Todo Bueno brings wok-seared Mexican food to the SLO Public Market 

Two flights of stairs make Todo Bueno the San Luis Obispo Public Market's hidden gem.

It's worth the climb.

Since May 4, Todo Bueno or the "all good grill" serves Mexican-inspired tacos, burritos, quesadillas, tortas, Mission-style burritos, and burgers, among a gallery of other options.

"I could eat Mexican food seven days a week," co-owner John MacKinnon said. "I want to serve upscale food at an affordable price."

click to enlarge

• Photo Courtesy Of Todo Bueno
• SEAR IT TO BELIEVE IT Todo Bueno's seared beef quesadillas are made with meat that's cooked in a wok, flour tortillas that are lightly crisped on a grill, and a custom blend of cheeses and slaw.

MacKinnon runs Todo Bueno with his wife, Kernn MacKinnon, who handles the administrative work. Together, with Kernn's parents, they also manage Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill in Cambria. After years of specializing in seafood by the beach, the pair expanded their culinary interests to Mexican food in SLO with the help of a Hispanic-majority kitchen staff.

MacKinnon credits his use of nontraditional cooking methods as setting his food apart. He's passionate about grilling, sautéing, and even searing his riffs on Mexican fare in a 125,000 BTU (British thermal unit) wok.

"I went a little outside the box," he said. "Mexican food uses meats that are the lesser cuts, but those meats are flavorful. I use the same but having that wok ... we can use the same treatment on chicken, pork, and beef. We sauté our mushrooms and make a Mexican mirepoix with jalapeños."

The result is a wok that's seasoned with the juices and browned bits from the meat and vegetables. The Todo Bueno team then deglazes it with bone broths that are made from scratch.

"The heat of the wok cooks it down to a nice glaze. So, the meat ends up with a good chew and is moist, it's not all boiled down," MacKinnon said.

Todo Bueno extends another cooking format to an atypical space: grilled dessert. The Smores-A-Dilla is a cinnamon sugar-sprinkled flour tortilla thrown on the griddle. It's topped with marshmallows and chocolate once the inside is slightly candied. But adding the graham cracker element had MacKinnon scratching his head.

"I love Golden Grahams cereal and I thought those were nice and crunchy and ready to go. That was the finishing touch," he said. "We put a little honey and chocolate on that with ice cream. It's a messy bite but it's really good!

It's easy to see why MacKinnon loves Mexican food so much. While he's mixed and matched different culinary techniques within the cuisine, he also enjoys the versatility of the ingredients.

click to enlarge

• Photo Courtesy Of Ariette Armella
• ON FIRE Todo Bueno's spicy pork taco may have been a one-day-only dish for the Bringin' On the Heat festival at the SLO Public Market, but all their proteins are sautéed and seared in a 125,000 BTU wok. Amp up the heat with the truly spicy house salsa.

"The nature of Mexican food is a nice thing to produce," MacKinnnon said. "When you have any menu that you're doing, you want your ingredients that are on the line to be multi-use."

These multi-use fillings feature in Todo Bueno's tortillas, tacos, tortas, bowls, and burritos. They include seared beef, herb chicken, barbecue pork, Oaxacan shrimp, and mushrooms. MacKinnon's award-winning chili con carne also makes an appearance both on its own and in quesadilla form.

Burnished mahogany in color and brimming with meat, MacKinnon's chili is a hearty feast that feels like a warm hug. It's a recipe that he's developed and tweaked since the 1990s, and the chili has won the annual Cambria Chili Cook-Off multiple times. It's available in a cup, in a 12-ounce bowl, slathered over cheese fries, or inside a quesadilla.

"It never was on the menu at Moonstone," MacKinnon said. "It's a sautéed, braised dish but how you put that together really matters. It's really about how you layer those flavors."

Kernn told New Times that her husband has always vied for the People's Choice award when it came to his chili.

"If he didn't win that year, he would taste what did win," she said. "He'd go, 'OK, where was I missing?'"

Todo Bueno serves a solid burger too. The All Good is a generous double patty creation that comes with shredded lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, and a light and tangy sauce. MacKinnon said he was conscious of the meat-to-bun ratio and added the second patty to even out the bread.

click to enlarge

• Photo Courtesy Of Todo Bueno
• RATIO RULES A stickler for ratio, co-owner John MacKinnon created the solid and unpretentious All Good burger with two patties, shredded lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, and a tangy sauce.

It works. It's unpretentious, delicious, and leaves you full without the stodginess of a hefty burger.

Ratios and even distribution are important to MacKinnon. An elusively perfect burrito, according to him, is one that provides meat, rice, beans, and all the vegetables in every single bite. But a good one carries meat (or whichever protein of your choice) in every mouthful. He thinks he's achieved that through his take on Mission-style burritos.

Nachos, too, get the same treatment.

"When you get a traditional nacho [plate], you get maybe three chips that have everything on it, then some with just beans and cheese, and then there's a bunch of chips with nothing," he said.

At Todo Bueno, MacKinnon dishes out Nacho Bites instead. A small plate appetizer, it's four large tortilla chips individually topped with all the fixings. Patrons can choose from three meat choices.

Todo Bueno is open throughout the week and has ample seating both indoors and on the outdoor balcony without reservations required. Open for a little less than four months, their mission to do good through good food helped the restaurant hit the ground running.

The day before Todo Bueno opened, a family's excitement to try the cheese quesadilla was cut short when they discovered the restaurant was yet to open. But their trip to the SLO Public Market wasn't in vain.

"My husband happened to run into the owner who said they are opening tomorrow," the family member wrote on Yelp. "When he told him of our sweet girl with an egg allergy, the owner offered to just go ahead and make her a cheese quesadilla [that day], which she absolutely loved."

For MacKinnon, it's an added honor when the county's Mexican residents enjoy Todo Bueno's offerings.

"We have a pretty good clientele that come on a regular basis who are all, 'Thumbs up to the old gringo making good Mexican food!'" he said with a laugh. Δ

Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal is ready for the all the good burrito bites. Send salsa to [email protected].