Can you order tamales online in Dallas? Yes: here is how it works

People ask me whether you can order tamales online in Dallas as if it were a trick question, usually because they grew up buying them from a cooler in somebody’s driveway. You can, and from my kitchen in Richardson it is the only way to get them, because I do not have a counter to stand at. Here is exactly how it works.

The short answer: Yes. For a plate of three, a half-dozen or a dozen, order through DoorDash from the order page during kitchen hours and it arrives the same day. For an office lunch, a party or a holiday order, fill in the online quote form with the date, address and headcount; I price it myself, usually the same business day, and my own team delivers it hot in an agreed window.

Two doors, then: a quick one and a planned one. The rest of this article explains what you can get through each, when the kitchen is open, how far ahead to order, why there is no walk-in counter, and what “Dallas” means when my drivers are the ones driving.

The two ways to order tamales online in Dallas

Everything on the order page routes into one of these.

DoorDash for small orders

You want dinner tonight, or a dozen for the weekend. Open the DoorDash link, choose pork in red salsa or chicken in green, choose three, six or twelve, and check out. DoorDash handles the driver and sets its own fees inside the app. Orders go out during kitchen hours the same day, which is the part people are happiest to hear.

The quote form for everything else

You want forty tamales for a training day on Thursday, or twelve dozen for Christmas Eve, or a buffet with salsas and serving spoons for a quinceañera. That is a catering order, and it goes through the quote form or a phone call. I read every request myself and send back a price, a menu and a delivery window. When you approve, my own drivers bring it, not a third party.

The line between the two is roughly this: if it fits in one box and you need it today, DoorDash. If it has a date, a headcount or the word “office” in it, the form.

What you can order online

The menu is short on purpose, because I would rather make two things perfectly every morning than ten things adequately.

• Pork tamales in red salsa. Slow-simmered pork, red chile, the one people describe as having “a little kick.”
• Chicken tamales in green salsa. Chicken breast in tomatillo salsa, brighter and milder.
• Burritos, chicken or pork, on the lunch menu for offices, priced on the quote.

Prices on the delivery menu: three big tamales for $15; a half-dozen for $30; a dozen for $60. That is $5 per tamal at every size, and I do not run a different price for catering; a dozen is $60 whether it is one dozen or twenty. Every tamal is made with gluten-free corn masa from scratch the morning it ships, though the burritos use flour tortillas in the same kitchen, so it is not a certified gluten-free facility.

One thing you cannot order: a table. Maggie’s is a catering and delivery kitchen, not a restaurant. No dine-in, no walk-in. Everything I make leaves in a hot box.

When the kitchen is open

The kitchen runs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM, and it is closed on Thursday and Sunday. DoorDash orders are available inside those hours. The quote form is open all the time, and I answer requests in order, usually the same business day.

Those closed days catch people out. If you want tamales for a Thursday lunch meeting, put the request in by Wednesday. If you want them for Sunday dinner, order through DoorDash on Saturday and reheat, or let me know ahead and I will plan a Saturday delivery that holds. Tamales in husks reheat beautifully, which is one reason they make such good next-day food.

How far ahead to order

Online ordering gives people the idea that everything is instant. Some of it is. The rest depends on how much masa I have to make that morning.

If your date is closer than the table suggests, do not assume the answer is no. Put the request in and say the date plainly; I will tell you what I can honestly make. My article on last-minute catering in Dallas explains what is realistic on short notice and what is not.

What happens after you click send

For DoorDash, you already know the drill: a driver, a tracking map, a knock on the door. For a catering request, the steps are these.

1. I read it. Not a form robot. Me, usually with coffee, the same business day.
2. You get a quote. The menu, the number of dozens, salsas and serving items if you asked, the delivery fee and any minimum, all confirmed in writing.
3. You approve it. Reply, or call. For offices, one invoice, and a recurring monthly Tamale Day can be set up on the office catering page.
4. We cook it that morning. Masa from scratch, pork and chicken simmered in their salsas, steamed and labeled by filling.
5. My driver lands in the window. Hot carriers, salsas on ice, a phone call ten minutes out, and everything set where you want it.

If you have never ordered catering before and the form feels like a lot, my walkthrough on ordering catering for the first time takes the stress out of it. And the details of the drive itself, from the steamer to your door, are in how tamale delivery works from my Richardson kitchen.

Where “Dallas” means for delivery

My kitchen sits in Richardson, on the north edge of Dallas, and that is the center of the map. My drivers cover Dallas itself, from Uptown offices to Lake Highlands homes, and the northern suburbs: Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen and McKinney. The service area page lists all six with their own pages, and the Dallas catering page covers the buildings and neighborhoods my team knows best.

For DoorDash, the app decides the radius, and it will simply not show my kitchen if you are outside it. For catering, tell me the address and I will tell you honestly whether I can land it hot. Distance affects the delivery fee, which is why I confirm it with the quote instead of printing one number.

Ready to order tonight, or for the office?

If it is dinner you need, the DoorDash link on the order page is the fastest tamales in Dallas you will get without a cousin in the business. If it is lunch for the team, a party or holiday dozens, request a quote from Maggie’s with the date, the address and the headcount, and I will send back a menu and a price the same business day. Either way, the tamales come from the same steamer and the same recipes, passed down from the women in my family.

Frequently asked questions

Can you order tamales online in Dallas for same-day delivery?

Yes. From my kitchen, a plate of three, a half-dozen or a dozen can be ordered through DoorDash from the order page during kitchen hours, which are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 9 AM to 2 PM, and it arrives the same day. Larger orders and catering go through the online quote form, which I answer personally, usually the same business day.

Can I order tamales online for an office lunch in Dallas?

Yes, and offices are most of my weekday deliveries. Fill in the quote form with the date, the address, the headcount and the time people eat. I send back a menu with pork and chicken tamales, burritos if you want them, salsas and serving items, plus the delivery fee, on one quote. Approve it and my own drivers bring it hot in the window we agree on, labeled by filling.

How much do tamales cost to order online?

The delivery menu is three big tamales for $15; a half-dozen for $30; a dozen for $60 ($5 per tamal at any quantity). Catering uses the same per-tamal price; burritos, salsas and serving items are priced on the quote. DoorDash sets its own delivery fee inside the app, and the catering delivery fee depends on the address and is confirmed with your quote.

Can I come by the kitchen and get my tamales in person?

No, and I know that surprises people. Maggie’s is a catering and delivery kitchen in Richardson, not a restaurant, so there is no dining room and no walk-in counter. Everything I make is delivered, either by DoorDash for small orders or by my own team for catering. That is what lets me spend the morning at the steamer instead of at a register.

Do you deliver tamales to the suburbs north of Dallas?

Yes. My drivers cover Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney and Dallas, along with the northern suburbs around them, and each city has its own page under service areas. For catering, put the full address in the quote form and I will confirm the delivery fee with the price. For DoorDash, the app shows my kitchen only inside its own delivery radius.

Are the tamales gluten-free if I order online?

All my tamales are made with gluten-free corn masa, with pork in red salsa or chicken breast in green tomatillo salsa. My kitchen is not a certified gluten-free facility, because the burritos on the lunch menu use flour tortillas and are made in the same space. If someone at your table has celiac disease, tell me in the request and I will describe exactly how things are handled that morning.