A Phenix City tamale shop is opening a second location in Columbus. Here’s what to know
JR McKinny, his wife Barre and son Champ stood in their room at the Holiday Inn in Panama City. Barre was a sous chef in the hotel’s restaurant, so the family couldn’t evacuate because she had to serve the guests sheltering in the Holiday Inn.
McKinny felt the glass windows moving as though they were going to give in at any moment. Realizing their hotel room was no longer safe, he moved his family to the hallway where other guests began congregating as well.
Around 70 people huddled in the hall feeling the pressure from the storm causing their ears to pop until the wind finally busted the hotel’s windows. The group stayed in the hall riding out the storm for three hours as the hallways began filling up with water.
After the storm, Panama City was left with catastrophic damage. McKinny, who is also a chef, lost all of the equipment for his tamale business because the restaurant he was working for had been destroyed.
McKinny’s saving grace was that the family’s home survived along with two chest freezers full of 300 dozen tamales that were being stored for a farmers market. A neighbor ran an electrical cord from her house to the freezers and plugged them in using her generator.
“It pretty much helped save our business,” McKinny said.
With nothing left for them in Panama City, the family moved to Columbus and lived in a farmhouse with Barre’s godmother for a month.
The couple began building their business again by selling tamales at farmers markets in the Chattahoochee Valley, and early next year It’s Tamale Time will be opening its second storefront location in the new Highside Market.
‘Best thing to ever happen’
McKinny’s grandmother, Ernestine “Maw Maw” Subia, crafted hand rolled pork tamales for family and friends in Texas throughout his childhood. Subia sold tamales as a side hustle, McKinny said, and ran the business out of her home.
Big bins of ingredients and supplies that would fill his grandmother’s home, McKinny said, and the house was loud because of people laughing and her doorbell constantly ringing.
“I always remember somebody picking up and buying tamales,” he said. “I had that memory, but it never became useful until I started into the workforce as an adult.”
After meeting his wife in culinary school and starting a family, the idea of selling tamales never left McKinny. So, he and his wife began as Subia did, selling tamales as a way to earn extra income along with their full-time positions as chefs.
McKinny sold his tamales at farmers markets in Panama City, and kept this business model when they moved to Columbus after the hurricane. McKinny and Barre would find commercial kitchens they would have to share with others to make their product.
“We produced tamales wherever we could just to keep going,” he said.
Just before the pandemic began, It’s Tamale Time began having an online presence that included a youtube channel. As COVID-19 spread, demand for online ordering and having food delivered helped grow the business. McKinny’s tamale business began outgrowing the shared kitchen they were using.
It’s Tamale Time began renting the commercial kitchen in the American Legion on North Lumpkin Road, which also helped the non-profit organization earn income themselves since they were unable to host in-person events. Along with making tamales in the space, McKinny and his wife would cook a meal for the members on Fridays.
“It was awesome to be able to experience that — to be able to help people — and still further my business,” he said.
After outgrowing the space that American Legion provided, McKinny and his wife opened It’s Tamale Time in Phenix City on Cinco de Mayo earlier this year. There was a line out the door as family and friends came to support the opening of their first storefront location, and It’s Tamale Time began attracting attention.
“Hurricane Micheal is the best thing to ever happen to me to tell you the truth,” McKinny said.
Highside Market
Not long after opening in Phenix City, McKinny was approached by the Columbus-based real estate development and investment firm The Cotton Companies about opening a second location in Highside Market.
Located at the crossroads of 13th Street and 2nd Avenue, the reuse development will be a hub for dining, retail, office and event space. The new It’s Tamale Time location is expected to open around February or March next year, McKinny said.
Opening the new location is scary, he said, because he hadn’t planned on the business growing so fast. But McKinny felt that Highside Market was in line with what he sees as the future of It’s Tamale Time.
“They’re genuinely focused on making Columbus a better place,” he said. “I believe they care because they’re from here.”
McKinny looks forward to continuing to grow It’s Tamale Time in Columbus, and educating customers about the history and culture behind the Mesoamerican cuisine. The layering of flavors in his grandmother’s tamales brought his family together, he said, and this fellowship surrounding the food is something he wants his customers to experience.
“When you buy from us at the (farmers) markets or the restaurant, you’re part of the story — of the experience.” McKinny said. “And we want to get you excited about (tamales).”
This story was originally published December 19, 2022 at 1:21 PM.
