Announcer: Authentic Mexican food, the kind that is more than cheese smothered on tortilla, is easy to come by in the City of Destiny.  Plenty of hard working, skilled cooks from Mexico have made a home here, and have introduced us to the amazing flavors from their kitchens, including Los Tamales in Tacoma

Jason: The restaurant is large and open, so a little cold on a rainy night.  It's tastefully decorated.  I loved the salsa bar with a mad scientist opportunity to mix and match flavors to get the "heat" just right.  The chips are decent, but the real fun is playing with the concoctions of sauce.

Jake:  You don't have to tell me twice that there is a new place in Tacoma that makes made to order authentic tamales.  The ease of the location off a main drag in East Tacoma simply made it that much more appealing.

Jason: I have never seen a selection of tamales like Los Tamales offers.  They have the traditional vegetarian corn tamales served in a corn husk, but also jalapeño and cheese and chicken in a verde sauce - seven in total.  

Jake: Naturally, I ordered the tamale plate which included two tamales in either chicken or pork, red or green sauce, and a side of rice and beans.  The tamales were filled with tender and flavorful chicken or pork that had been slow cooked to perfection, and then covered in sweet cornmeal and wrapped in a traditional corn husk. After the first bite, I contemplated ordering a second plate because it was so scrumptious.

Jason: I liked my classic sweet corn tamale, but I was a bit disappointed it arrived tepid.  The cheese enchilada I also ordered was leaning towards the cold side.  The plate arrived really fast, and I wonder if it could have used a few more minutes in the oven.

Jake: Tamales are not the only star on the menu at Los Tamales; the chicken floutas are just as tender but with a crunchy deep fried flour tortilla shell.  A serving of four is then topped with house made salsa, sour cream, and quite possibly the best guacamole I've ever tasted.

Jason: Los Tamales makes a mean torta (sandwich), too.  The torta was large in a classic sense with succulent pork and spice - just a perfect combination of flavors. Loved it.

Jake:  Finally, if you have a sweet tooth, but haven't left room for dessert, then you are in luck.  Directly next to the soda machine is a Horchata dispenser filled with the sweet and creamy Mexican cinnamon drink with just a hint of vanilla.  A perfect addition to a spicy meal.

LOS TAMALES, 1018 E. 72nd St., Tacoma 253.301.0849