![]() The chain opened its second location a year and a half later in Laguna Beach. Wahoo’s would eventually sponsor surfing events and gain customers that way. He initially aimed at getting foot traffic from local surfers and skaters. He and Eduardo worked seven days a week from open to close, starting before dawn to buy the produce and fish (they couldn’t yet afford to have them delivered). Growing a business: The first few years were tough, Lam said. The experimental fusion was met with skepticism. The menu also offered Asian-inspired teriyaki bowls. It was white and cooked in Brazilian fashion. ![]() The rice was unlike the traditional Mexican rice, cooked in tomato puree. When starting the business, he wanted to import the fish taco but give it a healthful twist: grilling the fish rather than deep-frying it. Lam, who started the business in 1988 with his younger brothers Mingo and Eduardo Lee, would take surfing trips to Mexico, where he scarfed down fried fish tacos from street vendors in between catching waves. “Not everyone surfs, but it’s an aspirational state of mind,” Lam said. An ode to Lam’s upbringing in Orange County, the chain’s laid-back Southern California attitude is central to the business model. The business: Wahoo’s, the fast-casual taco chain, serves up grilled fish tacos with Asian and Brazilian influences in brightly colored restaurants where the walls are covered floor to ceiling with stickers and surfing memorabilia. The company started almost 25 years ago in an old Italian restaurant near a stretch of industrial office plazas in Costa Mesa. The gig: Wing Lam, co-founder of Wahoo’s Fish Taco, is the face of the surf-inspired taco chain, with 65 restaurants in seven states. ![]()
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