For years, Tamale’s Industry existed in a particular rhythm: steam rising, masa yielding to pressure, hands moving almost faster than thought. In the Merle Hay Mall Local Eats Food Court, amid the churn of retail seasons and the slow dimming of a once-central Iowa institution, there was always the same quiet certainty: tamales wrapped tight, stacked high, ready to be eaten standing up, taken home for dinner, split with kids after school.
For 12 years, Tamale’s Industry turned that corridor of foot traffic into something more intimate: a place where regulars were recognized not by name but by order, where the work of feeding people carried a seriousness that had nothing to do with trendiness and everything to do with care.
Now, the steam tables are shutting off. Tamale’s Industry served its final day at Merle Hay Mall on April 25.
The announcement came not as a press release but as a letter shared with the people who had sustained the business the whole time. It traced the arc from a “small dream inside the Merle Hay Mall food court” to a run measured not just in years but in relationships. “You were never just customers to us,” the post read. “You became part of our story, part of our family.”
German Tejeda, who opened Tamale’s Industry in the food court in 2014, previously told the Des Moines Register that the restaurant struggled in 2025. Tejeda is preparing to take his business on the road.
After a difficult year — “the worst year that I have had,” he said — Tejeda is moving away from a food-court model that no longer delivers steady traffic and toward a food truck that can meet customers where they are.
Why Merle Hay Mall restaurants are closing
Tamale’s Industry’s departure is part of a larger transition underway at Merle Hay Mall, where the Local Eats Food Court is expected to close as the property moves toward a major redevelopment. Mall ownership is planning a multi‑phase transformation of the site into a mixed‑use entertainment and sports destination, including a proposed multi‑use arena and volleyball league and training facility with an estimated budget of $41 million to $56 million.
The food court, located in the mall’s northwest corner, is slated to be absorbed into that project. As a result, food court tenants — now down to just a handful of locally owned restaurants — have been warned that their time in the space may be limited. For longtime vendors like Tamale’s Industry, the change has prompted difficult decisions: not about demand or loyalty, but about where, if anywhere, there is room to continue.
And yet this is not a story about defeat.
In the same message announcing the closing, Tamale’s Industry made clear that this was a pivot, not an end. In the coming week, the work continues behind the scenes: preparing tamales for the Downtown Des Moines Farmers’ Market, with a first appearance scheduled for May 2. A food trailer is also in the works, a mobile kitchen built from the same recipes, the same muscle memory. A soft opening is anticipated sometime in May.
Which restaurants are still at Merle Hay Mall Local Eats Food Court?
Maid-Rite: The last remaining Maid-Rite location in Des Moines proper said, “The mall told us they would give us a 60-day notice, and they have not given that notice as of yet,” on Facebook. It remains open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Turkish Feast: The relatively new Turkish restaurant that specializes in börek, poğaça, Turkish bagels, baklava, trileçe and mozaik cake, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Vietnam Cafe: The longtime restaurant at the mall remains open from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Owner Brenda Tran set up a GoFundMe to raise $150,000 for relocation. Since launching on Feb. 18, 256 people donated $15,020, or 11% of her goal.
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Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Beloved Merle Hay Mall tamale shop closes, shifts to farmers markets
Reporting by Susan Stapleton, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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