Wave of success

Over the course of 20 years, Wahoo’s Fish Taco has grown from a little taco place in Costa Mesa owned by three Chinese brothers from Brazil who loved to surf to a chain with more than 50 locations in four states.

“I didn’t think it would go beyond one store,” Mingo Lee said, one of the co-founders of the surfing-themed fish taco chain. “We didn’t have any idea other than flipping tacos and occasionally surfing — we don’t surf as much these days.”

Wahoo’s is celebrating its 20th anniversary this weekend by serving up fish tacos for 20 cents Sunday at its first restaurant, 1862 Placentia Ave., which has been newly remodeled. The first 200 people in line when the restaurant opens at 10:20 a.m. will win prizes and be entered into a raffle to win gifts like skateboards and Wahoo’s gift cards.

The event will feature an appearance by professional skateboarder and star of the MTV reality show “Life of Ryan” Ryan Sheckler.

The youngest of three brothers in a family of five boys, Wahoo founders Wing Lam, Ed Lee and Mingo Lee all grew up helping out at their parent’s restaurant, the famed Shanghai Pine Garden on Balboa Island, where John Wayne was once rumored to have eaten.

All three brothers were born in and around Sao Paulo, Brazil, but the family immigrated to Costa Mesa in 1975, where they lived in a house around West 19th Street and Whittier Avenue, not far from where they would eventually open up the first Wahoo’s.

The brothers still groan over the black pants and short-sleeved, white Oxford shirts their parents made them wear while they worked at the family restaurant on Balboa Island.

“Everybody took their turn peeling shrimp, washing tables, being host, waiter — you name it,” Mingo Lee said.

A portion of the proceeds from Sunday’s event will go to the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen, 720 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa.

The soup kitchen used to be Hang Chow, another Chinese restaurant once owned by Lam, Ed Lee and Mingo Lee’s parents.

Although their parents pushed the brothers to go to college and find work outside of the fast-paced, 24-hour-a-day, seven-day a week restaurant industry, when the opportunity arose to open their own business, the brothers turned to what they knew.

“I had already been out of college for four years and did my little tour of duty in corporate America — and I said, ‘You know what, it isn’t as fun as it looks,’” Lam said. “Using our background, we thought we might have a shot of creating our own business and doing something we actually like to do, which is cook.”

The brothers got a taste for fish tacos while surfing around the San Diego area — Lam went to college at San Diego State University.

The first year was hard, but the brothers gained support from the various surfing companies headquartered in Costa Mesa.

The companies adorned the walls of the first Wahoo’s with stickers and banners, a tradition the brothers have carried over to their other restaurants.

“I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at the restaurant — we didn’t have time to train everybody, so we just dove in and used our instincts from working in our parents’ restaurants,” Lam said.

The brothers still use the same recipe for their fish tacos today that they started out with at their first restaurant in Costa Mesa in 1988.

“Never mess with perfection,” Ed Lee said. “It just goes back to our motto of ‘cut it, prep it, cook it and serve it.’ It’s all done in-house.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Wahoo’s 20th anniversary bash, which will feature 20-cent fish tacos, door prizes for the first 200 guests, and a guest visit by pro-skater Ryan Sheckler.

WHERE: Wahoo’s Fish Taco, 1862 Placentia Ave.

WHEN: 10:20 a.m. Sunday

Reporter BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].