Frelard Tamales — Restaurant in Seattle

Super bummed by my experience today. We pre-order tamales every year for the holidays. My wife & I love supporting a queer, immigrant-owned business as we’re queer & my wife is a Latina immigrant, too!

I carefully read the instructions in the email for pick up before stopping by as I know they’re slammed this time of year. The email didn’t say anything about where to go for pick up, & since I’ve picked up the past few holiday orders at the previous location’s service window, that’s where I went.

At the window, there was a sign saying the window was closed for takeout orders with a handwritten note below that said “pre-order pick up only!!!” Since I had pre-ordered, I waved to one of the workers at the window.

They yelled at me through the glass to “go through the door.” I was confused since the sign said pre-order pick up, so I pointed to it & said I had a pre-order. They continued to yell at me through the closed window. When they finally did open the window, they snapped at me to “go through the front door” without so much as a “hello.” I tried to explain my confusion, but instead of listening or empathizing, they snapped at me again. I was frustrated & upset at being barked at, so I responded with, “that says pre-order pick up, so you should probably take that down if you don’t want people walking up to the window.” As I walked away, they slammed the window shut while saying “oh my GOD!!” to their co-workers in an exasperated & annoyed tone.

When I came around into the empty restaurant to pick up my order, the same person came to help me. Their attitude towards me was just not very kind & when they brought out my order, it was in a wet paper bag with no handles. Everything had just been dumped in, rather than stacked or organized.

I get that a $100 pre-order is nothing for a successful business. However, being treated as if I was stupid & not worthy of their help/kindness didn’t feel great.

Three ways this interaction could have been avoided or made better: Put in the emailed instructions that the window will be closed & that we should come inside. Add clearer signage. Something that says, “Takeout window closed today! Please come inside to order takeout. Pre-ordered your tamales? We’ll gladly help you inside!” If someone comes up to the window, don’t yell at them through it. Open the window and say, “hi! Our takeout window is closed today. If you pre-ordered, please come inside so we...

I went to Frelard for the first time in August of 2023. It was suggested on a gluten-free app I bought for those of us who have Celiac.

If you don't wish to read this whole post, please read the most important ♡♡♡ at the end.

We bought over $100.00 in food because I wanted some for the freezer for later.

We ate in the car; the pork tamales had a lot more meat and flavor than the *chicken. Normally, I prefer chicken, but this tasted like it had no seasoning at all, I wasn't even sure there was chicken in it at all! It was underwhelming, but the pork was delish!

If you set food on your lap to eat as I did, know the container is paper and will leak and soak into your clothing. Put something waterproof on your lap first. My bad.

*The tamales we had frozen for later were too salty. I think the lack of flavor in the chicken we had in the car may have been put in the ones we took home. Mixed with our own beans balanced out the flavors, and it was very good!

The beans and rice that came with our meal were sooo good! I don't know how they did it, but they didn't produce flatulence later either!

I also ordered watermelon juice, which was reeely nice on a hot day, but the container they put the large drink in was a teeely Large, it was a soup container and I had no place to put it while I ate. I don't know if they ran out of tall cups or what, but it's an interesting choice for a drink. It was difficult to take the lid off, and I worried it would spill. Ask to see the container sizes before ordering.

There is no indoor or outdoor seating, but this is a popular place because the food is good!

Parking was a challenge, I am a wheelchair user. The streets are steep, and there is little parking. But if you wait near the parking in front of the restaurant, it is more level and people don't stay there long.

I recommend you brush up on your Spanish too because no one spoke English.

All in all, I did like the food. Even with the inconveniences of lap oil, salt, and awkward drink cups, we had a fun and mostly tasty meal, and I will go there again.

♡♡♡ Another reason I will support this place is because they will feed anyone who is hungry, no questions asked. No one would ever go hungry if all...

First off the tamales are good which is why I’ve been going there for at least a year and am happy spending ~$6+ for a single tamale.

The service however is awful and they only do takeout which says quite a bit.

I had a recent family gathering where I purchased upwards of $80 worth of tamales on a single order. I went through a heated 5 min conversation on condiments.

For a single order of tamales, you get small containers of “complimentary” salsa, veggies, and cream. (We don’t eat the cream and only get the salsa and veggies). It doesn’t matter how many tamales you add to your order, you get the same amount. We asked for a few more salsas (+2 additional containers) since we ordered $80+ worth of tamales and the response, “it doesn’t work like that”. He asked for us to buy salsa sides separately since the small quantity they give you is complimentary and they are doing you a favor. I asked if I ordered each tamale separately as a single order then I would get condiments for each? That was meant with snarky “some people are just difficult“ comments and an eye roll. Afterwards, he just stared at us and said nothing…We got the food and left.

What are we doing here? We’ve gone here at least 3-4 times per month at around $25+ an order. It’s always a battle about condiments depending on the cashier. Am I really getting one over on this business for condiments on $25-$80 orders? Mind you, I’m not asking for buckets of salsa but literally an additional small container. Oh, and it’s takeout, and we usually tip a few dollars.

This was over a month ago and we haven’t been back. We won’t be going back.That single interaction has ruined this place for us. That’s your policy then fine (it’s bad) but dealing with snarky comments...