On May 18, if all goes well, the Hot Tamale in Boothbay Harbor will reopen for lunch after being closed for six years. They will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. six days a week, closed Mondays.

Owned by Gene Damon, the Hot Tamale is at 28 Union Street in Boothbay Harbor and will have an entirely Mexican menu. “It’s a rebirth of the restaurant,” Damon said. “A fresh start with unique foods and a simple menu you can’t get anywhere else in this area.”

The restaurant’s specialty will, of course, be hot tamales. Tamales are made by wrapping a meat stuffing in a corn shell, wrapping dried corn husks around it and steaming it.

“A lot of Mexican restaurants don’t make tamales,” Damon said. “But we will. We will also have burritos, chimichangas, taco salads, Mexican pizza and more. We plan to have beef, chicken and vegetarian options.”

Damon currently plans to run the bar at Hot Tamale, specializing in frozen margaritas, at least seven varieties of Mexican beer, and wines imported from Spain. He will also be making frozen nonalcoholic drinks for kids. There are no bar stools, drinks will be served tableside only.

Damon plans to have special Mexican desserts, such as churros, which are crunchy fried dough sticks sprinkled with sugar; and bunuelos, also a fried dough, similar to funnel cake.

Gary Woodcock, who owns Round Top Ice Cream along with his wife Brenda, contacted Damon about making a special, “Mexican chocolate ice cream,” which Damon is also planning on carrying as soon as the recipe is complete.

Hot Tamale has full table service, and also accepts to-go orders. Call 207-633-5400 to place to-go after May 17. Well-behaved dogs are welcome to stay on the outside eating deck with their owners.

Katrina Clark can be reached at 207-633-4620 or katrinaclark@boothbayregister.com. Follow her on Twitter: @BBRegisterClark or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BBRegisterKatrinaClark.