DES MOINES, Iowa — Hispanic Heritage Month continues, and Hot Tamale Catering and Cafe continues to be a staple in the Des Moines community, not only for their tasty foods, but also for how they give back. 

Hot Tamale moved into the Fleur Drive Cash Saver store about a year and a half ago.

“This is my heaven. I love my kitchen. If I didn’t have to leave at 10 p.m. when the store closed, I’d be here all night,” Hot Tamale owner Angie Ramos said. 

She’s not there all night, but almost all day. 

“My morning starts at 3 a.m. and ends at 8 or 9-ish when we leave here.”

Ramos often works 17-hour days with a mission to make the best tamales in central Iowa.

“Some of the tamales I’ve eaten around here were lacking flavor. So I decided to go ahead and make them my way,” she said. “And that’s what we came up with: ‘Where the Masa Matters’, the flavorful masa and the corn meal. And then fill it up. I want every bite to have meat in it.”

It’s a family business. Angie and her grown children make this place special.

“We have red pork tamales. These are more of our traditional, our most popular. But personally, they are second best to the green pork tamales,” Chente Davila, Ramos’ son, said.

He’s not kidding, the flavors explode in your mouth. 

But they sell a lot more than just tamales. Of course, they make Mexican and Tex-Mex staples, like quesabirria and enchiladas, paying tribute to Ramos’ family background of being from Uvalde, Texas. Hot Tamale also has a famous fried chicken option and warm, filling sides like mashed potatoes and corn. They also make a variety of bakery items.

They feed about 500 people a week on average. Catering is their main action, but now with a storefront, they also get some foot traffic. 

“Let’s just say these pots are going all day. We don’t give that stove a break,” Ramos said.

But it’s not always just to paying customers. A few years ago, Angie started a nonprofit called “4 All Kids”. If a child is hungry, Ramos will feed them, no questions asked. So what inspired this? 

“Why was this? Because kids were coming into my store frightened to ask, basically hinting they were hungry. Someone was asking for a job. She was only ten. And then it just grew,” Ramos said. 

Another reason it’s so important to give back is that she’s been in low places herself. She remembers taking her children to Chuck’s Restaurant one Thanksgiving to get a free meal. 

“I remember going there with my three little ones. Where else can we go? We heard about them and we had a great meal. A gentleman gave us money, and I needed that money to pay a bill,” she said. “I get emotional every time I say that, but it really hits home. So when I do this, it completes me. It makes me feel good.”

The tables have turned. Now, every holiday season, Ramos provides free meals on Thanksgiving and Christmas to anyone who needs them. This will be her sixth year doing this. All are welcome. 

“They can come in, just grab their needs. If they have family, we will pack the family meals. We don’t care about numbers. If they need it, we will pack it for all of them,” she said.

“4 All Kids” also works with Des Moines Public Schools, taking meals to them when they’re needed or inviting kids to their cafe location. 

“We want to open up the space as well. This can be a drop-off. They have internet and they can do their homework, and yet I can feed them,” Ramos said.

“I’ve seen it a lot. When I was a kid, she would help out my friends. She would help out neighbors. I mean, she was always a giving person,” her son, Davila, said.

It’s part of her Tejana, Mexican-American culture. 

“We accept everybody. That’s what ‘4 All Kids’ is about. We don’t care. We accept them all,” Ramos said. “The Latino heritage is this. It is who we are, and who I am.”

A lot to be proud of. 

“I’m rich… not financially rich, but I think I’m complete. I do believe I am complete, in the sense that I’ve struggled. I’m proud, I’ve got myself out of the gutter working hard,” she said. ”I think there’s still a bigger future ahead, and I’m not going to give up.”

Other than continuing to support and give back to the community, Ramos says she’d love to see Hot Tamale products in stores. Her tag line, already on her logos, is “Where the Masa Matters”.

“I have the recipe down pat. I just need a little bit more savings to get in production,” she said. 

This holiday season will be a busy one. On Thanksgiving, November 27th, she and her family will be giving away free meals to anyone who needs them. They’ll be doing that from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hot Tamale inside the Cash Saver at 4121 Fleur Drive, near the DSM Airport.