Wahoo's Fish Taco facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Founded | Costa Mesa, California (1988) |
| Founder | Eduardo Lee, Mingo Lee and Wing Lam |
| Headquarters | 1185 Warner Avenue, , |
Wahoo's Fish Taco is a restaurant chain in the United States. They serve yummy Mexican food with a twist! It has flavors from Brazil and Asia. Wahoo's is a "fast casual restaurant". This means their food is quicker than a fancy restaurant but better than fast food. They offer many choices for vegetarians and vegans. You can find tofu, banzai veggies, and brown rice. They also have a special menu just for kids. Wahoo's serves wahoo fish and Mahi-mahi in their famous tacos.
Contents
The Story of Wahoo's Fish Taco
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Wahoo's started in Costa Mesa, California, in 1988. Three brothers named Eduardo "Ed" Lee, Renato "Mingo" Lee, and Wing Lam founded it. They were Chinese-Brazilian and loved to mix flavors. They blended traditional Chinese and Brazilian tastes with dishes they found in Mexico.
Their parents came to Brazil in the 1950s and opened a Chinese restaurant. The five brothers were all born there. Later, the family moved to the United States in 1975. They opened another restaurant called Shanghai Pine Gardens.
The parents wanted their sons to study medicine, law, or engineering. Wing Lam, one of the founders, first studied engineering. He later changed to finance at San Diego State University.
Opening the First Restaurant
The very first Wahoo's Fish Taco opened in November 1988. It was in Costa Mesa, California. They served fish tacos in the style of Baja California. The three youngest brothers, Ed, Mingo, and Wing, did most of the work. Wing Lam once said, "I took your order, ran to the kitchen, made it and delivered it to your table."
The brothers got $30,000 from their parents to help start the restaurant. This money came from selling their family's first restaurant, Shanghai Pine Gardens. The three brothers are still involved in the business today. Wing Lam often works on the chain's food truck in California.
Steve Karfaridis, who was the first manager of their second location, is now a partner. The main office for Wahoo's is in Santa Ana, California. Wing Lam is often the public face of the company. He helps with public relations and marketing.
Growing Across the Country
By 1994, Wahoo's had opened two more places in California. One was in Costa Mesa and another in Laguna Beach. They opened a fourth spot in Lake Forest in May 1994. By late 1995, Wahoo's had six restaurants. Five were in Orange County, California and one was in Denver, Colorado.
In 1998, the first Wahoo's outside Orange County opened in Manhattan Beach. By 2001, Wahoo's had 22 locations! They planned to open 40 more by 2006. By 2005, there were 36 Wahoo's restaurants.
Wahoo's has grown a lot across California. They also have locations in Colorado, Hawaii, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In 2013, Wahoo's celebrated 25 years. They had 64 restaurants in seven states. Later that year, they opened their first international restaurant in Tokyo, Japan.
California Love Drop
On April 12, 2020, Wahoo's helped a special project called California Love Drop. Wing Lam and his partners delivered 300 meals to a hospital in Irvine. This was during the COVID-19 pandemic. They wanted to help frontline workers. So far, the Love Drop has given out over 11,000 meals!
How Wahoo's Connects with People
From the very start, Wahoo's wanted to connect with the surfing community. They offered good prices and a cool, unique style. Their restaurants have stickers and surfing gear as decorations. Wahoo's would also cater events for surf companies and local surf contests. This helped spread the word about their fish tacos. They used similar ideas to connect with other "extreme" sports like snowboarding, rock climbing, and cycling.
Wahoo's also became popular with young people. They would name a local "athlete of the week" and give them a free meal. This often brought the athlete's friends to the restaurant too.
The idea for Wahoo's fish tacos came from street vendors in Baja California. These vendors sold cheap tacos with fish, cabbage, and tomatoes. Wing Lam wanted to make similar tacos for people in America. But he wanted them to be healthier. Wahoo's uses grilled fish instead of fried. Their beans are made without lard or bacon fat. They also have vegetarian and vegan options. This healthy approach helped Wahoo's become very popular. They were one of the first to mix Asian and taco flavors.
When new Wahoo's opened in Orange County, word-of-mouth was enough. But when they expanded to Manhattan Beach, they started advertising in local newspapers and schools.
Gallery
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Neon sign for a Wahoo's Fish Taco in Austin, Texas.
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The order counter, showing the chain's sticker decorations.
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Decorations include equipment bolted to the walls.
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Baja-style fish tacos.
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A lunch truck in Hawaii.
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