DINING FEATURE Tommy Tamale Family serves award-winning tamales six days a week I n 2010, Steve Barker needed a job, so he started selling tamales out of his truck in Decatur. He said he went from business to business asking people to buy his tamales. They were selling. He said he soon realized he needed a business name. “I knew ‘Steve Tamale’ wouldn’t have the right ring … so I came up with Tommy Tamale,” Barker said. He eventually shifted to selling tamales from a booth at the Grapevine Farmers Market. Three days a week for ve years, customers could nd him there with his tamales. Along the way, he and his wife, JoAnn Barker, decided to open a small storefront in Grapevine that they referred to as The Shack. Hayden Adams and the Barkers’ other grandchil- dren helped out. “Grammy always said Poppy’s goal is that Tommy Tamale will become a household name, and I think it is there,” Adams said. There are now Tommy Tamale locations in Grapevine, Coppell and Keller. Barker said his wife, two granddaughters, two grandsons and a son-in-law all work at Tommy Tamale. Adams is the manager of the Keller location, which opened in November 2020. She said customers provide rave, albeit hushed, reviews of their tamales. “We get a lot of customers whose grandma makes them, and they say, ‘These are better than my grand- ma’s, but don’t tell her I said that,’” she said. “That’s a really satisfying thing.” Customers can order from a wide variety of tama- les as well as bowls, nachos, quesadillas and more items with tamales incorporated into them. In 2021, Tommy Tamale got top billing on Yelp’s top 25 spots for tamales in Texas. Barker said that honor means a lot because “the customer said that.” “Tamales are so labor-intensive—we pride ourselves on delivering the best tamale out there,” Barker said. BY KAREN CHANEY
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1 The tamale plate comes with a choice of pork, beef, Hatch chili pork, chicken, habanero pork or black bean tamales (two for $7 or four for $9). It is served with rice and a choice of beans. 2 A top seller is the Tommy Bowl with one or two tamales ($7-$9). It comes with rice, queso, Texas beef chili cheese and pico de gallo. 3 Nachos ($8-$10) come with a choice of chicken, al pastor pork, steak or tamales. They are served with pico de gallo, sour cream, avocado salsa and arbol salsa. MUST TRYMENU ITEMS:
PHOTOS BY KAREN CHANEY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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Hayden Adams, right, manages the Keller location owned by her grandfather, Steve Barker.
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KELLER ROANOKE NORTHEAST FORT WORTH EDITION • FEBRUARY 2022
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