With Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror, it’s time to turn our attention to the next major holiday – Christmas. And in the Southwest, Christmas means tamales.
If you’ve ever tried to make your own tamales, you know what a labor-intensive process it can be. Fortunately, several East Valley restaurants sell uncooked tamales to go.
You sometimes can order a dozen and pick them up the same day, but in most cases you’re going to have to give the restaurant at least 24 hours’ notice.
La Ristra: $25 per dozen for red beef or green corn. Call the Gilbert restaurant at 480-545-2880.
Serrano’s: $24.99 per dozen. Call the restaurant nearest you in Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, or Queen Creek.
El Palacio: $40 for a dozen tamales, pint of salsa, pint of guacamole, and bag of chips. Call the Chandler restaurant at 480-802-5770.
Carolina’s: $8.75 per half-dozen or $17.55 per dozen for red beef, green chicken, or green corn. Call the Mesa restaurant at 480-912-3420.
Los Dos Molinos: $25 per dozen for carne adovada, red chile beef, blue corn, green chile chicken or green chile (plain). Call Mesa restaurant at 480-969-7475.
Someburro’s: $24 per dozen for red beef or green corn. Call the restaurant nearest you in Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, or Queen Creek.
Espo’s: $24 per dozen for red beef or green chile with cheese. Call Chandler restaurant at 480-588-7377.
Old El Paso Tamales: $7.99 per half-dozen or $14.99 per dozen for chicken, pork, beef, corn, green chile, spinach, or dulce (sweet). Call the east Mesa restaurant at 480-844-0477.
Mother’s Tamales: $10 per half-dozen or $19.99 per dozen for green chicken, red beef, red pork, corn, or jalapeno and cheese. Call the east Mesa restaurant at 480-969-5312.
Tukee’s Tamales: $16 per half-dozen or $25 per dozen for red pork, green corn with cheese, or spiced chicken with red and green masa. Email orders to Tukeestamales@gmail.com for pickup at Dec. 22 pop-up.
