Life after loss can feel like you’re living in a haze of uncertainty and grief. It’s in these moments that family matters most, and no one knows this quite as well as the family behind one of San Antonio’s beloved tamale staples: Tellez Tamales & Barbacoa.
It wasn’t long ago that the family lost Manuela Gutiérrez Téllez, the matriarch of Tellez Tamales, which she co-founded in 1975 alongside her husband of 60 years, Luis Téllez. Though every day comes with unknowns, Manuela’s words still linger among her loved ones in a beautiful and inspiring way.
“I was cooking, and she was like, ‘Mijo, make sure that you do everything with all your heart, and it’s gonna come out that way.’ And she didn’t mean just with cooking … but she meant in life. And ever since then, every time I cook, I do it with all my heart,” Manuela’s son Gabriel Téllez, who helps run the business, told MySA during an interview at the tamale factory on Bandera Road…