Tamales Lilianas — Restaurant in East Los Angeles

It is a big shame how badly this restaurant has gone down hill. About 15 years ago when I was taken to this restaurant by a friend for the first time, the food was very delicious and the food tasted as if it was home made with some of the best food prices in town. I frequented the restaurant often back in the day, until I eventually moved to Orange County and it became a bit difficult to visit. During my absence years later my family had informed me that the restaurants food quality had gone downhill. They also told me that they weren't going there any longer because of the food quality and prices.

Fast forward to January 2025 when I decided to visit and judge for myself if this place was still regressing or progressing from what I had experienced before. I ordered lengua, guacamole and a sweet tamale. Unfortunately the beef tongue was very tough and a bit dry. The sweet tamale was burned pretty bad. I told the waitress and she informed me that they were almost all that way. But she went to the kitchen to try and fetch a better tamale. Yes it was a bit better but that tamale was also burned and the flavor was off. That late afternoon I had ordered with my wife 2 main dishes, ½ guacamole order, 1 sweeter tamale, 1 small pork taco and 2 large horchatas all for the wonderful price of $84. At that price we can shell out an extra $20 and we could've enjoyed some high quality food at another restaurant.

Look folks, I don't mind paying premium prices for premium food n service, but when u serve sh!t quality food and you charge premium prices I feel taken advantage of and that's not cool. But I don't blame anyone but the owner who made lots of money many years ago and is now complacent and could care less.

Maybe other dishes are good, but that afternoon both my dishes sucked pretty bad.

Good luck to anyone frequenting this...

I went there in 2015, end of the Year Holiday Season, the Tamales were Dry , Hard, and No Flavor...The Employees were nothing Nice...!! No one was Helpful or Kind...All were Disgruntled...Tired Looking...Confused and Bumping into each Other..., And They Had Forced Valet Parking..!! Needless to Say...with the Dirty, Sticky , Greasy Tables to Set At... I did Not Enjoy Anything About the Place...!! Then This Last week of 2016 ,@ 7:30 Pm...I went to give The Store / Tamale Cafe another Chance... It Only Got Worse...!!! All the Tables Were Empty...But You could Not Set Down to Eat Your Tamales...the Table Area Closed at 6 pm...I was Told..." Only Orders to go "... I took the Tamales Home Right Away...after being Served By Confused...Almost Rude...un-focused , Un-caring Help . .as Usual one hand did not Know what the other hand was doing...they aren't even familiar with the products being Sold....I had to point out in Spanish...what a ( Red Manzana ) in the Cooler Cabinet was...and where it was...it turDifficult be a Nasty - Spicy Tamarindo Spice - Candied Apple...which I did. Not even attempt to Eat ...!! Basically...the Place Totally Sucks...!!! There was No Flavor or Lard / Manteca added to the Tamales...My 14 Tamales of 5 different Types were Dry , Hard, and Difficult to Consume...Simply Disgusting...!!! Needless To Say I will Never Spend My Hard Earned Cash At That Poor Example of a Famous Seasonal Tamaleria...It is Certainly NOT WORTH ANY KIND OF WAIT...ESPECIALLY WITH THE ABSOLUTELY SLOW-Brained Help...and Being Scammed into Valet Parking...SAVE YOUR MONEY...SAVE A DISGUSTING FEELING AT XMAS AND NEW YEARS....FIND A BETTER, Happier...More Efficient, Cleaner Place To Take Your Business....Because THIS PLACE IS HIGHLY OVERR-RATED. . I am...

First time here today; and not a good first impression. I ordered the "bistec a la mexicana." First off, the woman who took my order didn't even offer me a seat; not inside, or outside while I waited. I stood there, standing the whole 15-20 minutes. That's bad customer service. There was only two people eating there at 8:30am. Next, I know bistec can be tough and chewy, but they're cooking it, so why was it Too tough to eat? Hardly any of it was edible. Lots of fatty pieces and rough meat. The taste was excellent. The food was hot and fresh. Came with rice, beans,(and those both tasted great) and three corn tortillas. the tortillas were a bit soggy and stuck to one another. Probably because they were hot when they stacked em on top of one another in a foil. The tortillas were good tasting though. Lastly, when the woman brought my order to me, it was upright, but I opened it immediately in the car, and it was to one side and a pretty sloppy presentation. Juice was all mixed in the beans. I'd eventually eat the beans with the juice and meat, but I'm saying, presentation wise. It means everything that when we get our food, it looks presentable and not sloppy. the champurrado I got was very good. So those things didn't make it a good first time experience. Was this worth the $22 I paid for this plate? No. Not very likely to ever go back. I'm sure they have something I'd like. I did think about trying their huevos con toncino. Or their ham and eggs. But for a customer paying $22 for a plate that didn't even give a good portion of sides, meat that wasn't edible, and didn't even get offered a seat to wait, I won't likely go back. First impressions...