‘We can blow their minds.’ New fast-casual restaurant serves up tamales with famous cheese dip and frozen horchata.

IDAHO FALLS — A caller fast-casual edifice successful downtown Idaho Falls serves tamales pinch a twist. 

Tamales Inc., located astatine 475 Park Avenue, was opened successful July by business partners Ricco Lanauze, Wendy Hotzel, and Luis Hernandez.

“We wanted to reinvent nan wheel. We didn’t want to beryllium conscionable different edifice that sells Mexican food,” said Lanauze. “We wanted to create thing different, thing new. We recovered thing that we tin connection to group that they ne'er had before.”

Lanauze is primitively from New Jersey, and his mom is from Mexico. He learned really to make tamales and has been successful nan edifice business for complete 30 years. 

He said it takes astir six and a half hours to navigator astir 250 to 300 tamales, which are made successful nan edifice each day. 

When you locomotion into Tamales Inc., you’ll announcement a motion that recognizes section precocious schools, sports teams, and cities, on pinch vibrant colors and murals.

“Our taxable is Día de los Muertos successful Mexico,” Lanauze said. 

The edifice is group up for illustration a “Subway,” and customers build their ain food. 

Part of nan wrong of Tamales Inc. | Andrea Olson, EastIdahoNews.com

“You prime your rice. We put nan atom connected nan bottommost of nan plate. It’s benignant of for illustration a tamale bowl. Then you prime your tamales, one, two, aliases 3 tamales (chicken, pork, aliases beef). We propulsion it successful nan oven for 30 seconds, and past you take your toppings,” he said. 

There is simply a celebrated food dip that customers love. 

“Like group termination for it,” Lanauze said, smiling. “It’s a very typical food that we get. We put our condiments, and we melt it down.” 

There are stiff aguas frescas, for illustration nan “frosty horchata,” which is simply a large hit. There are besides “walking tamales,” which are akin to stepping tacos. Hernandez came up pinch nan idea.

“Holy crap. That is truthful freaking good! We drawback 1 of nan murphy spot bags: Tostitos, Doritos, Fritos, aliases Hot Cheetos. We conscionable flip it over, trim it connected nan side, and put nan tamale they choose. Then we put a very generous magnitude of our celebrated food dip. Then, each nan toppings that they want. They conscionable locomotion astir pinch a fork and eat it,” Lanauze said.

Hotzel said stepping tamales are celebrated pinch kids. 

“They are really excited complete it. They deliberation it’s fun,” she said. “It’s each delicious. I emotion it all. I knew I liked tamales, but now I emotion them.”

She useful successful nan front, helping return attraction of customers, and enjoys it. She feels for illustration she has made caller lifelong friends and said galore customers person travel backmost already. 

Some of nan tamales pinch different sauces and toppings. | Andrea Olson, EastIdahoNews.com

“There person been immoderate group that person travel successful six aliases 7 times successful nan 2 weeks (since we’ve been open) aliases more,” Hotzel said. “We had immoderate visitors from Japan and I deliberation location were immoderate that were from Australia.”

Hernandez said that business has been good. Most group person heard astir Tamales Inc. done connection of mouth. He said their activity creating nan nutrient and nan wrong of nan business has been rewarding. 

“People person been excited for america to beryllium open,” he said. “We bask being here.”

Tamales Inc. is unfastened Monday done Saturday astatine 11 a.m. It closes betwixt 9 and 10 p.m. aliases until nan business runs retired of tamales. 

“I would conscionable induce (the community) to travel present and cheque it out. I americium beautiful judge that they would emotion to beryllium here,” Hernandez said. 

Lanauze added that if group are stepping into nan edifice for nan first time, he hopes they will person an unfastened mind to trying thing new. 

“We are not nan spot that conscionable sells tamales,” he said. “We tin rustle their minds.”

Andrea Olson, EastIdahoNews.com