Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email [email protected] or go to KingsOfFishTV.com

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Patrick Mescall, South Bay restaurant operator behind a growing portfolio of neighborhood bars, cocktail concepts, and tiki destinations including Tiki Kai and the Hula Hula Room. Patrick shares the real story behind building nine locations across different concepts, why early ownership lessons matter more than scale, and how discipline and curiosity shaped his approach to growth. The conversation explores what it takes to move from bartender to owner, how to choose the right concepts for the right neighborhoods, and why systems, trust, and culture become essential as complexity increases.

In this episode, you will learn about:

- How Patrick made the leap from bartender to first-time owner and why Torrance Tavern became his proving ground

- Why small, focused neighborhood concepts created early momentum and cash flow

- How tiki culture forced a deeper commitment to authenticity, detail, and community

- What changes when a portfolio grows from one location to nine across different formats

- How EOS, trust, and role clarity help operators scale without burning out

Call to Action:

Subscribe, rate, and review to support the show. Follow @KingsOfFish and @SanPedroFish for more stories from America’s seafood royalty.

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email [email protected] or go to KingsOfFishTV.com

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro shares a full-circle story that starts with a struggling restaurant in the early 2000s and leads all the way to the doorstep of QVC.

A forgotten catering marketing system introduces a mail-order barbecue model that turns tourism into shipped product, planting a seed that quietly lingers for years. That idea eventually reconnects Mike with the very person who helped scale Corky’s barbecue on QVC, this time while exploring how San Pedro Fish Market shrimp could become a nationally shippable product.

Product design, consumer psychology, fulfillment, and margin reality quickly collide. What looks simple on paper becomes a clear lesson in how distribution, storage, and pricing can unravel even strong ideas. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at why packaged food is hard, why timing matters, and why some ideas are worth revisiting later.

What You Will Learn

- How dormant ideas resurface at the right moment

- Why simplicity matters in mass-market food products

- The real economics behind QVC and shipped food

- How timing and relationships shape second chances

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email [email protected] or go to KingsOfFishTV.com

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro breaks down the untold story behind taking San Pedro Fish Market beyond the four walls and into grocery freezers across the country.

The episode traces a decades-old missed opportunity with Price Club, the decision to revive it years later, and the complex reality of turning a restaurant product into a national packaged food brand. From sourcing shrimp, vegetables, oil, and seasoning across multiple vendors to navigating packaging, logistics, and pricing pressure, the project becomes a masterclass in how hard scale really is.

What You Will Learn

- Why great products can fail without the right buyer strategy

- How grocery economics and shelf space actually work

- The hidden complexity behind packaged food at scale

– Why storytelling and distribution must evolve together

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email [email protected] or go to KingsOfFishTV.com

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro shares the unfiltered story of the restaurant he opened on his own and the hard lessons that came with betting everything.

The episode traces the leap away from the family business, the realities of first-time ownership, and how quickly pressure stacks when finances, operations, and family life collide. Staffing issues, legal trouble, infrastructure failures, and mounting debt turn ambition into survival mode.

Out of necessity, a scrappy catering business emerges, built on relationships, borrowed kitchens, and relentless work. While the restaurant itself doesn’t last, the experience reshapes how Mike understands leadership, risk, and responsibility.

Those lessons become foundational to the future of San Pedro Fish Market and the operator Mike would eventually become.

What You Will Learn

- Why stepping out on your own can change how you lead

- What restaurant ownership teaches that nothing else does

- How survival forces creativity and resilience

- Why failure can become long-term advantage

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email [email protected] or go to KingsOfFishTV.com

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro shares a story about community, responsibility, and the future of San Pedro.

The story begins at local meetings about redeveloping the waterfront, where Mike heard high school students say they planned to leave town after graduation and might never return. For a place defined by deep roots and multi-generational families, that moment struck a nerve.

In response, San Pedro Fish Market launched a scholarship program inviting local students to create YouTube videos about what they loved most about their hometown. The Fish Market sponsored scholarships across local high schools, intentionally discouraging any promotion of the business itself. The focus was on pride, storytelling, and giving the next generation a voice.

What You Will Learn



- What sparked the San Pedro Fish Market Scholarship Program

- How student storytelling strengthened community pride

- Why the Fish Market stepped out of the spotlight

- Why investing in people matters as much as investing in place

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email [email protected] or go to KingsOfFishTV.com

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro tells a lesser-known media origin story that connects local newspapers, early Food Network programming, and the role San Pedro Fish Market played along the way.

The story starts with The Culinary Detective, a local newspaper column written by former police officer Chris Cognac, focused on where cops actually ate. A chance connection led to Mike and the Fish Market being featured just as Chris was asked to create a sizzle reel for Food Network. With only a week to pull it together, San Pedro Fish Market became a key filming location.

The concept was picked up, rebranded as The Hungry Detective, and ran for a season. While short-lived, the format later evolved into Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, reshaping food television.

What You Will Learn

- How a newspaper column became a Food Network show

- Why San Pedro Fish Market was chosen for the sizzle reel

- The moment that convinced executives to pick up the series

- How The Hungry Detective helped pave the way for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email [email protected] or go to KingsOfFishTV.com

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle.

In this episode, Mike Ungaro takes listeners inside one of the wildest promotional bets in San Pedro Fish Market history: hosting a professional shrimp-eating contest with Major League Eating. What started as a brainstorming session about how to stand out turned into a full-scale event staged on the deck of the USS Battleship Iowa, complete with insurance hurdles, national media, and competitive eaters pushing their limits.

Instead of popcorn shrimp, the team raised the stakes with massive U-10 shrimp, completely changing the dynamics of the competition and shocking even seasoned professionals. ESPN cameras rolled as Joey Chestnut powered through pounds of shrimp, delivering unforgettable visuals, national exposure, and a full season of Kings of Fi$H content.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

• Why San Pedro Fish Market partnered with Major League Eating instead of running a contest themselves

- How hosting the event on the USS Battleship Iowa turned it into a built-in spectacle

- Why choosing U-10 shrimp completely changed the competition and shocked the eaters

- What the team learned about bold promotions, real costs, and creating moments people still talk about

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email [email protected] or go to KingsOfFishTV.com

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Carmen “Nuch” Trutanich, a San Pedro native whose life stretches from the docks of the old fish market to the halls of Los Angeles City Hall. From growing up around Starkist Tuna and Vista Seafood to building a career as a criminal prosecutor and serving as Los Angeles City Attorney, Nuch shares stories rooted deeply in place and people.

Together, Mike and Nuch reflect on the relationships that shaped San Pedro, including Johnny’s Pool Hall and the tight-knit harbor community that defined generations. Nuch also opens up about prosecuting gangs in Compton, living under constant protection in public office, and why education and early intervention matter more than force alone.

This is a conversation about legacy, responsibility, and what it truly means to come from Pedro.

Subscribe, rate, and review to support the show. Follow @KingsOfFish and @SanPedroFish for more stories from America’s seafood royalty.

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email [email protected] or go to KingsOfFishTV.com

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro revisits one of the toughest chapters in San Pedro Fish Market’s history: the COVID pandemic. While most restaurants went dark, Kings of Fi$H cameras captured the quiet harbor, the uncertainty, and even the surreal moment a massive hospital ship entered the Port of LA. With indoor dining shut down and smaller concepts collapsing, the team focused on people.

The slowdown also created something rare: time to talk with guests, refine the operation, and understand what customers truly wanted. It became a turning point that shaped new locations and strengthened the values the business was built on.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

- What daily life inside San Pedro Fish Market looked like during the earliest and most uncertain months of COVID

- How the team built the $19.99 family shrimp tray to keep staff working and customers fed

- Why thousands of donated meals became a powerful way to support first responders

- How a live Mother’s Day news segment created an unexpected surge of orders from the community

- What the pandemic revealed about customer needs and how those insights shaped future restaurant improvements

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email [email protected] or go to KingsOfFishTV.com

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with John Spagnola, Founder and CEO of Ublendit Spirits, and long-time business partner Ryan Buckholdt to discuss how they’re breaking through one of the toughest industries in America. They share how Ublendit evolved from private label spirits into award winning brands like Hideout Vodka, now available across MGM Resorts in Las Vegas.

How to navigate the three tier system and distributor power without getting squeezed on price

• Why building with operators first turns private label spirits into lasting, profitable house brands

• How to use bartender and operator feedback to create products that actually stay on the back bar

• How smart collaborations with celebrities and bands can turn spirits into must have collector items

• How direct to consumer platforms like Liquor Drip can help restaurants turn signature drinks into shippable retail products

To learn more or connect with John Spagnola and the Ublendit team, visit LiquorDrip.com or reach out directly at [email protected]

Subscribe, rate, and review to support the show. Follow @KingsOfFish and @SanPedroFish for more stories from America’s seafood royalty.