Tom Tom Tamales: Chicago's Paper-Wrapped Tradition Since 1937

Since 1937, Tom Tom Beef Tamales have been the odd, perfect thing sitting next to the fries at Chicago hot dog stands — a soft cornmeal roll packed with seasoned beef, paprika and spice, wrapped in paper instead of a corn husk.

The style is unique to this city. Mexican tamales, the kind steamed in a dried corn husk, came north with families who settled in Pilsen, Little Village and Back of the Yards. Chicago hot dog stands took that idea and made it faster: a machine-extruded cornmeal casing, no husk, no waiting, something you could pull from a steamer and hand through a window in under a minute.

That is the neighborhood tradition. The tamale was never the main event at the stand — it was the side, the add-on, the thing you ordered because it cost a dollar and because the steam cabinet was always on. On the West Side and the South Side, after a long shift or a long ride on the L, a tamale in paper, a bag of fries, and a pop was a whole meal for a few coins.

The Mother-In-Law is the move that proves Chicago does not waste a tradition. Take a Tom Tom tamale, drop it in a steamed bun, and smother it in chili, mustard and onions. It is messy, filling, and unapologetically local — the kind of sandwich you cannot order by name outside of Cook County without getting a blank stare.

Tom Tom never stopped making them. No artificial colorings, no reformulation, no pivot to the freezer aisle of a national chain. The same paprika-tinted cornmeal, the same seasoned beef, the same paper wrapper that a kid in 1955 would recognize today.

Eat them straight with mustard, like the regulars do. Steam them until the paper peels easy. Or build a Mother-In-Law and pretend you are back on Cicero Avenue at midnight. Either way, you are tasting a thing Chicago has been doing for nearly ninety years — quietly, cheaply, and without needing anyone outside the city to notice.

Find Tom Tom Beef Tamales in our freezer case and ship a piece of the neighborhood anywhere in the country.