The Plight of San Francisco's Tamale Lady
LatestThe Tamale Lady (Virginia Ramos) is a San Francisco icon. She sells delicious homemade tamales to drunk patrons all over the city, but is a particular institution at a rowdy and crowded bar called Zeitgeist, where she’s doled out munchies and advice to customers for over 20 years. Now, Zeitgeist claims the city has forced the bar to kick Ramos out because she’s an “illegal vendor.” San Franciscans are pissed: they’ll grudgingly allow Mark Zuckerberg to move to the Mission, but they won’t allow anyone to take away their goddamned tamales.
Ramos left Jalisco, Mexico to get away from an abusive alcoholic husband in 1980 and started selling tamales in the early ’90s, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which called the Tamale Lady “one of those transcendent characters that San Francisco nurtures best.” Her tamales and warmth have inspired documentaries, songs, and even an app. (She’s also on Twitter.)
So when Zeitgeist announced via Facebook that the Tamale Lady had to go — “We are sad to announce that the Tamale Lady may no longer sell her tamales at Zeitgeist. This is forced on us by SF city codes and regulations.” — the city freaked out. Why was this happening? Why the Tamale Lady and not all those bacon-wrapped hot dog vendors? Why the Tamale Lady and not one of the zillion copycat food trucks that sell $14 pulled pork sandwiches? WHY?