The ever-present gripe of any Latin American looking for good tamales is that they are all masa and don't have enough filling.
That is not the case here. They will not skimp on any of it, and the idea of getting a great tamal made with banana leaves in Portland is always exciting.
I would say that there's a bit of American influence in that the rajas tamal, which has corn, has American sweet corn. The cochinita tamal Is delicious and the cochinita is legit good, but it does have a little bit of sweetness that you wouldn't find in Mexico.
Overall though, it's a solid deal as you get a huge tamal and despite some slight criticism it's still 5 star worthy.
Not sure if the masa has lard. There are vegetarian options if the masa is lard-free but if you are strict you should ask.
Matthew Bjorke
Great spot, tasty food, kind staff.
Space is clean, cleanliness is appreciated.
C-dUb W
I’ve only ever gotten take out. The food is okay. I always get a vegetarian bowl and the last time I had the cauliflower and potato, the cauliflower was almost completely raw and the potatoes were a little crunchy……disappointing.
Eric Donaldson
Always the best tamales and Mexican in town! We had them cater our wedding last year, and the guests and ourselves couldn't have been happier with our choice.
Yesenia
Tamales were huge. And they were stuffed with a ton of meat. They were tasty. I ordered the chicken tinga, a Mole one and a red pork one. They were all full of flavor. I love mole but this mole tamale was more on the sweet end. I prefer my mole spicy. But I still enjoyed it.
The horchata was super sweet. I wanna try it in the cold brew! I think that would taste amazing! I'll definitely be back and im getting the cold brew horchata!
j bucky
I have been here a three times now. The tamales are amazing. the flavors top notch, the beans are also a buttery delicious top chef treat. my only criticism is that the Mole tamale is a little dry and id probably avoid that, which is a shame because I love mole. Eat in or take away is all good.
Robin Swearingen
We stopped by on a Wednesday night because my daughter was desperate to find a good tamale on her birthday. The woman (an owner?) At the front was incredibly sweet and welcoming. She helped us find the perfect selection and the tamales did not disappoint. They were huge and absolutely amazing. When we got our food home we were so happily surprised that she snuck a little flan cake for the birthday girl into the bag without us noticing. Thank you! We’ll be back soon.
Jordan B
Delicious.
Thew (Unlikely)
Honestly the food fluctuates from being Okay to sometimes good. Same with the service. It's the best thing in the immediate area if you're within walking distance
Jean Horton
I had the carnitas quesadilla and my friend had the burrito Del Mar with creamy sauce. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS and huge portions!!! Big menu. Real sugar coke in the glass bottle. I was just passing through and am sad because I would eat here all the time.
Tamale Boy used to be incredible. It wasn’t just a place to grab food, it was one of the best and most authentic restaurants in Portland. I used to go out of my way to recommend it, to talk about how much care went into the menu, how the seasonal dishes felt intentional, how the flavors actually had depth. It was a place you could count on.
That’s not the case anymore. I don’t know what happened behind the scenes, but something shifted, and not in a small way. The quality has completely fallen apart. The tinga de pollo, which used to have rich, smoky, balanced flavor, now tastes bland and off. The texture isn’t right. The queso fundido, which was once an absolute highlight, now tastes like someone mixed heavy cream with green food coloring and called it a day. No depth, no seasoning, just a pale imitation of what it used to be. And the rice? It honestly tastes like it came from a bag.
On top of that, the customer service has gone downhill too. If something’s out of stock, fine, that happens, but replacing it with whatever’s left without telling people? That’s not just bad service, it’s lazy. And let’s talk about the prices. They’ve skyrocketed, and for what? If the quality was still there, I wouldn’t care, but you can’t charge premium prices for something that tastes like an afterthought.
I fully believe that when they opened Colibri, they either pulled all the good cooks from Tamale Boy or just stopped caring about keeping it at the same standard. It doesn’t feel like anyone’s putting in the effort anymore. The attention to detail is gone. The love that made this place special is gone.
I had it yesterday, and it was the last time. I won’t be back. It’s honestly disappointing to see a place that used to be so good fall this hard. If the changes they made were worth it to them, good for them. But as a customer, they weren’t.
Christian Tello Villegas
Amazing and authentic 👍🏽
Nathan Payton
I can’t speak to the atmosphere because we ordered out, but oh my gosh these are GREAT tamales.
Emily Ryan
We hired Tamale Boy to cater our wedding (including bar service) and they just knocked it out of the park. Luci was an absolute joy to work with and all our guests raved about the food. It was not your typical stuff or meh wedding food but absolutely delicious and a fun way to show off a local favorite to our out-of-town guest. We look forward to many future visits to Tamale Boy while reminiscing about our wedding!
Robyn Jensen
I just had two chicken mole tamales with tomatillo sauce from the food truck today on Ne 9th Ave and they are amazingly delicious! Huge! Yummy! Now I need to go to the brick & mortar restaurant for more to try.
The ever-present gripe of any Latin American looking for good tamales is that they are all masa and don't have enough filling.
That is not the case here. They will not skimp on any of it, and the idea of getting a great tamal made with banana leaves in Portland is always exciting.
I would say that there's a bit of American influence in that the rajas tamal, which has corn, has American sweet corn. The cochinita tamal Is delicious and the cochinita is legit good, but it does have a little bit of sweetness that you wouldn't find in Mexico.
Overall though, it's a solid deal as you get a huge tamal and despite some slight criticism it's still 5 star worthy.
Not sure if the masa has lard. There are vegetarian options if the masa is lard-free but if you are strict you should ask.
Great spot, tasty food, kind staff.
Space is clean, cleanliness is appreciated.
I’ve only ever gotten take out. The food is okay.
I always get a vegetarian bowl and the last time I had the cauliflower and potato, the cauliflower was almost completely raw and the potatoes were a little crunchy……disappointing.
Always the best tamales and Mexican in town! We had them cater our wedding last year, and the guests and ourselves couldn't have been happier with our choice.
Tamales were huge. And they were stuffed with a ton of meat. They were tasty. I ordered the chicken tinga, a Mole one and a red pork one. They were all full of flavor. I love mole but this mole tamale was more on the sweet end. I prefer my mole spicy. But I still enjoyed it.
The horchata was super sweet. I wanna try it in the cold brew! I think that would taste amazing! I'll definitely be back and im getting the cold brew horchata!
I have been here a three times now. The tamales are amazing. the flavors top notch, the beans are also a buttery delicious top chef treat. my only criticism is that the Mole tamale is a little dry and id probably avoid that, which is a shame because I love mole. Eat in or take away is all good.
We stopped by on a Wednesday night because my daughter was desperate to find a good tamale on her birthday. The woman (an owner?) At the front was incredibly sweet and welcoming. She helped us find the perfect selection and the tamales did not disappoint. They were huge and absolutely amazing. When we got our food home we were so happily surprised that she snuck a little flan cake for the birthday girl into the bag without us noticing. Thank you! We’ll be back soon.
Delicious.
Honestly the food fluctuates from being Okay to sometimes good. Same with the service. It's the best thing in the immediate area if you're within walking distance
I had the carnitas quesadilla and my friend had the burrito Del Mar with creamy sauce. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS and huge portions!!! Big menu. Real sugar coke in the glass bottle. I was just passing through and am sad because I would eat here all the time.
Restaurantji Recommends
Tamale Boy used to be incredible. It wasn’t just a place to grab food, it was one of the best and most authentic restaurants in Portland. I used to go out of my way to recommend it, to talk about how much care went into the menu, how the seasonal dishes felt intentional, how the flavors actually had depth. It was a place you could count on.
That’s not the case anymore. I don’t know what happened behind the scenes, but something shifted, and not in a small way. The quality has completely fallen apart. The tinga de pollo, which used to have rich, smoky, balanced flavor, now tastes bland and off. The texture isn’t right. The queso fundido, which was once an absolute highlight, now tastes like someone mixed heavy cream with green food coloring and called it a day. No depth, no seasoning, just a pale imitation of what it used to be. And the rice? It honestly tastes like it came from a bag.
On top of that, the customer service has gone downhill too. If something’s out of stock, fine, that happens, but replacing it with whatever’s left without telling people? That’s not just bad service, it’s lazy. And let’s talk about the prices. They’ve skyrocketed, and for what? If the quality was still there, I wouldn’t care, but you can’t charge premium prices for something that tastes like an afterthought.
I fully believe that when they opened Colibri, they either pulled all the good cooks from Tamale Boy or just stopped caring about keeping it at the same standard. It doesn’t feel like anyone’s putting in the effort anymore. The attention to detail is gone. The love that made this place special is gone.
I had it yesterday, and it was the last time. I won’t be back. It’s honestly disappointing to see a place that used to be so good fall this hard. If the changes they made were worth it to them, good for them. But as a customer, they weren’t.
Amazing and authentic 👍🏽
I can’t speak to the atmosphere because we ordered out, but oh my gosh these are GREAT tamales.
We hired Tamale Boy to cater our wedding (including bar service) and they just knocked it out of the park. Luci was an absolute joy to work with and all our guests raved about the food. It was not your typical stuff or meh wedding food but absolutely delicious and a fun way to show off a local favorite to our out-of-town guest. We look forward to many future visits to Tamale Boy while reminiscing about our wedding!
I just had two chicken mole tamales with tomatillo sauce from the food truck today on Ne 9th Ave and they are amazingly delicious! Huge! Yummy! Now I need to go to the brick & mortar restaurant for more to try.
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