Cooked?
Tamale Man Original
- gradeGrade B
- inspection score84 pts
- critical violations1
- last inspectedJanuary 30, 2026
- address3320 N Eastern Ave, Los Angeles 90032
Is Tamale Man Original clean?
Tamale Man Original is currently Grade B from LA County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health, from an inspection on January 30, 2026. Inspectors wrote up 1 critical violation — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads mid 😬.
What did inspectors find at Tamale Man Original?
These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on January 30, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.
- ⚠️EQUIPMENT/UTENSILS APPROVED: INSTALLED; GOOD REPAIR; CAPACITYEQUIPMENT/UTENSILS APPROVED: INSTALLED; GOOD REPAIR; CAPACITY
- ⚠️PREMISES; PERSONAL/CLEANING ITEMS; VERMIN-PROOFINGPREMISES; PERSONAL/CLEANING ITEMS; VERMIN-PROOFING
- ⚠️WAREWASHING FACILITIES: INSTALLED, MAINTAINED; USED; TEST EQUIPMENTWAREWASHING FACILITIES: INSTALLED, MAINTAINED; USED; TEST EQUIPMENT
- ⚠️WIPING CLOTHS: PROPERLY USED AND STOREDWIPING CLOTHS: PROPERLY USED AND STORED
- ⚠️FLOORS, WALLS AND CEILINGS PROPERLY BUILT, MAINTAINED AND CLEANFLOORS, WALLS AND CEILINGS PROPERLY BUILT, MAINTAINED AND CLEAN
- ⚠️NO INSECTS, RODENTS, BIRDS OR ANIMALS PRESENTcriticalNO INSECTS, RODENTS, BIRDS OR ANIMALS PRESENT
- ⚠️PERMIT SUSPENDED, REVOKED, MODIFIED, OR CLOSED FOR NO PERMITPERMIT SUSPENDED, REVOKED, MODIFIED, OR CLOSED FOR NO PERMIT
When was Tamale Man Original last inspected?
Tamale Man Original has 2 inspections on record going back to June 26, 2025, averaging 82 points.
| date | result | score |
|---|---|---|
| January 30, 2026 | Grade B | 84 pts |
| June 26, 2025 | Grade B | 80 pts |
Tamale Man Original vs El Sereno
El Sereno runs 90% clean across 62 tracked restaurants — 56 clean, 5 mid, 1 cooked.
Against the 62 spots Cooked tracks in El Sereno, this one comes out cleaner than 3% of them.
Other spots in El Sereno
How Los Angeles grades restaurants
Los Angeles County posts a letter placard in the window, and unlike New York the score runs the friendly way: higher is better. 90 to 100 points earns an A, 80 to 89 a B, and anything below that a C. The county inspects roughly every six months to a year depending on risk, and a failed inspection can close a kitchen until it is fixed. Because LA’s scores are final at the time of inspection — there is no pending window — a letter can be read straight off the score when the placard field is blank.
Source: LA County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health via LA County Open Data. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated January 30, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.