Part of the challenge in diversifying Orange County’s food scene is people like Wahoo’s Fish Taco co-founder Ed Lee.
“Orange County’s too casual. We take casualness to another level,” Lee said at a meeting late last month, while pointing to his own black Wahoo’s T-shirt. “I’m part of the problem in Orange County.”
That type of casual garb—once traditionally reserved for weekends or the gym—is now infiltrating offices and evenings out at high-end restaurants, and in some ways has helped shape the county’s culinary landscape—for better or worse.
“It’s not because of the chefs,” Lee said.
“Orange County’s still in that surf [mentality]—‘We’re so cool. We’re cooler than L.A.’ When it comes to food, we’re not even on the map. And then, we’re one of the richest counties in the United States. We have so much wealth, but we’re also one of the lowest tippers in the nation.”
31 Years, and Growing
Casualness, though, has paid off for Lee and his brothers and Wahoo’s co-founders, Wing Lam and Mingo Lee.
Tustin-based Wahoo’s, the surfer-inspired Mexican restaurant chain with an Asian-Brazilian twist, celebrated 30 years in business last year, making it one of OC’s longest-running operators in the industry.
In a county where the 40 largest restaurant operators generated a collective $23.4 billion last year, and fast food chains such as the $10.8 billion Taco Bell Corp. and $4.9 billion Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. are the big fish in the local landscape, Wahoo’s is arguably the area’s most prominent casual boutique restaurant chain, known for its namesake tacos, bowls, and burritos.
There have been ups and downs. Wahoo’s reached its peak three years ago only to begin shuttering less than stellar locations the past few years. It had 58 locations as of July, down 3 from 2016. A majority are in OC, and the company ranks No. 23 among local chains with nearly $64 million in revenue.
It is now in growth mode, Lee said, with the company reporting to the Business Journal 2018 companywide sales up 1% from the year-ago period.
A few more Wahoo’s locations may close, while outposts at the Staples Center in L.A. and Newport Beach-based Burnham Ward’s Long Beach Exchange are set to soon open.
The company is also eyeing cities outside OC like Downey and Hawaiian Gardens, while closer to home Anaheim and Yorba Linda are likely spots for expansion.
“We shrunk a little the last couple years, but right now our focus is staying in our base in Orange County and neighboring circles versus widening [the radius],” Lee said.
“We’re expanding. Wahoo’s is going to grow again. We have a good team now. We’ve got a good marketing company, so I think we’re in a good spot.”
Marketing Chops
Wahoo’s, for all intents and purposes, is a chain. Yet, the brothers—Ed Lee holds the forward planning title at Wahoo’s, focused on the company’s real estate; Lam, often the public face of the company, serves as vice president of marketing; while Mingo Lee is chief executive—have managed to maintain the concept’s image as local surf spot hangout rather than generic place to satisfy hunger pangs.
Its marketing prowess allowed it to bridge not just restaurants, but also the worlds of surfing and skating—its restaurants are often covered in skate and surf stickers—making it a relevant part of the conversation in the action sports world.
Maybe Hollywood is next as Lee tests an initiative via his other concept, Toast Kitchen & Bakery.
Lee said he’s hosting an informal get together of directors and celebrities, such as Justin Chon (who grew up in Irvine and played Eric Yorkie in the “Twilight” film series) and Dante Basco (Orange County School of the Arts graduate and the actor who played Rufio in “Hook”), mashing them up with a handful of Orange County chefs to simply hang out.
If successful, it could become a regular occurrence.
“They’re all kids in their late 20s and 30s and their whole thing is they love food,” Lee said. “They grew up in that generation watching the Food Network; that changed our lives forever. So they love wining and dining. They now want to interact with it and the chefs. We’re just going to eat.
“If they want to exchange business cards or phone numbers, that’s up to them. It’s about hanging out.”
Catching Up Online
Wahoo’s operates in a world where discourse is happening online. Whether a fan or not, Lee and company have been forced to get with the times.
“In the last five years, the change was coming and we did get caught behind, so now social media is so important,” Lee said. “Anybody under 35 thinks they’re chefs. So that’s the challenge. Even with Wahoo’s we’re starting to change it and test markets with different foods. So we need to change our strategy based on the changing eating habits.
“Social media has completely turned our world upside down, there’s delivery of food and the biggest killer of Orange County or L.A. when it comes to anything is Amazon.
“The dream come true for most of these kids is to live above their job so they can go downstairs and have Grubhub deliver breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
Wahoo’s already offers delivery through Grubhub and it’s a sizable part of the business, accounting for about 10%, he said.
Talking Toast
Ed Lee’s expertise has made him a well-known source of knowledge for young chefs looking to make a go at their own businesses.
He’s lent help to the owners of concepts such as Ross Pangilinan’s Mix Mix Kitchen Bar in Santa Ana. Pangilinan, who also has a spot at South Coast Plaza, is the reigning Business Journal Chef of the Year.
Last year, Lee followed his own advice when he opened Toast Kitchen & Bakery in Costa Mesa with Chef John Park. The restaurant is Lee and Park’s take on a modern diner, and is in the space formerly occupied by The Golden Truffle.
Toast has an identity and menu separate from Wahoo’s—most dinner entrées run in the $20 range—and is the first time Lee branched out to invest in a restaurant without his brothers, each of whom learned the food trade initially by working in their parents’ restaurant growing up.
It’s still largely casual with a menu that’s directional in a setting that’s Instagrammable, thus hitting on two key points of where consumer tastes are going, Lee and his team think.
First, because of factors such as the internet that have given consumers knowledge (and also the confidence to make everyone feel like an expert these days) palettes are far more discerning and diverse.
Lee estimates, by way of example, at least 80% of Orange County knows what kimchi is.
While OC still has to muscle for attention against more established dining markets such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, he also offered the flipside: great range of offerings in cities such as Irvine with its mom-and-pop Asian eateries, Costa Mesa’s bids to offer more upscale dining options, and Santa Ana’s downtown aspirations.
Ketchup Friendly
The area’s demographics are such that Lee said he doesn’t see investing in or consulting on a high-end food concept anytime soon.
His gauge for deciding whether or not to work with someone isn’t an exact science, but suits his purposes and is also helping define the county’s culinary landscape.
“If somebody wants a burger and he wants ketchup on it, what’s your answer? If your answer is ‘I don’t need ketchup,’ I don’t want to work with you. That’s the wrong answer,” he said.
“At the end of the day, we’re restauranteurs working in the hospitality industry. The best answer I got was Brian Huskey over at Tackle Box. He said, ‘Hey, take a bite. I made it this way for a reason, but if it’s not good, here’s your ketchup.’ So when a chef comes to me and says ‘I won’t serve things,’ bye. Because it shows they’re not open-minded.”
