The Brief

Editor's note: This story first published in 2023; it's been updated to reflect 2025 prices.

This is your public service announcement, people!

If you want to bring a tray of the best homemade tamales to your holiday gatherings this year ... you need to order now. Like, today.

That's because making traditional, authentic tamales is a labor-intensive job. Many places start taking orders in late November and halt new orders to give their hard-working kitchens time to fulfill demand. After that, you're out of luck.

I asked our LAist newsroom for the best places to order holiday tamales, and now I'm sharing those picks with you. Did I miss your favorite place for holiday tamales? Let me know and I may include it.

La Mascota Bakery in Boyle Heights

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La Mascota Bakery

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How’s this for a recommendation: LAist 89.3 AirTalk host Larry Mantle says the tamales from La Mascota Bakery in Boyle Heights are the best in L.A., full stop: “They've ruined others for me,” Mantle said, “My favorite masa. My in-laws' holiday tradition for decades.” Tamales are $2.99 apiece when you order online, or $35.49 a dozen. There are six varieties to choose from: red chile with pork, red chile with beef, green chile chicken, green chile and cheese, vegetable and a sweet option with pineapple.

La Moderna Bakery in Whittier

How good is La Moderna Bakery in Whittier? It’s where LAist food and culture writer Gab Chabrán’s mom buys her holiday tamales. And this is the time to be planning your order. They've sold out the last several years. (Ask me how I know.) And their website warns that holiday tamale orders begin precisely at 7 a.m. on the Friday after Thanksgiving. La Moderna is known for old-school classics and rock-bottom prices: There's a new green pork tamale recipe on the menu this year, in addition to the traditional red pork, red beef, green cheese, green chicken and sweet tamales, $2.75 each or $33 for a dozen.

Shane's Tamales in Garden Grove

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Shane's Tamales

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If you’re vegan, many tamales remain out of reach. Enter Shane’s Tamales, which has now moved into its permanent Garden Grove location after much acclaim as a pop up. Vegan tamales include Chick'n Green Chile, "Pork" red chile, bean with "cheese" and rajas, spinach and crema and pineapple and dates. In-person pricing is $5 each, three for $14 and a dozen for $56. (Ordering through a delivery services includes service pricing.)

Señor Big Ed in Cypress

Might as well make it a meal.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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For a Puerto Rican tamale — made from a masa with green plantains — head to Señor Big Ed, a beloved hole-in-the-wall restaurant located in the city of Cypress. The pasteles are filled with pork and wrapped in a banana leaf and boiled instead of steamed, resulting in a darker, softer, velvet-like texture. The restaurant’s menu is half Puerto Rican favorites, half Mexican dishes. So, try both styles of tamales. A dozen pasteles are $62, pork tamales are $4.25 a la carte. And while you’re there, might as well enjoy some sweet fried plantains and arroz con gandules.

Tacoz in Lynwood

Mayra Soto’s take on holiday tamales channels her Michaoacan roots, as do many of items on the menu at her Tacoz outpost. There are uchepos, a sweet corn tamale made with a coarser masa and wrapped in a green corn husk (while others are made in a dried husk) and corundas, which are chunkier in size, and wrapped in a long corn leaf, or milpa. (Their appearance on the menu went viral on IG and Tik Tok.) Both $3.50 each. You are even invited to bring your own pot for the pickup, to ensure “safe travels” for your corundas. For $4.50, there are tamales harinas, authentic Michoacán-style tamales that are "soft and fluffy," homemade with flour masa, steamed and served with atole for dipping and sipping and savoring.

Tamale Man outside DTLA

You’ll have a hard time beating the prices at Tamale Man, located northeast of DTLA. It’s $2.20 per tamale, or $30.50 per dozen tamales, with your choice of cheese, pork, chicken or sweet corn. The tamales are made with an “heirloom recipe” that has been handed down for generations and has a devoted following: “My family has been eating tamales here for the last 15-20 years,” said one online comment. If you stop by, might as well try one of their tamale-centric breakfasts or lunches, such as tamales and eggs, $11.95, or the two-tamale combo, $10, both meals served with rice and beans.

Lupita's Bakery in South LA

Lupita's Bakery is known for its lavishly decorated birthday and wedding cakes. But go beyond the bakery sweets to find … Lupita's Kitchen tucked inside the bakery located on West Florence Avenue in South L.A. The menu includes all the hits — hardshell tacos, chili rellenos, quesadillas and more. And this time of year, the star is a seasonal favorite: El Salvadoran tamales. These tamales are wrapped in banana leaves, versus the traditional corn husks used in Mexican kitchen. Fans say the banana leaves lend an earthier flavor. Here’s how you know Lupita’s are traditional: Last year, cashier Erika Rodriguez told LAist that the tamales are made by the cook’s wife, who is El Salvadoran, and she goes back home for the holidays. “So if you want them, you have to order ahead.” Luckily, she said, the tamalaes can sit in your fridge for a few days before reheating and serving. In case you are wondering why a kitchen that serves up so much Mexican food makes El Salvadoran tamales, Rodriguez said: “That’s what people ask for.” Tamales are $3 apiece. There’s just one flavor, chicken.

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Courtesy Chiquis Tamales

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Chiquis Tamales in East LA

You’re not going to get more homemade than this: An LAist staffer swears by the tamales sold out of a home in East L.A., so you definitely need to order ahead and arrange for a pickup: Chiquis Tamales makes a wide range, including chicken, pork, cheese & jalapeno and strawberry and pineapple varieties. Call: (323) 383-3376. Price: $3.50 a piece, and $40 for a dozen. "Order now, so you can get all the flavors you want," said co-owner Helen Vidal. She said holiday orders will be cut off around the middle of the month. Consider yourself warned.

Raul Malo, the leader of the country band The Mavericks and one of the most recognizable voices in roots music, died Monday night, according to a representative of the band. The guitarist and singer had been battling cancer.

He was hospitalized last week, forcing him to miss tribute shows staged in his honor at the Ryman Auditorium over the weekend. He was 60 years old.

"No one embodied life and love, joy and passion, family, friends, music and adventure the way our beloved Raul did," read a statement released by his family.

Malo's group, The Mavericks, mourned the loss of their leader in a social post.

"Anyone with the pleasure of being in Raul's orbit knew that he was a force of human nature, with an infectious energy," the statement read. "Over a career of more than three decades entertaining millions around the globe, his towering creative contributions and unrivaled, generational talent created the kind of multicultural American music reaching far beyond America itself."

Over a career that lasted four decades, The Mavericks lived up to the band's name, challenging expectations and following a roadmap crafted by Malo's expansive musical upbringing as the son of Cuban immigrants in Miami.

"I grew up in a very musical household. There was all kinds of music around always," he told WHYY's Fresh Air in 1995. "We listened to everything from Hank Williams to Celia Cruz to Sam Cooke to Bobby Darin. It didn't matter."

In 1992, Malo told NPR that his widespread influences weren't always understood or appreciated in his South Florida hometown, but he said that his struggle to fit in taught him to trust his instincts. Malo had become the guitarist and lead singer for The Mavericks in 1989, alongside co-founders Robert Reynolds and Paul Deakin, and his roaring, sentimental voice defined the band's sound and remained its constant as the group's catalog moved from slow, tender ballads to full-throttle rock songs. In 1995, the band released its biggest hit with "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down," a swinging country song featuring an assist from Tex-Mex accordion legend Flaco Jimenez.

As the band grew in members and devoted listeners, The Mavericks continued to push the boundaries of American music, weaving a richly layered tapestry of textures and stories. With more than a dozen studio albums, The Mavericks collected praise and recognition from the Academy of Country Music, the Country Music Association and the Recording Academy. Although they took a hiatus for several years, Malo never stopped making music — and returned to his bandmates with renewed inspiration.

Following its 30th anniversary, the group released its first full-length Spanish album in 2020, aptly titled En Español. The record reimagined Latin standards and folklore-tinged popular tunes; it also made an implicit political statement about Latin music's contributions to American culture.

"In our own little way, if we could get somebody that perhaps is on the fence on issues and hears us singing in Spanish and perhaps reminds them of the beautiful cultures that make up what this country is trying to be and what it should be, so be it," Malo told NPR at the time. "Yeah, I'm OK with that."

The following year, the Americana Music Association recognized The Mavericks with the Trailblazer Award. In 2024, the band released its last studio album, Moon & Stars. The release coincided with news of Malo's cancer diagnosis, which he discussed openly with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe.

Before being hospitalized last week, Malo had been scheduled to perform with The Mavericks at a pair of tribute concerts held this past weekend at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Over 30 artists, including Patty Griffin, Jim Lauderdale and Steve Earle, still gathered to pay tribute to Malo, with some of the proceeds of the night going to the cancer prevention organization Stand Up To Cancer.

According to his spokesperson, though Malo was too ill to attend, the concert was streamed to his hospital room Friday night.

Copyright 2025 NPR

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has mostly blocked efforts to investigate misconduct within its ranks, according to the county inspector general, who announced his retirement Tuesday after 12 years on the job.

In an open letter, Max Huntsman cited examples of how the county has thwarted his efforts to watchdog the department, which in the past has been plagued with accusations that deputies use excessive force and lie on the job.

Huntsman said one example is former Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s misuse of criminal enforcement powers to discredit critics, such as opening an investigation into former County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.

Villanueva was sheriff from 2018 to 2022.

“My requests for investigation were rejected,” Huntsman’s letter reads. “Even after receiving an official subpoena, the Sheriff’s Department has failed to turn over records regarding the improper surveillance.”

He added: “Sometimes members of the public wonder if frightening new surveillance techniques will be used for improper purposes under the guise of criminal investigation. Sadly, the answer is yes.”

Before becoming inspector general in 2013, Huntsman, 60, was a deputy district attorney who specialized in public corruption. He told LAist on Tuesday that the inspector general job wasn’t something he wanted initially.

“I didn’t want to go work for politicians,” he said. “But the need to provide some kind of independent reporting and analysis was significant.”

The Sheriff’s Department issued a statement saying it valued the Office of the Inspector General and all county oversight bodies and that it wished Huntsman and his family well in his retirement.

The department said it “continues to make great strides in advancing the department in a transparent manner.”

LAist also reached out to the county CEO and county counsel for comment, but they declined.

After George Floyd

In the letter, Huntsman says the state of California has come a long way in strengthening the power of local law enforcement oversight bodies, in part because of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.

After widespread protests — and lobbying by Huntsman — the state provided authority to inspectors general to enforce subpoenas requiring law enforcement agencies to hand over documents and authorized external investigation of police misconduct, including deputy gang conduct.

The Sheriff’s Department — backed by county lawyers — has resisted.

“Los Angeles County may not follow those laws, but it will not be able to avoid them forever,” Huntsman wrote. “The county refuses to require the photographing of suspected gang tattoos in secretive groups that the undersheriff has identified as violating state law.”

“Just a few weeks ago, we requested some information regarding an investigation, and a pair of commanders refused to give it to us,” Huntsman said in an interview with LAist.

Origin of the office 

The Inspector General’s Office was created by the county Board of Supervisors in 2013 in response to a scandal that included former Sheriff Lee Baca covering up the abuses of jail inmates.

Baca went to federal prison.

Since then, the office has issued dozens of reports with recommendations for improving living conditions inside jails that some have described as “filthy,” stopping abuses of juveniles inside juvenile halls and providing shower privacy for inmates as part of the requirements under the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

“All of these abuses were reported by the Office of Inspector General and recommendations were ignored,” Huntsman wrote. Often, it took court orders to enact change.

“When we first blew the whistle on the torturous chaining of mentally ill prisoners to benches for 36 hours at a time, it was only a court order that ended the practice,” he wrote. “Time and time again, this pattern repeated itself.”

Huntsman wrote the county has permitted the Sheriff’s Department to block oversight and defunded the Office of Inspector General by removing a third of its staff.

“It's not surprising the county has driven out two successive chairs of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission,” he wrote.

“Government always claims to value transparency and accountability, but shooting the messenger is still the most common response to criticism,” Huntsman wrote.

Despite setbacks, Huntsman values work 

Huntsman told LAist on Tuesday that he was proud of his career as a public servant.

“I’ve really enjoyed the work and I’m sad to have it end,” he said.

It’s a sentiment he echoed in his letter, adding that despite the setbacks and roadblocks, he was proud of the people with whom he shared the office.

“It has been my honor to work with a talented, brave and tireless group of public servants to ensure that the public knows what its government is doing,” he wrote.

He noted the inspector general’s reports are fact-checked by the office and public.

“When government abuses occur, they are sometimes kept secret, but that is no longer the case for much of what is happening in Los Angeles County,” Huntsman wrote. “What you do about it is up to you.,”

Huntsman’s last day is Friday.

Topline:

The backstory: Last month, the council's Transportation Committee voted to bring a proposal forward to implement a policy change that allows the city to impound and immediately destroy abandoned or inoperable RVs worth less than $4,000. The change is inspired by new state law AB 630, which was created to prevent previously impounded RVs from ending back up on the street.

The motion, authored by Councilmember Traci Park, reports that abandoned RVs pose as public and safety hazards.

What's next: Councilmember Nithya Raman requested that an implementation plan be presented to the council's public safety and housing and homelessness committees.

Go deeper: L.A. pushes policy to make it easier to remove RVs from city streets.