Unlike height, telepathy, and the ability to breathe fire, culinary finesse is not a dominant genetic trait. Cultivate culinary craftsmanship with today’s Groupon: for $25, you get a tamale-making class plus one draft beer at Tarascos Restaurant (a $54 value).
Tarascos Restaurant serves up sizzling, spice-packed Mexican dishes that follow the owner's family recipes, whereas regularly scheduled cooking classes introduce chefs of all levels to proper tamale-shaping techniques. During a hands-on, two-hour tamale-making course ($50), a small group of gastronomic guests learn to skillfully mix masa (dough), fill tamales with succulent chicken, cheese, and veggies, and fold creations so they resemble a Mexican delicacy rather than misshapen Play-Doh. As they mold dough and sip on one draft beer ($4), students will find Tarascos’ authentic recipe as easy to make as eat or stuff inside overall-bib pockets for later inspection. Students finish the class armed with three tamales either eaten on-site or taken home to feed a plant that isn't growing tough enough. Classes are once a week, alternating between Sunday at 9 a.m. and Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Tarascos Mexican Restaurant
At Tarascos, owner Antonio Garcia and his chefs blend the comfortable and familiar with the slightly out of the ordinary. A chalkboard-scrawled menu lists Mexican classics such as enchiladas alongside lesser-known dishes such as huaraches, large, oblong tortillas stacked with charbroiled meats. Plates of barbacoa feature the seasoned beef wrapped in maguey leaves and slow-steamed until tender. Likewise, the tap menu mixes Mexican imports such as Pacifico and Modelo Especial with Tarascos's own home-brewed organic beers.
Patrons can dine inside or outdoors on a beer garden–style patio shaded from weather and warmed with gas heaters. On the patio, Tarascos also regularly holds cooking classes, such as a tamale class that was featured on ABC 7.
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