Yelp recently released a list of the best tamale in every single state, and lucky for us, we have tamale royalty right here in Los Angeles at Mi Ranchito Veracruz. The NoHo taqueria’s tamales were ranked as the best tamales in California and we can’t wait to dig into a plate of this beloved holiday specialty.
Tamales are a must around Christmas time for many Latin American families in an out of the United States, and the tamalada, or tamale making party, is an annual tradition. The dish is made with a corn-based dough called masa, which is then packed with savory fillings, wrapped in a banana leaf or corn husk, and steamed.
Mi Ranchito Veracruz sells banana leaf-wrapped tamales in their signature “Veracruz style,” but you can also enjoy corn husk-wrapped tamales if you prefer. Fillings include jalapeño and cheese, chicken and tomatillo salsa, chicken and mole, pork and red salsa, pineapple and coconut, and chicharrones (crispy pork skins). Guests love to douse the chicken tamales with Mi Ranchito Veracruz’s rich mole sauce. But consider visiting with a group so you can get a big order with various different flavors to try.
Yelper Avital G. writes, “BEST TAMALES. It’s their specialty and they know their stuff. It’s different because it’s in a banana leaf which may be different for some people but I prefer it now! Makes the tamale so much more moist and less dry.”
To create this tamale-specific ranking, Yelp pulled out the businesses with a large concentration of reviews mentioning “tamale” and then ranked those spots by volume and ratings of said reviews. This is an all-time list, so you can rest assured that Mi Ranchito Veracruz has been a consistent crowd pleaser over the years.