Best Mexican Restaurant 2007

By Staff Writer, Hollister Free Lance News, Best of San Benito County Special Edition, June 26, 2007.

There’s a fourth generation making tamales on Third Street the right way. “We grind our own corn for the masa, and hardly anyone does that,” said Margaret Zuñiga, who, with her brother Gilbert Zuñiga, owns Progresso’s Tamale Parlor in Hollister.

Progresso’s hand makes up to 20,000 tamales every year, Zuñiga said.

Since 1939, Progresso’s has been making tamales and cooking up traditional Mexican dishes. The restaurant has been passed down generation to generation.

Zuñiga said she runs into people throughout the Bay Area who remember eating at the restaurant as children.

The Zuñigas great-grandparents started the restaurant after coming to the country from the state of Zacatecas in central Mexico.

Tamales are $5 each, and specialty dinner plates range up to $12. The restaurant is open 11 am to 2 pm Tuesday through Saturday for lunch. Dinner hours are 5 pm to 8:30 pm Tuesday through Friday and 4 pm to 8:30 pm Saturday and Sunday.