"Tamalidays"

2014

Las Fajitas
Holiday Tamale Table Sign
Cuca's Mexican Food
Holiday Tamale Sign

2013

Tlaquepaque
From Facebook: "Now taking orders for tamales; we have pork, beef, chicken and cheese. Call us today and place your order at 714-528-0110."
Sarinana's Tamale Factory
We have new tamales on the menu: Corn tamales (the famous "Chepos") and Chicken tamales (with green and red sauce). - Happy Holidays (714) 558-8650 2218 W 5th St. Santa Ana, CA

Taco Mesa
"All Tamales are fresh handmade, wrapped & steamed in banana leaves. $25 per dozen" More Info

OC Weekly has some more 2013 choices.



2012

Grandpa's Mexican Food
IMAG0721
Grandpa's Mexican Food has closed and been replaced by a different Mexican restaurant. I'll try to check when I can to see if they have tamales for the holidays.
Antonio's
At La Palma/Imperial in Anaheim Hills: $21 per dozen.
Whole Foods
IMAG0788
Even more info here: Stick a Fork In It, Where to Buy Tamales in Orange County This Christmas, 2012 Edition


2011

We're coming up on Christmastime 2011 and people already want to know where to get tamales from for the holidays. If you know of a place in Orange County that is selling tamales please leave a comment or e-mail reviews@ocmexfood.com and I will add the information in here. Here's what we know so far.
Tamarindo Truck
IMG02153-20111105-1207

Read Our Interview w/ Tamarindo Truck • Call (714) 640-9371 to order
ADDITIONAL NOTE: The Bernardo Yorba Middle School is hosting a Food Truck Festival on 11/25 and TAMARINDO TRUCK will be there pre-selling holiday tamales. Best part is every purchase will help to support the award winning music program at the school. Please tell your readers to come to 5350 Fairmont Blvd in Yorba linda 4PM-9PM on Friday 11/25 and they can get some world class tamales along with all of Tamarindo's GREAT Mexican delights.
Reyna Market
Will have four different kinds of tamales. 12 for $20.
Reyna Market
902 W McFadden Ave Santa Ana CA 92707
(714) 549-1558
Yellowbot Listing
Rancho del Zocalo
Tamale Deals at Rancho del Zocalo

Rancho del Zocalo in Disneyland is serving tamales during the holiday season. They just serve them at the restaurant, not as bulk orders, but it's a good thing to keep in mind if you are at Disneyland this time of the year. The picture above is from 2010 so the price might've changed.

Tamale and Carne Asada at Rancho del Zocalo

Here's a video of one of the chefs at Disneyland showing how to make tamales:


And one by a Disney fan about how to make Rancho del Zocalo-style tamales:

Matador Cantina
"Our house-made Holiday Tamales are back! Beef or chicken take-out orders only. $30 doz. Order 2 days prior to pick up. 714.871.8226" There will also be tamale entrees available to enjoy at the restaurant during the holiday season.
Sandoval Family
Not from a restaurant but straight from a Mexican family: Chicken, red or green chile, and rajas (jalapenos, cheese, tomatoes) tamales for $13.50 a dozen. Call (909) 988-9650 to order and arrange pickups.
La Reina Markets
Pork, chicken, and cheese/jalapeƱo Single tamale $1.39 + tax or a Dozen $14.00 + tax
Official Site
Cafe Maiz
Cafe Maiz in Mission Viejo is selling three different types of yummy tamales for $36 a dozen.


Click for larger image
UPDATE: Cafe Maiz has closed.

2010

  • According to callmemochelle on Twitter: "The tamale lady at Sugar Plums festival at the buena park mall has them.-- pretty good size tamales!"
  • Rockin' Baja at Bella Terra in Huntington Beach says: FOR DINE IN: "Celebrate the Holidays, Baja style, and enjoy our Holiday Tamal Special, which includes a chicken tamal in red sauce and jalapeno and cheese tamal, drizzled with a tomatillo sauce and Mexican crema, served with rice and beans for $10.99. Sweet lovers can finish-off their Rockin holiday dinner with our pineapple and raisin sweet tamal a la mode for $5.99. Only available until 12/30! Every Tuesday in December, you are invited to enjoy our Holiday tamale dinner special or dessert for half the price!" AND FOR TAKEOUT: "We offer delicious tamales for this holiday season. $24/ dozen: 4 Chicken Rojas (chicken in red sauce), 4 (Jalapeno Cheese), 4 Pino Pasas" (Pineapple and raisin sweet tamales). Place order 24 hours before pickup. To place an order call us at 714.892.3852."
  • George's Mexican Food in Huntington Beach - Call (714) 892-5775 for details
  • Cancun Fresh in Fountain Valley - Call (714) 427-0008
Azteca's Details:
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Read more about Azteca's by clicking here.

2008

Durango Mexican Grill
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Chicken, beef, pork or vegetarian tamales for $20 a dozen. Call (714) 255-5660 to order or for more info. Read more about Durango Mexican Grill in Brea by clicking here.
Esther's Taco House
Frequent blog reader Kelly has e-mailed saying that Esther's Taco House in Yorba Linda and Placentia has tamales, speaking of which I went to the Placentia Tamale Fest tonight (Dec. 9, 2008) and finally tried some of Esther's food at the booth they had set up there:

DSCF5719

The phone number for their Placentia location is (714) 996-2397.
Las Golondrinas
Frequent blog commenter and sometimes guest writer Captain Jack left the following comment about Las Golondrinas: "Las Golondrinas has both savory and tamales dulces. They have 5 stores in South County. For the locations, go to lasgolondrinas.biz."

2007

Pepe's
Johnny Automatic has e-mailed that Pepe's has tamales too. Order them at their Brea location: 655 S Brea Blvd Brea, CA 92821 (714) 257-7373.
Moreno's
Johnny Automatic also mentioned Moreno's in Orange, "or specifically the little panaderia located in a little building on the property just west of the restaurant." Click here to read the LA Times Calendar Live article about the tamales at Moreno's.
El Camino Real
(From ElmoMonster's comment below) El Camino Real Mexican Food 303 N Euclid St Fullerton, CA 92832 (714) 447-3962.

Super Antojitos
(From an anonymous comment below) Super Antojitos 341 E 1st St Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 832-2252

15 comments:

elmomonster said...

My barber said that El Camino Real in Fullerton does one of the best tamales. He orders them special from there for his family. Also says that their carnitas are the best in the universe...that's a quote.

ChristianZ said...

Thanks. Another place to add to my "Go To" list.

Anonymous said...

Super Antojitos in Tustin sells them by the dozen. Never tried them, but everything else they have is delicious.
Cant speak for the other locations selling them....

Johnny Automatic said...

Taco Mesa is offering the same flavors at the same price as Taco Rosa - which makes sense.

Chubbypanda said...

Heh. I ordered a family pack of those suckers once for a Christmas party. I swear we almost OD-ed on masa poisoning.

Captain said...

Las Golondrinas has both savory and tamales dulces. They have 5 stores in South County. For the locations, go to lasgolondrinas.biz

I've been a fan of their food since they opened their first little tortilla factory in Capistrano back in the eighties. Captain approved for your dining satisfaction.

ChristianZ said...

Thanks, Captain. I've added your info in.

Diamond Dog said...

Maybe this should be featured on the page when you first log in:

WHO HAS THE BEST TACO TUESDAYS??!!

Would love to hear from the readers.

I like the one at Tortilla Flats in Mission Viejo. Fried tacos. Chicken or beef with such a great flavor!!! I think they are 50 cents each or $1.00. Sooooo good

My other nomination is going to surprise some:

I still love the standard Del Taco, fake mexican, screaming yellow shell, taco. 3 for $1.09 on Tuesdays. usually get a dozen. Eat half on tuesday and eat the cold stale ones that have sat in my fridge on Wed. Love love love those

ChristianZ said...

Have you seen the Taco Tuesday entry at this blog? Elmo linked to it in his recent Taco Mesa entry.

Diamond Dog said...

no where is it. Your blog is kinda hard to navigate. Sometimes there are annoucnemts, reviews, and its hard to tell the difference much less go to certain sections.

ChristianZ said...

Elmo linked to it but here's the link again:

Taco Tuesday

And the entry is not complete. I'm always looking for new and updated information.

BTW, I am always trying to fix the navigation on this site but find that no matter what I do people are afraid to explore around, click a link, do a search with the search box, e-mail me a question, etc., no matter how obvious I make links or how many times I tell people, "If you don't find what you need don't assume it's not on the site and just leave. E-mail me and I will tell you where it is." I could go into more detail but needless to say it is very frustrating. That said, I'm still going to keep fine-tuning the navigation until it works as good as possible. This is also why I had a recent entry asking people how I can make the navigation better and everyone who commented (which is not at all everyone who visits the blog) said they don't have any problem navigating the site.

Captain said...

By the way, I'll be submitting a review of Las Golondrinas shortly after the new year. I need to give myself another go at them to make sure they're still praiseworthy. If I haven't tried a place in over a year, I don't write them up.

ChristianZ said...

Thanks. Yeah, go and get a fresh take on it and get some good pictures and I'll be happy to post the review. You're going to become our south county guy it looks like.

Chef Jay said...

Thanks for sharing this info. I love tamales and I hope to have one again soon.

Mamun said...

You blog is amazing and I have found some wonderful recipes which gave flavor to my life.

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