Santa Fe, NMTamales

The Posa family has been in business since 1955 and making tamales the whole time, working from the recipe Jeff Posa's grandmother Aurora Lujan served at the original El Merendero on Galisteo Street. The New Mexican reports the factory turns out 300 to 500 dozen a day and climbs to 600 or 700 for the holidays, all by hand after a tamale extruder was tried and rejected by customers. Order red chile and pork, or the vegetarian version with mozzarella, asadero and green chile. Cocktail-size tamales run about two ounces for parties.

The Atencio family started selling tamales and tacos in 1958, and co-owner Ralph Atencio tells The New Mexican the recipe is his mother's mother's, added to the menu sometime in the sixties. The kitchen starts gearing up for Christmas in September and each location makes well over a thousand. Order them frozen and uncooked, which runs four dollars less a dozen, then steam them upright with the open end up for about an hour and let them rest twenty minutes so the masa stiffens.

Santa Feans have been lining up outside this tiny five-table family shop on Rufina Circle since 1997, and The New Mexican calls it tamale central once the holidays arrive, with the advice to place your order early. The family behind the counter is Alicia Saenz and her parents Jorge and Alicia Lovoya. Order the savory pork with red or green chile, then add the sweet dessert tamales made with nuts and raisins, which are the other thing the shop is known for.

Owner Alberto López Palacios was born and raised in Oaxaca, and the Santa Fe Reporter's 2024 visit records him sharing his family recipes a block off the Plaza for a little over five years by then, which is why the tamal here arrives wrapped in banana leaf rather than corn husk. The Reporter ordered the vegan Oaxacan tamale and found it huge, unwrapped onto the plate and smothered in velvety mole under a scatter of sesame seeds, the chocolate bite balanced by dry roasted chile. Sit on the shaded streetside patio.