Corporate holiday gifts in Dallas clients remember: tamale gift dozens

Most corporate holiday gifts in Dallas end up in the same place: a break room counter, half opened, next to two other baskets from two other vendors. I have watched it happen in offices I deliver to. The gift that does not end up there is the one that gets eaten at noon by the whole team, and in Texas that gift is a dozen tamales, hot, from a kitchen the recipient has probably heard of. Clients remember lunch. They do not remember a cheese log.

The short answer: Send each client, partner, or team a dozen tamales, ordered online for delivery to their office on a December date you choose, with a note from you. A dozen is $60 and a half-dozen is $30 with no gift markup, so ten clients cost $600 and fifty cost $3,000 in tamales, plus the delivery fee shown at checkout, anywhere in Allen, McKinney, Fairview, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Murphy, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson or Far North Dallas. Order in November; the December weeks fill first.

Below is how the gift dozens work from my side, who they suit, what they cost at any scale, and the timing that keeps them from colliding with the family Christmas orders.

Why a basket gets forgotten and a dozen tamales does not

A gift basket is designed to be received, not used. It photographs well and then it sits. A dozen tamales arrives at lunchtime, the office smells of masa and red chile within a minute, and twelve people eat something they will talk about at three o’clock. The gift does its work in the first hour, in front of everybody, with your name on the card.

There is a second reason it works, which is that food gifts have a rule: the more people who share it, the more people remember who sent it. A bottle goes home with one person. A dozen big tamales feeds a whole department, so your gift reaches the receptionist, the bookkeeper, and the partner who signs the contracts. I wrote about the family version of this idea in tamales as holiday gifts; the corporate version is the same thing with a client list.

And there is the Texas reason. Tamales are what this state eats at Christmas. Sending them to a client says you know where you are, and it says it more warmly than a branded tumbler ever will.

Corporate holiday gifts in Dallas: how tamale gift dozens work

There is no special gift product and no gift packaging to pay for. A gift dozen is the same dozen on the menu, made from scratch, delivered to the address you enter in the online store. What makes it a gift is that you are sending it to someone else.

What each recipient gets

• A dozen tamales, or a half-dozen for a smaller office. Pork in red salsa or chicken breast in green tomatillo salsa, or one dozen of each for a bigger office, all on gluten-free corn masa.
• The salsa inside. Each tamal is made with its salsa, red with the pork and green with the chicken, so the dozen turns into a lunch on the spot.
• Your name on it. Send your own card or an email the same day so the recipient knows who to thank. Keep it short; “Happy holidays from the team at your company” is plenty.
• Reheating instructions for anyone who takes theirs home: put the link to how to reheat tamales and a sentence or two in your note.

How the order works

1. Make a list: company, contact name, address, floor or suite, phone number, and how many dozens each.
2. Place one order per address in the online store: chicken or pork, how many dozens, delivery, and the date. The delivery fee for each address is shown at checkout, and you pay online.
3. Order early: next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day, and only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested.
4. Check that each office is open on its delivery date, so the tamales land with a person and not a locked door.

If your accounting department needs paperwork, call or text (469) 888-8398 before you order; the office catering page covers ordering for offices and the recurring Tamale Day arrangement that a gift sometimes turns into.

What it costs, from one client to fifty

The arithmetic is deliberately simple: $5 per tamal at any quantity, so $30 for a half-dozen and $60 for a dozen. There is no gift markup. Each delivery address has its own delivery fee, shown at checkout before you pay.

Compare that with what most offices spend on baskets that go unopened, and the dozen looks generous rather than expensive. If a recipient’s office is large, two dozen is the right gift; if it is a two-person shop, a half-dozen is thoughtful and still feeds them twice.

Who to send them to

The list is usually longer than people expect once they think of a gift as a lunch rather than a trinket.

• Clients who signed this year. The obvious list, and the one where a hot lunch on a random Tuesday in December beats anything with a ribbon.
• Referral partners. The attorney, the lender, the agent who sends you business. Feeding their whole office thanks the people who actually pick up the phone.
• Vendors and landlords. The people you need on a bad day. A dozen tamales in December is remembered in March.
• Your own team. A dozen to each employee’s home, or a delivery to the office on the last working day before the break. It is the gift the family eats on Christmas Eve, which is a bigger deal than it sounds.
• Remote employees in the delivery area. If they live in Allen, McKinney, Fairview, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Murphy, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson or Far North Dallas, the tamales arrive at the door; check the delivery area before you promise.

If a client is worth more than a gift, take the same budget and feed their office properly; my notes on client appreciation lunch ideas explain when a full lunch is the better call and when a dozen is exactly right.

The note, the salsa, and the day it arrives

Three small things decide whether the gift lands well. The note should name the person, not just the company, and it should be signed by a human. The salsa is already there, cooked into each tamal, so the dozen is a lunch and not a box of ingredients. And the day matters: a weekday when the office is full is a party; the Friday before a holiday, when half the staff is gone, is a leftover.

Tell recipients nothing in advance. The surprise is most of the fun, and a heads-up email turns into a scheduling thread. Do check quietly that the office is open that day and that the front desk accepts food deliveries, so the tamales go to a real person. Anyone who takes theirs home can keep them in the refrigerator for days or freeze them, per how to freeze and store tamales, which is worth a line on the card.

When to order gift dozens

Gift deliveries share the calendar with office holiday parties and with every family in north Texas ordering tamales for Christmas Eve, and the weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas fill first. My advice is to place the orders in November for delivery dates in the first two weeks of December, and let the third week belong to the families. Early December also means your gift arrives before the pile of baskets does, which is not a small advantage.

The holiday tamales page covers the season, and gift dozens sit alongside the family orders. A single address can be ordered for today or a date ahead in the online store; a list of thirty addresses is easier spread over the weeks. For a gift that waits in the freezer, see our frozen tamales.

Ready to send tamale gift dozens this holiday?

Make the recipient list, pick the dates, and order each address’s dozens in the Maggie’s Tamales & Catering online store: chicken or pork, delivery, paid online, with the delivery fee shown at checkout. We deliver from our Plano kitchen to offices and homes in Far North Dallas, Plano, Frisco, Allen, and McKinney. Order online for your corporate holiday gifts, and if the list is long, call or text (469) 888-8398 first.

Frequently asked questions

What are good corporate holiday gifts in Dallas that clients actually use?

Food that feeds a whole office at once, delivered on a weekday, is the gift that gets used in front of everyone instead of sitting on a counter. In Texas that means tamales: a dozen large pork or chicken tamales with salsa turns into a department lunch in minutes, and your name is on the card. A dozen costs $60 and a half-dozen costs $30 with no gift markup.

How much does a tamale gift dozen cost?

A dozen is $60 and a half-dozen is $30 because every tamal is $5 at any quantity, the same price as on the menu. Ten clients at a dozen each is $600 and fifty is $3,000 in total. Each delivery address has its own delivery fee, shown at checkout before you pay online.

Can you deliver gift tamales to multiple addresses on the same day?

Yes, within the delivery area, which covers Allen, McKinney, Fairview, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Murphy, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson and Far North Dallas. Place one order per address in the online store, choosing the delivery date for each, and pay online; the delivery fee for each address is shown at checkout. For a long list, call or text (469) 888-8398 before you start.

Can I include a personal note with the gift?

Send it yourself, as a card or an email the same day, naming the person rather than only the company and signed by someone real. Keep it short. A line of reheating instructions helps anyone who takes tamales home; they keep in the refrigerator for days and freeze well for months.

When should I order corporate gift tamales for the holidays?

Place the orders in November for delivery dates in the first two weeks of December. Those weeks share the calendar with office parties and with every family ordering for Christmas Eve, and the weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas fill first. Early December also gets your gift to the office before the pile of baskets arrives. A single address can be ordered for today or a date ahead; next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day.

Are tamales a good gift for a client office with dietary restrictions?

Usually, yes. Every tamal is made with gluten-free corn masa, chicken tamales use chicken breast, and the chicken in green salsa is the milder of the two. The kitchen is not a certified gluten-free facility, so someone with celiac disease should know that. If a recipient office avoids pork, send the chicken in green salsa.