Pilsen’s Dia de Los Tamales

Located in vibrant Pilsen, non-traditional and revolutionary tamales are the main deal at Dia De Los Tamales. We got a sampling of their fare at the Taste of Chicago back in July. Since my daughter has only wanted tamales as her source of sustenance for the last 3 months, we decided to trek out to the Lower West Side of Chicago for more Cuban Slow Roasted Pork Tamales.

The restaurant was easily spotted by it’s colorful facade of Dia de Los Muertos graffiti. The interior is a bit cramped with only stool seating by the window. We were greeted by a friendly lady at the counter and proceeded to order from the exotic menu of tamales and numerous sides.

Daily Tamales

Cuban Slow Roasted Pork
Atomic Pork
Buffalo Chicken
Chicago Beef
Juicy Lucy
Roasted Pepper Goat Cheese
Spicy Black Bean & Corn
Coconut Curry Chicken
Chocolate Peanut Butter
Apple Cobbler

Specialty Tamales

Papancho Tamale
Sweet Corn Cake
Curried Sweet Potato Tamale
Italian Sausage Pizza Tamale

Sides

Black Beans
Garbanzo Beans
Chips and Salsa
Chips and Cheese
Fiesta Rice
Elote Corn
Nacho Mama’s Nachos

The sides that we ordered were quite watery. The Elotes tasted bland even with the sauce. Not quite what I’m used to when it comes to Elotes in my neck of the woods (mayo, cheese and chili – all separate and not mixed). The Garbanzo was mixed in with more shredded meat than beans also bland. Even the Buffalo Chicken wasn’t quite as tasty as I thought it would be. Maybe they could garner some help from the folks over at Honey Butter. Honestly the only gem out of the entire meal was the Cuban Slow Roasted Pork Tamale and the view.

They have an adjacent outdoor seating area that is spacious, but at the time we went, was practically empty. You could see downtown Chicago from there, and on a nice summer day, that was pretty sweet.

I do plan on going back and skipping the sides next time. I’d be adventurous and try one of their speciality tamales and maybe the dessert ones. But I’m more of a traditional tamales kind of gal, so you won’t find me there anytime soon. Possibly next summer. Although if you’ve got the tamale fever and want to give your taste buds a surprise of a different kind, you might want to check out this funky and upscale tamale joint.