So, there was a looong wait. I am not holding that against them. There was one woman working the restaurant, cooking, taking orders, and handling Uber/Door Dash orders, all by herself, and when she came to counter to take my order, she had a huge smile and was so kind. It made all the difference. I have delayed eating at Tamales Morenos for a very long time as my favorite place since childhood, Tamale Kitchen, is right across the street. I was in the area and looking for something a bit different, so I gave them a shot. I was not disappointed. Yes, there was a wait, I am hoping they were just having staffing issues that day. As I mentioned, the woman working there was so pleasant, I have to mention that again. I had a simply order, a chorizo breakfast burrito. It was fantastic. The green chili was great and everything was fresh and hot. I am not sure how I am going to balance my love of their rival across the street and eating at Tamales Morenos, but I am going to have to figure something out as I really enjoyed it. This is a great intersection if you like Mexican food! read more

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I can't speak to anything but the tamales, but we bought tamales for Christmas and they were SO GOOD. We saw them in reviews on 5280 Magazine from people looking for the best tamales, and the large number of recommendations did not steer us wrong! Our credentials: my MIL was a bilingual (Spanish/English) educator and used to buy tamales from her colleagues' mamas, my husband and I were born in Colorado, and we've had a lot of tamales in our day(s). Delicioso. read more

This is one of those small businesses that if you blink driving by, you miss it. I bet I've passed it fifty times over the years and never noticed it. I thought it might by new but there are Yelp reviews going back a decade or more. The paint job outside looks like it was done my a young local artist. It sits right near Mississippi and Sheridan which is not a terrible neighborhood but not the best either. I walked in not really sure what to expect. I was immediately met by the small kitchen feel and like I was in someone's home rather than a restaurant. It's very small. Three people could be in line inside and that's about it. A delightfully pleasant woman named Mayra took and prepared my order. My Spanish is weak as was her English. But, together we made it work. She was all smiles and clearly happy I was there and placing an order. I ordered the family pack of tamales with rice and green chili. I ordered it all to go. When I got home and opened the bag up, it was clear she took time and care to pack it all. Now, here's the really good part..... The food was small kitchen, handmade excellent. Hot, fresh, well made, plentiful and just plain good. This is the very reason I seek out such small places as the food is authentic and yummy. I will gladly order from this restaurant again. I highly recommend you give them a try if quality Mexican food in your thing. It sure is mine. read more

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This is my new go to spot! The food is always fresh. I have tried the tamales and the chili rellenos. They are all super yummy

The prices are listed but they overcharge white people. I have ordered from this place before with my Hispanic ex-husband as recently as last week. We have never paid more than about $12 for 6 tamales. This is expected due to them being listed at about $11.50 for 1/2 dozen on their menu. When my white boyfriend went to order today, they charged him about $18 and when he asked why it was suddenly $6 more they suddenly spoke no English. As someone who was married to a Hispanic immigrant for 10 years, the complete lack of customer service towards someone who is white is extremely apparent. I am all about supporting immigrants and those of different ethnicities and cultures. The assumption that us being white means we have more money to spend on a product that is usually $12 is absolutely out of line. I will go back to buying my tamales from the woman sitting at Gen X off Louisiana and Federal before I ever go back to support this place. Their kindness and customer service they showed my ex-husband made me think they were a quality place. I guess if you hate white people and support discrimination, this is the place to go for tamales. But if you believe in equality, absolutely avoid this location. read more

Terrible! I ordered the Chile Rellenos. $16 dollar plate and what I got were 2 little egg roll looking things that had no flavor. They were as long as my index finger and they were hard as a rock. I think they left in the microwave too long. Will not be ordering from them again. We also ordered a breakfast burrito and it was bland and soggy. Waste of money. Do yourself a favor, Save your money, this place isn't worth it. read more

Tamales Moreno - Size reference - Mexican Near Me - Lakewood, Colorado

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Green chili is awesome. Small spot, so sometimes wait a tick, but its my fav quick hit spot around right now.

This week was my first time getting tamales here after several recommendations! Both red and green were delicious, moist and generous on the meat! Picked up a dozen of each hot and ready! Took them to share at an event and everyone loved them! Service from the staff at Tamales Moreno was friendly also! I will definitely go back! read more

Very little meat in the tamales. I was surprised that they would actually serve these rolls of masa. read more

great food and the lady that works here by herself is amazing i would come back here everyday if I could, and the food is super reasonable priced. 100% best authentic Mexican food I've had in Colorado read more

Unfortunately these tamales were pure masa, very little meat, the red ones were dry and lacked flavor. I wanted these to be good. However there were not! read more

I love, love the tamales here. I usually get my tamales from here during the holidays (i.e. Christmas and New Years)

We came here on a whim after discussing what to have for Christmas dinner. Red and green chili over tamales is the tastiest way to celebrate Christmas. It was well received for our small gathering. There is forever a line here, no matter the time of day that you go. They will get you in and out and on your way in no time. That alone speaks volumes as there are several other tamale places around it with no line. If you have a large order, be nice and call ahead, read more

Well when I find great food at places that maybe don't look so perfect inside or out, I have learned to ignore that and just enjoy the food. When in Rome... This and Chili Shack on Colfax are two examples, killer food that's really original and delicious, but it's perhaps better not to look too closely at how and where they prepare it. Their red and green tamales are just fantastic, the green maybe a little tastier than the red. Generally in our experience there are no English speakers working but, they are always very friendly and get the order right every time. Freshly made, hot and delicious tamales, beat that! read more

Best tamales ever! Awesome House made green Chile! The beat tamales I have had in the metro area.

Never had a problem with quality or taste . I been ordering tamales by two or three dozen at a time from here little over a year now . From green to red chili and queso con rajas. Great flavor all around in the masa and meat . They are really generous with their meat in the tamale definitely a A +. I don't like tamales that give you a small cube of pork and all your eating is masa . Not this place I highly recommend them if you want authentic tam read more

Do not waste your money on this place. Their ad says tamales are homemade, fine. However, I paid $31 for 1/2 dozen green chili tamales. Most of it was corn meal masa. Hardly any chili and pork. Pork usually doesn't come with the green chili. Usually it's green chili and cheese. Not worth their greed. You've been warned. read more

Stop by on 12/8/2023 to get some tamales based on review I seen in Westword from past. I asked for 1/2 dozen of both green and red and they gave me 3 tamales each. They green is very hot and very tasty. The red is very tasty as well. Not enough meat. A little to much masa. But very good. I will be back because it is on the west side of town where I live. read more

Steak burrito was really good and simple. It has steak, beans, cheese and salsa. Not really spicy

This is a small place that is for take out only. No table seating. Nice lady at register. The tamales...... ugh. Gross. Mostly corn meal. The pork inside full of fat. I'm so grossed out. The green chili has good flavor and a kick to it. I will not be back. The rice is bland and the beans are dry. Very disappointed. read more

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Of "The Two Tamale Places" here on Mississippi and Sheridan, I prefer Tamales Moreno. Sure, it's a teensy shack, and there's barely enough room to turn around, but these Tamales are pretty kick-ass. Plus, the people are so friendly. Always with a smile. Gotta love that. When you grab a half dozen to go, they're in a Ziploc Bag, like Abuela was up all night making Tamales to hand out to friends and family. They're definitely hand-rolled, not overcooked, moist and filled to bursting with masa filing and juicy shredded pork. The half-dozen I grabbed a couple days ago were the tail-end of a Mexican Craving week, and yet still left me wanting to throw a Tamale and Beer party. (Incidentally, they pair quite well with a Vanilla Porter.) I can't wait to fill an Igloo with a couple dozen, grab a bunch of 6-packs, and head to the park with friends. read more

Bad news: there's about a 60% chance your order will be messed up. Good news: virtually EVERYTHING on the menu is fantastic. The former is only an issue if there something in particular to don't want/can't have (I personally can't stand green chilis, so when an ordered plain [chicharrones y papas] burrito come full of green chili, I have to just give it to my girlfriend [who LOVES the stuff--no accounting for taste... ;P]), can be a little problematic. Still, always worth the gamble! read more

Best Tamales in town, hands down! I know the place isn't fancy, and really small, but the food is top notch! The staff is always friendly. We drive all the way from Centennial to pick up a couple dozen of these kick ass tamales, and the green chili is good too! We love Tamales Moreno! read more

Good food at a reasonable price, great flavor in the green chili. Divey appearance, but very friendly staff and that is more important to me. My favorite lunch spot now for a quick burrito to go (chicken and bean). read more

This place, hands down, is better than Tamale Kitchen across the way --- well, as it concerns tamales SPECIFICALLY. There is more meat and flavor in these tamales, and they're plumper, generally. I will say though that the other offerings did not fare as well. The tacos were less than average and I am telling you, the chili relleno had to be thrown out, it was so flat and soggy. But this is about tamales, hence the name of the place. Because of this I challenge you to see if you agree: go get two tamales (red and green) from Tamales Moreno and then go across the street and do the same. You'll see: Tamales Moreno is by far the better choice. So...four stars for great tamales, but one star off for other offerings ranging from mediocre to borderline offensive. read more

Excellent tamales and green chili. Really hits the spot. Don't plan on eating there due to no seating, but it is worth picking up and taking home for sure! Very reasonably priced and the wait is very short and worth it. read more

Best tamales I've had. The green chile and cheese ones are AMAZING. I was given one of those for free on my first visit. WAAYYY better than the tamale kitchen across the street. The green ones are perfectly spicy. Love it. On my 2nd visit I got some kind of steak burrito smothered. It was pretty good, but I'd not get it again. The tamales are the bomb shiz-nizzle anyway! read more

These are some of the best tamales I've had in Denver. They are directly across the street from Tamale Kitchen, and smaller, but oh SO good! Our tamales were big, stuffed with tons of meat, and just very flavorful. We got the family combo #1 which was a dozen tamales(mix and match red or green), rice, beans, and green chile too! It was a whopping $16! The guy working was super friendly, and just seemed real happy to help us. He gave us a few complimentary tamales while we waited for our order to be done. If it hadn't been as windy as it was last night, we would have for sure stayed and ate outside on the nice patio. We will DEFINITELY be back! Fellow yelpers! Try this place, they don't disappoint! read more

One of those hole in the wall Mexican joint we all love. I got a smothered green tamale which was very tasty. I also got a hand held beef and bean with green chili burrito which was also very tasty. Very good prices also. Nothing special, but good cheap tasty Mexican food beats special any day! read more

Not so good. I bought both red & green. Dozen of each so that we could freeze some. We ate a couple of bites of each & threw the rest in the trash. I have to admit...probably the uncleanness appearance of the place turned me off. duh.....red flag! read more

There was a time when this place first opened that there was a sense of pride in how the food tasted and even looked. Now...not even close! The last couple times, today being the last, the food was terrible! The tamales are almost all masa and the red ones were the worst. Some were mashed up, some all masa. The chicharones where fried in old old oil. They smelt bad and I love chicharones. Very disappointed and not even going to give it another shot. It's all about quantity like their competition, tamale kitchen across the street, not quality! read more

Best tamales I've had in Denver they are worth it. La Casita doesn't even compare in my eyes. When I was there she gave me a free smothered tamale while I waited. This is a good business. Seems like the owners are hard, honest and very friendly. read more

Not too bad, usually I go to la casita because in my opinion they have the best tamales hands down, I like my tamales the less masa and more meat the better, if you like your tamales with more masa this might be the place for you.......so that being said I bought I dozen each and the green are pretty damn good, great flavor , more meat and a nice Lil kick, the red were tasty too just inconsistent, some had a fair amount of meat others not. They are also a Lil more expensive then la casita so I figured they would be better and more meaty. I give this place a 3 1/2 star rating.....if they use less masa and more meat they will have a winner........the guy working was really nice and I feel like they do take pride in their business, plus I love supporting small family businesses like this......but I still think la casita has the BEST tamales in the Denver metro area........ read more

The tamales are really good here. The prices are awesome too. I'll definitely be back for the rest of the menu.

Best tamales in town in my opinion -- both red and green. I prefer the latter but prepare for a bit of heat. Order a pint of green chili too. No seating. It's a shack for grab n go. read more

This place is a teeny tiny kitchen with a screen door and the restaurant name hand painted on the side of the building. Don't let that scare you too much! This is a great little place and the food is much better than Tamale Kitchen. I also think it's better than La Casita. read more

Do not let this place fool you. Yes its small, but the Tamales are great. Too spice? Heck no its the perfect amount of spice. If you can eat Santiago's Green Chile Hot its more mild than this. I would say its the Half and Half they do. The tamales are full of flavor and you can't go wrong with the red or green. 10 bucks for a dozen and they may even let you try them before you buy. read more

If I could give negative star's I would. Recently went to this place to buy tamales and as fast as I walked in I walked out even faster. I saw a roach crawling on one of the food items to be sold when I told the lady about the roach she scared it of and continued to ask what I would like to order with a chuckle. I was absolutely disgusted and not to mention the place was filled with flies. Gross!!!! Why they heck has the health department not shut this place down? How the heck do they still have customers? Don't eat here !!!! read more

Really authentic Mexican food at a great price. The place is clean, and although there is a small language barrier the staff is friendly and the service is good. read more

I went there for lunch and had the #1 combo. Chili relleno, taco, tamale. The chlli relleno was pre-made and pulled out of a container and heated on the grill. Still a bit cold inside. The green tamale was not spicy and was mostly masa. The taco was ok. The rice and beans were both cold and pretty tasteless. I much prefer the Tamale Kitchen across the street. read more