Tamales Lilianas - Los Angeles, California

John-John

I had the Carne Adobada (Marinated Meat). Super delicious. Recommend it wet (that's what she said). The pozole was great just needed a little more flavor hence the Polozera bottle which goes perfect with it if you like spice like I do. Gives it a little kick. The tamales were delicious. Cheese and Chicken were perfect. Pork was a little dry but perfect flavor. The elote tamale was sweet & delicious. Beans were really good.Overall, 9.1 out of 10. Service was great. Parking is okay. The lot they have is a little small but street parking is an hour. Thank you very much.

Clara Chia

I was here from a recommendation in the Facebook group "SGV Eats" for tamales. I've been looking for a place to pick up a bunch of tamales at a time.

I called ahead to place an order, and they had it ready for pick up. I paid with a credit card, so I was charged an extra 4%. The total was about $36 for 12 tamales. I had no problems with parking (they do have a small parking lot) because I was in and out.

The reason for three stars is the tamales weren't as great as they were described to be. Maybe my expectations were too high. They were hot when I picked them up. But when we started to eat them, they got dry very quickly. I got six pork and six beef.

The inside seating area looks spacious. They also have a large covered patio outside.

Johnny Rivera

Food was ok, this is a local institution I understood. However, for being in the heart of East Los Angeles I thought it was extremely pricey. Our server was kind but hardly came around. The food my son ordered was excellent, but my caldo/soup was pretty much slopped together and the leg and thigh were tough as rocks. Very disappointing. Respectfully I still tipped well but unfortunately I can’t recommend this overrated establishment.

Elizabeth Wong

Sundays are crowded, an orderly line be snaking almost to street...valet parking but the lot was full, but easy to park on residential streets. Once inside, it's cool...and there's a lovely continous mural...open seating, wooden tables, wood seats...really restful atmosphere...and there's patio seating too...but it was a casual rustic feel inside. Took a long time to get order taken but for our party of 4....we needed the time to review the extensive menu. The two tamale special with rice and beans was a great deal at $11.00...I got The Rojas con queso and the elote (corn)...the tamales were moist, the rice/beans adequate...but tamales were the star of my lunch. My friends ordered the Pozole, and they ate it all to the last drop. I could see the bottom of the bowl. The small jamaica was lovely but for $6.00...I hope it's made on premises for that price...but it was light and not too sweet, a yummy drink. My out of town friends liked the place. I'd come back but not on a weekend, too crowded. I ordered large menudo to go...order it when u order your sit-down meal as the menudo sell out fast.

Danny P.

Hands down the best posole that I’ve had for breakfast. Haha

I also like their tacos dorados, need to try the rest of the menu.

Alicia Cortez

Buy every year 4 1/2 dozen tamales. Sweet with pineapple, chili & cheese were great. Moist and flavorful. Chicken this year were dry and fell apart. Steamed all tamales to serve, but chicken was still dry. A bit disappointing this year.

Ed

It is a big shame how badly this restaurant has gone down hill. About 15 years ago when I was taken to this restaurant by a friend for the first time, the food was very delicious and the food tasted as if it was home made with some of the best food prices in town. I frequented the restaurant often back in the day, until I eventually moved to Orange County and it became a bit difficult to visit. During my absence years later my family had informed me that the restaurants food quality had gone downhill. They also told me that they weren't going there any longer because of the food quality and prices.

Fast forward to January 2025 when I decided to visit and judge for myself if this place was still regressing or progressing from what I had experienced before. I ordered lengua, guacamole and a sweet tamale. Unfortunately the beef tongue was very tough and a bit dry. The sweet tamale was burned pretty bad. I told the waitress and she informed me that they were almost all that way. But she went to the kitchen to try and fetch a better tamale. Yes it was a bit better but that tamale was also burned and the flavor was off. That late afternoon I had ordered with my wife 2 main dishes, ½ guacamole order, 1 sweeter tamale, 1 small pork taco and 2 large horchatas all for the wonderful price of $84. At that price we can shell out an extra $20 and we could've enjoyed some high quality food at another restaurant.

Look folks, I don't mind paying premium prices for premium food n service, but when u serve sh!t quality food and you charge premium prices I feel taken advantage of and that's not cool. But I don't blame anyone but the owner who made lots of money many years ago and is now complacent and could care less.

Maybe other dishes are good, but that afternoon both my dishes sucked pretty bad.

Good luck to anyone frequenting this establishment.

Jessie Barajas

Just Had The Most Amazing Bowl Of Pozole And A Tamale Verde Preparado!!! Let Me Just Say, Hands Down The Best!!! Our Server, Leslie, Is Top Notch!!! From Start To Finish, She Brought It!!! Thank You Lilianas East LA For The Home Made Goodies!!! 👍👍