A spicy American dream

HUMBERTO CASPA

Is there a secret to Wahoo’s success? Ed (Eduardo) Lee, Renato

“Mingo” Lee and Wing Lam, owners of Wahoo’s Fish Taco, say the answer

often revolves around their restaurant’s exquisite and healthy menu.

I’m sure most of Wahoo’s patrons would agree with them, as their food

is simply some of the best of its kind.

However, the more I’ve learned about the three brothers, and more

information I got from them during a brief meeting at their

headquarters in Irvine, the more convinced I am that their biggest

secret lies in their family background. The restaurant business runs

in their blood.

“My parents tried many times to get us out of this business

because they knew how difficult it is to run it,” Ed said.

Like most parents today, Cheong Lee, their father, and mother So

Ching Lee sought more traditional professions and hence a safer

ground for their children. Perhaps having a lawyer or a doctor in the

family made more sense to them than having someone following in their

footsteps.

Luckily for the couple, their two oldest sons, Young Lee and

Yong-Tsun Lee, received medical and law degrees, respectively. They

wanted such futures for the “Wahoo” brothers. But getting the three

of them on such a track became as challenging as getting them out of

Orange County.

How can you ask someone who was literally born in a restaurant not

to be a restaurant owner? Yes, Ed and Mingo were born in their

parent’s house, which also operated as a restaurant in the city of

Presidente Prudente, about eight hours away from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Their parents had migrated from mainland China to Japan, and then

they moved to Brazil seeking a better life.

Although the parents weren’t the center of our conversation, their

names often flew back and forth during the meeting. Despite all the

successes found in Brazil, especially after establishing a reputable

restaurant, Cheong Lee always wanted to come to America.

“We were fine in Brazil, but it was my dad’s thing to come to

America,” Ed pointed out.

And in Orange County the Lee brothers and their parents found

their ultimate dreams. First, the entire family settled in Costa Mesa

in 1975. After that Mr. and Mrs. Lee opened a Chinese restaurant in

Newport Beach, Shanghai Pine Gardens, where the legendary John Wayne,

among other famous entertaining figures, used to have weekly lunches

and dinners.

For Mingo, moving to California wasn’t as shocking as it was for

Wing and Ed, the older brothers.

“I was simply too young to understand what was going on back

then,” Mingo said. “Besides, going straight to Whittier Elementary

School in Costa Mesa helped me out.”

But for Wing and Ed, the change was harder. Both of them had to

adjust to a new language and to a new cultural environment.

In the end, however, Costa Mesa turned into a field of dreams for

the three brothers. Today, all of them are college educated. Wing

graduated from San Diego State University, Ed from Vanguard

University, and the youngest, Mingo, from UC Irvine.

All three went separate ways after finishing college,

experimenting with other kinds of businesses with little, if any,

success.

A law career didn’t pan out, so the three regrouped in 1988. They

were ready to take their ultimate venture, perhaps the last one with

their parent’s assistance. They bought a pizza place on Placentia

Avenue in Costa Mesa and eventually turned it into one of the most

successful restaurants in the area.

But success didn’t come as easy as most people might have

suspected.

“There was a point in which we were getting ready to pack our

stuff up because we had no business going on,” Ed recalled.

Luckily for the young entrepreneurs, Wahoo’s Fish Taco took off as

soon as people in the area, particularly surfers and other

beachgoers, began to recognize it as the ideal place to hang out.

Today, their famous cuisine, an eclectic mix of Brazilian, Mexican

and Asian flavors, appears in more than 30 Wahoo’s restaurants across

the nation. Most of them are located in California, but the chain is

expanding into Colorado, Texas and soon Florida.

Their restaurant chain is now functioning as a franchise company

for individuals wanting to share a lucrative business with them.

None of the brothers like to take the credit for their success.

They feel that without their parents’ guidance and support they would

have never achieved what they have earned today.

“We haven’t done anything yet, compared to what my parents

accomplished in Brazil and also in this country,” Ed said.

This attitude only leads me to believe that the future for the

“Wahoo” brothers is wide open, as they are ready to take on other

challenges.

* HUMBERTO CASPA is a Costa Mesa resident and bilingual writer. He

can be reached by e-mail at hcletters@yahoo.com.