The Tamalero Cart is now approved in San Bernardino. (Instagram)
When the pandemic hit, Beverly Estrada saw her work hours drastically reduced at the store where she worked.
“They cut my days. I was only working one day a week,” she recalls.
To cover her expenses, this mother of four—two of whom still live at home—decided to fall back on what she knew how to do: making tamales.
“I learned from my grandmother,” says Estrada, an L.A. native who learned to make tamales from her grandmother, originally from Michoacán, Mexico.
She started making them at home and advertising them among friends and family through social media.
The family recipes for pork, beef, and rajas tamales were a hit, and soon she began to see orders grow. Along with that, she started selling them in her neighborhood, where she faced the problem that all street vendors encounter.
“The health department showed up and asked me for permits, and I didn’t have them,” recalls Estrada, who was selling her tamales from a cooler in her car. “They took my tamales and threw them into a bag.”
That day, she didn’t earn anything.
Revolution Carts helped Beverly Estrada move away from street vending. She now has a fixed location at a Home Depot store in Downey, where her customers find her every day with her eye-catching Revolution Carts tamale cart, which features promotions for the Korean artist Defer K2S.
A Tamale Cart for the 21st Century
It’s stories like these that inspired engineer Richard Gómez and his partners Matt Geller (CEO of SoCal Mobile Food Vendors’ Association, an organization representing food trucks) and Patrick Lennon to make a change by creating Revolution Carts.
In 2021, Gómez—originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, who grew up in Los Angeles helping his relatives sell fruit in parks and factories—designed the “Tamalero Cart,” which meets all health department requirements and can keep more than 300 tamales hot for hours.
Made of aluminum, steel, and fiberglass, the cart weighs 200 pounds and measures three feet tall, three feet wide, and four feet long. Its design is inspired by the colorful cars of the 1950s and 60s, paying homage to lowrider culture.
“Our goal was to make it easy to move, keep the food hot, and look ‘cool,’” says Geller.
A Golden Opportunity
These were all the features that immediately caught Estrada’s attention when Revolution Carts contacted her to offer one.
“Revolution Carts reached out to me and told me they were making a tamale cart,” she recalls. “I said, ‘sign me up.’ What interested me was that the cart came with health department permits.”
Years earlier, Estrada had partnered with a friend to start a tamale business in Bakersfield, and she knew how hard it was to get health department permits. The business quickly fell apart when her friend decided not to continue. This was her second chance at owning a business, something she had always wanted.
She was even more interested when she learned that the cart was mobile and could be taken anywhere.
Her excitement grew even more when she found out that the energy drink company Rockstar Energy had chosen her as one of five street vendors they would sponsor with a tamale cart.
Revolution Carts also helped her move away from street vending. She now has a fixed location at a Home Depot store in Downey, where her customers find her every day with her eye-catching Revolution Carts tamale cart, which features promotions for the Korean artist Defer K2S.
Her business has grown. She has taken her tamales and cart to special events for ESPN in Santa Monica and other exclusive locations where she never imagined selling.
She has expanded her business. Now, she has two assistants to help her make tamales in a commercial kitchen. She is already thinking about buying another tamale cart from Revolution Carts and expanding further.
“They (Revolution Carts) have helped the community,” says Estrada, who has seen her life change thanks to the unique cart.
“Sales are different. The way people look at you changes,” adds this entrepreneur, who has gained popularity through her Instagram and TikTok accounts. “It’s no longer a shopping cart you’re pushing. You’re no longer hiding (from authorities).”
“I walk with my head held high, working anywhere. I have the blessing and pride of being able to support myself and my family by selling tamales.”
It’s stories like Beverly Estrada’s that inspired engineer Richard Gómez and his partners, Matt Geller and Patrick Lennon, to make a change by creating Revolution Carts.
Creating Entrepreneurs
Each cart costs $7,500, and the company has partnered with community agencies to offer loans to street vendors, regardless of their immigration status or credit history.
Many carts have also been sponsored by large companies, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and Taco Bell, which have provided 46 of these carts to all kinds of street vendors—tamale sellers, corn vendors, and more.
To date, Revolution Carts has produced 86 of these carts and will soon release its new “grill cart,” which includes a refrigerator and sink where vendors can make tacos and hot dogs. They have even designed an electric cart.
But Revolution Carts does more than manufacture these carts; they also help vendors grow by advising them on marketing, promoting themselves on social media, and other business aspects.
“The goal is for them to join the formal economy and grow their businesses successfully,” says Geller.
And like Estrada, improve their lives as well.
INFO
To learn more about financing for these carts, visit
www.revolutioncarts.com
(213) 787-7490
FACTS
Cost: $7,500
Capacity: Over 300 tamales
Details: Three feet tall, three feet wide, and four feet long, weighing 200 pounds but fully mobile.
Supervisors will regulate street vendors on the county’s streets; hundreds of dollars in permits
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