Episodes

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$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 linge...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$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 restaur...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$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 f...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$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 ...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$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, focuse...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$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 U...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$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 C...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$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 dini...

Want to be part of the next season of Kings Of Fi$H? Email shawn@calibbq.media or go to KingsOfFishTV.com Welcome to Fi$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 ...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Marc Pfenninger, CEO of Studios Architecture, the global design firm behind some of the most inventive hospitality and workplace spaces in the world. Including Eataly’s iconic food halls. Marc is drawn to the complex challenges others avoid. He shares how curiosity, coaching, and culture shape his leadership, why great design starts with listening, and how he and his team are...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with John Parkhurst and Michael Bibeau from Trucordia, a fast-growing national brokerage helping restaurant operators, developers, and builders manage risk with clarity and confidence. With backgrounds in hospitality, underwriting, and real-world operations, John and Michael break down why insurance is more than paperwork, how storytelling lowers premiums, and how the right cover...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro sits down with Chris Lowe, a former Disney executive, former mayor of Placentia, and trusted advisor to cities and developers. Chris shares lessons from helping launch global Disney projects and explains why Anaheim’s public-private collaboration, culture of problem solving, and long-term vision make it a rare place for businesses to thrive. From the decision not to sell gum at Disneyland...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, sits down with Adam Carrillo, CEO of Partake Collective and Vice President at Sunstone Management, to talk about how innovation and community investment are shaping the next chapter of the restaurant industry. From ghost kitchens in Long Beach and Los Angeles to partnerships that power local economic growth, Adam explains how Part...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, sits down with lifelong friend John Bacich and San Pedro Fish Market founder Tommy Amalfitano to trace a story that began in 1956. From immigrant grandparents and kindergarten friendships to a $500 deal at Norm’s Landing that sparked a legacy, John and Tommy revisit the characters, hard lessons, and lucky breaks that shaped the Ma...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, sits down with Ron Macklin, engineer turned leadership coach and founder of The Macklin Connection. After decades of leading high-performing teams, Ron built a method to help people connect, build trust, and create results that last. At MacklinConnection, the mission is simple: help leaders become the kind of people others choose ...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, shares the wild story behind the time they turned the Market into a full-blown cooking competition. Inspired by Guy Fieri’s Grocery Games, the Kings of Fi$H crew dropped a group of chefs into the chaos of the Market with one rule: figure it out. They had no idea where the fridges or freezers were, wandered into the wrong kitchens,...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, takes us behind the scenes of one of the most over-the-top seafood spectacles ever created: the legendary Triple XL Tray. What started as a spontaneous “Super Tray” collaboration with Foodbeast turned into a full-blown PR storm featuring Corona, a six-foot custom steel tray, and over 100 pounds of seafood piled high for the camera...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market, is joined by his brother Henry Ungaro and his sister Jennifer Ungaro live on stage at the US Foods Food Fanatics Forum. Hosted by Shawn Walchef, the conversation dives into the power of storytelling, family, and building for the next generation. From sweeping floors as kids to serving millions of guests a year, the Ungaro family opens up about what it really ...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market, sits down with longtime seafood partner and Blue Sea Ink CEO Thomas Jacob to talk about the business of shrimp, trust, and global supply. From humble beginnings in a shrimp-farming family in India to becoming a major supplier for San Pedro Fish Market, cruise lines, and national retailers like Kroger and Albertsons, Thomas shares how passion, partnerships, an...

Welcome back to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro—CEO of the legendary San Pedro Fish Market and star of the Amazon Prime series “Kings of Fi$H”—revisits an unforgettable moment when the family business became the stage for Grammy-winning Mumford & Sons. What started as a declined request from the Port of Los Angeles turned into a once-in-a-lifetime waterfront concert that drew 10,000 fans into the Fish Market’s parking lot. From pou...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. In this episode, Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market, sits down with longtime friend and business coach Nathen Fox to explore how the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) transformed their business. From chaotic four-hour meetings and clashing leadership styles to a pandemic shutdown and eviction from their iconic waterfront location, EOS provided the structure and shared language that kept San Pedro Fish Mark...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, recounts the wild story of how chasing publicity at the Port of Los Angeles Lobster Fest turned into setting not one, but four Guinness World Records. What started with a single attempt at “most seafood served” quickly escalated into an unforgettable day of hauling baskets stacked with a thousand pounds of lobster, official adjudi...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fi$H TV series, sits down with Jonathan Williams, President and CEO of the Battleship IOWA Museum, to share the remarkable journey of relocating and revitalizing a naval legend. What many dismissed as impossible, towing a 50,000-ton battleship from San Francisco to San Pedro — became a story of bold vision and community transformation. Today, the...

Welcome to Fi$H Factor, where multi-generational grit meets visionary hustle. Mike Ungaro, CEO of San Pedro Fish Market and co-creator of the Kings of Fish TV series, shares the wild story of how his family helped turn an experimental lobster boil into the legendary Port of Los Angeles Lobster Fest. What started as a risky idea of cooking thousands of live Maine lobsters in a homemade diesel-fueled mega cooker grew into a phenomenon that drew tens of thousands of people, top-tier bands, and nat...