Tamales catering in Plano: offices, parties and holiday dozens

Tamales catering in Plano is the order I fill more than any other, and that makes sense when you look at a map. Our kitchen is in Plano, and the city has every kind of crowd I like to feed: corporate campuses along Legacy Drive, teacher lounges in Plano ISD schools, backyards in Kings Ridge, church halls off Parker Road.

The short answer: Yes, we deliver tamales anywhere in Plano from our Plano kitchen, which is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 9 AM to 2 PM. Tamales are $60 a dozen or $30 a half dozen; plan two per person for lunch and three at dinner. Order the dozens in our online store, delivery or pickup, today or a date ahead, and pay online.

Below is what I have learned from a lot of trips along US 75 and the Tollway: where the deliveries go, what Plano offices ask for that other cities do not, how the dozens work out for a party, and when to order holiday tamales so you are not scrambling the week of Christmas.

Tamales catering in Plano: where the deliveries go

Plano is big, and it is really three or four cities wearing one name. West Plano along the Dallas North Tollway is corporate: Legacy West, Legacy Town Center, Granite Park, and the office parks stacked along Legacy Drive and Headquarters Drive. A lunch order there usually goes to a lobby desk or a loading dock with a badge waiting for the driver.

The middle of town, around Central Expressway and Plano Parkway, is where the older office campuses sit: Legacy Central, the International Business Park, the buildings near Collin Creek. East of Central it turns residential fast, and so do my orders. Kings Ridge, Deerfield, the streets around Russell Creek Park and Oak Point Park, the neighborhoods off Parker Road and Spring Creek Parkway: that is birthday and graduation territory, with big backyards and long driveways.

Then there is downtown Plano along 15th Street, where the historic storefronts host rehearsal dinners and small company parties, and the Willow Bend side, where a lot of holiday dozens go to houses that already have the tree up. If you can give me a Plano address, we deliver to it. The Plano catering page has the details for the city, and every neighboring city has its own page too.

What Plano offices order, and how it arrives

The Legacy corridor runs on lunch meetings, and a tamale lunch fits a conference room better than most food. Nothing to carve, nothing to assemble, no sauce station that ends up on the carpet. My office orders in Plano tend to be twenty to eighty people: a team lunch, a training day, a vendor visit somebody wants to make memorable without renting a room.

Here is how a Plano office order works. You order the dozens in the online store for the date, with delivery to the office, and pay online; the delivery fee is shown at checkout. The tamales arrive in their husks, pork in red salsa and chicken in green tomatillo salsa; write “pork” and “chicken” on the pans when you set them out so nobody has to unwrap one to find out. Plates, forks and serving spoons come from the office. If your building needs a vendor name at the front desk or a dock time, call or text (469) 888-8398 after you order so the driver knows.

Plenty of Plano offices go from one lunch to a standing order. We call it Tamale Day: the same dozens once a month, ordered in the online store, which is exactly what an office manager wants. One reviewer put it simply, that everyone in the office looks forward to tamale day, and I think about that line when I am up at dawn spreading masa. The office catering page explains ordering for offices by the dozen, and my Tamale Day guide shows how to set one up.

How many dozens for a Plano party

Our tamales are big. That changes the math, so ignore any chart written for the small ones sold by the bag at holiday markets. I count two tamales per person for a lunch with rice and beans on the side, three when tamales are dinner, and one or two when they sit on a table next to brisket and everything else. The per-person guide goes through every kind of crowd; here is the Plano version for the sizes I see most.

Round up, always. The extras are the plus-ones and the second helpings, and anything left over freezes well and steams back to life in the morning. The prices in the table are for the tamales themselves; the delivery fee is shown at checkout. Small orders start at a half dozen for $30; the arithmetic never changes: $5 a tamal at any count.

Backyards, showers and graduations in Plano neighborhoods

Plano throws serious backyard parties. The lots in Kings Ridge and Deerfield were built for it, and the newer houses off Spring Creek Parkway have the covered patios that make a May graduation survivable. My advice for a Plano home party is simple: set the tamales on the kitchen island, not the patio table, and let people walk in and out. Tamales in a closed tray stay hot for a long while; tamales in the sun do not.

For a baby shower or a first birthday, the appetizer count works: one to two tamales per guest, both fillings, plenty of crema for the people who want it milder. For a graduation open house where guests come and go all afternoon, order the lunch count and keep the second tray closed until the first is nearly empty. The party catering page covers birthdays, showers and family gatherings, and ordering works the same way for a house as for an office: the online store, delivery or pickup, the date you choose.

Two Plano-specific tips. The neighborhoods around the big parks host a lot of pavilion parties; give the pavilion number, not just the park name, or the driver walks a long way with a box of tamales. And for a gated community, call or text the gate code right after you order, not at noon on the day when the kitchen is at its busiest.

Holiday dozens for Plano families

From the week of Thanksgiving through New Year’s, most of what leaves my kitchen for Plano is dozens, not trays. A family in Willow Bend orders four dozen for Christmas Eve; a cul-de-sac in Deerfield pools an order and splits it up in somebody’s garage. This is the tradition, and I love it, but it is also the part of the year when the calendar fills first.

The rule is to order ahead. Pick the day you want them, the count in dozens and the pork and chicken split in the online store, and pay online. The holiday tamales page covers the season, and frozen tamales are there for stocking the freezer. If you are wondering how early is early enough, when to order Christmas tamales is the honest answer, and it is sooner than most people think.

Holiday dozens travel well. Keep them in the husk, refrigerate what you are not eating that day, and steam them the next morning; they taste like they were just made. They also make a good gift for the neighbor who watched your dog over Thanksgiving. A dozen in a bag with a card says more than a candle does.

Timing a delivery through Plano traffic

Plano is easy to reach and easy to get stuck in. Central Expressway backs up from the Bush Turnpike north through Parker Road at lunchtime, the Tollway crawls around Legacy at noon, and every school zone in Plano ISD turns into a parking lot in the middle of the afternoon. Plan with that in mind, and leave room between the delivery and the moment people eat.

Work backward from the time people will eat, and order ahead for the date; next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Our kitchen hours are 9 AM to 2 PM on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, so a Plano dinner party gets its tamales in the early afternoon and reheats them in a steamer or a covered pan when guests arrive. The delivery window guide explains how to set that up so nothing sits around.

One more thing: we are a catering kitchen, not a restaurant. There is no dine-in and no counter to walk up to: orders for Plano are delivered, or you pick them up at the kitchen, with the address and pickup time in your order confirmation. A same-day half dozen and a big party order go through the same online store.

Ready to order tamales in Plano?

If you are in Plano and you know your date and your headcount, you have everything an order from Maggie’s Tamales & Catering needs. Pick chicken or pork by the dozen, delivery or pickup and the date in the online store, and pay online. Office lunch in Legacy, birthday in Kings Ridge, Christmas Eve in Willow Bend: the Plano catering page has the city details, and the kitchen is right here in town.

Frequently asked questions

Do you deliver tamales catering in Plano, TX?

Yes. Plano is our home city; the kitchen is here, open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 9 AM to 2 PM. We deliver to offices in Legacy and Granite Park, homes in Kings Ridge, Deerfield and Willow Bend, church halls, school front offices and park pavilions, or you pick up at the kitchen. Order in the online store, choose delivery or pickup and the date, and pay online.

How much does tamale catering cost for a Plano office lunch?

Tamales are $60 a dozen, which is $5 per tamal at any quantity. For an office lunch, plan two big tamales per person: a team of 24 needs 4 dozen for $240 and a training day for 60 needs 10 dozen for $600. Plates and utensils come from the office, and the delivery fee is shown at checkout when you order online.

Can you deliver to an office building in Legacy West or Granite Park?

Yes, and we do it often. Order in the online store with the building address, and have ready whatever your building requires: a vendor name for the front desk, a dock or garage instruction, a floor and suite, and the name of the person meeting the driver. If the driver needs any of that, call or text (469) 888-8398 after you order. The tamales go straight onto the conference room table.

How far ahead should I order tamales for a Plano party?

For a weekend party of forty or fifty, a week or two of notice is comfortable and a month is relaxed. Everything is made from scratch the morning it goes out, so a big batch needs a place on the schedule. The weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas fill first; for holiday dozens, order as early as you can. Short notice? The online store takes orders for today or a date ahead; next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day.

Are your tamales gluten-free for guests in my Plano office who ask?

All of our tamales are made with corn masa, which is naturally gluten-free, and both fillings are cooked without wheat. We are not a certified gluten-free facility, though. For most guests who avoid gluten that is fine, and I am happy to walk through the ingredients; for anyone with celiac disease, please ask before you order so we can talk it through.

Can I get tamales in Plano the same day?

Yes. In the online store you can order a half dozen or a dozen for today, delivery or pickup, and pay online. A large group order needs more notice, because I cook it fresh the morning it goes out; if you are in a pinch, call or text (469) 888-8398 and I will tell you honestly what the kitchen can do rather than leave you guessing.