Tamale Wizard

Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-​bobbidi-​boo! Your taste buds are hit with super fresh and unique flavors when you go to tamale wizard. The space is in a good location nestled on the fringe of the river market. I’d recommend the pork carnitas for sure. Additionally, they have really interesting and fresh salsas. For example, last time I was there I had banana mango salsa. Shazam & Yum. All the Tamales I have ever had there are very tasty indeed.
My major gripe would be that the portion sizes are OK if you are a big eater. But if you get the black beans as a side you will definitely leave with a healthy full. Mad Maddam Mim would say that this place is magnificent and marvelous in that portion sizes will be fine for most. She may be a tad upset with the price point though as it is a tad bit high. Just like willow you will need courage to try some of their hotter salsas such as Mellow Habanero and Jalapeño Lime. A little bit more pep, but still tasty.
You shall not PASS the opportunity to try this place out next time you stray from the shire and are in the river market location. It WAS a tasty treat for sure. I have recently learned that they are closed :-(

Ohhhh man. Tamalessssss! :D Keeping things short and sweet (when able) from now on.
Pros:
*Delicious food. Everything is fresh and hot. The carnitas in particular are amazing. *Crispy and juicy, tons of flavor.
*Multiple salsas, all with varying heat. The mango banana was interesting.
*Quick service, friendly people
*Good beer selection, and some good happy hour prices ($ 2.50 draws)
Cons:
*Small area. Don’t bring a large group, but I’ve heard they’re pretty good at accommodating people.
*Portion sizes are a little smaller than I’d like, but still pretty filling.
TLDR; Good food, small place.

Ate at Tamale Wizard tonight, using a Groupon deal I purchased a few months ago. Food was good (spicy!) and the service was casual and friendly. Since I used the Groupon, we didn’t actually pay anything, so I can’t comment on the prices.
The wife and I both got a combo with two tamales — one smoked pork, one chicken tomatillo. She got the grilled tomato/​jalapeño salsa with hers (the same salsa that comes with the chips), and I got mellow habanero salsa on one, and a peanut salsa on the other, both on the recommendation of the guy behind the counter. My wife got the rice, which was a little cilantro-​heavy for her taste, and I got the smoky pintos, which got two huge thumbs-​up from both of us. Our tamales were all yummy (especially the pork!) and the masa was the perfect consistency, IMO.
I will offer the warning that if you’re a wuss about spiciness, this might not be your place. Me, I plan on going back again soon (probably for lunch), to give them some more business. I hope you do the same.

Great little place for fresh Mexican food. It was a little pricey, but it was well worth it. I would go back.

From food cart to restaurant venue, this owner has brought some incredible Latino Fusion food to our little city. I’m so glad he opened up in the River Market close to where I live and work. I’ve become a regular. Here’s why:
a. They have a good beer selection on tap and bottles (I’ve tried a few of their dark smoky ones such as Stouts). They have happy hour starting at $ 2!
b. Their tamales and tacos are just outstanding and DIFFERENT! From the braised beef short rib with caramelized onions, to the lamb, to the tomatillo chicken, TASTYROO :) I just can’t get enough of the green rice. They often have specials on the board. I’m pushing for them to bring the Beef Short Rib back. It was to die for!
c. salsas — many unique flavors such as mango banana, peanut, jalapeño lime, mellow habanero, etc. These change weekly, too.
d. staff — super friendly and although you order at a counter, they will deliver the food to your table and call you by name or chit chat. Most times, the order to delivery time is 5 – 10 minutes. We only saw two times where it was super long.
e. outdoor seating, so you can bring your dog
f. long hours for a small restaurant in the river market and even opens for breakfast
So, you may be a bit off-​put by the price, but you aren’t getting standard Latino fare. It’s high quality, gourmet, fusion food and so worth it! Come one, come all, you won’t regret it!
FYI, if you have a large group, seating is limited.

Tamale Wizard has solidified that I am a spice wimp.
After drowning myself in espresso at Classic Rock, we headed over to Tamale Wizard for some dinner (Dave, Susan, Rhonda, and I).
I created a combo for $ 7 and choose the chicken taco, pork taco, and green rice. (the lamb and fish tacos are a $ 1 up charge). I chose the avocado/​sour cream sauce for my chicken taco and the friendly man behind the counter (who I assume is Bruce) convinced me to have the Grilled Tomato and Jalapaneo sauce on my pork taco claiming it would be «hardly spicy at all.»
Ha, after 2 bites of that Tomato Jalapaneo stuff, my eyes were watering and my mouth felt like a fire pit. Bruce was nice enough to replace my taco so I could enjoy the rest of my meal without breaking into a sweat.
Overall, a very pleasant experience even for a spice wimp like me.

After the CMYE Office Hours event, I mentioned wanting to eat something Mexican. David and Susan N asked if I wanted to go and eat at Tamale Wizards, Sara D also joined. Never to turn down tacos, I joined them.
Besides the fantastic company, Tamale Wizard proved to be good, inexpensive tamales. Admittedly, this was my first time to eat a tamale, and I asked if you ate the husk. Then I was warned not to.
I had the black beans/​sweet potato tamale with green rice. The sauce I chose was mango banana, cause my taste buds aren’t that hot.
Wow, it was delicious. The sauce had a little spice, not much, mostly sweetness. The sweetness combined with the spicy black beans and sweet potato which tasted more like either quinoa or whatever fake meat either I use, or other places use in place of ground beef. I think it was better than anything there with meat in it. I almost got a combo, next time I will.
The price is right. I love finding new places to eat in the River Market. It is cute little area. I will be back to the Tamale Wizard. They run specials, and are very friendly. Cool little place. Locally ran. I’ll be back for more!

I love taking the road less traveled.
Stopped by on quiet Thurs evening while making a long drive to MPLS. So glad we diverted the 1.5 miles from our British-​accented escort (Garmin’s) directions. Of course there’s BK and Golden Arches every half hour along I35. But we are real human beings here and man cannot live on quarter pounders alone.
Group tried the fresh guac (awesome) and a smattering of the taco options. Beans and lime-​rice were both fine. My tacos were a mixed bag: (a) lamb «special,» with peanut sauce was the bomb, (b) carnitas with chile lime salsa was just «ok.» From some of the other reviews, looks like they may have had an off night there. Still would return if in the area and needed some quick eats.
Young man manning the front counter said something interesting. We mentioned we were out-​of-​towners and read ‘em on Unilocal,so «what’s good tonight?» He replied that a lot of the menu ‘changes all the time’ and that ‘alot of stuff on the online reviews (like the chicken/​goat cheese taco that received raves below) aren’t available anymore.‘
Kind of makes one think…

So I went back for the enchilada stack, and sweet jesus it was amazing. Tamale Wizard is sort of deceiving, because every time I get my food, I think «this doesn’t look like a lot of food for the price…» Then I try to eat it, and by the time I’m done, IF I’ve finished, I’m super full and would rather nap than go back to work. Especially now that Bruce added beer, I’m sold.

Tamales evoke a certain special feeling for me; a certain fondness for helping my Grandma in the kitchen with the corn masa and then getting jalapeño juice in my eyes (that was painful, but you get the picture). As a child, I was regularly fed tamales, and they weren’t just any tamales ok. They were my Grandmother’s homemade tamales that she got from her mother who got the recipe from her mother who got the recipe from her mother, etc.
Now, I realize that I cannot base any store/​restaurant prepared tamale singularly on my grandmother’s superior examples. However, they give me a fair amount of tamale credibility I would say. Tamale street cred is worth a lot in KCMO.
Tamale wizard is not very authentic. I would say that the preparation of the meats edge closely to the way my grandmother made her meats (which in this case she spent hours upon hours marinating and tenderizing that meaty goodness). A tamale is a tradition.
The base of the tamale was lacking. The corn masa seemed wet and soggy, like these particular tamales had been sitting in water for a long time. It’s hard to look past that part of the tamale since it’s what holds it all together. I was also disheartened to see that the tamales were served already unwrapped from their husks. Tsk tsk tamale wizard. This is one of the best and most nostalgic parts of the tamale experience.
I chose an interesting option for one of my fillings and I will say that they get bonus points for originality. I got the sweet potato and black bean tamale as well as the traditional pork.
The sweet potato wasn’t made for the tamale. It was a flavorful tamale in its own right, but wasn’t delivering the wow factor for me. The sweet potato was mushy, giving me the feeling of baby food. The salsas were mediocre at best. The ‘spicy’ salsa was mild oh so mild. It did have a nice solid flavor though. The guacamole was the best part of this meal. They topped it with feta and almonds. Nice touch.
I think that tamale wizard deserves another shot, since tamales are one of my all time favorite foods and they seem to have a lot of other choices.

Meh. The night we went, we were the only people there. That should have been a sign. I ordered the fish tacos, they were out of fish. :(when you only have five things on the menu, don’t be out of one of them. I ended up with two carnitas tacos, with the avocado salsa. Not a lot of taste, but my dining partner got chicken tamales with the mango banana salsa– much more flavorful, not to mention appealing on the plate. At the time, they had no liquor license, so I headed next door to buy a beer. I’d love for them to be successful, but I think it I’ll take some work.

This is my fave place to chow down on the weekends!!! BF and I visit this place at least once a weekend (check my check-​ins). Oh, their pork tacos are my favorite. I noticed this place a few months ago on my dog walk and made the choice to visit when I saw their impressive list of salsas. I’m a salsa fiend and they never disappoint.
The menu is limited, so don’t expect a huge selection. Instead expect the food they make to receive a great deal of attention to make it the best tasting food around.

2^nd trip had the chicken, almond and raspberry taco, and the fish taco. The fish taco was a huge piece of fish, with the jalepeno lime salsa on it. Succulent, flavorful, moist and kickass!!!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from a place called Tamale Wizard-​sounds fast-foody…what a pleasant surprise! They make tamales and tacos in handmade tortillas-​WAY cool! The fillings are anything but plain beef/​pork/​chicken, covered with chili and cheese. I had pork seasoned with cinnamon, and my companion had a braised short rib taco with caramelized onions, which was REALLY delicious-​just a tiny bit sweet to go with some heat. You can also choose from 6 salsas, 3 of which they rate «Spicy!» I got one of each, and the Chile Peanut definitely was (for me!) Too late, I saw that the special was a chicken tamale with cherry ancho sauce-​that sounds wonderful!
Prices are reasonable, I think-​for $ 7 you can mix match 2 tamales or tacos, with 1 side; for another $ 1 you get another side, but the $ 7 meal was plenty. The smoky pintos were great!
The place looks no different than when it was Antonio’s, except for some art on the walls. The staff are friendly and helpful, and will even deliver food next door if you’re hanging out at Cellar and Loft! They’re working on a license to serve wine and craft beers on tap; but for now you can get Soda Vie if you’re tired of Pepsi. I bought one, which comes with a $ 2 deposit-​yet another reason to come back!

J is getting way into this as the first thing he reported was, «These bathrooms are cozy!»
Wording will get you everywhere with me so (bear with me,) we went off to see the Wizard. The first thing we were greeted with were to bike couriers, we were told they are starting to do a little delivery.
It was hard to choose even though the menu isn’t huge. I did want to try every salsa. the person taking my order could tell, though I don’t usually go for this, he chose for me, that must be the Wizard part .
I had the black bean and sweet potato tamale with peanut chili salsa and the chicken and green apple with goat cheese taco with grilled tomato and jalapeño salsa. The taco had really good flavor but the apple and the shell were the same texture, I would’ve liked the apple to bit a little crisper. The black bean sweet potato tamale??? That may be my favorite new thing. The peanut chili salsa was a perfect compliment, if tamales had frosting, it would be that.
J ordered the green chili and the pork tamales respectively. He was also surprised to find the olive with the pork but really liked the flavor of both. Literally, the only thing he said that could be improved was the shreds of the pork were cut on the long side. His order came with the jalapeño lime salsa and again the grilled tomato.
Plate = Clean.
Hopefully Tamale Wizard will start a trend of local businesses naming themselves after what they truly are. I can’t wait to try more magical flavors and I’d love to go back specifically for breakfast (served on Saturday mornings.)

So, I’ve came back to check up on the pricing at Tamale Wizard, and while they’re not exactly what I had expected, there have been positive changes.
Now for lunch you can get 2 tamales or tacos and a drink for $ 6.50. They’re still a bit small so it’s not a huge meal, but we could all stand to eat a bit less, right?
The quality is still top notch, and the staff is friendly. I approve, Tamale Wizard. Welcome to the neighborhood!

I waffled between three and four stars for a while before settling on four. I am a fan, although the taco I had (braised short ribs with lightly caramelized onion) was ten times better than the tamale. The taco shell was a very thick hunk of grilled masa, much thicker than your typical taco. Thick enough that you definitely wouldn’t want two; unfortunately, it still got soggy and fell apart. That aside, the shell was tender and delightfully corny. The braised short rib filling is what made it, though. There is no word to describe it other than delightful.
I went with the roasted tomato and jalapeño salsa atop both my taco and my tamale, which was not really as brightly acidic or as hot as I’d have liked, but it was tasty enough. I think a little creamy acidity from some crumbled goat cheese or a hit of crema could have made this taco even better, but I’m not one to complain too loudly when I have perfectly braised beef in front of me.
The smoked pork tamale was alright, but not very demonstrative of wizardly powers. The masa was a little dry, as was the smoked pork within. The red chile sauce was similarly ok, but nothing I’d be in a hurry to order again. Also, I was surprised to be munching down on the tamale and discover it also contained olives. Yes, olives. Kinda weird.
Loved the smoky pintos, but you know, bacon.
I agree with the others who have indicated the prices seem a bit high. Not highway robbery, but at the end of the day this is street food. With obligatory tip, I dropped over $ 12 for one taco, one tamale, a side dish, and a drink. That seems a bit out of line relative to other places less than a block away.

Since I most recently moved to the Midwest from Phoenix I had to admit, I was hesitant that anyone would be able to impress me with a Tamale in Kansas City.
Tamale Wizard did just that. A friend and I headed over on Saturday night about an hour before closing. We split a Tamale combo meal and walked away completely sissified. Both of the workers were personable, knowledge and eager to share their business story. I love supporting local businesses and was happy to see one in my neighborhood.
For $ 8 who can argue with a homemade meal, fresh and not over processed? Amazing product with amazing service. I strongly encourage everyone to go check them out!
Once the liquor license is approved a nice beer will make this the perfect place for a relaxed date night, a night out with friends or a pre/​post bar stop.
I hope that they put some muscle behind their marketing and all of Kansas City breaks out of the same old same old rut to go discover a little bit of homemade Tamales in our backyard! Keep up the great work guys, I am sure you will see me back soon!

Where to begin?! First of all, try it for yourself and don’t believe the hype… or lack there of.
Secondly, MY review. I’m a foodie, I care about flavors and the taste of food. I don’t give two craps about décor and interior. If you like authentic; and I’m talking AUTHENTIC Mexican then you are destined to LOVE LOVE LOVE this place! It is authentic with an artistic twist! Not that Americanized crap with a soggy tortilla and drowned in some type of cheese sauce or cheddar cheese. MEXICAN’S DON’T COOK WITH CHEDDAR CHEESE!
I had read a review in The Pitch that wasn’t very memorable, because all I could remember was that the owner used to be a CPA. But I purchased a Muncharoo coupon for $ 7.50 and that makes it so much easier to venture out of my neighborhood to eat (I live in Volker, so I have tons of great food within walking distance.)
Ok, back to the review… last night my fiancé and I drove to Rivermarket and entered what has now become (in one meal) one of my favorite places to eat in the city. I had the combo — 2 tacos or tamales or combo with beans and rice. I chose the chicken and chorizo taco and the pork with red chile tamale (this is how authentic Mexican tamales are made). The size of the food was accurate to what tamales and tacos should look like. The tortilla for the taco was homemade, literally made when I ordered it, one bite and I longed to be in Zacatecas. In my opinion, if food makes you nostalgic it’s effin’ good! The chicken and chorizo was so flavorful and moist, I chose the roasted tomato and jalapeño salsa for my taco, tasted just like moms!!! I savored every bite and even contemplated getting another taco! Now, the tamale, I have a love/​hate relationship with tamales, I love them when they are made right and LOATHE them when they lack flavor and are dry. Tamales are cooked with steam and tend to lose a lot of the goodness that keeps the «masa» moist. I added the cherry pistachio salsa (not authentic but intriguing) it was delish! The nuttiness of the pistachio was the perfect compliment to the cherry and the slight sweetness was so perfect with my pork and red chile tamale. The rice and beans were also finger-​licking! the green rice had me intrigued and with good reason, the beans were spicy in the not hot but just FANTASTIC kind of way. I literally raved about each bite that I took of that meal.
All in all, it was a great dining experience. The whole meal was an emotional ride for me. I was nostalgic, missing Mexico and hoping that one day it would be safe enough to return. But above all, I was excited, I wanted to taste all the other options that were on the menu! I“m excited to see what else tamale wizard has in store!
Do yourself a favor — try it! and do the city a favor and support some local business!
p. s. if you want your food in 5 minutes, this isn’t the place for you. They take their time and make your food to order. Which for me, just adds to their charm!

I can’t remember when the last time I had a tamale before coming here. Maybe I never had one before but I don’t remember. My coworkers and I ate lunch here because one of my coworkers said this place was good. This place used to be The Original Antonio’s Pizzeria & Walnut Deli but I knew it might not last long since business wasn’t «booming.» The interior was pretty much 95% the same as before with the exception of the painted walls. The staff here were friendly and I think the owner was there at the cash register. There weren’t a lot of people here but we did come before noon.
A lot of the menu items were cheap (under $ 5). I ordered the Combo ($ 8) which was any two tacos or tamales or a combination of the two with beans and rice. I ordered the Chicken Tomatillo tamale and the Chicken and Chorizo taco. It was a few minutes before my food was ready. The size of the taco was pretty small and it wasn’t a hard taco shell; instead, it was the soft taco shells. The tamale was small, too (unless that’s the normal size). I saved the rice and beans for last since I felt it was more of a side dish. Everything tasted okay to me and I was pretty full when I finished everything. I thought it was worth the money considering the amount I received.
Come here if you want to grab a quick bite that may or may not fill you up.