That's One Hot Tamale!
Riverside’s Tamale Factory makes up for any deficiencies with great food
By: Bill Gerdes
It’s best to appreciate restaurants for what they are and not ask them to be something they’re not. Yet, similarly to our tendencies of thought towards people, we sometimes wish for something different or better. So let me harp on a few negatives about the Tamale Factory before I wax profusely on its virtues. Here we go.
For one thing: A cafeteria? The Tamale Factory takes quality food, a great location and a fine ambiance and somehow manages to turn it into a glorified high school lunch line. Therefore, a restaurant that could vie for the most pleasant casual dining in the IE doesn’t. For another, a full bar would help.
Luckily the positives . . . well . . . overwhelm the negatives.
I went there on a toasty Tuesday feeling burdened with obligations, with an intense bitterness over the way the Lakers/Celtics series had went down, and the knowledge I was leaving the country for six weeks in a few days. In short, I was a mess. The Tamale Factory helped heal me in a small way. It starts with the feel of the place—it’s relaxed, brightly lit, with a nice little patio featuring iron grating and red umbrellas, with the downtown lunch crowd walking by, every last old lady and youthful hipster. Despite it’s cafeterical shades, it’s a pleasant place to have lunch.
The service was wonderful—the staff was quite pleasant and very helpful on the day I was there. Maybe they were Celtics fans. Anyway, they took my order, and answered my annoying questions with a smile on their face. The food runs the gamut from the merely adequate to the “delicious as possible for a deli setup.” My chicken salad was fresh, healthy—it’s been awhile since I’ve seen lima beans in a salad—and fine tasting, even if it did lack a little oomph. Still, with surprisingly tasty pinto beans and strips of lightly peppered chicken the salad made for a rather large meal, especially after I’d scarfed down so many of the memorable chips and salsa. The chips are light, slightly salted, and come in portions small enough you won’t totally blow your appetite. The salsa is chunky, almost hearkening back to the type every gringo family put on tacos in the ’80s, but with a refined smoky flavor.
Of course with a name like Tamale Factory one expects deliciously wrapped chicken and pork, seasoned perfectly in spicy yet sweet Colorado sauce, and wrapped up in a quality corn casing. And here the Factory doesn’t disappoint—their pork tamales feature delicate shards of amazing pork—pork I greedily wanted there to be more of. The only downside with the tamales, if there has to be one, is the price—four bucks for a tamale is a tad bit steep.
It’s easy to quibble with The Tamale Factory; far better to look on the bright side. The joint features a prime location for people watching, an amazing staff, and quality grub (including breakfast), —and hey, there’s just no accounting for taste.
The Tamale Factory, 3663 Main Street, Riverside, (951) 342-3023, Mon–Friday, 7AM–2PM
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