Virginia Ramos, aka The Tamale Lady, was my friend. We had a long history together and she was a constant in the lives of so many people who call The City home. As I mentioned in this tribute I wrote about her after her passing in September 2018, Virginia “wasn’t

As you read the other week, my friend Virginia Ramos, aka The Tamale Lady, passed away recently. She was an incredible part of the community and saved many many many of us from ourselves on late drunk nights. She was giver of good advice and even better hugs. In honor

Hey Bay Area, we’re unpacking a few key local and national stories. This week we have a legendary life-saver, a bad cop, a bunch of bills and a couple national circus highlights. Ready…set…ten-four, good buddy. Remembering the life-saving Tamale Lady Virginia Ramos was better known as the Tamale Lady, the

For people of a certain era, Herb Caen represented San Francisco. For newer San Franciscans, maybe it’s someone like Jack Dorsey. For my era of San Franciscans, nobody represented The City more than Virginia Ramos, the woman we affectionately called the Tamale Lady. For those of us who spent the late

From a city built on gold dust and denim to one tenaciously rebuilt after an earthquake and fire, San Francisco has a history of saying, ‘œFuck it dude, I’ll just do this shit myself.’ DIY culture runs deep here. Whether talking about longshoremen striking in order to create their own

I totally forgot about this until I saw it on Laughing Squid yesterday.  The Tamale Lady is the godmother of San Francisco’s street food scene.  She’s been slanging her wares for close to 15 years and they are as good as ever.  But she’s more than just a lady selling