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    La Bamba

    4.1 (23 reviews)
    InexpensiveMexican, Food Stands
    Closed Closed
    Updated 3 months ago

    La Bamba Photos

    LA BAMBA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Good for kids
    Good for groups
    Dogs allowed

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    Tamales La Bamba is located in a pre-fabricated metal building, on Atkinson Street in Roseville, CA, just a short block north of Denio's.
    Eric R.

    Tamales... what better "comfort" food is there in this world than tamales? Especially tamales that are fresh and lovingly made by friendly people... Tamales La Bamba... open weekends and located near Denio's Auction Yard, in Roseville, CA. Tamales La Bamba is located in a pre-fabricated metal building, on Atkinson Street in Roseville, CA, just a short block north of Denio's Farmer's Market and Swap Meet. Tamales La Bamba is located on the grounds of Joseph's Auction Town, which has been closed for nearly 8 years at the time of this writing. As you enter the restaurant, you'll meet the friendly owner of the business, Ernesto, as he relaxes behind the metal cart, which serves as the counter. There is nothing fancy about the restaurant, as the tables are folding, and the chairs are plastic. When you order a soda or a bottled water, you may receive your order from an ice chest, as refrigerator space is limited, as the fridge is dedicated to tamales. Today's menu selection is very simple, and offers just five varities of tamales. Back in 2013, the restaurant stopped selling beef tamales, as according to the owner, beef was getting too expensive to offer as a selection. Each table is set with two trays of sauce, a green salsa verde and a red ranchero-style red chili sauce. How do you decide which sauce to enjoy? Maybe place green sauce on one tamale, and red sauce on the other? During a previous visit to the fine restaurant, I'd enjoyed the salsa verde, so today I went with the salsa roja and enjoyed it. The salsa roja is on the spicy side, so if you're "sensitive" in that direction, caveat emptor. But, the sauce is rich, robust, flavorful and enhances the delicious tamales. I highly recommend it! Today, I enjoyed a cheese tamale, and a pork tamale. Tamales La Bamba produces amazing tamales, and is the only "Tamale only" restaurant in Roseville, and all of Placer county. Tamales La Bamba is open on Saturdays and Sundays only. Their amazing tamales are made at home, and brought to the restaurant, in stored in a refrigerator, ready for instant service. If you request, the friendly staff will warm your tamales in a microwave oven, but in my case, I love tamales any way I can find them, so I couldn't wait for the microwave, as I had to "dig in," enjoy, and "pig out" on fine tamales. The masa is made from scratch, so is the sauce, and the meat is locally sourced. As I mentioned before, the tamales are made in mama's kitchen and brought to the store, ready for you to enjoy. In chatting to Ernesto, Friday and Saturday nights are "tamale making nights" at home, as the staff gets up very early in the morning to make tamales for each day of business. It's not uncommon for the store to have a "run" on a certain variety of tamale, so just because your favorite tamale is listed on the menu doesn't mean it will be in stock, as it could be sold out. If you have your heart seat on a certain variety of tamale, I suggest you arrive early. I smothered my pork and cheese tamales in several spoonfuls of the spicy red sauce on the table, and with each bite, I jumped for joy, as the combination was simply amazing. The tamales are "stand alone" delicious, and the red sauce simply enhances their flavor. If you're "sensitive" use a little caution, as the sauce is on the hot side, but it was simply perfect for my taste buds. One pork tamale, sitting on the corn husk, and smothered with tangy, red chili sauce. Tamales are "comfort" food on both sides of the border, and there is nothing better than enjoying a breakfast of tamales on a late Sunday morning at Tamales La Bamba, located in Roseville, CA. This little restaurant is simple, perhaps on the "dingy" side, "down-home," and is staffed by super friendly people. Did I mention they make delicious tamales? If you love tamales, served in a small, one-of-a-kind "mom and pop" restaurant... this is your place. Five stars, all the way in my "tamale" book.

    Diana N.

    Very upsetting!!! Was looking forward to as I remember a few years back they had ver good quality tamales. They have discontinued their beef tamales as they said the beef to expensive to make. We ordered pork and cheese tamales. The cheese tamales had barely any cheese and it was undercooked. The pork tamales varied some had a good amount of pork and others threes small pieces. Very disappointing!

    The menu!
    Latda V.

    I am so upset that I didn't get to check-in to this awesome place the other day! My phone broke and I'm using this iphone that is so old it doesn't download apps! Sorry this has nothing to do with my review; I just had to let out some steam! La Bamba is located in this warehouse-type looking building behind Jimboys, across the street from Denios. It doesn't look like your average restaurants so do not let the look of this place fool you. You walk in and walk straight to the cash register. There are only a handful of tamales to choose from: Pork, beef, chicken, cheese, chili and cheese, vegetarian and there were also a few desert tamales as well. For only $2 each, my sweetie and I ordered a total of four: One beef, one pork and two cheese tamales. The nice gentlemen behind the counter packed up our tamales and within a few minutes we got our food. We were asked what kind of salsa and of course we asked for the spicy salsa! There were a few plastic tables out and a few people enjoying their tamales. We ended up taking ours to go. The place wasn't super packed because we got there pretty early around 11:00AM. The last two times we wanted to order tamales they sold out at around noon! The tamales were wonderful! I would have to say they were the best I've ever had. The masa dough had a great texture and rich flavors. The dough to filling ratio was perfect. I don't know what other spices they may have added to the dough but it tastes different from the other tamales I've tried. My favorite was the cheese tamale. Each bite had that gooey, cheesy, salty taste from the queso cheese. The salsa was actually spicy and had a good kick to it. I ate two tamales and was craving for more! Every time I got to Denios I have to stop at La Bamba! Yes, it's THAT good!

    Chicken and pork tamales

    I used to come This place HAD the best tamales 15 years ago but not anymore. They went extremely cheap with the filling; each tamale has 3 pieces of meat and $3.00 per tamale, which is not worth the price. The tamales are very dry without the salsa. I am very disappointed and I bought 30 tamales.

    a sign in front of a store
    C H.

    Update: Auction Town has been closed down - La Bamba moved to a side street behind the Jimboy's. If you check out the Auction Town area of Denio's, you will find many treasures, among them, the mini-donut man, and a store that sells dented cans of food. Another treat is La Bamba, the little tamale shop next to Jimboy's. They have pork, chicken, and cheese/chili tamales. Plus - they have sweet tamales, like strawberry, raisin, and pineapple. The pork and strawberry tamales are amazing. Just get there early, because they sell out their inventory, shutter the entrance, and essentially disappear before you get a chance to come back and get more to bring home. Open 7 AM to whenever, Sat and Sun

    Tamale Man!!!
    Dan Z.

    You want Tamales? Go here! You want a big selection? Go early! Great spot!! Friendly owners and clean!!

    Tamales LA bamba cart

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    1 year ago

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    6 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Best tamales I get full with just 1 has the best horchata and champurrado my to go spot always

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    8 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    6 years ago

    Best tamales hands down been coming here for YEARS literally like 15 yrs but mostly enjoy the pork ones with their green salsa just amazing!

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    18 years ago

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    6 years ago

    Love their pork tamales, they are so good. Also I love their Mexican chocolate called Champorado. So thick rich, so good

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    6 years ago

    Best tamales I've ever had! They're big and filled with cheese, chicken, or pork! Both salsas are amazing!

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    14 years ago

    I've been looking for good Tamales in the Roseville area for over 12 years and this place has great Tamales!

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    Cafe Delicias - Thought it was cheese it was hair

    Cafe Delicias

    3.5(169 reviews)
    1.6 mi
    $$

    I came here after getting out of the emergency room, it was the closest next to this market I went…read morefirst. I was starving and just wanted to eat. I came here before with a friend several times. You get seated anywhere you want. They served you chips and salsa when first sit down and asked what you like to drink. I got agua de Jamaica, it's iced tea made of dried hibiscus flowers. It's sweet and tangy. I asked for side or guacamole. I ordered 2 chile rellleno with all rice. I don't like beans. It came out within 10 mins ordering it. The plate came out hot. The waitress warn me before she put it down. I couldn't eat it at first. It was too hot and fresh. The rellanos was covered in some type of brown sauce. It was savory and good. I love chile rellanos. Not a lot make it good. But this one was good. I put the guacamole on my rice and went at it. I never got refill of my drink and they never offered me water. She asked if I was doing ok once and gave me the check before I was done. What if I wanted dessert? Hmm The service was nice and friendly. I wanted a refill. There was a lot of people in the restaurant is tucked inside same parking lot of gas station and liquor store. Next to the Oriental Market.

    Cafe Delicias is the best Mexican food on the planet…read more Nothing compares. Not even San Diego Mexican food. Tex-Mex might be the only thing that compares. I miss this place every day.

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    Entrance of Cafe Delicias in Roseville.

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    Dirty dish

    Cafe Delicias - Seating area and atmosphere, at Cafe Delicias in Roseville. Very clean.

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    Carolina's Mexican Food - "Shredded Beef Burrito"

    Carolina's Mexican Food

    2.7(342 reviews)
    1.2 mi
    $

    Stopped by Carolina's Restaurant around 1 a.m., and it did not disappoint. I absolutely love that…read morethey have a drive-thru--something you don't see often at Mexican restaurants--and the fact that they're open late makes it even better. We ordered two beef crunchy tacos, one taco de asada, and two tacos de al pastor. Everything was full of flavor and freshly made. The agua de orchard was absolutely amazing and a perfect complement to the meal. This is one of our go-to spots whenever we're in Roseville and everything else is closed. Reliable, flavorful, and convenient--definitely worth the stop!

    I've been going to this location for a long time, unfortunately it never fails, there's always a…read morediscrepancy with or in the process of ordering. The nail in the coffin, for the 3rd time in the last 4months I've order the Birria Burrito. But get this, every time they either don't include or charge extra for the consume, "that is in the image with the burrito". Imagine going to Olive Garden, ordering chicken fettuccine, and they serve it to you without the Alfredo sauce, then when you ask they say it's not included and they charge extra. You can apply this principle to salad & dressing or any other dish for that matter. When I was asked if I still wanted it, I laughed and said I don't want the Burrito, w/o the sauce. ‍

    Photos
    Carolina's Mexican Food
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    Carne Asada Nachos, Rolled tacos with Guacamole & Cheese, Carne Asada Quesadilla

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    La Bamba - mexican - Updated June 2026

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