Masa Party

Top tamale spots in Dallas to stock up for 2013 holidays

Tamales from El Ranchito on Jefferson Boulevard in Dallas.

Photo courtesy of El Ranchito
Blue Goose Cantina has tamales to-go.

Photo courtesy of Blue Goose Cantina
At Urban Taco, you can get your tamales to go or eat them in the restaurant.

Photo courtesy of Urban Taco
Hot Damn Tamales in Fort Worth is worth the drive.

Photo courtesy of Hot Damn Tamales

Enjoying tamales during the holidays is a tradition for many Texans, regardless of birthplace. Making tamales is time-intensive. Buying tamales, not so much. Then again, you'll probably find lines at some of these veteran tamale spots.

In any case, here's our list of where to get tamales in Dallas. Most of these vendors require pre-ordering, but will sell whatever's left to walk-ups, depending on availability.

Agave Tamale Company, 106 N. Lambert St., Granbury. 817-579-7600.
Open 11 am to 4 pm Christmas Eve; closed Christmas Day. No pre-orders and limited availability.
Fillings: Pork, beef and chicken
Price: $18 for 10

Blue Goose, five locations, including Addison, Frisco, Greenville Avenue, Highland Village and Plano. 214-823-8339.
Open until 4 pm Christmas Eve; closed Christmas Day.
Fillings: Pork with chile con carne sauce, and chicken with jalapeño and Jack cheese
Price: $20 a dozen

Cantina Laredo, six locations in North Texas, including Addison, Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco, Grapevine and Lewisville. 214-265-1610.
Pick-up times on December 23 and 24.
Fillings: Chicken and beef
Price: $16.95 a dozen

Dallas Tortilla and Tamale Factory, 309 N. Marsalis Ave., Dallas. 214-821-8854.
Open until 8 pm Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Fillings: Pork, beef, chicken, pork and jalapeño, beef and jalapeño
Price: $8.95 per dozen warm; $7 cold.

El Ranchito, 610 W. Jefferson Blvd., Dallas. 214-946-4238.
December 20-22 and December 27-29.
Fillings: Pork, Sanchez family recipe
Price: $12 a dozen

Hot Damn Tamales, 713 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth. 817-926-9909.
Open until 2 pm Christmas Eve; closed Christmas Day.
Fillings: Tenderloin, shrimp, black bean and cheese, poblano corn, mushroom and goat cheese, cranberry-jalapeño, chocolate, and more
Price: $20-$30 per dozen

La Popular Tamale House, 5004 Columbia Ave., Dallas. 214-824-7617.
Open noon-7 pm Christmas Eve; 10 am to 1 pm Christmas Day. (Farmers Market location opens at 10 am.)
Fillings: Pork, pork and jalapeño, spicy beef, chicken-tomatillo, mixed vegetables, beans and jalapeño. Black-eyed pea available December 26-31.
Price: 12-$13 a dozen

Lopez Tortillas & Tamales, 9727 Brockbank Dr., Dallas 214-353-9538.
Open Christmas Eve until noon; closed Christmas Day.
Fillings: Chicken, pork, rajas (peppers and cheese), raisin
Price: $10 a dozen

Luna's Tortilla Factory, 8424 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas. 214-747-2661.
Open Christmas Eve until 3 pm, but only for pre-orders.
Fillings: Pork, beef, chicken, bean, spinach, cheese-jalapeño, cinnamon-raisin
Price: $14 a dozen

The Tamale Company, at Eatzi's, Jimmy 's Foods, Rudolph's Meat Market, Celebration Market, Cox's Farms, Green Spot, Bolsa Mercado. 214-233-6392.
Hours depend on store.
Fillings: Pork, chicken-tomatillo, beef, cheese-jalapeño, vegan
Price: $13-14 a dozen

Urban Taco
Both locations (Mockingbird Station and McKinney Avenue in Uptown) are celebrating the annual 12 Days of Tamales, a special menu of tamales with a new flavor every day, available through December 24. Place a to-go order for any flavor with 24 hours notice.
Price: Minimum one dozen for $16.95

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Wings News

New chicken wing joint sells 'em by the pound in Dallas' Deep Ellum

Wings By the Pound

A no-nonsense wing spot has debuted in Dallas' Deep Ellum: Called Wings By the Pound, it sells exactly that, at a shop at 2707 Main St., in the former home of the Slutty Vegan burger joint, which closed in 2024.

Wings by the Pound states proudly that it "isn't a combo joint" but is instead "a counter built on one idea — call your weight, watch it hit the scale, and take it off the scale." Then presumably you take it home, you eat it, end of story.

It presents itself as an alternative to typical wing spots which sell wings by the number. Numbers are complicated.

"We sell you weight. Pick wings or tenders, call your poundage from a half-pound to four, and we weigh it up in front of you," they say.

From there it's the standard wing-joint set of choices: wings or tenders, level of heat, sauces, and sides. "No combos, no guessing," they brag, although is there a lot of guessing with wings?

Here's some very specific numbers:

One pound of wings, which they approximate at 12 pieces, is $15.05. Two pounds, or 24 pieces, is $27.11.
One pound of tenders, which they approximate at 8 pieces, is $17.02. Two pounds, or 16 pieces, is $25.06.

They also sell french fries — crinkle cut — in choice of plain, cheese sauce, or "pound sauce" for $8 to $15. Pound sauce is their version of the prototypical secret sauce, which generally boils down to Russian-ish dressing, i.e., mayonnaise and ketchup with various add-ins, spicy and otherwise; the version at Wings By the Pound incorporates hot sauce.

There are wet sauces, including Thai, chipotle, hot honey, and garlic Parm; dry rubs, including suya (peanut) and jalapeño-lemon; and five dips: cheese sauce, ranch, bleu cheese, honey mustard, and pound sauce.

Some might recall that there was a Wings By the Pound concept that first debuted in 2020 at Trinity Groves, the restaurant incubator in West Dallas, but that closed in 2022.

This Wings By the Pound is a new concept from ArkDal Hospitality Group, headed by Cary Thompson, Royce Colley, and Mo Wells, which also operates Velour Restaurant in Victory Park.

The location in Deep Ellum has no seating on premise and functions as a take-out spot only. A spokesperson said that the location opened in mid-June.

chicken deep ellum openings

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