08/06/2026
Story time!!!!
This is our story behind both Pamales Tamales and The Lighthouse Eatery and Pub…
Some of the best stories begin with something unexpected.
Mine begins with the fact that I didn’t even like tamales.
Growing up, the only tamales I’d ever known came from a can. They were soft, bland, and nothing I ever wanted to eat again. As far as I was concerned, tamales just weren’t for me.
Then my daughter changed everything.
In 2004, after she was born, she spent every day with me at the car dealership where I worked in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As she grew old enough to eat solid foods, local families would stop by selling homemade tamales from coolers in the backs of their vehicles.
She absolutely loved them.
Every chance she got, she’d sit there grinning from ear to ear, enjoying every bite, trying to convince everyone around her to take a taste. She asked me over and over to try one.
I politely declined every single time.
Those canned tamales had convinced me that I already knew what tamales tasted like.
Finally, after months of persuasion—and a little encouragement from my daughter—I took one bite.
That single bite changed my opinion forever.
The fresh masa was rich and flavorful. The filling was tender and perfectly seasoned. It wasn’t anything like the canned version I’d grown up believing was a tamale.
That was the moment I discovered what a tamale was truly meant to be.
Several years later, and another baby later, life took another unexpected turn.
In 2011, after selling my business, I became a stay-at-home mom. During that season, my sister and I partnered with a local produce company that gave us fruits and vegetables just days before they reached the end of their shelf life.
Nothing went to waste.
My kitchen became a place of creativity. We spent countless hours making jams, jellies, preserves, salsas, and canned vegetables. Whatever we couldn’t preserve was shared with local farmers to feed their livestock.
Then one day we were handed an entire bushel of tomatillos.
Neither of us had ever cooked with that many tomatillos before.
So we did what seemed logical—we made salsa verde.
Lots of it.
After the last jar was filled, we looked at each other and laughed.
“What are we going to eat with all this salsa?”
That’s when I decided to make chicken tamales.
The first batch wasn’t terrible… But it wasn’t mine.
The masa lacked personality. It was missing warmth, depth, and the flavor I wanted people to remember.
For the next week, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I replayed every ingredient in my mind, adjusting seasonings and imagining the perfect bite.
When my sister came back for dinner the following week, I made another batch of
Chicken Verde Tamales.
This time…
It was exactly what I had imagined.
The masa was flavorful enough to stand on its own. The filling and the salsa complemented each other perfectly.
For the first time, I thought,
“I think people would actually love these.”
What I didn’t know was that those tamales would soon change my life.
At that same time, I was walking through a divorce.
Like so many parents, I was asking difficult questions.
How could I continue homeschooling my children?
How could I be present for them every day?
How could I provide for my family without sacrificing the time that mattered most?
My sister looked at me and said something that seemed almost too simple.
“Why don’t you sell your tamales?” She also said “oh my goodness you can call them Pamales Tamales” (puh-mollys tuh-mollys)
So I did.
I started with chicken tamales.
Soon customers asked for pork.
Then beef.
Then they started asking…
“What else can you make?”
One flavor became five.
Five became ten.
Ten became twenty.
Today, Pamales Tamales proudly offers 36 handcrafted flavors, each one built on the same belief that started it all:
Every tamale we make carries a little piece of our family’s story—a story of unexpected beginnings, second chances, hard work, faith, perseverance, and discovering that sometimes your greatest purpose is hiding in the place you least expect. Each tamale flavor is inspired by the same passion for creating bold, memorable flavors and bringing people together around great food.
More about our JOURNEY…As our customers grew, so did our dream.
In 2013 I met the owner of The Lakeside Grill at Crosstimbers Marina. After a few conversations, we agreed that I would come to work for him at his restaurant if he would put my tamales on the menu! (Hold tight this comes full circle)
In 2016, we proudly opened the very first Pamales Tamales storefront in Owasso, Oklahoma. In 2019, we were honored to become part of Kitchen 66, Tulsa’s renowned food business incubator. That opportunity allowed us to continue refining our recipes, growing our business, and sharing our tamales with even more people across Green Country.
Our journey continued in 2021 when we opened our second brick-and-mortar location at The Farm Shopping Center in Tulsa, introducing even more customers to the flavors and traditions that had become the heart of Pamales Tamales.
Then, in 2024, another exciting chapter began.
We merged Pamales Tamales into our newest venture, The Lighthouse Eatery and Pub, where our handcrafted tamales found a permanent home alongside a menu built around comfort food, family, and hospitality. Today, guests can enjoy the same tamales that started in my home kitchen while gathering with friends and family in a place created to make memories.
Do you remember a few paragraphs up, I said to hang tight because it was going to come full circle? Well here it is….The Lighthouse Eatery and Pub is at Crosstimbers Marina! In the exact same building that the Lakeside Grill was in where my tamales were listed on their first restaurant menu! This is home and for my kids and I, this will forever feel like home for us. They basically spent their childhoods here and have some of the best stories from this place. They both grew up with tamales and this restaurant location and now help daily with the business operations of The Lighthouse.
Looking back, it’s incredibly ironic to think that this journey began with someone who believed she didn’t like tamales.
One homemade tamale changed my opinion.
One bushel of tomatillos sparked an idea.
One encouraging conversation with my sister changed my future.
And one simple decision—to believe in myself—became Pamales Tamales.
Every tamale we make today carries a little piece of that journey.
It’s a story of family.
A story of perseverance.
A story of second chances.
Most of all, it’s a reminder that sometimes life’s greatest blessings begin where you least expect them.
Now it’s my greatest joy to share the kind of tamales that made me fall in love with them.
From our family to yours…
Welcome to Pamales Tamales and The Lighthouse Eatery and Pub
CrossTimbers Marina
