What's New and Delicious at Cha Cha's Latin Kitchen

Cha Cha’s Latin Kitchen, downtown Brea’s most popular Mexican dining spot, now brings us another fun way to experience Latin cuisine with their newest mouth-watering happening, Tamale Thursday.

While tamales are enjoyed by many during the holidays, owner/partner Don Myers and Executive Chef Joe Martinez agreed that Cha Cha’s is ready to break through the tamale glass ceiling with a seasonal selection of creative tamales from ingredients found at the local farmers’ market.

Tamale Thursday is all about bringing family and friends together and enjoying great Latin food. I’ll be adding a modern twist to the recipes I grew up learning from my mother, grandmother and great grandmother” said Chef Joe Martinez.

Each Thursday, two tamale selections will be offered. Highlights include:

Duck Tamales: Sweet white corn masa filled with tender duck confit, steamed in banana leaves, and topped with a pasilla de Oaxaca sauce, cacao and duck skin chicharron. Addictive!

Mushroom and Sweet Potato Tamales: Black bean masa filled with roasted hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, sweet potatoes and goat cheese. Steamed in corn husks, topped with ancho-chili sauce, black trumpet mushrooms, sesame seeds and fried carrots. Vegetarians rejoice!

The wonderful texture and robust flavor of the trumpet mushrooms, blue corn masa, and zingy ancho chile sauce permanently stored this tamale in my file of favorite foods to revisit.

Tamales De Camaron Veracruzana: Stone ground masa filled with Oaxaca cheese, wild Mexican shrimp simmered in chipotle, garlic, and sherry. Steamed in banana leaves and topped with a Veracruzana salsa of tomato, onion, cilantro, green olives, garlic, saffron, fennel and fried capers.

Pork Tamales: Ancho and Pasilla de Oaxaca, infused masa filled with slow-roasted duroc pork on a bed of grilled tomatillo covered in a pasilla chili sauce. Garnished with chile lime roasted peanuts and dried granny smith apple chips.

No visit to Cha Cha’s is complete until you’ve tried at least one of their signature margarita’s. The Mango Habanero Margarita (above) is the perfect balance of sweet and tart with a little heat to perk up the palate.

Bonus! Guests can enjoy Cha Cha’s award-winning Classic Margarita for $5 while enjoying the not-so-classic tamales! As you would expect, their margaritas are some of the best around and include the seasonal Watermelon Margarita – a refreshing counterpoint to the lively spices in their fantastic chile sauces.

(Top) Watermelon Margarita, Mango Habanero Margarita,