Tamales or burritos for the office? How to choose, or serve both

For most offices the answer is both, in about a two-to-one split: two tamales for every burrito. Tamales are the better choice when people eat together, because they hold heat in the husk for hours, stay tidy on a plate, and are gluten-free. Burritos are the better choice when people eat at their desks or on the move, because they are one-handed, self-contained, and survive a walk across a warehouse. Below is how I decide which to send, what each one costs an office, and how to size a mixed order so nobody ends up with the wrong lunch.

I make both. Pork and chicken tamales are the heart of my kitchen, and burritos are on the lunch menu because my office customers asked for them. After a lot of office deliveries I have a pretty clear picture of who reaches for which, and it has less to do with taste than with where and how people eat.

The short comparison

Here is the side-by-side I walk office managers through on the phone.

If your whole team eats in one room at one time, order tamales. If your team eats in shifts, at desks, on a loading dock, or in trucks, add burritos. Nearly every office is somewhere in between, which is why I usually send both.

When tamales win

People eat together

A tamal wants a plate and a fork, or at least a plate and a napkin. At a conference table or a break room table that is no problem, and the tray becomes a small event: the lid comes off, the steam comes up, people pick red or green. If your lunch has any social purpose, an all-hands, a team celebration, a client visit, tamales do that job better.

Lunch is going to sit

The husk is a natural insulator. A covered tray of tamales is still hot two or three hours after delivery, which is why schools and clinics with staggered breaks order them. A burrito in foil is great for the first hour and merely fine after that. If your meeting runs long or your team eats in waves, tamales are the safer bet.

Someone on the team is gluten-free

Every tamal I make uses gluten-free masa, and it is the only masa in my kitchen. That means the coworker who normally skips the catered lunch can eat with everyone else without asking questions. Burrito tortillas are flour, so on a mixed order I label the burritos clearly. I wrote more about this in my note on what our gluten-free masa means for your guests.

You want the lunch to be remembered

A burrito is a good lunch. A tamale is a story. Reviewers call mine huge and packed with meat, and one office reviewer wrote that everyone at their company looks forward to tamale day. I have never seen that written about a burrito, and I make the burritos.

When burritos win

People eat at their desks or on their feet

A burrito is a complete lunch in one hand. Warehouse crews, dispatchers, nurses between patients, salespeople on the phone, and anyone who eats while walking will reach for the burrito every time. Foil keeps it clean until the last few bites, and there is no plate to find or return.

The lunch has to travel from the drop-off

If lunch lands at the front desk and gets carried to a job site, a field house, or a second floor with no elevator, burritos travel better. They are individually wrapped, they stack, and they do not need to be kept together in a tray to hold heat.

You want no serving at all

A box of labeled burritos needs zero setup. Put it on the counter, walk away. There is no salsa station to arrange and no lid to keep on. For an office with no kitchenette, or a manager who does not want to set anything up, that is a real advantage.

You need a very quick lunch

Some meetings give people ten minutes to eat. A burrito takes five. A tamal takes eight, mostly because people slow down for the salsa. It sounds small, but it matters on a training day with a tight schedule.

How to split a mixed order

Here is my default, and then how I adjust it. Start with two tamales per person for the whole headcount, then replace a share of those tamales with burritos based on how your office eats.

1. Desk-heavy office, everyone at a screen: one tamal and one burrito per person. Nobody has to leave their desk, and the tamale is there for the people who want to sit in the break room.
2. Mixed office, meeting plus a few field or warehouse staff: two tamales per person for the room, plus one burrito for each person who eats on the move. That is my two-to-one split for a typical office.
3. All-together lunch, everyone at tables: two tamales per person and a small tray of burritos, about one for every five people, for the ones who always want a handheld.
4. Shift-based team with no shared lunch: burritos for the shifts, tamales for the people who are in the building at noon.

For sizing the tamale side of the order, my guide on how many tamales to order per person has the full table by headcount. On the pork and chicken split, start half and half. After one delivery you will know your office; some lean heavily one way, and I adjust the next order.

What the mixed lunch costs

Tamales are $60 a dozen delivered, and $30 for a half dozen. At two per person, that is about $10 a head for the tamale side. Burritos are priced on the quote. A mixed lunch for a typical office usually lands in the $10 to $14 range per person once you add rice, chips, guacamole, and salsas. I send one exact number for the whole order and confirm it personally.

The menu page has the tamale prices and fillings. Standing orders and one-off office lunches are both handled through the corporate and office catering page, and if you are just ordering a plate or two for yourself, the how to order page explains when to use DoorDash instead of the quote form.

Serving both without confusion

A mixed order fails when people cannot tell what is what. Three things fix it.

• Label the trays. A sticky note on each tamale tray: “pork, red salsa” or “chicken, green salsa.” I write the filling on the foil of every burrito.
• Two zones on the counter. Tamales, salsas, and plates at one end for the sit-down crowd. Burritos in their box at the other end for grab-and-go. The line splits itself.
• Lids on the tamales between waves. Burritos do not care. Tamales do. A covered tray at 1:30 PM is still steaming; an uncovered one is merely warm.

And the note about husks: every office has one new hire who has never seen a tamal. A small card that says “the husk comes off” is a kindness. Leftover tamales reheat the next day in a microwave with a damp paper towel, and the results are surprisingly close to fresh; my guide on reheating tamales so they taste fresh covers the steamer, oven, and air fryer too. Leftover burritos are fine cold at 4 PM, which I will neither recommend nor judge.

Which one I would pick for your office

If I had to choose only one, and you told me nothing else, I would send tamales. They hold better, they cover the gluten-free question, they cost about ten dollars a head, and they turn lunch into a small occasion. But I almost never have to choose only one, and neither do you. Send me your headcount and a sentence about how your office eats, at tables or at desks or on a dock, and I will come back the same day with a split, a menu, and a price. The offices that turn that first mixed order into a monthly Tamale Day usually keep the same ratio for years, once they know it.

Frequently asked questions

Are tamales or burritos better for an office lunch?

Tamales are better when people eat together at a table, because they hold heat in the husk for two to three hours, stay tidy on a plate, and are gluten-free. Burritos are better for people eating at a desk, on a dock, or on the move, because they are one-handed and travel well. Most offices are a mix, so I usually send two tamales for every burrito and label everything.

How many tamales and burritos should I order for 30 people?

Start with two tamales per person, which is five dozen, then swap part of that for burritos based on how your office eats. For a mixed office of 30, I would send four dozen tamales and about ten burritos, split pork and chicken evenly. If everyone eats at a desk, send one tamal and one burrito each. If everyone sits down together, five dozen tamales and a few burritos is right.

Do tamales stay hot longer than burritos on a break room counter?

Yes, by a wide margin. The corn husk insulates, and a covered tray of tamales stays hot for two to three hours after delivery, which is why schools and clinics with staggered breaks order them. A foil-wrapped burrito is great for about an hour and merely fine after that. If your lunch will sit or your team eats in waves, lean toward tamales and keep the lids on.

Which is gluten-free, the tamales or the burritos?

The tamales. Every tamal I make uses gluten-free masa, and it is the only masa in my kitchen, so there is no wheat batch to cross over from. Burritos are made with flour tortillas and are not gluten-free, so on a mixed order I label the burritos clearly and keep them on a separate tray. Tell me about any serious allergy when you order and I will walk through the ingredients.

How much does a mixed tamale and burrito office lunch cost per person?

Tamales are $60 a dozen delivered, so two per person comes to about $10 a head. Burritos are priced on the quote, so the number depends on how many you add. A full mixed lunch with rice, chips, guacamole, and salsas usually lands between $10 and $14 per person. I send one exact number for the whole order before you commit and confirm it personally.