A new tamale shop is open near Fort Worth, and business is going ‘like gangbusters’
‘Tis the season for tamales, and that means a crowd at Tommy Tamale Market & Cafe.
The new Keller location opened last month, and owner JoAnn Barker said business is going “amazingly well — like gangbusters.”
That’s dramatically different from most restaurants in a year of a pandemic recession.
But tamales are always good business, and Tommy Tamale’s original Grapevine location has built a statewide reputation.
“We have so many loyal customers, and fortunately, people are going out of their way to support local restaurants,” said Barker, co-founder of a tamale company that began 11 years ago as a roaming truck in Decatur.
Tommy Tamale’s newest location replaced a small Tex-Mex cafe at 208 N. Main St. in Keller, two blocks north of Farm Road 1709.
It has more patio dining than the Grapevine location, plus a small indoor counter for ordering frozen tamales and sauces along with the larger heated outdoor dining area.
Tommy Tamale started as mostly a takeout market selling salsas, spices and tamales. The selection has grown to eight flavors: pork, habanero pork, Hatch pork, chicken, beef, black-bean, pinto and vegan.
But lately, it has become a noted Texas travelers’ cafe, making Yelp.com readers’ list of America’s “Top 100 Places to Eat.”
The menu is simple: tamale plates ($7-$9), burritos, quesadillas and nachos.
This is not your corner cafe with family roots in Mexico and a team in the kitchen rolling the masa for fresh tamales.
Tommy Tamale is very Texan, serving eight flavors of tamales ladled with a large dollop of Texas chili con carne or sunk beneath chili, queso and pico in a tamale “pie” or bowl.
The nachos come with a choice of shredded cheese, border-style, or queso, Texas-style.
In a year when customers turned to familiar comfort food, Tommy Tamale has been booming.
The company has added 10 employees and now has three locations (the other is in Coppell).
When the coronavirus recession knocked out a small Keller restaurant, Tommy Tamale moved in.
“It’s been like a roller coaster for most restaurants,” Barker said.
”We’re fortunate that we were able to get this opportunity, and that so many people are coming to see us,” she said.
Keller’s city government announced the opening as if the city had landed a major retailer.
“We were packed for two or three days after that,” Barker said. “It’s amazing how fast people found us.”
The new location is 20 minutes from downtown Fort Worth via the new Interstate 35W toll lane. It’s just off Farm Road 1709.
The Grapevine location is 10 miles east at 1689 W. Northwest Hwy.
It opens at 10 a.m. for lunch and dinner daily except Sunday; 817-398-3500, tommytamale.com.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
