This young Mexican American chef is a rising star of SF’s pop-up scene

Eat Here Now is a first look at some of the newest, hottest restaurants around – the ones we think are worth visiting. We dine once, serve forth our thoughts, and let you take it from there.

The origin stories of Bay Area startups are the stuff of legend: Google and Apple began in garages; Facebook and Reddit were founded in dorm rooms. Brenda Landa’s cult-favorite pop-up had an equally inauspicious beginning, getting its start during a camping trip with a bite of chicken, a satisfied grunt, and two words: “Good bird.”

Landa started Good Bird, which is named in honor of her brother-in-law’s two-word reaction to that spatchcocked chicken, in January 2023, debuting at 20 Spot in the Mission. In the years since, the venture has become a bright spot in San Francisco’s electric pop-up scene, with monthly appearances at Outerlands in the Outer Sunset drawing a small but fervent following.

On a recent Wednesday at 5 p.m. — one of the rare, sunny afternoons when it actually felt like summer in the Sunset — guests slowly filtered in. Couples on date night, parents with strollers, and millennials from the neighborhood settled into the warm, wood-paneled restaurant to order from a concise, Mexican-leaning menu.  

Like the chefs of so many inventive Bay Area pop-ups, Landa draws inspiration from a mashup of cross-cultural influences. Her menus reflect her upbringing in Redwood City, time spent cooking in Italy, and her family’s roots in Michoacán, Mexico. “When I’m thinking of dishes, I definitely have California influences, because I’m from here and am using all of this wonderful California produce,” she says. “But I definitely feel like my menus are Mexican-inspired.”

For example, Landa got the inspiration for her popular cold noodle dish (it’s often the first thing to sell out) from a Sichuan takeout spot in the Outer Richmond. “But I tried to Mexican-ify it,” she says. Instead of Sichuan peppercorns, sesame oil, and chile flakes, the tangle of homemade ramen noodles is slick with a salty-spicy mix of salsa macha and cured egg yolk — a one-two punch of crunchy, tingly spices and rich, creamy flavor that makes you wish you’d ordered a bowl all for yourself. 

Contrary to the name, Good Bird is not a chicken-only pop-up, though her fried chicken — a fan favorite recently added to the summer menu — is excellent and comes with a fiery fermented serrano hot sauce. A trio of fork-tender albondigas, hearty Mexican-style meatballs that Landa makes with a mix of pork and beef sourced from Petit Teton Farm, swim in a bright sungold broth with summer squash and creamy romano beans.

Tortillas fresh off the comal are made with flour she mills herself using wheat berries from Full Belly Farm, which add complexity and nuttiness that can’t be found in store-bought stuff. Uchepo, a delicate tamal made with fresh corn and steamed in corn husks, is a simple dish from her grandfather’s Indigenous Purépecha people in Michoacán. Her version is bathed in sweet corn panna and topped with salsa verde and housemade queso añejo. 

The 33-year-old chef started her restaurant career working front-of-house at Beretta while attending San Francisco State University. Inspired by her mother’s cooking and a college assignment to envision where she wanted to be in 10 years, she made the jump to back-of-house at Cassava. After a stint at Nopa, she took an internship at Alice Waters’ Rome Sustainable Food Project and returned to put her Italian training to use at Cotogna in North Beach.

“When I first started doing pop-ups, you can go back and see that it was very Italian-leaning,” Landa says. “Part of Good Bird was trying to figure out who Brenda was and the style of cooking that I really like. Once I started doing more Mexican-inspired dishes that were comforting and had this nostalgia behind them, I think that’s where I really found my groove.”

Now, she’s enjoying taking dishes from her childhood and making them her own by incorporating non-traditional ingredients and new techniques.  This mindset has taken root in the Bay Area, contributing to the evolution of the Mexican food scene. Landa credits, in part, Mexican pop-ups like Norte 54, which serves modern pastries, and places like Tacos Oscar and Bolita Masa for doing just that.

Familiar items like tacos, tamales, and tostadas are made with Northern California produce and ingredients from specific Mexican regions to create a genre of Mexican cuisine that feels simultaneously rooted in the Bay. “I think there’s been a big shift,” Landa says. “Mexican food isn’t just small, hole-in-the-wall places anymore, even though I think they’re equally just as amazing.”

Someday, Landa hopes to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant where she’ll be able to dive deep into traditional dishes from Michoacán. For now, she’s setting her sights on the next pop-up, Sept. 13 at Woods Cervecería, where she’ll debut tortas with bolillos, queso fresco, and salsa macha she makes herself.

“There are so many different kinds of Mexican food that are so regional and are being put front and center. It’s great that it’s being put more on the map.”