MASA LUNA TAMALES
Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★
District: Food Truck/Pop-Up
Tamales delivered to your door
Perfect For: Takeout
Standout Dishes: Funza; The KC Queen; Ralph Wiggum
Tacos, burritos, tortas, and other Mexican dishes have moved north and taken hold in America, gaining a beloved space in our culinary hearts.
Tamales might be next, and the movement is already beginning. Because once Americans get their hands on legit Mexican tamales, such as the ones served by Masa Luna Tamales, they’re never going to look back.
Tamales are a dish of corn-based dough called masa that’s filled with meats, cheeses, beans, and vegetables, all wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves and steamed. The wrapping is then discarded, leaving a tender, moist dough cylinder filled with delicious ingredients. The masa itself tastes slightly of corn but is very mild, allowing the filling to provide the dominant flavor.
This is a dish that’s special to Carlos Cuevas, who runs the kitchen at Nite Owl, a concept that serves elevated wings, burgers, and other bar food. Carlos and his wife, Gillian Cromwell-Cuevas, now apply that same strategy to another humble food item, elevating the tamale with great technique and fun, creative fillings.
The pop-up doesn’t have a storefront. Each week it posts a new menu on Instagram, then delivers right to customers’ front doors on Sundays. The tamales are delivered frozen and take just minutes to heat in the microwave, and they’re paired with unique sauces and condiments.
Masa Luna’s menus have a different theme each week, ensuring there is always something new to try. Of the three weekly options, there will always be one vegetarian, one vegan, and one meat-forward tamale. Sometimes a fourth option, a dessert tamale, will grace the menu as well.
The delivery service’s offerings range from traditional—chorizo, potato, and oaxacan cheese; charred corn, cilantro, and cotija cheese—to very creative—king trumpet mushroom, achiote, onion, cilantro; pulled pork, hatch green chile, roasted poblano.
The tamales are about six inches in length and require at least 2, likely 3, for a proper, filling meals.
No tamale can succeed without great masa, and this is where Masa Luna thrives. After a quick reheat in the microwave, the tamales emerge with a light, smooth, moist exterior, tender enough to dissect with a fork. They’re well-filled for the most part, though the distribution of ingredients can be a bit uneven in some offerings.
Again, the flavors change each week, but here are a few past examples to give an idea of what to expect:
- Funza: wagyu ground beef, pickles, cabbage, onions, American cheese
- This cheeky take on Nebraska’s favorite fast food item is delicious. The beef is rich and hearty and the veggies provide good crunch. If the pickles were more present to share their acidic zing, it would’ve been even better.
- Cubano: pulled pork, ham, Swiss, pickle, mustard
- Any fan of Cuban sandwiches would love this rendition. The roasted pork is crispy and well caramelized, and the acidic pops from the pickles round out all the savory flavors.
- The KC Queen: pulled jackfruit, BBQ sauce, collards, onions (vegan)
- The jackfruit perfectly mimics the texture of pulled pork, and the BBQ sauce adds a smoky sweetness.
- Ralph Wiggums: chicken, bacon, ranch pow pow, mozzarella, green onion
- A fun take on the classic chicken bacon ranch, the hunks of salty bacon are the star, accented lightly by the tangy ranch.
- Huitlacoche: corn fungi, corn, poblano, tomato, chihuahua cheese (vegetariant)
- The intense, earthy funk of the fungus plays beautifully with the sweet pops from the corn, and the cheese adds a nice gooey binder.
- Dr Nick: sweet potato, cauliflower, swiss chard, gouda (vegetarian)
- The potato adds a sweetness to play with the savory cauliflower and chard, and the gouda brings a gooey nuttiness.
My only minor desire is the the tamales were a bit wider, which would allow for better ingredient distribution and more bites that included every flavor and texture. But these are some really tasty tamales, among the best you’ll find in Omaha.
And while they’re great on their own, the tamales jump a level when paired with Masa Luna’s homemade sauces. From the fresh, vibrant chimichurri to the smooth, rich crema yucatecan to the spicy, crunchy salsa matcha, each adds a unique flavor, allowing you to customize each bite.
Masa Luna charges $30 for 12 tamales and $50 for 24, an incredibly reasonable price considering it includes delivery.
I’d love to see Masa Luna continue to grow and potentially add a storefront someday. Because if America understood tamales could be this delicious, they’d be a lot more prevalent, and we’d all be better for it.