Hicks’

“I am sixty-one years old, and I made my first tamales at age 16,” Eugene Hicks said several years ago when we asked him why the ones he makes are so especially good. Rich and with a hard kick of pepper spices, they are available by threes, sixes, or twelves. A plate of three is served with chili and cheese and baked beans and Italian-seasoned cole slaw.

Also, the day we stopped by, the dining room was closed. Hicks is actually a huge place, including a banquet/reception hall, but Mr. Hicks told us that two people had called in sick so he had closed the restaurant and was serving food only through the drive-up window. As it turns out, the dining room is closed most days when there is not a function taking place.