There’s a saying, “The longer the wait, the sweeter the kiss,” and it applies to so many things: a cold beer at the end of a long hike, a first victory after a string of defeats and, of course, tamales.
Tamales?
Yes, tamales, but not just any tamales. Rancho Bravo tamales.
It all began (as so many adventures do) with an off-hand comment from Hoyt: “Have you tried the Rancho Bravo tamales?”
As long-time Wallingford residents, we’re as aware as any of the awesomeness that is the Rancho Bravo taco truck, occupying the southwest corner of Winchell’s parking lot, and we’ve sampled most of their fare: tacos, burritos, quesadillas, we’ve even opted for tripe as the meat, qualifying ourselves as daring (in our own eyes). But no, we had never tried the tamales.
“Good luck,” Hoyt explained. “My housemate Nicole has, many times. She walks up, orders her tamales, they say ‘what kind?’ and off she goes. But me, I go up to the window, doesn’t matter what time of day, and the answer is always the same: ‘no, no tamales’.”
Apparently, you have to order them in advance (and, as we soon learned, even this isn’t always enough). But, Hoyt claims, he’s tried this.
He: Can I order tamales?
She: Mmmmm…I don’t know. Maybe next week.
The math here was obvious: hard to get = desirable. We had to have it!
The next day, we sauntered up to the truck window and asked as casually as we could if we might not purchase some tamales.
No, no tamales.
When we asked whether we could order them, we got the same non-committal response as Hoyt. And then we spotted the sign, hidden in plain sight under the window:
Los Tamales
Si usted desea hacer una orden especial de tamales por favor habla con la cajera o envia un e-mail al [email protected].
Aha! The tamales would surely be ours in no time! We rushed home and shot off an e-mail to [email protected], requesting more information.
We know we are already well past making a long story short, but we will still spare you some of the details of what transpired next.
Imagine, if you will, an old-movie style montage of e-mails going back and forth over the next several weeks, frustrating delays at each step: yes, we could order tamales. What kind? Chicken, pork or veggie-and-cheese. Was there a minimum order? Yes, one dozen of each type. How much did they cost? $17 / dozen. Could we have them for tomorrow? No, at least two days in advance. OK, then yes, two dozen tamales, one dozen pork, one dozen veggie-and-cheese for Tuesday. Yes, good!
Tuesday rolled around, and a hungry group of taste testers were assembled. At 11:30 am, we mounted our bike, rode to the truck and proudly asked for the tamales we had on orden especial.
No, no tamales.
“But, but,” we sputtered, “we ordered them!” Still, there were no tamales there, and home we went, crestfallen and tamale-less.
Freddy, the man at the other end of the [email protected], was very sorry and embarrassed. He offered to give us a dozen free (an offer that, when all was said and done, was not communicated to the truck, but we do not grudge them this). We rescheduled for the following Tuesday.
This time, all went without a hitch. We brought our own container to fill with their delicious salsa, we hitched up our bike trailer to carry our loot, we collected it and enjoyed the awe with which the other customers gazed upon us: who was this strapping young man, they seemed to wonder, so cool and confident, who is able to pull two dozen tamales from the window that refuses tamales to all?
At home, the feast began. The tamales were…sweeter for the wait. Unwrapping the delicate corn husk from around meaty interior was a pleasure in itsef. The masa filling was rich, hearty and warm, delicious even without the filling. The filling was spicy, exotic, a varied meal in each bite. In the veggie and cheese, the peppers were perfectly roasted and the cheese had a salty tang to it that left us wondering whether it wasn’t actually flavorful chicken. The pork was everything it should be and nothing it shouldn’t.
So, people, my advice to you: order the tamales. Order the tamales and order them now. Someday, you too will get them, and it will be a good day.
E-mail [email protected]. $17 / dozen, pork, chicken or veggie-cheese. A dozen feeds three to five, depending on appetites.
I will second this. They are so, so, so good. Never gone the e-mail route; I figure it’s kind of like a slot machine when I walk up to the truck and try my luck. More often than not it’s cherries/lemon/bar, but that rare jackpot (sheer luck) makes it all the more worthwhile.
As fantastic as the tamales are (and they are fantastic), I would give special mention to the chicken mole enchilada. It is sublime. Be warned – though not quite as elusive as the tamales, the mole is not always available.
Correction to my last post – it’s the mole burrito you’re after – not enchilada.
I’ve had the tamales and I’m going to say that they’re only ok. I’m not a huge tamale fan anyway, but these were not the best I’ve had. I do love the truck, though– I’m there sometimes multiple times a week for burritos, bean+rice bowls, and quesadillas.
Does anyone know where I can get Tex-Mex style “Breakfast tacos”? Potatoes, egg, cheese, bacon or sausage or mole in a small flour tortilla? In Austin 6 years ago you could get them for $1.25 (they were small — 2 was a good sized breakfast).
Help! 😉
Glad to hear the tamales and burritos are good there. I’m a taco man myself, and I have to say I was quite disappointed on the taco front there. They are about double the price of any other taco truck around, and the tacos were total mush and stuck to the plate the one time I ordered there. In their defense, may visit was shortly after they opened, so they may not have quite had it down yet. Maybe I will venture back and try something else 🙂
¡Viva la taco truck!
¡Way to rock the upside-down exclamation mark, Doug!