Tamale House East

The quintessential Austin Tex-Mex experience - not only a tradition, but a standout that would be tops even if it had just opened its doors today.

The place and atmosphere are very warm and inviting. The lady that took our order was very helpful and the lady that brought our food was very nice, too. The food, though, was very disappointing. One dish was a vegetarian tamale with green salsa and the other dish was a chicken tamale with green salsa. Both tamales were on the heavy side in terms of batter. The chicken in mine was very dry and both tamales lacked taste on their own. The salsa that accompanied both dishes were not fresh and bubbly. We had ordered a bean, cheese, and jalapeño tamale to share as well, but sadly it only had beans inside. Heavy on the batter and no taste. The batter might have been old too. It might just have been those dishes that came out bad because the group next to us enjoyed theirs, but I don’t think we’ll be giving this another try. Parking: Onsite, free parking

Big giant tamales and margaritas

I’ve eaten from Tamale House 2 times. Both of those times, my tamales had plastic cooked inside the tamale. First time I ordered a dozen to freeze and the first one I ate I found a bunch of plastic. I opened up another and same thing. I did call them to let them know and was told this was a prep issue but was assured it was a one time thing with that specific batch of tamales. Fast forward to 10 months later, where I ordered 2 tamales to go (yesterday). I was shocked to AGAIN find plastic cooked inside the tamale as I was almost finished with the second. This is now pretty concerning to me and should be addressed to the staff since this is a food safety issue. I’ve attached screenshots with the dates showing when these pictures took place. I am Mexican and it’s hard to find delicious tamales in the US, and the tamales here taste like home, but I’m really weirded out by the plastic I keep finding INSIDE the tamales!! Be careful and inspect your tamales closely.

Love this place! Great for brunch or dinner. There is plenty of seating inside or outside, and food is delicious. Patio is dog friendly. Vegetarian options: Great options for our vegetarian friends. Something to easily accommodate everyone. Dietary restrictions: Great for gluten free options

Never got my meal other ppl in my party did but not mine!!!! I got offered a taco to go not my meal.

Delicious tamales and the best salsa! We ordered the 6 tamale combo and tried the pork, chicken and bean & cheese.

A locally owned, long standing small business that if you come to Austin it is a must. Don’t be discouraged by the humble space the food is AMAZING and the owners are beaming with kindness. Keep Austin weird and the food local

Really great place. The service was good, and the food was amazing.