Committed to Being Seed Oil-Free
JULY 30, 2026
Puesto is Offically 100% Seed Oil Free
Eating out shouldn't mean compromising how you feel. That's why, as of October 1, 2025, we're proud to announce that Puesto is officially 100% seed oil free across all locations — making us the first Mexican restaurant group to reach this milestone. We partnered with Seed Oil Scout, which now lists every Puesto location as Seed Oil Safe.
"We are proud to be 100% seed oil free at all Puesto locations and serve tacos you can feel good about," says Eric Adler, our Co-Founder and Managing Partner.
For anyone new to the term: seed oils are industrially refined cooking oils extracted from plant seeds — including soybean, corn, canola, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, rice bran, and cottonseed — that are chemically processed at high temperatures and show up in most restaurant kitchens and packaged foods. We wanted no part of that in our tacos.
Why We Made the Change
It comes down to three things we care about deeply: flavor, transparency, and how you feel after you eat. Since we opened our doors in La Jolla back in 2012, we've championed premium sourcing — organic, non-GMO blue corn tortillas, wild-caught Baja fish, and wild Mexican shrimp. In 2022, we launched an additive-free tequila program. Going seed oil-free is simply the next step in a promise we've been building toward for over a decade: tacos you can feel good about.
How We Did It
We worked with Seed Oil Scout to audit every single recipe and prep method in our kitchens — from our Baja Fish and Shrimp Tamarindo Tacos to the dozen-plus house-made salsas we serve. Every dish, top to bottom, is now fully seed oil free:
- Fried items: cooked in RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil
- Non-fried items: prepared with extra virgin olive oil, olive oil, or avocado oil
Our goal was simple — keep the bold, authentic flavor our guests love while cooking with fats that align with how they want to eat.
Seed-oil-free dining should be easy, especially when you're craving Mexican food. At Puesto, it is. Explore our full seed-oil-free menu.
Finding Seed-Oil-Free Restaurants Near You
We know dining out seed-oil-free is still tough — most kitchens default to canola, soybean, or blended "vegetable" oils. A couple of tools can help you find places (including us!) that prioritize healthier fats:
- Seed Oil Scout — a paid app with curated, app-verified restaurant listings and oil details by location. We're listed as Seed Oil Safe at all eight of our locations.
- LocalFats — a free, global, community-driven database of 5,900+ restaurants across 30 countries, with a live map to help you spot spots that intentionally choose specific cooking fats.
Seed oils are mass-produced, industrially refined oils from plant seeds — extracted and processed with heat and solvents, then used widely in restaurant fryers, bottled dressings, packaged snacks, and "vegetable oil" blends. We avoid them to keep highly processed fats out of our food and prioritize traditional cooking oils instead.
The "Hateful 8" seed oils to o steer clear of:
- Soybean oil
- Corn oil
- Canola (rapeseed) oil
- Sunflower oil
- Safflower oil
- Grapeseed oil
- Rice bran oil
- Cottonseed oil
What we use instead: olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, butter, ghee, and other non-seed animal fats like tallow and lard. Duck fat and RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil for frying round out our approved list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What exactly are seed oils, and which ones should I avoid?
A: Seed oils are industrially refined cooking oils extracted from plant seeds, including soybean, corn, canola, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, rice bran, and cottonseed oils. These are the oils we eliminated when we went seed-oil-free.
Q: How can I find seed-oil-free restaurants near me?
A: Use free tools like LocalFats or paid apps like Seed Oil Scout to find restaurants cooking with traditional fats such as tallow, ghee, olive oil, or butter. Steakhouses, sushi spots, BBQ joints, and farm-to-table restaurants (and all of our locations!) are great places to start.
Q: What should I ask at a restaurant that doesn't have a seed-oil-free menu?
A: Ask, "What oils do you cook with?" Then request your dish be prepared with butter, olive oil, avocado oil, ghee, or tallow instead of the default oil.
Q: What cooking fats does Puesto use instead of seed oils?
A: We use extra virgin olive oil, olive oil, and avocado oil for non-fried items, and RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil for fried dishes — making every item on our menu 100% seed oil free.
Q: How do I know if a grocery product is seed-oil-free?
A: Read the ingredient list and look out for "soybean oil," "canola oil," "vegetable oil," or "hydrogenated oil." Choose products made with olive oil, avocado oil, butter, tallow, ghee, or coconut oil instead.
Q: Is Puesto really 100% seed-oil-free at every location?
A: Yes! As of October 1, 2025, we've removed all seed oils from our kitchens across all eight locations — a first for any Mexican restaurant group.
Tacos You Can Feel Good About
Going seed-oil-free wasn't just about removing an ingredient for us — it's about raising the standard for how Mexican food can taste and how it can make you feel. Ready for tacos you can feel good about? Explore our full seed-oil-free menu today.