A free lunch of tamales, beans and rice — plus a chance to meet members of the Turlock Police Department — is being offered as part of “Tamales con la Policia,” an event sponsored by Mariscos Guayabitos restaurant, 124 Fourth St., on Monday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“I was in the restaurant when the owner, who knows I work for the PD, came up to me with this idea,” said Turlock PD field training officer Gustavo Gomez. “They’d seen previous posts from ‘Coffee with a Cop’ and ‘Pan Dulce with a Cop.’ They wanted to part of the type of thing that brings the community together.”

Gomez took the idea to his department administrators, who were all for it.

“We wanted to find a way to get the community together,” said Alejandra Fuentes, translating for Mariscos Guayabitos owner Horacio Gonzalez, who would like the event to become a yearly tradition. “We began asking around and a client gave us the idea to do this.”

In addition to two tamales, rice and beans, the restaurant will be offering a free cup of coffee or a cup of warm atole, a sweet, creamy drink that pairs nicely with savory tamales.

“We want to share with the city of Turlock our traditions,” Fuentes said for Gonzalez. “We decided to share this event with the Turlock Police Department because we’d like to establish a trustworthy connection within the Hispanic community.” 

Gomez, who is of Hispanic heritage, said that making tamales is a cultural tradition at the holidays.

“Actually, preparing and cooking the tamales is a big part of it,” said Gomez. “Everybody helps out and has their own specific job. But the best part is that the family gets together, starts joking around, and has a good time.”