Pasquale's Original Tamales

Joe St. Columbia, Jr., owner of Pasquale's Tamales, was a 2017 Arkansas Food Hall of Fame finalist for Proprietor of the Year, as well as being featured in Southern Foodways.  His Sicilian American family began making hot tamales in the early 1900s when his immigrant grandfather, Pasquale St. Columbia, learned to make them from the immigrant Mexican workers along the river.  Pasquale's heirloom recipe includes lining the shucks with masa made from freshly ground yellow corn meal, using only the finest quality beef and spices in the filling, and simmering the hand-rolled tamales in a spicy broth for six hours, rather than steaming them. 

Today St. Columbia sells tamales from a concession stand on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., as well as taking orders online and shipping all over the country.  Along with tamales, St. Columbia, Jr. also offers tamale plates, muffalettas, chili and chili pies -- all homemade.