Marta’s Tamale House

This spot is a cozy sit down that produces some excellent tamales. It has a very home like feeling to it. Noteworthy items that are sure to keep you salivating throughout the experience include the menudo and tamales de raja. Yum!

I love this place! The food is great and so tasty. I am not so familiar with Mexican food so I ask the lady there to give me suggestions and she always gives me the best. They are very very nice and friendly. It is amazing how they can get the food ready so fast with only two people working. It takes them like less than 5 minutes. One thing though! I feel like the food is a bit expensive but it’s worth it. :)

I decided to try this place again to see if they still serve small portions and higher prices than the other taco shops in the area. This time I ordered carne Asada Nachos. The chips were fresh and very good, so were the beans, the carne tasted a little under seasoned, but the fresh tomatoes cilantro and onions helped the bland meat. The thing that really bugged me was that there was about a teaspoon on guacamole and sour cream placed in the corner of the box .I think I paid almost $ 9 for them, I know they could afford to put a little more guacamole and sour cream on those chips making them really good.

I have passed by this place a zillion times and always wondered what the food was like … today I finally was out and about and decided to stop in for lunch and I am glad I did !!! I did not find the food to be over priced as others have stated my friend and I got 3 Tamales (1 chicken 2 beef) Smothered with sauce and cheese a Carne Asada Burrito, Chips and Salsa and 2 large drinks for $ 17 which is not bad at all … The girls working were very nice … The inside had a homestyle feel to it … Overall the food was very tasty and the service was great I will go back there again :-)

I was actually waited on by Marta herself! This place is known for its tamales, and they are very good! My only complaint was that they were part of MOGL and I was supposed to get on the list for the MOGL jackpot. I never did, but maybe I need to check into that a bit — nothing really to do with the place. A nice alternative to some of your basic taco shops and very cute, inside and out!

This was very good. Was told about it and grabbed some for Christmas dinner. VERY good. Very friendly service, will go back.

Please don’t waste your time or money going to this place. I ordered a beef tamale and a chile and cheese tamale, both were below average. The beef tasted like canned meat and the chile with cheese was not what I expected, it was served in red sauce I’m used to just cheese and chile by itself. The prices are extremely too high. I would have rather gotten tamales out of someones van at the grocery store parking lot rather than this place, at least I know they would’ve tasted a lot better.

Best tamales aside from Mom’s…great meal deals for tamales, beans, rice, and mole sauce! We have gone here several times and it is awesome homemade Mexican food! :)

Worst food ever. Very expensive. You get a dozen tamales for 22.90 when they arent even good. Is easy to find but will never go back… By far the worst food i have ever had and i have had some bad food

Worst corn tamales I have ever had!!! Barely any corn taste, all I taste is masa. It’s horrible. I spent $ 10 on 4 tamales for nothing. I ate 3 bites and was done. Plus to make matters worst the tamales are VERY pricey. $ 22.99 a dozen. I wouldn’t recommend this place if you’re a fan of corn tamales. I can’t speak for anything else but I don’t plan on ever going back.

great tamales!!! great torts!!! go try em!

Freaking amazing! I’m glad this gem is right around the corner. I’ve never had tamale’s this good.

Dare I say: these tamales are better than the homemade tamales that come from my future Abuelita-in-law’s kitchen!
They are also less than a 3 minute drive away.
Need I say more? You just cant find a better tamale this side of the border!

I’m giving it 4 stars because the first time I had tamales from this place that was all I wanted to eat for the next two weeks. They were soooooo good. I tried both the beef and pork tamales. Perfect combination of spices, moist, tender meat. You can get a dozen tamales for $ 15 – 16, so cheap and so worth it.
But then I went there… and this is when I would give the place only 2 stars. Quite frankly the place makes you feel like you are in Mexico (nothing wrong with that if you enjoy Tijuana dive bars). The food there just wasn’t the same, not even the tamale I had there was as good as the one I had when it was take out. It didn’t come in the corn rusk, so maybe that explains how it wasn’t as moist and tasty as the ones to go. Their rice and beans when you get the meal taste like nothing, so don’t bother with it. My co worker had a good looking taco, but there are a ton of good taco shops in San Diego that look just the same. Someone else had a nice looking plate of carne assada nachos, lots of sour cream, crispy carne assada, but again, don’t drive to El Cajon for that. Next time I’m getting the tamales to go and making the rice and beans at home.