Wahoo's Fish Taco

File:Wahoo's Fish Taco Restaurant Sign & Street Scene - Orange - California - USA (6773610740).jpg]]

Wahoo's was founded in Costa Mesa, California, in 1988 by Chinese-Brazilian brothers Eduardo "Ed" Lee, Renato "Mingo" Lee and Wing Lam, who mixed traditional Chinese and Brazilian flavors with dishes they encountered while traveling in Mexico.{{cite web |url= http://www.midweek.com/content/story/theweekend_coverstory/somethings_fishy_wahoos/ |title= Something's Fishy @ Wahoo's |access-date=2007-12-27 |author=Sunderland, Susan |date= March 2, 2007 |publisher=MidWeek |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202091422/http://www.midweek.com/content/story/theweekend_coverstory/somethings_fishy_wahoos/ |archive-date=2 February 2008 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://www.wahoos.com/wahoos-story/ |title=Wahoo's Story |author= |publisher=Wahoo's Fish Taco |access-date=26 October 2016}} Their parents had fled to Brazil in the 1950s following the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War, and settled in São Paulo, opening a Chinese restaurant; their five sons were all born in Brazil.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-sep-09-fi-20832-story.html |title=Family Follows the Rules |author=Klein, Karen E. |date=9 September 1998 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 October 2016}}{{cite news |url=https://www.kcet.org/food-living/good-vibes-the-oc-origin-of-wahoos-fish-taco |title=Good Vibes: The O.C. Origin of Wahoo's Fish Taco |author=Meares, Hadley |date=18 October 2016 |publisher=KCET |access-date=26 October 2016}} Their father, Cheong Lee, and the eldest brother came to the United States in 1964, and the rest of the family arrived in 1975, opening the Shanghai Pine Gardens restaurant on Balboa Island. Based on their experience working long hours at Shanghai Pine Gardens, the parents insisted that their five children should study medicine, law, or engineering; the eldest brother went to law school, the second brother studied medicine, and the third brother (Wing Lam) attended San Diego State University, initially studying engineering, but switching to finance after being placed on academic probation.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-xpm-2012-dec-01-la-fi-himi-wahoos-tacos-20121202-story.html |title=Wahoo's Fish Taco founder rides a wave of success |author=Lopez, Ricardo |date=1 December 2012 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 October 2016}}

The first Wahoo's Fish Taco restaurant, located at 1862 Placentia Avenue in Costa Mesa,{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-06-27-ol-2105-story.html |title=Wahoo's Fishes for Tacos, Not for Your Wallet |author=Nalick, Jon |date=27 June 1991 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 October 2016}} opened in November 1988, serving Baja California-style fish tacos.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-06-fi-54657-story.html |title=Brothers Hooking Customers With Baja-Style Tacos |author=Johnson, Greg |date=6 May 1994 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 October 2016}} The three brothers (youngest of the five sons) were the main restaurant employees. Wing Lam recounted in 2011 that "back in the day, I took your order, ran to the kitchen, made it and delivered it to your table." The three brothers remain involved in daily operations, with Wing Lam staffing the chain's California-based food truck. The first restaurant was funded in part with US$30,000 the brothers received from their parents after selling Shanghai Pine Gardens.

Steve Karfaridis, the first manager of Wahoo's second location, in Laguna Beach, is now a partner in the business. The corporate headquarters are in Santa Ana, California. The three brothers are still involved with the company, with Wing Lam acting as the public face of the company, working in public relations and marketing.{{cite interview |last=Lam |first=Wing |interviewer=Ruchel Freibrun |title=Wing Lam – Surfer, Taco Maker and CEO of Wahoo's |url=http://popbuff.com/wing-lam-ceo-wahoos-fish-taco/ |location=Santa Ana, California |date=10 March 2015 |publisher=PopBuff |access-date=27 October 2016}} Projected sales in 2004 were {{US$|35000000|2004|round=-4}}. By 2011, annual sales exceeded {{US$|60000000|2011|round=-4}}.

File:Wahoos Lunch Van.JPG in Hawaii.]]

By 1994, Wahoo's had opened two additional locations, one each in Costa Mesa and Laguna Beach. The business permit for the fourth location in Huntington Beach, was delayed over a city code requirement to pay for 12 spaces in the city-owned Main Street parking garage, and an additional location was opened in Lake Forest in May 1994.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-19-fi-59574-story.html |title=Parking Too Costly for His Taste |author=Gomez, James M. |date=19 May 1994 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 October 2016}} By late 1995, Wahoo's had six locations in total, five in Orange County, California and one in Denver, Colorado.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-11-18-me-4454-story.html |title=Bloody Bandage in Burrito Draws Lawsuit |author=Nguyen, Tina |date=18 November 1995 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 October 2016}} The Wahoo's that opened in Manhattan Beach in 1998 was the first Wahoo's in California outside Orange County. In 2001, Wahoo's had 22 locations and announced plans to open 40 more by 2006.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-06-fi-42612-story.html |title=Wahoo's to Become a Bigger Fish |author=Ballon, Marc |date=6 September 2001 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 October 2016}} By 2005, Wahoo's had 36 locations, including the original Costa Mesa restaurant.

Wahoo's has since expanded across California and has opened locations in Colorado, Hawaii, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey & Pennsylvania .{{cite web |url=http://www.wahoos.com/locations.php |title=Wahoo's Locations |author= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609053348/http://www.wahoos.com/locations.php |archive-date=9 June 2015 |url-status=dead}} In 2009, Wahoo's announced plans to add 100 franchise locations by 2014,{{cite magazine |url=https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/wahoos-riding-growth-wave-nyc-international-markets |title=Wahoo's Riding Growth Wave Into NYC, International Markets |author= |date=7 March 2012 |magazine=QSR Magazine |access-date=27 October 2016}} but those plans have slowed. By Wahoo's 25-year anniversary in 2013, they had 64 restaurants in seven states,{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/tn-dpt-0110-wahoos-25th-anniversary-20130109-story.html |title=Surfing a 25-year wave |author=Zint, Bradley |date=10 January 2013 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 October 2016}} and would later that year go on to open Wahoo's first international restaurant in Tokyo, Japan.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/wahoo-s-fish-taco-rides-wave-tokyo |title=Wahoo's Fish Taco Rides the Wave to Tokyo |author= |date=10 October 2013 |magazine=QSR Magazine |access-date=27 October 2016}}

On April 12, 2020, Wahoo's delivered 300 meals to an Irvine hospital as part of California Love Drop, a collaboration between Lam and numerous partners to deliver meals to frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web|date=2020-12-03|title=2020 Local Heroes Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Ben Caldwell and Tam Nguyen Recognized by KCET and PBS SoCal For Continued Leadership, Innovation and Community Support During Covid-19|url=https://www.kcet.org/press-room/2020-local-heroes-dr-barbara-ferrer-ben-caldwell-and-tam-nguyen-recognized-by-kcet-and-pbs-socal-for-continued-leadership-innovation-and-community-support-during-covid-19|access-date=2021-03-10|website=KCET|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Helping Those Who Help Us – The Ministry Of Jesus Christ | TMofJC Online Radio|work=The Ministry Of Jesus Christ | TMofJC Online Radio |date=14 December 2020 |url=https://www.tmofjc.com/helping-those-who-help-us/|access-date=2021-03-10|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=How It Started|url=https://californialovedrop.org/how-it-started/|access-date=2021-03-10|website=California Love Drop|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|date=2020-05-19|title=California Love Drop Provides Meals and Essential|url=https://www.antisroofing.com/antis-joins-wahoos-california-love-drop/|access-date=2021-03-10|website=Antis Roofing|language=en-US}} To date, the Love Drop has delivered over 11,000 meals.

From the outset, Wahoo's has targeted the surfing community by offering affordable prices and eclectic decor, which uses stickers and surfing equipment inside the restaurant.{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/tn-dpt-0830-wahoos-20110829-story.html |title=Wahoo's co-founder takes it to the streets |author=Peters, Sarah |date=29 August 2011 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 October 2016}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.sactownmag.com/Whats-Cooking/2013/L-St-Lofts-building-lands-fish-taco-restaurant/ |title=Wahoo's Fish Taco opens in midtown |author= |date=31 July 2014 |magazine=Sactown Mag |access-date=27 October 2016 |quote=Like many of the other restaurants in the chain, it will have somewhat of a Hard Rock Cafe design aesthetic, but will feature sports memorabilia (like signed surfboards and skateboards) instead of music memorabilia.}} Wahoo's would cater corporate events for surf apparel companies and local surf contests to build word-of-mouth for its fish tacos. Similar strategies were used to build support in other "extreme" sports communities such as snowboarding, rock climbing, and cycling.

Wahoo's also built a strong youth following by naming a local "athlete of the week" and sponsoring a meal, which would inevitably be attended by the athlete's friends.

The fish tacos served by street vendors in Baja California were, in Lam's recollection, generally filled with unsaleable by-caught fish such as shark; the bycatch would be sold cheaply to street vendors, who sliced the fish into strips, deep fried the strips, and sold the fish in inexpensive tacos with cabbage and tomatoes. While attending San Diego State, Lam came up with the idea to replicate the fish tacos for an American audience, similar to the origin story told by Rubio's founder (and fellow Aztec alumnus) Ralph Rubio. The primary difference was the Wahoo's fish taco was prepared as his family would interpret the recipe: grilled meat, instead of fried, and beans without lard or bacon fat, with vegetarian and vegan options.{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/how-55-year-old-long-haired-asian-surfer-wing-lam-n671926 |title=How 55-Year-old Long-Haired Asian Surfer Wing Lam Built a Fish Taco Empire |author=Escobar, Allyson |date=26 October 2016 |publisher=NBC News |access-date=27 October 2016}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.franchisetimes.com/November-December-2012/Surfs-up-for-three-brothers-Wahoos-founders/ |title=Surf's up for three brothers, Wahoo's founders |author=Maze, Jonathan |date=November–December 2012 |magazine=Franchise Times |access-date=27 October 2016 |quote=“It’s just what we would do at home,” Wing said. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said, deep-fried fish “is delicious. I just don’t think you can live a long time eating that much stuff.”}} The brothers' efforts to replicate street tacos with a healthy twist coincided with a renewed consumer interest in "fresh" Mexican cuisine, and Wahoo's has offered nutritional information from the start to cater to health-conscious consumers. In addition, Wahoo's has been credited as creating one of the earliest Asian-taco fusions.

Word-of-mouth from existing stores was sufficient when new Orange County locations were opened, but when Wahoo's expanded north into Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles County, the marketing effort reverted to advertising in local newspapers and schools.{{cite news |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1998/dec/30/business/fi-58813/3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027062252/http://articles.latimes.com/1998/dec/30/business/fi-58813/3 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 27, 2016 |title=Despite Overseas Pressure and Tight Labor Market, They See Opportunity |date=30 December 1998 |author=Dickerson, Marla |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 October 2016}}

Author Earlene Fowler credits the original Wahoo's location as her office while she was writing her first novel.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-oct-04-ca-53142-story.html |title=Only the Original Wahoo's Will Do |author=Fowler, Earlene |date=4 October 2001 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 October 2016 |quote=Wahoo's Fish Taco became my office of sorts when I was writing my first novel. I'd started the novel in a local McDonald's but switched when my constantly upset stomach discovered Wahoo's soothing white ahi rice and grilled fish of the day. I found the unpretentious old house painted the color of that fake Navajo turquoise in roadside gift shops a comforting place to reread the words I'd written that morning. The steamy, cheerful atmosphere was conductive to daydreaming and eavesdropping.
While lingering over my rice and scratched-over words, I listened in on board meetings with executives from nearby surf wear companies, upper-middle-class mothers comparing toddler horror stories and restaurant employees, probably local residents, having laughing conversations in Spanish.
The outside patio with its mottled concrete floor, windows patch-worked with slightly suggestive surfing and skating stickers and neon Corona beer signs was the perfect place to watch the world go by hindered only by the lacy wrought-iron bars guarding the vulnerable windows.
Wahoo has gradually opened other restaurants around Southern California and in Colorado. But insiders know the best one is on Placentia Avenue, next to the pet hospital.}}

January 9, 2013 was proclaimed Wahoo's Fish Taco Day in Costa Mesa to honor the chain's 25th founding anniversary.

Travis Barker, drummer for blink-182, opened a Wahoo's Fish Taco restaurant in Norco, California (co-owned with the Lee brothers) in 2004.{{cite web |url=http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=65391 |title=Travis Barker's Wahoo's Fish Taco - Grand Opening Apr. 18th |author= |date=16 April 2004 |publisher=Music Industry News Network |access-date=26 October 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://www.famoussas.com/articlelive/articles/20/1/BLINK-182s-TRAVIS-BARKER-EXPANDS-CORPORATE-EMPIRE-WITH-NEW-WAHOOS-FISH-TACOS-IN-NORCO/Page1.html |title=Blink-182's Travis Barker Expands Corporate Empire with New Wahoo's Fish Tacos in Norco |author= |date=4 March 2004 |publisher=Famous Stars and Straps |access-date=26 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080130152554/http://www.famoussas.com/articlelive/articles/20/1/BLINK-182s-TRAVIS-BARKER-EXPANDS-CORPORATE-EMPIRE-WITH-NEW-WAHOOS-FISH-TACOS-IN-NORCO/Page1.html |archive-date=30 January 2008 |url-status=dead}}

File:Wahoo's Fish Taco (8659149114).jpg|Neon marquee for the now-closed Wahoo's Fish Taco at 1722 S. Congress Ave in Austin, Texas

File:Wahoo's 365-4 (8347529345).jpg|Order counter, showing the chain's sticker decorations

File:Or maybe it was just a pc virus (3286310621).jpg|Decorations include equipment bolted to the walls

File:Wahoo's Fish Tacos (5155597049).jpg|Baja-style fish tacos

File:Wahoo's (3943517815).jpg|Lunch truck in Hawaii

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{commons category}}

• {{official website|http://www.wahoos.com/}}
• {{cite magazine |url=http://hbmagazine.com/yahoo-for-wahoos-fish-tacos/ |title=Yahoo! for Wahoo's Fish Tacos |author= |date=April–May 2013 |magazine=HB Magazine |page=32 |access-date=26 October 2016}}
• {{YouTube|YmlExPyghRc|Mayor's Award: Wahoos}}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-chatselfie-wahoo-20150517-story.html |title=Fish tacos, flip-flops and sharks in suits |author=Do, Anh |date=16 May 2015 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 October 2016}}

• {{cite web |url=http://www.feastingfortcollins.com/2013/wahoos-fish-tacos/ |title=Wahoo's Fish Tacos (review) |author=Mastre, Kristin |date=6 September 2011 |website=Feasting Fort Collins |access-date=26 October 2016}}
• {{cite news |url=http://www.sacbee.com/food-drink/restaurants/allen-pierleoni/article2606554.html |title=First Impressions: Wahoo's Fish Taco in midtown |author=Pierleoni, Allen |date=13 August 2014 |newspaper=The Sacramento Bee |access-date=27 October 2016}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/08/which-taco-chain-makes-the-best-fish-tacos-rubios-baja-fresh-wahoos.html |title=Which Taco Chain Makes the Best Fish Tacos? |author=Elliott, Farley |date=August 2012 |website=Serious Eats |access-date=27 October 2016}}

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