I had high hopes for Tamales Liliana’s since they were one of last year’s contestants on NBC’s “Today in LA Tamale Contest” but these tamales typify everything I dislike about most tamales… too dry and “where’s the beef??!” Rosemary is a tad more generous than I so read on…
Rants, Raves, and Reviews
Rosemary
We haven’t been on a Safari for a couple of weeks, so I was really looking forward to hunting down our next great tamale. Liliana’s sounded good and Magda opted for the Caeser Chavez location because of the freeway proximity off the 710. So upon arrival, I was surprised by the size of the building and the expansive but full parking lot. This was no “fly by night” tamale stand, these people were tamale serious. And so were we.
Magda snagged a table out front -a good tactical move because the line waiting for an inside table was long. The service was good and friendly and we ordered the spectrum -the raja con queso, the pollo con veggies, the rojo con carne and pork.

Green Chicken Tamales eaten only after being drizzled with salsa
Ok, maybe not at the top of my tamale list, but I’d come back just for the hot sauce. I also ordered a half dozen to go (the family perk for my obsession) and they were steaming hot. Oh well.
Rosemary Rates
Masa: Dry, a bit crumbly.
Filling: The Meat was dry as well, stick with the cheese & green chili – I’m going to upgrade this category from 3 to 4 stars because if you throw enough salsa on them, they are pretty darn good.
Presentation: No imagination here but no real complaints….plastic dishes & rickety tables. Tamales are plain wrapped and stacked.
Location: Easy parking in the very crowded lot. Those parking guys are good!
Magda
When I arrived, the line to get into Tamales Liliana’s resembled the lines you see at the Apple store before an iPad launch. Fortunately this was only the line to eat inside the restaurant. There are a few tables outside the restaurant which more than suited our needs on this typically beautiful Southern California Sunday. I snagged one and waited for Rosemary to drive into the lot. They have valet parking and she joined the table immediately.
I’m just going to say it, these are the driest tamales I’ve had in ages. They are almost unedible. Fortunately, their excellent green and red salsas saved the day. After you drizzle some of this magic elixer on the tamales they had pretty good flavor. The masa is spiced properly but there was far too much of it and wow, so dry.

Chicken vegetable tamales.
Magda Rates
Masa: Dry. Masa gets dry when tamales are overcooked so this also explains the bland filling. I only give this one star because it did taste good with the salsa. Cornmeal is hard to ruin completely.
Filling: Pretty flavorless and very little of it. I couldn’t tell if I was eating chicken, beef, or pork.
Presentation: The service was excellent. Paper plates and plastic forks were usable.
I am giving this 3.5 for the nice waiter.
Location: Great location right off the 710 or 60 freeways. Lots of valet parking and plentiful street parking on Sundays.

Tamales Liliana's Restaraunt
Tamales Liliana’s
4629 E Cesar E Chavez Ave, Los Angeles, CA.
and 3448 East 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA
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