If you are Mexican (or have a similar lineage), chances are you have purchased, ingested, and purged tamales as a New Year’s tradition—although, to be fair, I had tamales last week, but who’s counting?
Still, for my News Year's fix, I decided on a middle-of-the-road tamale dinner from the once proud Tex-Mex chain El Chico, located at 3439 W. Main St. inside Sooner Fashion Mall in Norman.
Although I've surprisingly never been to an El Chico myself (I grew up raising the flag at Pancho's), I'm aware it was once one of the largest Mexican restaurant groups in the US – a booming chain that dominated the Oklahoma and Texas Mexican food landscape.