Category Archives: tamales

Mexican food can be a hard nut to crack in my neck of the woods; there’s actually quite a few mexican establishments lining Central Ave NE, but verifying vegan friendly items in a cuisine pollenated with lard, pork, beef, and chicken stock as flavor enhancers can be difficult. Then Maya Cuisine opened, the 5 star reviews started popping up on line, and a lovely friend passed along the word that she knew the owners, and they made the staples with vegetarians in mind. No lard in the tortillas, no pork swimming in the beans, and no beef or chicken stock in the rice. I was sold!
I went for a fast dinner the other night with the husband, and we got 2 “Maya Plates”; a heap of rice and beans, with your choice of 3 single items- tacos, tostadas, or tamales. We had a savory tamale and a taco each, I had a sweet tamale, and he had a tostada. The tostadas and the sweet tamales were my favorite! I’ve never had a sweet tamale before, but mine was studded with pineapple and raisins and laced with coconut, making it like a cross between a dumpling and cake. Heavenly.
It’s definitely lunch counter style with plenty of seating, so no fancy dates. But the prices are perfect, and the service is fast and staffed by some lovely people.

My only real complaint is the abundance of styrofoam and disposable paper products- none of our meal was on something reusable, besides the tray.

Pina con Coco Tamale- the other sweet version had peaches and strawberries, which I’m dying to try!