PORTLAND EATS: TAMALE BOY
We’re pretty serious about Mexican food or Tex-Mex or anything that has to do with tacos, burritos, chips, salsa, you name it…. I mean look at my face. 😂 During our last trip to Portland, Tyler and I knew we wanted to find a place to have really good Mexican food. It’s hard to find good Mexican food in New York and it’s incredibility difficult for my brother to find Mexican food in Korea.
We skimmed through our Fodor’s Travel Oregon Guide (we love Fodor’s Guides) and wrote down Tamale Boy. It was the first stop we made after arriving in Portland. We got off the plane, headed to our hotel, found my brother (he arrived the day before,) and then headed to eat… we were starving.
LOCATION & PARKING
Tamale Boy has two locations, we visited the Dekum location… it was closest to our hotel. It’s nestled in a cute little neighborhood (which there are like tones of restaurants in neighborhoods in Portland, it’s amazing.) Parking is limited to street parking around the neighborhood…. we arrived around 3:30pm, so we didn’t have any issues finding a spot. Keep parking in mind if you visit during the dinner hour.
INSIDE
There is plenty of room inside and they have outdoor seating which is super nice. We opted to sit inside because it was kind of chilly. Because we went between lunch and dinner it was also pretty quiet, so we were able to order right away. You order and pay at the counter and if you opt for water like we did, they have self serving water areas, which I loved.
TASTE
Tyler and I both ordered bowls or Naked Burritos which were amazing. I highly recommend getting it.
BURRITO ENCUERADO: All the components of our burritos, but without the tortilla. Your choice of tinga de res, tinga de pollo, carnitas, or hongo y epazote. Served with rice, black beans, pico de gallo. Topped with guacamole and kale mix.
My brother ordered a classic burrito but it was topped with chocolate sauce. I tried the sauce and it was so good! We also ordered guacamole which did not disappointment. Overall it so good with an authentic taste and fresh ingredients.
PRICE
Totally reasonable, check out there menu and prices here.
JUST FOR FUN
Right our side of Tamale Boy is a wising tree… like write your wish on a slip of paper and tie it to the tree. This was super fun and so Portland. There are so many things like this around the city.
