Tamale Hut Café

Oh my goodness!!! The mushroom tamales are out of this world delicious!!!

Tamale Hut is a great (and different, in a good way) addition to the Riverside area. The tamales are big and stuffed with yummy fillings. The owner is super friendly and the café is very interactive with the community hosting many interesting events. They also sell art in the café and have a rotation of different artists. Don’t miss out on this place if you’re in the area!

Excellent vegan tamales! They had 4 options of vegan tamales I think! Will definitely be going back! Friendly staff, too!

I looked up on Unilocal for something different to eat in the area. The reviews convince me it was the place to eat. Not! I have had better tamales. The Tamale’s were wet and falling apart. They cost of one tamale was $ 2.50 .The corn was unsweetened and dry. I purchased a can coke for $ 1.59. Well the two stars I gave was for the pleasant atmosphere. I will take the drive to the City to continue getting my tamale Fix…

I’d been coming here frequently for years until I moved away from the area. Everything on the menu (that I’ve tried at least) tastes good. My favorite is the elote, however, it’s starting to get a little pricey. Particularly with the elote, the portion has gotten smaller but the cost has went up. The guy that is always there is very nice and talkative but you can’t really ask him for more ingredients. If you do ask for more, he (or anyone else working that day) will add very little extra ingredients.

I was so excited to stumble upon this place! They have a great variety of tamales and a few sides to go with your order if you would like. They open early which makes it convenient if you want to grab food before getting into work.
The only drawback I think is the flour. It’s not quite like how you get it at home… But it’s DEFINITELY decent for purchasing.
I’ll be back!!!

FIRST TIMMER!
Great customer service. (I’m guessing he was the owner) so genuine and friendly! Will comeback. I tried the mushroom tamale and the bean tamale. Definitely try the mushroom! The mushroom tamales had just came out from the steamer and were great! I will say the use of the microwave was a bit of a turn off. The side of rice is a bit too expensive, it costs more than one tamale and the portion is small. Other than that can’t wait to come again and stuff my face!

The best tamales in town! We found this place by accident. We decided to stop and try some. I am from Mexico so I’ve been looking for a good place where I can have some REAL tamales. This is definitely the place. Staff is friendly and welcoming. The food is delicious and very tasty. The side corn is also very good. And as other people have mentioned… Yes, the tinga is delicious!!! The only bad thing is that they are far from where we live. Definitely a must try!!!

Love the variety of veggie tamales. And the eloytes corn dish is really good.
I like looking at the different local art on the walls that changes regularly.
The guy that works there is very friendly. But service is slow.

Tamale Hut is a mixed bag. On the positive side, it caters to vegetarians (and vegans, to a lesser extent). It’s difficult to find tamales without lard in Mexican restaurants, so this is a wonderful concept, one that could bring its owner millions if he learns how to market his restaurant. It has also become an art-​hub for the near suburbs over the years, working with local writers, comedians and artists, and acting as the only gallery in the nearby area.
The bad things are that the salsas are inconsistently bland (although this seems to have finally been amended during the past three months after years of wasted sauces).The owner’s excuse for the moderation was that he was trying to appease the gringos (only Mexicans like spicy food, I guess?). Assuming that this is finally fixed, the biggest issues are tamales that don’t stay together of varying sizes and a menu that is constantly sold out. There was a month about a year ago when the masa tasted bad. During weekends, most of the tamales are completely gone before half the day is over. Don’t go in there on Sunday at noon for anything except a pork tamale; it’ll be a wasted trip.
The staff (one person) is pleasant. But, if there’s more than one person in front of you, you had better not be in a hurry.

The tamales were really quite good. They have a 1 and 2 tamale special that comes with any of their sides. I recommend the rice, but my wife thinks the tinga is alright too.
The location of this place hurts it, its in a shopping center at cermak/​1^st that is hard to get into coming from the north so just be savvy getting there.
The guy at the counter was really nice and you can tell her genuinely wants your business and wants to do it right.

Overpriced and they don’t give you enough food. He wants to charge extra for small items like cheese and mayo for the elotes.

Bottom line, I wasn’t impressed.
Coworker treated me to lunch and we were the only patrons the entire time… until we were leaving.
— My chicken tamale was dry and wasn’t hot
– My Mexican rice was meh
— The female restroom grossed me out; needed to be «thoroughly» sanitized :/

The tinga is absolutely delicious! A little expensive but it seems like quality food. Still have to try the tamales, but 5 stars for the tinga!

Good and fresh food with no pretensions. Great value and great service too. Back after 1 year and I can’t be happier to stopped here again, Recommended!

Tamales year round? Why not. I generally make my own tamales at Christmas time and am very particular about how tamales taste in general. This place does pretty good by my standards. That I don’t have to work all day to make them is a bonus!
The unusual kinds of tamales are fun. I had a mushroom tamale and it was delicious. They had a Chicken Tinga on their menu as well and I really enjoyed that. It was different than the Tinga that I make, but I thought is was very tasty.
The folks there were friendly, the art on the walls was interesting to look at. If there is a problem it is the location. It is a drag to get over to it if you are heading East on Cermak. Other than that, I’ve got no issues.
If you want some good tamales and beans, this is the place.

Came in. Got three tamales. Rice was ok, last tamale ws on at best and a mess. I was not looking for money back but you could not even give a replacement tamale?! Whatever I’ve had better… Never anyone in this place?! Odd

This is a small restaurant in North Riverside. I’ve come here many times. I have tried everything from the elote to the tamales. Everything has been great and the service provided can’t be beat. I would recommend this place for anybody that is going to the Loyola hospital or in the area.

Fun and quirky takeout (no one ever eats here) tamales in the drabbest part of North Riverside — right where it is needed most.
The guy running this place is funny and quirky, and at times almost a bit too much to handle. A little overly friendly, and a bit nutty. (Ask him about UFO’s sometime.) But he clearly cares about his customers, and is quite excited about tamales.
The service is fast and friendly, and the tamales are OK. The meat offerings (chicken and pork) are a bit dry, but the vegetable tamales are pretty good.
Overall: good for the suburbs. Not a lot of tamale options in the area.

As a lover of tamales who doesn’t eat lard, this place seemed like a God send!
They very specifically say that they don’t include lard in their masa, and even have VEGAN options available! Now being (a part-​time) vegetarian, gaining access to authentic, vegetarian-​friendly Mexican food is difficult enough, so I’m sure this place will make Vegans happy, too!
We came here again after a couple years, where our first experience with THC unfortunately wasn’t too great. Perhaps we had just gotten a bad order back then or maybe THC has stepped up their game, because our latest experience was pretty good!
We got the cheese tamales, as well as the spinach tamales. We tried to order their mushroom ones and the pineapple-​coconut ones, but they didn’t have either of them (even though we were there pretty early in the day). We particularly loved the cheese tamales, the spinach ones weren’t bad though.
I knock one star off for two reasons: a) these tamales were much smaller compared to the ones often sold on carts and in other establishments in Mexican neighborhoods around the Chicagoland area, and b) I felt their tamales were slightly more expensive.
small sizes + larger prices = no bueno

Sunday Funday… zoo, starving; tamales around the corner.
So at 4pm on a Sunday not much left in the tamale department.
I can say without a doubt it was all about the Tinga.
My god was that delish.
I wanted to run back and get some more.
The tamales were good but the Tinga was phenomenal!
See for yourself.
oh and you can B to the Y to the O to the B… liquor store next door! Yeah

I stopped at this place randomly one day for carry out when I forgot my lunch for work. It was really good! I got a cheese tamale and a chicken tamale. The cheese one was really good but I thought the chicken one was kind of bland. A girl at work brought the sweet ones to work one day. They were amazing! I really liked the pineapple coconut one. Delicious! The staff there was really nice too.

The tamales here aren’t bad. The owner/​server/​cook, Jaime (?) was very personable. He’s the kind of guy who will remember you after meeting you just once. The restaurant itself was clean and relatively modern and we were told that the tamales are made fresh twice a day– impressive! They also have vegan and gluten free tamales.
I had a cheese and pork tamale. They were both good, the cheese could have been filled a little more but I wasn’t complaining. We were given a sauce/​salsa that paired nicely with the tamales. Each tamale is $ 2.25 each, which seems a little pricey in my opinion (but that’s probably because I’m used to buying tamales for $ 1.00 in San Jose, CA). What really won me over were the sides, specifically the elote side. It’s a dish made of corn with a mayonnaise-​like and spice topping. The corn is already sliced for you so you don’t have to worry about it getting stuck in between your teeth. I also a side that I would consider nachos (the name escapes me right now). These nachos come with pulled pork and a drizzle of what looked like cheese– these were good too, maybe a little on the dryer side, but good.
Overall, the food is good and the service is excellent. Definitely order the elote.

Sheesh, Riverside-​ians — I’m jealous that not only do you have a dedicated empanada shop, you have a dedicated tamale shop! A tamale shop with lots of vegetarian options on the menu, which never happens at suburban Mexican places!
Since we’d just eaten at the aforementioned empanadUS, we only had room for one tamale each. My mushroom tamale was filled with fresh portobello mushrooms. It was surprisingly spicy and so very delicious paired with the chilled green salsa they give you. For some reason, I don’t see mushroom on the online menu, so it may be a special, but they definitely also have cheese, bean, spinach, broccoli, and special-​order mole tamales.
I loved that they displayed fine art on the walls — wouldn’t have expected that! The owner was friendly and happy to chat with us.