A little place called Factory Tamal soft-opened at 13 Essex St. over the weekend. The restaurant from Fernando Lopez is a welcoming spot offering homemade tamales, but also lots of other breakfast and lunch items.
Lopez cooked at Cabalito, the Salvadoran restaurant the recently closed at this location. When we stopped in yesterday, he told us the restaurant will only be open in the daytime (closing at 7 p.m.) There’s no printed menu just yet, but below we’ve posted a photo of the in-store blackboard menu.
There are four different types of tamales, all priced at $2. As you can see, it’s an eclectic menu. You can order a pressed pastrami sandwich with chipotle dressing. There are a variety of sandwiches and salads, all priced at $7.
In recent years, this stretch of Essex Street has become a mini-cheap eats haven, although there’s been some recent turnover. In addition to Cabalito, Sam’s Spring Roll (23 Essex St.), closed at the end of last year.
