STOP HERE. Tamales, $13 for a half dozen. These are the tamales you've dreamed about. Maybe you had one years ago somewhere but you haven't been able to find it again? Come here- they're legit. So good. The carne asada tacos were fantastic as well. Nice little attached market will help you stock up on Mexican specialties. Seating is limited. read more

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Hit the brakes and Stop!!!!! Esmeralda has it together in sooo many ways. Do not miss the cool market stuff and DEFINITELY get the fresh, hot, and steamy tamales that she makes. The staff is most helpful, the place is neat and clean and the food. Oh the food. You gotta go getchasum yall. We had a house full of company and got 3 dozen assorted tamales and were they amazing? Indeed off the chain and that group mowed them down! Thank you Esmeralda for bringing tastebud joy to all that you serve! With huge appreciation! read more

Purchased giant breakfast burrito, tamales, some neat little mexican items, people were nice and was happy to stop here.

I am from California visiting family in town. Really great Al Pastor burrito. Hard to eat without a fork and knife, but flavor on point. Authentic chile and cheese tamales. Fresh tortillas, heat and eat with butter. Very nice women working. Thank you for your hospitality. read more

We were drawn to Esmeraldas Ranchito Mexican Grocery Store after reading the reviews lauding the tamales served at this family run store. Esmeraldas, very interestingly, is situated in a former gas station with the gas pumps removed. I believe they serve most items the entire day, so we were able to snag our tamales even though it was only 8AM. There were a couple of other customers inside and it seemed like everyone only visits for the food and not so much for the groceries. I ended up having to order in Spanish even though everything on the menu is in English. It's not an issue though as the person working is very friendly and and patient. Half Dozen Tamale ($13) - They had four types of tamale available for purchase: Beef (x2) - This tamale is filled with ground beef and corn in a red chile sauce, lending a reddish color to the masa wrapper. The masa is a little on the dry side and crumbles apart quite easily, but it doesn't stick to the corn husk much, allowing the tamale to stay well together during the unwrapping process. The beef is pretty lean and isn't seasoned that much, so it's a rather mild flavor. Chicken (x2) - The masa in this tamale completely sticks onto the corn husk, making the tamale basically completely fall apart while trying to unwrap. This might be due to construction - this tamale has a ton of filling, probably more filling than masa. The filling is basically shredded chicken in a light green chile sauce, complete with chile seeds. Like the beef tamale, this one is also on the dry side. The texture of the chicken is very similar to canned tuna and sticks to the teeth while eating. It's very tender without any gristle. Pork (x1) - The pork is shredded well into almost a Chinese pork floss-like texture. Since we ate this later (not on the same day) we ended up steaming the tamale and I have to say that the reheating process really amps up the moisture levels and makes the masa succulent and the meat not necessarily juicy, but definitely not dry. Cheese (x1) - This one smells the best by far. The filling includes plenty of fatty cheese, giving moisture and a good mouthfeel, and is embedded with pieces of tomato, onion, and green chile. The flavors meld together quite well, and due to the extra moisture, this is the most pleasing to eat. I've had tamales before that are still very good even with lukewarm. These ones, on the other hand, have to be eaten fresh or otherwise reheated via steaming. With that being said, when fresh, the tamales Esmeraldas serves are just as the other reviews state - delicious. read more

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My traveling companion wants to propose to Esmeralda. She is so lovely, and her chile cheese tamales are the bomb. We stopped and got tamales on our way to Mesa Verde, and they were so good, we stopped again on our way back to Canyonlands for a refill. read more

The best tamales. Seems like family run, clean and nice coolers. Everything that was supposed to be cold - was cold. Did I mention, the best tamales. $12/6!! Worth every penny. The salsa verde was medium and it was still hot - sweating a little while I write this. read more

They are very friendly The food is delicious Very clean place They had everything I needed read more

All the food was delicious. I can say I would recommend them to anybody that's having a party. Food was just out of this world. They are great caterers. read more

If you want great tamales this is the place. Delicious handmade in the store. Very nice people working here. We go over and over.

I didn't get the opportunity to check into Esmeraldas because Yelp had this place marked as closed when it was actually open. We've passed by this place quite a few times and I finally had a chance to stop in for some lunch and to buy a half dozen pork tamales to bring back to Arizona with me and I'm glad we did. I ordered a carne asada burrito with green sauce for my boyfriend the thing was huge it's meat to additional toppings ratio was perfect unlike some places where you get 90% tortilla the asada was very tender and he loved the green sauce inside. I had a two beef tamales combo that came with real pinto beans and some crazy good spanish rice the beef to masa ratio in the tamales was lacking a lot but I'm ok with that because I prefer the masa over the meat I always have and the meat is usually given to my fur babies I chose their red sauce it was nice and spicy just the way I like it. Now this is also a small international market so you can also do some shopping for other stuff as well. They have a couple of tables and chairs inside that you can sit at while you eat and the ladies working are very nice and helpful. If you like fresh homemade tortillas this is also a must stop shop I highly recommend coming here if you're ever in Cortez Colorado. read more

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OMG! Driving through from Moab was looking for a place like this. Glad I passed the Taco Bell with 12 cars in the drive-through! Esnereldas for the win! read more

Tortillas made fresh and hot. Get some before heading out. Also get some fresh made salsas. The quesadilla was nice. Lots of locals came in when I was there. You can also get some dried beans. It's actually called Esmeraldas Ranchito Mexican Grocery Store, not Don Vic's. read more

Tried the street tacos had 3 steak 3 pastor and 2 chicken (shredded) . Chicken was dry, pastor was wet and shredded and bland as well . Steak was probably the best a little more flavor and nuggets of meat . Plenty of cilantro and onions so that helped . 3$ per taco so fair in price . The worst part was the tortillas, they were warm at best as if thrown in microwave. They were not grilled or cooked on a flat top . Salsas were ok the red sauce had some spice and thickness and the green was very runny with no flavor . Won't be back but had to try. ! read more

Coming from Boston, we can't get good Mexican food so when we saw the sign for tamales on our way to Mesa Verde, we knew we had to stop on our way home. SO glad we did!! We got a dozen tamales (pork, chicken, and pork green chile), we bought a 32 oz container of pork green chile, a container of red salsa, homemade flour tortillas and homemade tortilla chips. Good God was it amazing. The flour tortillas are incredible and the red salsa perfect in flavor and consistency. Tamales outstanding. Considered making the drive from telluride to pick up more today!! read more

My wife and I are going to go 2-3 hours out of the way to pick up their home made tamales in 2 weeks when we come back to Prescott Valley,Az.from Northern Colorado,they are the best! read more

Yummy!! I love authentic Mexican cuisine. The store is super cool! The candt and tortillas, I could go on.

Yum! We were stopping through Cortez for a night and saw the sign for tamales. We decided we would grab some on our way out the next morning. They were super quick and the tamales were delicious! We got pork and green Chile. They also have Starbucks coffee and you can basically have them make whatever you want. The tamales were inexpensive and tasty. I definitely recommend you stop by. They also have other food and a market. read more

Esmeraldas Ranchito Mexican Grocery Store - Pork and green Chile tamales - International Grocery Near Me - Cortez, Colorado

Excellent place. Good selection of food. If you want cooked, prepared, or groceries they have it. I got some tamales and oooh they were sooo good. Best I've had in a longtime if ever. Gotta go to this store. read more

Soooo this guy, let me tell you about this guy..... We went in and grabbed some of his highly recommended Tamales which didn't disappoint. When we left, I realized I had a blow out on my cars serpentine belt. This dude called about a dozen of his personal friends to come help me since all the auto shops were closed for the holiday weekend. He then stayed around two hours after close bringing water and checking if he could help then gave me his personal number Incase I needed to leave the car overnight. I would of been totally stranded with a kid and GF if not for him, wish there was a star ranking for being a awesome human being. Long story short, grab this dude tamales..... read more

The tortillas are to die for. They are homemade and amazing. The tamales were amazing. Def recommend to anyone driving by! The prices are reasonable and customer service was excellent! read more

I couldn't wait to review Don Vic's! We stopped by this afternoon, curious as to what they had. Extensive selection of Mexican sauces, spices, canned goods, chips, drinks, etc. We took home fresh chili relleno burritos, which were amazing. We also bought a pound of marinated pork for tacos. They had marinated steak, chicken, etc. Tamales. Extensive selection. Homemade flour tortillas. I can't wait to take my grandchildren in to look at their HUGE selection of Mexican candies and treats. Fascinating. Definitely going to buy one of their pinatas for their next birthdays and fill them with their huge bag of Mexican pinata candies. Really wonderful store, stop by and pick up dinner. You won't be sorry. Oh, and they are lovely people, warm and helpful. read more