Want a recipe for a great fish taco?  Take the following ingredients:

3 innovative brothers
a storehouse of enthusiasm
an insatiable passion for surfing

Mix well, and you'll create Wahoo's Fish Tacos, a culinary treat that transports you south of the border.

Brothers, Wing Lam, Ed, and Mingo Lee, born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, became entrenched in surf culture when they moved to Orange County, Calif., but never lost their appetite for Hispanic cuisine. But as they began to curtail their excursions to Mexico, they realized they could not find decent fish tacos in Southern California. "So instead of going there," Wing Lee said, "We brought the fish taco here." 

That's how Wahoo's Fish Tacos began.

Wahoo Fish Tacos is not categorically a fast food restaurant or a full-service sit-down restaurant, but it occupies that space in between the two sectors, called a “fast-casual” restaurant, which is all the rage these days.  A fast-casual delivers the food fast with higher quality ingredients than a traditional fast food restaurant but requires the patrons to serve themselves.  Think:  Chipotle Burritos.  Since the chain's opening in Orange County in 1988, the enterprise has expanded to over 40 locations including Southern California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Texas—even claiming Blink 182’s Travis Barker as one franchisee. Wing Lam, Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year, provided some practical advice on starting a successful business:

1.  Be true to your employees

Wahoo allows each team member to fulfill his or her dream.  For some employees, it's to manage their own restaurant.

After a year, all employees qualify for profit sharing and bonus opportunities. Wahoo's makes it a point to promote from within. Enrique Sanchez, who has been with the company for over a decade, is a veteran trainer in the corporation and has experience in all facets of the operations. He imparts his expertise to all the employees of Wahoo's restaurants, and this provides quality assurance in the operations. When new hires hear that Enrique came up through the ranks, they are inspired to succeed as well. 

2.  Make sure you have a strong training program in place 

Creating standardized processes and procedures allows you to establish a consistent promotion line. Wahoo's has a handful of expert trainers that have experienced all facets of the operation. People have to be trained to serve the customer, and to not just focus on making a buck. 

3.  Give back to the community

Wahoo's helps organize and donates food to the Interfaith and Communities Reaching Out to People (CROP) Hunger Walks, the Amnesty International Run for Freedom, and the Cystic Fibrosis and Multiple Sclerosis events.  Besides the altruistic rewards, an unexpected outcome is that people tend to patronize and support businesses that are involved in the community.  It's much easier to support a community business rather than a corporate business.

4.  Understand your leadership structure

Wahoo's clearly differentiates the areas of responsibility so that employees don't get confused about who to turn to regarding certain questions. This framework allowed Wahoo's to expand smoothly, because all the necessary leadership components were set in place from the very beginning.

Mingo is the CFO, Ed is in charge of acquisition and buildout, and Wing Lam is the CEO. Steve Karfaridis, who has more than 22 years experience overseeing five-star restaurants in Europe, is the COO.

5.  Market strategically

Wahoo's goes after the 18-24 year old male, because market analysis has found that they tend to spend the most money at restaurant establishments.  Wahoo's targets a specific segment of that market, the X-treme Sports participants (surfers, skateboarders, inline skaters, snowboarders, and motocross bikers). The company partners with the top professional surfers, skateboarders, and snowboarders.  When the kids see their favorite boarders on the promo, they want to come and eat here.

6.  Be true to your customers

Make sure the customer walks away feeling good. And look for signs that you're doing something well. Be proactive with customer dissatisfaction before they become catastrophic problems. Our goal is that every customer walks out of here happy.

7.  Expand when you're ready to expand

Once a company gets a taste of success, the temptation is to expand too quickly. When opportunities come knocking, you have to compare your resources against the opportunity.  It makes good business sense to only expand as much as you can handle.

8.  Be prepared

Prepare yourself - otherwise you're preparing for failure.  Our father started many successful restaurants both here and in Brazil, so we learned a lot about running a business from him.

Ed, Mingo and I all received bachelor's degrees in business, learning through case studies, cost analysis, cash management, and other classes which integrate sound business decision making with day-to-day operations. 

9. Be true to yourself

If you're not happy with what you're doing, then get out!  If you want to be a peak performer, then you have to be having a good time.  The restaurant business is like entertaining someone at your house. You want to have a comfortable place to hang out.  That's what Wahoo's is all about.  We instill pride of ownership in all of our employees.