Lisa Wong | Event Minister
San Antonio Entrepreneur, Restaurateur and Visionary, Lisa Wong is best known for her legendary restaurant Rosario’s. She has nearly 40 years of experience in the food service industry and is the founder of numerous successful restaurant concepts in San Antonio.
Lisa was born and raised in San Antonio and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School. Born of Mexican and Chinese descent to Isabel Sanchez and Samuel Wong, she embraced the best of both cultures, especially Grandpa Gow Wong’s entrepreneurial spirit. As a restaurateur, he prepared the finest Chinese and American food in the kitchen of Sung Lee Café while her abuelita Mama Luisa prepared incredible Mexican food in her kitchen for their family every Sunday. The memories created in these two kitchens from two distinct cultures produced a young visionary in Lisa, whose character and ambitious drive have been the cornerstone in building her successful restaurant career that spans four decades.
Lisa’s restaurant legacy began with Lisa’s Mexican Restaurant (1981-1997), which she opened at age 18 with $7,000 of her college money, and later included Rosario’s Mexican Café y Cantina in Southtown (since 1992); Rey Willy’s Hamburgers y Más (2000-2001); ChinaLatina (2002-2010); Rosario’s at the San Antonio International Airport (since 2003) and Ácenar on the River Walk (since 2005). In 2019, Lisa purchased the El Mirador property on South Saint Mary’s Street with a vision to build a new structure designed to expand guest experience options with indoor and outdoor dining areas, a rooftop terrace, and private dining. This site is now Rosario’s forever home.
Beyond her culinary contributions to our city, Lisa and her partners, Go Rio San Antonio, were awarded a 10-year, $100 million city contract in May 2017 to operate the barges and concessions on the historic San Antonio River Walk, making Lisa one of the first Latinas in the city’s history to own and operate this significant contract.
As an active community leader, Lisa has served on the board of many worthwhile organizations and causes, including the YWCA West Side Branch, Southtown Urban Main Street Program, The Children’s Shelter, the San Antonio Express- News Community Advisory Board and the San Antonio River Walk Expansion Committee. Lisa is an alumna of Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas and is a member of the San Antonio Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier. Her philanthropic contributions locally are numerous, including in-kind or monetary donations to organizations that support women or children such as The Children’s Shelter and Say Sí.