Another Todo Loco Mexican Fast-Food Outlet To Open Downtown -- Dishing Out `Sun Food'

When the fifth Todo Loco Mexican fast-food outlet opens next month in Two Union Square, a downtown high-rise, it will reflect what Seattleites think of healthy eating.

"There's demand beyond supply for tasteful low-fat, affordable food," longtime Seattle restaurateur Dave de Varona said. His Todo Loco chain, formed last year, offers what he calls "sun food" - healthy, tropical foods usually found in warm, sunny locations.

Besides the Todo Loco upscale cafeteria-style outlets, with a few tables and takeout service, his Fresh Ideas Management Corp. operates four similar outlets called Fresh Ideas. These serve salads, soups and sandwiches, in contrast to Todo Loco, which concentrates on Mexican food with a twist: instead of deep-frying and using fatty ingredients, they offer healthy, flavorful alternatives such as tequila, lime and pesto sauce and mango, cilantro and lime salsa. Entrees cost between $4 and $6.

Overall company sales this year for Fresh Ideas are expected to be in the $1.8 million or $1.9 million range, de Varona said. The company has about 70 employees.

De Varona and his sister-partner, actress Joanna Kerns of the TV-sitcom "Growing Pains," are delighted with the reception their restaurants are getting.

"The Northwest is very open to new trends and we couldn't think of a better place to experiment with a new concept like healthy sun food than where it rains a lot," de Varona said.

"American food gets its best flavor from fat," de Varona said. When Mexican food, the fastest-growing market in the United States, is offered with healthier preparation and ingredients, it's added up to a big hit here, he said. He hired dietitian-author Heather Koski to analyze his recipes to reduce fat.

So far, de Varona and Kerns have little competition. The only restaurant in the area he considers competitive is Macheezmo Mouse, another growing chain.

Fearing a loss of quality control, de Varona said it's too early to consider franchises or major expansion, though he expects continuing growth.

"We're going to charge ahead but not lose the edge or magic of what is going on. We're building a very healthy company culture, but it doesn't go everywhere," he said.

Los Angeles-based Kerns, whose role mainly is one of investor, sparkles when talk turns to opening one of their outlets in her city. She sees a big demand there for fresh, lighter, high-energy fast food.

"This is needed in L.A.," she said. "I often eat like this."

She comes to Seattle three or four times a year to discuss business, but she leaves the food operations to her brother and his wife, Jana.

Todo Loco already has caught the eye of some investment bankers.

"We've been watching Todo Loco with great interest," said Anne Vrolyk, owner of Vrolyk & Company, a San Francisco-based firm that specializes in providing expansion capital for companies where trends have created significant growth prospects.

"It's a unique concept with terrific food and good execution," she said, adding that it's at the forefront of the trend toward healthy fast-food that is sweeping the country. "Todo Loco certainly will be able to expand down the coast in the future."

De Varona said that although he'd like to offer stock in the company to the public eventually, he's interested first in building credibility with quality.

De Varona came to Seattle in 1973 and worked with several restaurant owners here before becoming a partner in the now defunct Broadway Restaurant with Mike Malone.

He started his latest venture when he spotted an opportunity in a niche providing healthier Mexican-style fast food.

The newest Todo Loco will be the largest, at 2,600 square feet. Most are half that size. The others are in the Key Bank Tower, Sedgwick James Building, Century Square and Swedish Medical Center. Fresh Ideas outlets are in Columbia Seafirst Center, Seafirst Fifth Avenue Plaza, Second & Seneca Office Tower and Century Square.