Wallingford, Seattle, WA – May 27, 2018
Update 12/4/2019: Super Bueno is no longer operating as of January 1, 2020. The Ethan Stowell Restaurant group decided to close this space, along with Bramling Cross and Marine Hardware. The Super Bueno space will eventually become a third location of their ever-popular Italian restaurant, Tavolata. Read more about the closure from Eater Seattle.
Located on Stone Way in Wallingford, Super Bueno joins the long street lineup of other food destination – Russell’s, Joule, The Whale Wins and more. One of Ethan Stowell’s newest restaurants is in a big open space on the bottom floor of an apartment complex. And when I say big, I mean big. It seemed like the restaurant just kept going and going. There were about three large sections in dining room area (the farthest of which was completely empty), bar seating near the open kitchen, and two outdoor seating areas, one of which we got seated in. The decor was nice – bright colors, wood tables, neon signs are usually my thing.
Despite the large open space, the Super Bueno team didn’t utilize all of it, hence the empty section towards the back. We put our name and number down upon arrival and decided to wait outside because the waiting area was small and packed with other hungry guests. 10 minutes pass by and no phone call later, we try to check in with the hostess. More people have shown up so there was another wait just to check in on our spot in the queue. After checking in, we notice that the hostess chatting with a server and gather that our name was skipped in the line. A little annoying but we decide to go to flow, especially overhearing that we must absolutely be seated next.
Finally at our table and looking at the menu, we come to a conclusion on two things pretty fast. 1) The menu is fairly limited to just snacks and tacos as entrees. There were a few salad options (and one soup option if anyone cares) but none were intriguing enough to order. 2) The limited food options were pricey for what was essentially Mexican street food. $21 for 5 tacos was on the steep end in my opinion. Cocktails and margaritas were more fairly priced, but nothing was a screaming deal.
Food Menu 
Beverage Menu
We settle on four carne asada tacos, one marinated pork taco and an order of the Super Bueno Nachos with added carne asada meat to share with the group. Ray ordered the watermelon margarita, extra bueno size and I ordered the Slushy del Noche margarita, also extra bueno size. The sunny weather seemed to beg for an extra large slushy margarita that day.
It did take a while to get this order in. After being seated, the waitress didn’t re-appear until about 15-20 minutes later. After putting in the order, we chatted amongst ourselves for another 20 minutes before she came back with the food.
Slushy del Noche, extra bueno size
We get the tacos first. Simple setup and presentation. The tacos were served on a baking-sheet like tray with a small glass jar of black beans. Ray takes a bite of the carne asada and I take a bite of the marinated pork one, then we switch. Both tacos are unfortunately under-seasoned for both of us. The tacos just seemed bland with no strong flavor. The friends we were with ordered two fried cod tacos and three carne asada ones, theirs were also under-seasoned.
Our waitresses comes back with the order of the Super Bueno Nachos after our first couple of bites of taco. Presentation-wise, the nachos look more visibly appealing, coming in a hot skillet with a mound of meat and a perfect dollop of guacamole placed on top of the chips. The smell was intoxicating and it was hard for all four of us to restrain ourselves from diving right in. The nachos were seasoned much better than all the tacos we ordered. The chips held up their crunch right to the very bottom of the dish, proving that time and mounds of meat, cheese and guacamole doesn’t affect their sturdiness and crispness. There was a generous amount of toppings to share among the chips and everyone, which I very much appreciated. I’ve been disappointed before when ordering nachos and realizing that the toppings aren’t proportional to the amount of chips available, thankfully Super Bueno did not disappoint with their version.
Nachos 
Carne Asada & Marinated Pork Tacos
Having finished our food and nursing the last bits of our margaritas, we decide to get the check and the waiting game ensues again. Between asking for the check, putting payment down, and receiving our checks again, we waited another 20 minutes after our meal before we could leave.
IN SUMMARY
Space: Large and spacious with a lot of different seating options. The waiting area in the front is pretty cramped though.
Ambiance: Hip and laid-back.
Service: NOT a great first impression. There was a lot of waiting around between all touchpoints of our dining experience. It didn’t help that our name got skipped in line too.
Food: Knowing Ethan Stowell’s other restaurants and his experience with Italian food, we were hesitant. But we love his other restaurants and wanted to give this one a shot. Unfortunately, our hesitations were validated. Dishes were for the most part under seasoned and underwhelming. Nachos were worth it, but tacos should have been seasoned just as well. Consistency is key.
Drinks: Decently priced tasty margaritas, can’t vouch for the cocktails.
Price: $$$ – Not worth it in our opinion. Seems expensive for street food.
Would we go back?: Probably not. We want to give Super Bueno the benefit of the doubt since it just opened, but knowing Ethan Stowell’s other restaurants, we’ll probably stick with our favorites.
