Ed Lee is the co-founder of Wahoo’s Fish Taco, an Orange County based restaurant chain selling Asian and Mexican inspired cuisine. In this interview he shares his family’s immigration story, growing up in Orange County, and COVID-19’s impact on the restaurant industry.
KEYWORDS: Chinese, Asian, America, family, community, values, Brazil, surfing, immigrants,
Interview Transcript
[When] my dad left China, there was not a lot of people taking Chinese immigrants back then, in the late ‘40s. So my dad fled to different countries, and he ended up in Brazil. But his ultimate goal was always to be in America. The first time I came I stayed one year with my dad. So in 1973, I was eight years old. So I moved with my dad for one year. And then I went back home to Brazil, and then back in 1975. So I’ve been here since January 10, 1975.
[Growing Up in Orange County]
Since 1975, obviously, the Asian community has grown a lot, tremendously. I mean, in ‘75, for instance, Garden Grove was not not yet a big Asian community, Westminster wasn’t that big. But now if you fast forward—when I moved to Newport Beach in 1973, I was probably the only non-white in the school system. I was here without my brothers. So when I went to school, everybody was Caucasian. There was no Asian, no African American, no Latino American, it was just me, Ed.
I grew up surfing. I’ve been surfing all my life, my brothers and I’ve always been. And back then, being Asian, [it] was very rare to see other Asians surfing. And then not only that, my mom and dad letting us surf. All the other families thought that we’re all crazy. My mom and dad were crazy for letting us be in the ocean. They thought it was a waste of time.
[How has COVID Affected Those Around You?]
In the restaurant business, so all the restaurants were shut down overnight. It’s going to take years to recover [from] the shutdown. I mean, it was probably necessary to shut down the United States, but our sales went down like 83%. So it’s almost [you] might as well just close the door, because you’re not making any money at that point. And then there was a little bit more racism than normal. So it’s not a good place to be. It wasn’t a good time to be more Chinese probably than any other race. But to the rest of the world, it didn’t matter whether you’re Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese—you’re Chinese at that point. Everybody was Chinese. You’re like, “Yeah, the ‘Chinese virus,’” it didn’t help us at all. Personally, I wasn’t attacked, none of my family members were. But we got a couple of phone calls and [they] left messages on our company voicemail, to “go home” kind of a thing. I was shocked. Definitely, I was shocked. But they just left a voicemail. So my parents are elderly, locked down in Orange in a predominantly Caucasian neighborhood, without other Asian contact, only the phone. We don’t allow any other people that come into their house. My mom is 89, my dad is 88. So we don’t let any visitors in their house. So that’s been really hard for my mom and dad.
Me, I go to work every day. So that’s not as bad. I hope that it does not happen ever again in America, where we have to shut down based on a virus. Because this was not good for America. But we learned a lot. And that’s what’s important, right? That your generation hears about it and learns how to make sure that when we do have something like this happen again, you are much more prepared.
[Final Thoughts for the Community]
And I’m really proud now. I’ve always been proud of being Asian, obviously. But now it’s a community that’s growing. We’re just doing so much more better. Because I think we’re uniting as a community. I don’t think we look at each other as much as Chinese, Korean. We look at one first. And then, of course, we devise [amongst] ourselves, and then we talk to one another. So I think now more than ever, our community is more globally oriented as Asians. America’s the land of opportunity. It’s a great country. But if you forget some of the values that you started out with, because everybody in America was an immigrant sometime or the other. But then they lost their values of hard work. I want my kids to work really hard, but also want to go on vacation. But I want them to have the values of being Chinese. You know, everybody goes, “But you always think you’re Brazilian.” Of course, I always think I’m Brazilian, but I’m not silly. I wake up every morning, I know I’m Chinese. The blood in my veins is Chinese, but my heart happens to be Brazilian. So I have a dual thing that I want my child to remember. But his core value, I want to be what my parents gave to me. I want him to always remember that and not to forget our values. It’s important to be American, but it’s just important to be who you are. And my kid is Chinese/Japanese-American. And I think it’s so important for every child to know who they are, know where they come from, and because that’s going to make them a better person, I think.
Interviewers: Songyue Zhang and Qianru Li
Related Resources
- This interview was conducted on May 29, 2020 and represents a moment in time; but Ed and Wahoo’s Fish Taco continue to serve their local communities. Please support the restaurant by dining with them today. Wahoo’s Fish Taco locations and contact info can be found at: https://www.wahoos.com
- Lori Basheda. “Patriarch of Wahoo’s Fish Taco family Has a Tale of Hard Work and Good Fortune.” The Los Angeles Times, January 5, 2018. https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-wknd-et-cheong-kwon-lee-20171005-story.html
- Shanghai Pine Gardens. http://shanghaipinegarden.com/
- Annie Valdespino. “How Ed Lee of Wahoo’s Fish Taco Became Orange County’s Restaurant Whisperer.” The Orange County Register, September 17, 2019. https://www.ocregister.com/2019/09/13/how-ed-lee-of-wahoos-fish-taco-became-orange-countys-restaurant-whisperer/