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You don't always know what to expect with a food truck, but I can assure you that The Tamale Spaceship is out of this world. The man ruining it is a delightful character and very helpful. The food is outstanding. Nothing was ordinary. We were a small group and we had ordered one of every item on the menu to share. It was all so good! Can't hardly wait to see Tamale Spaceship at Imperial Oak in Willow Springs again soon.
One of the positive things that has come out of this pandemic is the number of food trucks that are bring their food to our neighborhood. Manny's Tamale Spaceship of one of them. I have done Manny's many times, but that was not an easy ordeal. It required me dropping The Queen off at 10:45 am downtown to get in line and order our tamales before they sold out. It also required me driving around the block and timing lights, dodging cops to avoid tickets, in order to pick The Queen up with our loot. So imagine my lovely surprised to see that the Tamale Spaceship truck was going to be in an location that had ample parking and closer to home. This turned out to be perfect timing as it was the day before Thanksgiving and my brother was coming over to spend the evening with us since would not be able to come over for turkey the next day. Because I was going to be cooking the next day, I didn't want to cook, and the Tamale Spaceship was the answer. I emailed Manny to see if I could get the menu and got a prompt response. I also inquired about placing an order in advance. The reason for this was so I could make sure I was getting what I wanted and not being pissed off if I had to wait in line only to find out that they were out of what I wanted. It is not a pretty sight if I am mad about not getting something that my taste buds had been dreaming about. There was a line once I got to the truck (no surprise there) and I had a 6 pm pick-up. I was very glad to see that although I had pre-ordered, my food was not prepared until I got to the window to let the know I was there for a pick-up order, so the food was still hot when I got it home. The following was ordered: for tacos - Al Pastor (marinated pork with tomatillo salsa, red onion, cilantro, pineapple), Tinga Poblana, Baja Style. The Picturesque (Yucatan-style roasted pork with tomato-habanero sauce, purple pickled onions) and Simple (panela cheese and poblanos topped with tomato-jalapeño sauce) for tamales, sides of elote (Mexico City style grilled corn with chipotle-mayo, cotija cheese, chile piquin) and churros. The tacos were the street kind, smaller tortillas, but what they lacked in size, they made up for in flavor. I am not usually one for Al Pastor as I find it greasy and sometime dry. And I am a carnitas woman, but man gotta say Manny made a believer out of me. The Al Pastor was bursting with flavor and that meat was juicy and tender. That was very good and I was glad I got extras and not put in a position to snatch one of the plate of one of my loved ones. The Tinga Poblana was very good too, with the chicken being shredded. Next to the Al Pastor, this was a strong contender for me. The Baja was good, but had a little too much breading for my taste. Can't speak to the Picturesque myself...anything that has habanero in it does not pass my lips, but The Doctor and Queen said it was very good. I desperately wanted to try this because of the pork, but I know that sauce will put a big hurt on me. The Simple was just that, simple, to the point and very good. The Etole was absolutely delish, with not too much mayo and that chile piquin did add a little kick to it. The churros was a nice finish with a glass of bubbles. All in all, this was a great meal to do celebrate a pre-Thanksgiving with the fam. And no cooking or clean up.
Had the Al pastor tacos and the brisket tamale with mole sauce. The service was so quick and friendly!
We couldn't possibly be any happier with our decision to have Manny and his team at Tamale Spaceship cater our wedding! His food is simply amazing, and we just loved Manny as soon as we met him. Our venue highly recommended Tamale Spaceship so it was the first tasting we booked... first, last, and only- That's how much we loved it. During the entire course of planning our wedding, Manny was extremely helpful, patient, flexible, and communicative. Our guests were raving about it all night and we've received multiple texts afterwards telling us they were the best tamales they've ever had, asking if there is a restaurant location, etc. I could go on and on but booking Tamale Spaceship was one of the absolute best decisions we made! My only regret is that I was too busy/distracted to eat as much as I wanted to! Thank you Manny and Tamale Spaceship for being such a big part of our night!
Was walking around during lunch and this huge silver truck was parked and had a line---of course I had to go see what it was :) There was actually a car load of college kids that hopped out and immediately started taking pictures--guess they were stocking him on FB or twitter. The novelty of it is fun--there is a guy in a huge sombrero with a mexican wrestlers masked on---ok a little fun and a little creepy at the same time--but none-the-less very intriguing. Not huge menu seeing that it a tamale truck. I'm happy that I was listening on what other people in front of me were asking and ordering--so each order comes with 2 tamales---they were BIG---I opted for the steak and it comes in those nice black/reusable take out containers--love em! Well to my surprise when I actually got to sit down and try it--there was one steak and one chicken tamale in my container, came with a little cup of mole. Yay for me--I got to try 2 different kinds in one sitting! The tamales were hot and moist. Next time going to have to try some guac. Overall good experience with the creepy yet intriguing spaceship.
At $4 per tamale, you'd think someone would be rolling over in their grave watching me purchase a pair for $8 + tip... On the other hand, they gotta pay for all those luchadore masks one way or another and I guess I can be okay with that... but only because lucha libre masks are a good cause... and also the tamales were really good. I'd say the poblano tamale might have been the best tamale I've ever had. Moist, spicy, cheesy - absolutely perfect in my book. The roasted vegetable, on the other hand, I could've done without. It was kind of like a dry, meatless, pot roast. It'd be fine if you weren't into any spice, but that's just not for me. Also, for the two tamales at $8, I was still pretty hungry. I for sure would have needed at least a third, maybe even a fourth to feel like the stuffed American I love to be. They had a variety of meat options and they were nice about answering my quick but still annoying questions regarding which options were without meat. I'm not in a hurry to go back only because of the bougie price, but I'll admit that I've thought about that poblano tamale every day since last Saturday. If I ever pass by again after I've won the lottery, I'll buy myself the four poblano tamales I wish I could afford to eat everyday.
In the words of my white friend, "se habla". There was no "habla" from her that made sense, even her English "habla", because she was drunk. However, Miss Drunkzies, as I will so affectionately call her, had the brilliant idea to leave a block party for tamales. I kind of have a lot of weaknesses. Romantic comedies, Carlos Quentin's butt, Sumatra lilies, west coast IPAs and Mexican food, especially tamales, to name a few. However, I learned a very important lesson last year. Non-traditional tamales walk a very fine line. I won't name names, but I'm looking in your direction, tamale place in Pilsen with the Chicago flag logo. Anyhow, Miss Drunkzies and I had previously chatted about Tamale Spaceship having a storefront. We parked on Milwaukee and walked about 8 miles to the address of a furniture store. That's right, Miss Drunkzies gave us the wrong address and no one thought to question her, even our sober driver. It may be in Wicker Park, but it's on that other popular street, Damen. We get back in the car, make a few rights, a couple lefts and bam! We arrived. It was small, it was dark and it was almost equally as hot on the inside as it was outside, but I didn't care. The ladies had wigs, the men had masks and the walls had luchadores painted on. I felt like I was amongst my people!.....in Pilsen, that is. Actually, I felt like I was in my mother's kitchen. She's white and doesn't know how to make tamales, but she has this adorable luchadores painting I stand to inherit and she keeps the a/c off so it's roughly 80-85 degrees on any given day. When it was time to order I ended up saying "whatever you want, I want elotes" and found out someone ordered the same tamale we tried a few weeks back from their food truck. ::Insert side eyed emoji here:: I really shouldn't complain. It was flavorful, there was a nice kick to it and it was filling. I loved the elote, there was something different about theirs (but I had been boozing for hours prior, I couldn't tell you what that was), except the portion was small, especially for the price. I can buy the ingredients for said elotes and feed the 4 of us that were there for the same price. However, isn't that the point of these places? I can't really complain though since I was given the go ahead to pretty much finish it by myself. The service was great. I was offered water about 8 times, even though I was holding a cup of it. I'm a sweaty halfie, what can I say? I really did appreciate that though. We sat on their patio, they brought out the food and even offered to refill our water (they have a little cooler and plastic cups inside for you to do this.) They're BYOB, and not that any of us needed to imbibe any more (but I totally did once we returned to the block party), if I had known that, we might have stayed a smidge longer. Only a smidge though as the patio isn't big by any means. I think there was something like 4 or 5 tables following a longer, narrower path. It's comfortable, but not "park your butt and drink awhile" comfortable. If you're familiar with Tamale Spaceship you'll be familiar with the food here. The difference is this place has seats. Limited seats, but seats nonetheless. $8 for two tamales makes me feel like a chump, but they are good. Authentic enough with a bit of a twist done right. Miss Drunkzies ordered like a drunk and therefore passed a taco in my direction. Same as the picturesque tamale, except it seemed a little on the dry side. Not bad, but I'd stick to the tamales.
An old co-worker and I dubbed Friday afternoons as our Tamale Time. We'd share an order of the No Ones (barbacoa-style roasted chicken with Michoacán green peanut mole) tamales and a side order of the chips and guacamole. The tamale tastes delicious and is extremely filling. For $8 a pair, you get quite a bit of food. Those with smaller appetites can get away with eating one and taking the other home. The ratio of meat to cornmeal dough is appropriate. The mole isn't very spicy and compliments the tamale well. We've also tried the duck, which is confit style peking duck with plum mole and dried cranberries. In a way, it sort of reminded me of something you could eat on Thanksgiving. It was good and wasn't too sweet with the addition of plum and cranberries. The duck was prepared well. However, it wasn't my favorite since I'm not a huge fan of duck. The guacamole is one of the best I've ever had and has a little heat to it. It's perfect atop a crispy chip. Be aware that the guys on the truck have masks covering their faces. It may be scary/off-putting to some, but the guys are very pleasant. You can tell that they put a lot of love in what they do and it shows with the delicious quality of their food. The combo costs $11 and for what you eat, it's a great deal. You can easily walk over to other place and easily spent over $10 and not nearly be as full or satisfied. Check their website or Twitter to see their truck stops. Also, they are opening a tamale station in Wicker Park sometime this year so be on that look out for that.
There aren't simple tamales here and that's a good thing. You can go to any of the mercaditos or hole in the wall Mexican places across Chicagoland for a solid tamale, but you'll find your vessel to something different here. Guac + chips were fresh and hit the spot. Special tamale was beef stew and it was one of the best tamales I've had. So juicy yet the masa held it together. The chicken was on the dry side, and hey it's a bit difficult to avoid that but when tamales are your thing, I expected an above average chicken tamale. The mole sauce helped, though! Can't wait to visit again and see what the special is. I'm in.
Some foods are worth arguing about. Pizza, burgers, barbecue... everybody has an opinion. Tamales usually aren't on that list, but The Tamale Spaceship might change that. I ordered the beef tamales, and they were phenomenal. The beef was incredibly flavorful, the masa had the perfect texture, and there wasn't a single bite that disappointed. They didn't need to drown them in toppings or reinvent the recipe--they just made a really, really good tamale. What I appreciated almost as much was that they seemed to know exactly what they are. No flashy sales pitch, no trying to be trendy. Just good people serving great food from one of the most memorable food trucks around. I'm not a tamale connoisseur, and I'm definitely not one of those people who can tell you what region a recipe came from. I just know when I finish eating something and immediately start thinking about when I can have it again. That's about as high of a compliment as I can give. I'll be back for the beef tamales. Repeatedly. If they ever start a loyalty program based on poor impulse control, I might accidentally become a platinum member. read more
3 years ago
Yelpers. Hear me when I say this, please. We catered a second birthday party with Manny and the team from Tamale Spaceship. We've never had a better party. We've never had better food. We've never had better service. From the moment the team got here until the time they left, we felt fully at ease. Blanca headed up the team. She also bartended and was phenomenal. Truly. She was thoughtful, took a leading role in managing our expectations, and made us feel so comfortable. They also helped arrange for tables, chairs, and other rentals which saved us having to source those things ourselves! Our guests could not stop complimenting the food and the service. The menus, presentation, and clean up was so quick and painless. They parked the food truck outside and the whole neighborhood could see the celebration was ongoing! Truly, we didn't know what to expect but as we shared with the team during the party, we will be using this group again and again. We are just so impressed and couldn't be more grateful. Well done, Manny and team! read more
The Tamale Spaceship has landed smack dab in the center of the city! A clear sign that summer is finally making it's way here. Honestly, who can walk past a food truck in the downtown and not be curious enough to try it? $10 for two sizable tamales and it filled me up for dinner. Not sure that I would go out of my way to get it, but the convenience factor is worth something. One was a pork with traditional red sauce, the other an el pastor with chocolate mole sauce. They were a little on the dry side for my liking - but still tasty. read more
9 months ago
2 years ago
You don't always know what to expect with a food truck, but I can assure you that The Tamale Spaceship is out of this world. The man ruining it is a delightful character and very helpful. The food is outstanding. Nothing was ordinary. We were a small group and we had ordered one of every item on the menu to share. It was all so good! Can't hardly wait to see Tamale Spaceship at Imperial Oak in Willow Springs again soon. read more
2 years ago
2 years ago
One of the positive things that has come out of this pandemic is the number of food trucks that are bring their food to our neighborhood. Manny's Tamale Spaceship of one of them. I have done Manny's many times, but that was not an easy ordeal. It required me dropping The Queen off at 10:45 am downtown to get in line and order our tamales before they sold out. It also required me driving around the block and timing lights, dodging cops to avoid tickets, in order to pick The Queen up with our loot. So imagine my lovely surprised to see that the Tamale Spaceship truck was going to be in an location that had ample parking and closer to home. This turned out to be perfect timing as it was the day before Thanksgiving and my brother was coming over to spend the evening with us since would not be able to come over for turkey the next day. Because I was going to be cooking the next day, I didn't want to cook, and the Tamale Spaceship was the answer. I emailed Manny to see if I could get the menu and got a prompt response. I also inquired about placing an order in advance. The reason for this was so I could make sure I was getting what I wanted and not being pissed off if I had to wait in line only to find out that they were out of what I wanted. It is not a pretty sight if I am mad about not getting something that my taste buds had been dreaming about. There was a line once I got to the truck (no surprise there) and I had a 6 pm pick-up. I was very glad to see that although I had pre-ordered, my food was not prepared until I got to the window to let the know I was there for a pick-up order, so the food was still hot when I got it home. The following was ordered: for tacos - Al Pastor (marinated pork with tomatillo salsa, red onion, cilantro, pineapple), Tinga Poblana, Baja Style. The Picturesque (Yucatan-style roasted pork with tomato-habanero sauce, purple pickled onions) and Simple (panela cheese and poblanos topped with tomato-jalapeño sauce) for tamales, sides of elote (Mexico City style grilled corn with chipotle-mayo, cotija cheese, chile piquin) and churros. The tacos were the street kind, smaller tortillas, but what they lacked in size, they made up for in flavor. I am not usually one for Al Pastor as I find it greasy and sometime dry. And I am a carnitas woman, but man gotta say Manny made a believer out of me. The Al Pastor was bursting with flavor and that meat was juicy and tender. That was very good and I was glad I got extras and not put in a position to snatch one of the plate of one of my loved ones. The Tinga Poblana was very good too, with the chicken being shredded. Next to the Al Pastor, this was a strong contender for me. The Baja was good, but had a little too much breading for my taste. Can't speak to the Picturesque myself...anything that has habanero in it does not pass my lips, but The Doctor and Queen said it was very good. I desperately wanted to try this because of the pork, but I know that sauce will put a big hurt on me. The Simple was just that, simple, to the point and very good. The Etole was absolutely delish, with not too much mayo and that chile piquin did add a little kick to it. The churros was a nice finish with a glass of bubbles. All in all, this was a great meal to do celebrate a pre-Thanksgiving with the fam. And no cooking or clean up. read more
4 years ago
Had the Al pastor tacos and the brisket tamale with mole sauce. The service was so quick and friendly! read more
4 years ago
We couldn't possibly be any happier with our decision to have Manny and his team at Tamale Spaceship cater our wedding! His food is simply amazing, and we just loved Manny as soon as we met him. Our venue highly recommended Tamale Spaceship so it was the first tasting we booked... first, last, and only- That's how much we loved it. During the entire course of planning our wedding, Manny was extremely helpful, patient, flexible, and communicative. Our guests were raving about it all night and we've received multiple texts afterwards telling us they were the best tamales they've ever had, asking if there is a restaurant location, etc. I could go on and on but booking Tamale Spaceship was one of the absolute best decisions we made! My only regret is that I was too busy/distracted to eat as much as I wanted to! Thank you Manny and Tamale Spaceship for being such a big part of our night! read more
5 years ago
2 years ago
Was walking around during lunch and this huge silver truck was parked and had a line---of course I had to go see what it was :) There was actually a car load of college kids that hopped out and immediately started taking pictures--guess they were stocking him on FB or twitter. The novelty of it is fun--there is a guy in a huge sombrero with a mexican wrestlers masked on---ok a little fun and a little creepy at the same time--but none-the-less very intriguing. Not huge menu seeing that it a tamale truck. I'm happy that I was listening on what other people in front of me were asking and ordering--so each order comes with 2 tamales---they were BIG---I opted for the steak and it comes in those nice black/reusable take out containers--love em! Well to my surprise when I actually got to sit down and try it--there was one steak and one chicken tamale in my container, came with a little cup of mole. Yay for me--I got to try 2 different kinds in one sitting! The tamales were hot and moist. Next time going to have to try some guac. Overall good experience with the creepy yet intriguing spaceship. read more
7 years ago
At $4 per tamale, you'd think someone would be rolling over in their grave watching me purchase a pair for $8 + tip... On the other hand, they gotta pay for all those luchadore masks one way or another and I guess I can be okay with that... but only because lucha libre masks are a good cause... and also the tamales were really good. I'd say the poblano tamale might have been the best tamale I've ever had. Moist, spicy, cheesy - absolutely perfect in my book. The roasted vegetable, on the other hand, I could've done without. It was kind of like a dry, meatless, pot roast. It'd be fine if you weren't into any spice, but that's just not for me. Also, for the two tamales at $8, I was still pretty hungry. I for sure would have needed at least a third, maybe even a fourth to feel like the stuffed American I love to be. They had a variety of meat options and they were nice about answering my quick but still annoying questions regarding which options were without meat. I'm not in a hurry to go back only because of the bougie price, but I'll admit that I've thought about that poblano tamale every day since last Saturday. If I ever pass by again after I've won the lottery, I'll buy myself the four poblano tamales I wish I could afford to eat everyday. read more
12 years ago
In the words of my white friend, "se habla". There was no "habla" from her that made sense, even her English "habla", because she was drunk. However, Miss Drunkzies, as I will so affectionately call her, had the brilliant idea to leave a block party for tamales. I kind of have a lot of weaknesses. Romantic comedies, Carlos Quentin's butt, Sumatra lilies, west coast IPAs and Mexican food, especially tamales, to name a few. However, I learned a very important lesson last year. Non-traditional tamales walk a very fine line. I won't name names, but I'm looking in your direction, tamale place in Pilsen with the Chicago flag logo. Anyhow, Miss Drunkzies and I had previously chatted about Tamale Spaceship having a storefront. We parked on Milwaukee and walked about 8 miles to the address of a furniture store. That's right, Miss Drunkzies gave us the wrong address and no one thought to question her, even our sober driver. It may be in Wicker Park, but it's on that other popular street, Damen. We get back in the car, make a few rights, a couple lefts and bam! We arrived. It was small, it was dark and it was almost equally as hot on the inside as it was outside, but I didn't care. The ladies had wigs, the men had masks and the walls had luchadores painted on. I felt like I was amongst my people!.....in Pilsen, that is. Actually, I felt like I was in my mother's kitchen. She's white and doesn't know how to make tamales, but she has this adorable luchadores painting I stand to inherit and she keeps the a/c off so it's roughly 80-85 degrees on any given day. When it was time to order I ended up saying "whatever you want, I want elotes" and found out someone ordered the same tamale we tried a few weeks back from their food truck. ::Insert side eyed emoji here:: I really shouldn't complain. It was flavorful, there was a nice kick to it and it was filling. I loved the elote, there was something different about theirs (but I had been boozing for hours prior, I couldn't tell you what that was), except the portion was small, especially for the price. I can buy the ingredients for said elotes and feed the 4 of us that were there for the same price. However, isn't that the point of these places? I can't really complain though since I was given the go ahead to pretty much finish it by myself. The service was great. I was offered water about 8 times, even though I was holding a cup of it. I'm a sweaty halfie, what can I say? I really did appreciate that though. We sat on their patio, they brought out the food and even offered to refill our water (they have a little cooler and plastic cups inside for you to do this.) They're BYOB, and not that any of us needed to imbibe any more (but I totally did once we returned to the block party), if I had known that, we might have stayed a smidge longer. Only a smidge though as the patio isn't big by any means. I think there was something like 4 or 5 tables following a longer, narrower path. It's comfortable, but not "park your butt and drink awhile" comfortable. If you're familiar with Tamale Spaceship you'll be familiar with the food here. The difference is this place has seats. Limited seats, but seats nonetheless. $8 for two tamales makes me feel like a chump, but they are good. Authentic enough with a bit of a twist done right. Miss Drunkzies ordered like a drunk and therefore passed a taco in my direction. Same as the picturesque tamale, except it seemed a little on the dry side. Not bad, but I'd stick to the tamales. read more
12 years ago
An old co-worker and I dubbed Friday afternoons as our Tamale Time. We'd share an order of the No Ones (barbacoa-style roasted chicken with Michoacán green peanut mole) tamales and a side order of the chips and guacamole. The tamale tastes delicious and is extremely filling. For $8 a pair, you get quite a bit of food. Those with smaller appetites can get away with eating one and taking the other home. The ratio of meat to cornmeal dough is appropriate. The mole isn't very spicy and compliments the tamale well. We've also tried the duck, which is confit style peking duck with plum mole and dried cranberries. In a way, it sort of reminded me of something you could eat on Thanksgiving. It was good and wasn't too sweet with the addition of plum and cranberries. The duck was prepared well. However, it wasn't my favorite since I'm not a huge fan of duck. The guacamole is one of the best I've ever had and has a little heat to it. It's perfect atop a crispy chip. Be aware that the guys on the truck have masks covering their faces. It may be scary/off-putting to some, but the guys are very pleasant. You can tell that they put a lot of love in what they do and it shows with the delicious quality of their food. The combo costs $11 and for what you eat, it's a great deal. You can easily walk over to other place and easily spent over $10 and not nearly be as full or satisfied. Check their website or Twitter to see their truck stops. Also, they are opening a tamale station in Wicker Park sometime this year so be on that look out for that. read more
There aren't simple tamales here and that's a good thing. You can go to any of the mercaditos or hole in the wall Mexican places across Chicagoland for a solid tamale, but you'll find your vessel to something different here. Guac + chips were fresh and hit the spot. Special tamale was beef stew and it was one of the best tamales I've had. So juicy yet the masa held it together. The chicken was on the dry side, and hey it's a bit difficult to avoid that but when tamales are your thing, I expected an above average chicken tamale. The mole sauce helped, though! Can't wait to visit again and see what the special is. I'm in. read more
As someone who doesn't often enjoy tamales, this place had the best tamale I've ever had!! The "special" with duck confit & dried cranberries served with a mole dipping sauce was the perfect order. Cherry on top: cucumber infused water! read more
13 years ago
At first I thought they were really expensive tamales, but when I got my box and saw how huge they were I knew what I had paid for. I enjoy the pork with the red sauce on it. They come in a convenient box of two, good for sharing. Or not if your feelin' fat! The last time I went I got the guacamole. Fantastic! Also on the pricey side but I guess I am downtown where they even charge you an arm and a leg just to park your car. Ugh! The Guys are incredibly friendly too! I enjoy getting food from them, they call me Amiga every time and it makes my day. read more
11 years ago
This place is incredible. $8 for 2 tamales and you can mix and match. You will most likely be full after 2 individual tamales. The outdoor seating is great, BYOB is a huge plus, and the hospitality of the owner and team is above and beyond what we expected. Big Star has always rubbed me the wrong way with the prices (+/- $35 pitcher of Margs?!), the wait, cash only, and really mediocre food. I cannot stand when people proclaim Big Star as the "best Mexican food" and the Cool place to be. Just keep walking south and grab a case of beers or limaritas and make a stop at Tamale Spaceship. You will not be disappointed. read more
I cheat a little when it comes to food trucks...I wait for events to catch multiple in one location =) With that said, I caught Los Luchadores of Tamalli Space Charros [aka Tamale Spaceship] at an event in Evanston, a rare visit to the suburbs for the trucks. The truck is easy to miss...if you can't see the spaceship tail on the roof of the truck...or their website painted in bold blue on the otherwise blank silver canvas that is the spaceship. At this event, I ordered the Picturesque, a pork tamale served with a tomato-habanero sauce, and my buddy got the No One, a barbacoa chicken tamale served with a green-peanut sauce. Each were $7, which I thought was a little steep...until I realized there were two tamales...and until I realized how filling they were. The pork tamale was really good, though I think the tomato-habanero sauce is necessary. The barbacoa chicken was tasty by itself, not needing the sauce. Los Luchadores are super friendly, even calling me an "amigo." Whoda thunk?! An Asian fella like myself throwin' down with Lucha Libres as a fellow amigo! I felt at home...or on the way home in a silver spaceship. read more
15 years ago
10 years ago
11 years ago
Cliff notes: BYOB, dog-friendly patio, awesome service and delicious fresh Mexican food. The details: So happy we finally tried Tamale Spaceship yesterday! Why so many people wait hours to get into Big Star when this place is a couple blocks south is beyond me. We never went inside so I can't speak to the inside but it does look fairly small. We sat outside on the small patio that's decorated with cute string lights. We were anticipating counter ordering but we were pleasantly surprised by table service. We arrived on a Saturday evening, and we were quickly welcomed by a very nice man who seemed to be the owner or manager. He offered to take our BYOB 6 pack to the fridge to keep it cold and brought our dog a bowl of water.He was super attentive, helpful and friendly in explaining the menu and options, and made sure both the humans and the dog were well taken care of. He seemed to be very excited and proud of the food (for good reason) which is why we guessed he was the owner. My husband and I ordered the chile rellenos and guac for appetizers... 2 tacos (Barbacoa and chicken tacos) along with 2 tamales (Picturesque - pork, and Urbana- braised beef). All of the food was delicious with fresh ingredients, flavorful sauces, and tender and well cooked meats. We loved everything but the Barbacoa was to die for. In comparison to Big Star right down the street, the patio is obviously smaller and not as much of a scene but the food and service at Tamale Spaceship was far superior. I'm so glad we finally tried this place and excited to keep coming back. read more
13 years ago
12 years ago
Solid three and a half stars. Super nice staff and ambiance. Cucumber flavored water. Got the mole and the spicy pork tamales. The mole is very rich, almost too intense to my liking. I enjoyed the pork a bit more . It's spicy, sour, very fresh. The meat was a bit dry. The corn was very tasty. read more
Very pleased with our lunch today First off - the goat tacos (3 for 9.50$) get them! They were great!!! Had a nice spice to them We also got the chicken tamales (order comes with 2 large ones for $9) it had a salsa verde peanut sauce on it which was really good! They weren't as good as the tacos but certainly delicious. No spice which was my only thing id change, but i like spice Service was super friendly Id go back! read more
11 years ago
Yassss Tamale Spaceship, yassssss. Went in the opposite direction of the majority of people on here and went for the fish tacos. So glad I did - they were incredible! Stacked with fresh ingredients and the girl working the counter was super nice too! I live right down the street and will definitely be coming in often. read more
3 years ago
14 years ago
I've never had a tamale before and I've seen this truck a few times so I figured I'd give it a try. It was parked at the AON building on Wednesday and there wasn't a line. Tamales are $7.75 for a square container of 2 (2 of that kind). My friend got another one so we could switch a tamale to try. I got the flank steak and she got the duck. They both came with a side of mole/sauce to dip the tamale in. I also got guac and chips for $4.75. The guac was good! well made. The tamales I wasn't as impressed with. There was a lot of the doughy 'shell' and very little of the substance inside. The flank steak was in big chunks, but other than that, there wasn't much else in there. The duck was a bit better but the same thing - not too much filling. They accept credit card and cash which is a good thing. I'm glad I tried it but don't think I'll be getting it again. read more
5 years ago
11 years ago
Looove this place! Hubby had the chicken wrap. I did a mix and match - had the Urbano tamale with the Tomato Jalapeno sauce (recommended by waitstaff since its less spicy). Also had the Pollo A Las Brasas taco with no onions. Salsa that comes with it is REALLY good. Highlights 1. Hands down, ingredients were the most fresh I've had compared to the Mexican joints I've tried in Chicago (Picante, Takito Kitchen, Big Star, Adobo Grill). 2. Food is perfectly seasoned. Not too spicy, greasy, or overly strong in garlic and onion 3. Despite its intimidating external appearance, Waitstaff is super friendly (Spent time describing the foods in detail and working with my food intolerances). 4. Large portions and great prices! Breakdown: Pollo A Las Brasas with no onions: I was skeptical of the Chicken taco due to it being garlic seasoned and reviews of the chicken being dry. This was not the case for me! Chicken taco came with slices of grilled chicken (not shredded chicken). Had great flavor and juicy! Tasted like was eating quality chicken. Not your run of the mill shredded chicken. Urbano with Tomato Jalapeno Sauce: Don't eat Tamale's often so hard to rate. It was around 80% / 20 % corn to meat. Beef was tender and delicious! Corn was flavorful too. May have been more corn than I needed, but that may just be due to the large size of the tamale. Chicken Wrap: Came with side of guac and chips. Chips and guac were both VERY good. Both beat our current go to Mexican joint. Ingredients were freshest he's had in awhile among the other Mexican joints in Chicago. Hubby thought chicken was a little dry but he still liked it. Chicken was same as mine and I thought it was fine. Large portions. He agreed he prefers it over our current Mexican go to. Other thing is that I usually leave Mexican restaurants with a strong taste of onions and/or garlic. I have a sensitivity to these ingredients. I don't get the guac at Picante anymore b/c of this. Picante is like the McDonalds for Mexican food but I've been able to find foods I can tolerate there. As much as Big star is a fun place to chill and drink, their food doesn't work well with me for these reasons. It's been difficult to find a Mexican joint that works with my food sensitivities. Glad to have found my new GO-TO for Mexican in Wicker!! :D read more
Amazing tamales!!!! I couldn't wait to go home and write this review, so I'm writing this as I'm still eating! I'm glad I passed by this place! I ordered the urbano tamal and the simple tamal the presentation was something that I haven't seen before and the taste was really good! The tamales were soft and not dry, very flavorful! We also tried the Churros and of course they were great! The service = 5 starts Definitely coming back to try their tacos! read more
7 years ago
11 years ago
Yes...this place is awesome. Guacamole is a must...simple tamale and baja fish tacos are superb! The service was an A+++ read more
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2296 S Blue Island Ave
Chicago, IL 60608
Pilsen
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(773) 630-9665
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http://www.thetamalespaceship.com/
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