Wahoo’s Fish Taco goes national

Greg Risling

COSTA MESA -- Move over Wahoo’s regulars. You might be joined by some new

and hungry fans very soon.

Those who don’t know about the home-grown Mexican

restaurant-turned-franchise will probably learn more about the Wahoo’s

Fish Taco story thanks to a series of national television ads that have

been airing since the first of the year.

Watching the pro football playoffs? How about the nail-biting, highly

rated show “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” Don’t switch the channel so

quickly, couch potato. The 60-second spot featuring Wahoo’s has captured

both coveted spots.

The commercials are actually the work of financial conglomerate Merrill

Lynch. Wanting to spotlight its relationship with its small business

division, company officials looked at more than 400 of its clients.

They picked six businesses that best represented the message they were

trying to convey. The lucky owners of a only a handful of small

businesses stretching from Connecticut to California would be rewarded

with a nationwide audience. One of them was Wahoo’s Fish Taco.

“The commercials tell the story of how they got started and how we’ve

helped them to get where they are now,” said Dominic Alvarez, a Merrill

Lynch representative who worked with the Wahoo’s folks. “Our selection

committee loved the Wahoo’s story.”

The gang at Wahoo’s couldn’t have been more excited. With only a dozen

locations in California and Colorado, the owners and employees knew they

couldn’t reach a broader audience with a limited advertising budget.

“We could never afford the amount of money needed for a national

television ad campaign,” said Renato “Mingo” Lee, Wahoo’s director of

finance. Lee started the restaurant chain with his two brothers in 1988.

He said his company had been working with Merrill Lynch for three years

when company officials approached him and his employees in October about

the ad.

“When we got the first call and they said they were interested in us, we

were pretty excited. When they told us they wanted to film the

commercial, we were stoked,” Lee said.

Filming began in November at two of the Wahoo’s locations -- Bristol

Street in Costa Mesa and the Pacific Coast Highway restaurant in Laguna

Beach. They also shot the brothers surfing near the Newport Pier and

having a family dinner at a relative’s home in Tustin. Before they knew

it, the film was in the can.

“It was fast-paced chaos,” Lee remembered. “They were in and out in two

days. I didn’t know how they were going to filter all of the filming into

a short, one-minute ad.”

They did all right. The commercial is a slick-looking slice of Wahoo’s

lore without the black beans or ahi rice. The commercial is scheduled to

run for 13 weeks. So far, the response has been overwhelming.

Lee said the corporate office in Costa Mesa has been receiving calls from

all over the country. Some callers have even asked if they can get the

stock symbol for the company’s name.

“They think we are publicly traded,” he said. “We’re not.”

Business has been brisk at locations that are already swamped during

lunchtime.

“I think the combination of gray weather and the commercial have given

all the stores an increase in business,” said Brad Joplin, who manages

the Placentia Avenue restaurant. “People are talking about the commercial

all the time when they come in.”

The commercial may be a good springboard for the opening of six new

Wahoo’s locations over the next year. Four will be in California -- La

Jolla, Torrance, West Los Angeles and Yorba Linda.

Some customers are glad to see Wahoo’s getting the recognition it

deserves.

“They serve killer food,” said Brad Michaelson, who said he eats at

Wahoo’s twice a week. “The downside to the commercial is everyone is

going to know about Wahoo’s. We want it all for ourselves.”