Best Tamales

Berryhill Baja GrillIt's fat. It falls easily from the corn husk wrapper, revealing a generous layer of sweet, steamed cornmeal. But what lies inside is even better: tender strands of pork. If you want a vegetarian tamale, you can be certain it also will be stuffed. Berryhill's hefty tamales have a generous Houston-based history, too. For years, Walter Berryhill and his wife tested, tasted and retested their recipe, throwing the rejects into the creek behind their farmhouse. His motorized tamale cart became a fixture along Washington Avenue and then the River Oaks area in the 1950s. But he quit the business after his wife died, and a local attorney with a serious tamale fix bought the recipes and took it over. The tiny original restaurant on Revere has sprouted six new locations all over the Houston area and one in Austin -- and more are on the way for the Yankees in Dallas.