Tamale King - Buchanan Dam

SO SAD! Used to love the chili rellenos and carne guisada when the original owners had it. Now it has a reduced menu, no rellenos and crummy food. The new people took out the booths and turned them into tables. Why? Used to be my favorite Mexican food but now it stinks. Don't bother with the Jalisco restaurant (former Storms in Kingsland) either where all the food is fried and greasy. We're in trouble for Mexican out here now. So sad that the owners of Tamale King didn't vet the new owners to insure quality. SO SO SAD

I met some friends here last week to see a fantastic musician friend of mine play (Danny Brooks) and I was very concerned at the low reviews and was going to eat first, but I figured I would just go and see for myself. Anyway, we ate and drank some margaritas, and had a great time, and I do not know where all the negative opinions come from, because the service was fast and great, and our meals and drinks were fantastic, and a lot of food all fresh and very tasty. I will use this experience that stars are not always right as everyone has a opinion and not all of them are as honest as I think they should be, but we all have one, so I left mine and I highly recommend Tamale King to anyone.

Tamales and Racism. This is the 2nd time I 've been to Tamale King, and certainly will be the last. Six of us drove almost half an hour to have lunch, because we loved the food last time we were here. The chips and salsa were great, the beans were perfect, and the fajitas were tasty. All good signs for a Mexican restaurant. Our waiter was friendly and helpful. The menu offers a wide selection of classics and specialties. We were just digging into our meals when we were all horrified to overhear THE BARTENDER (petite female) and what appeared to be a regular loudly talking about wetbacks. Seriously. In a MEXICAN restaurant, with food being cooked and tables being cleaned by immigrants from Mexico, they were using a racial slur to talk about Mexicans. In 2017. We couldn 't believe it. A couple of us at the table are of Mexican descent. We have witnessed our parents and grandparents being subjected to hate speech and derogatory language with such words, and these people were openly using, while serving and eating Mexican food. With immigrants working hard, within earshot. They were clearly oblivious to how ignorant and disgusting their behavior was, but we were not. It definitely ruined our meal. We quietly finished up, got our checks, and left. Tamale King, if you read this, and don 't see what the big deal is, I don 't know what to tell you. How anyone in 2017 thinks that it is ever ok to refer to people as wetbacks, a racial slur with a long, rich history of hate and discrimination of its own, is beyond me. The fact that you would do so IN A MEXICAN RESTAURANT, with immigrant staff right there, is abhorrent and trashy. I don 't care what your rationalization for your ignorance is. No one should eat here. We won 't be back.

Having previously worked in the restaurant industry I have a pretty good understanding what goes on behind the scenes. Although not an expert, I am Mexican from San Antonio and grew up spending summers in New Mexico. I would consider myself fairly well versed in Tex-Mex and New Mexican cuisine. Tamale King tries to straddle both. We've visited Tamale King a number of times over the years and the food was very good. This visit was an absolute disaster. The kitchen has really slipped and our waitress could stand some attitude adjustment. I ordered Verde Guisada. The plate came out and it was sauce with just a few pieces of meat. Two of those pieces were pure fat and gristle which had to be discarded. The sauce was good but I didn't order sauce. The rice that came with it was seasoned well and moist. I ordered borracho beans (I won't eat refried because often times they're prepared with lard). Most places will allow a substitution for free or a minimal charge. Tamale King charges $2.99 for a small cup. My boyfriend jokingly asked if we needed to stop and get me a cheeseburger on the way home. He was equally disappointed. He ordered a combo plate with Enchilada and a Chalupa. The chalupa was extremely soggy upon arrival and had to be eaten with knife/fork. I understand restaurants try to maximize profits but Tamale King has taken it to a new level in cost cutting. The waitress asked how our meal was. I was honest with her and told her we were disappointed and why. She didn't offer any corrections and in fact her attitude shifted and she became rude. It makes you wonder if the owner is ok with seeing subpar dishes come out of the kitchen or condones the attitude from staff. I wouldn't recommend Tamale King unless they make some serious adjustments.

This was one of our favorite restaurants in the past. At one point, we would eat here almost weekly and there would often be a wait to be seated. The quality and consistency have continued to decline to the point that we have finally given up. There is one dish that we would always come back for and that was the salmon. Unfortunately, it is hit or miss at this point whether you will receive what is described on the menu. Most people are drawn to this entree due to the capers that are in the topping. Unfortunately, at this point they may or may not be served with the meal, if they are not served with it, they will substitute a topping with jalapeno's. I love jalapeno's, but that is not what belongs in this dish nor what is described on the menu. The description also states it is served with a guacamole salad. In the past few months, you did not get this unless you asked for it. Last night we were informed that they no longer serve guacamole as avocado's are too expensive! After waiting for 15 minutes for our margarita's and being reassured several times by our waitress that she was trying to get them, I finally went to the bar as I was afraid our food would come before the drinks. The bartender informed me that she had been busy and if we were in such a hurry, the waitress should have made them herself. Now if the restaurant was full, I could understand the wait, but occupancy was probably 30% at best. For the positives, the place is always clean and the wait staff is attentive, but at this point, the negatives outweigh the positives for us.