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Among them, South Philly Barbacoa, owned by chef Cristina Martinez.
Yelp's State of the Restaurant Industry 2023 report says interest in New Mexican restaurants has risen 29% since last year.
And so, Yelp has compiled a list of some of the best tamales in the country by identifying businesses in the food and restaurants categories with a large concentration of reviews mentioning "tamale."
Martinez immigrated tot he U.S. from Mexico and got her first job at an Italian restaurant in Philadelphia. She was fired from that job when they learned she was undocumented, and began cooking food for other Mexican workers in her apartment, according to her bio on the website for her other restaurant, Case Mexico Philly.
Her little cafe grew into a taco pushcart and in 2016, Martinez opened a restaurant recognized by Bon Appetit magazine.
Martinez was also featured on an episode of the Netflix series "Chef's Table" in 2018. The following year, she was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic.
South Philly Barbacoa, at 1140 S 9th St., has 4.6 stars and more than 600 reviews on Yelp. Click here for the full list from Yelp.
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