Since 1958, the Tamale House has always been a neighborhood spot. Back then, Grandma Carmen and Grandpa Moses Vasquez served the downtown Austin community. That community included the Mexican-American and African-American and Greek-American business people who had their own small businesses lining Congress Avenue. It included working class folks, senators and even a president. What they all had in common was a love of the authentic, handmade, fresh Mexican food that was served out of a tiny window from a tiny kitchen on a tiny sliver of land. It was the very same food that Carmen served at her own kitchen table at home.