Published March 5, 2026
BY GRACE GRAHL
It’s 1967. Julia Child is the reigning queen of the culinary world, the Big Mac is born, and Billy Quon Lee first steps onto the culinary scene in Monterey Bay, scoring a dishwashing job at the Lovers Point Inn in Pacific Grove. Since then, Lee has made waves not only in his menus and the quality of them, but also in his food-inspired philanthropy.
Billy Quon Lee always greets guests with a smile on his face and a menu in hand. Photo by GRACE GRAHL
Billy Quon Lee grew up around the smells, sounds and tastes of his father’s Chinese restaurant. Lee’s love for food was reflected in the takeout boxes he received in the back parking lot while waiting for his father to get off of work.
“He would bring us food out in the parking lot area after school,” remembers 72-year-old Lee fondly. “Just how delicious it all was. Those memories of good tempura prawns, fried rice and chow mein sitting out there. But always eating it in the back of the kitchen.”
Although Lee gained culinary experience after moving up from dishwasher to fry cook and sauté chef at the Lovers Point Inn, he eventually transitioned to the more operational side of restaurants, becoming general manager at the Sardine Factory on Cannery Row at age 25.
After accruing multiple years of success at the Sardine Factory, Lee decided to take a jump and build Billy Quon’s 44 years ago at age 28 in the Crossroads, where Rio Grill is today. Since then, he has owned and operated 12 restaurants, many becoming family favorites such as Sur, Sur Burger, Bahama Billy’s, the Grill at Ryan Ranch and, most recently, Kona.
“My favorite part of working at Kona is watching the guests enjoy the space we’ve created and the food that the chefs have created,” explains Teresa Raine-Lee, Billy’s wife. “I like watching the guests have a good time celebrating things like birthdays, anniversaries and other celebrations.”
After suffering through Covid 19 and the global shutdown, both of the Lees decided to move onto their next chapter, selling Sur with no plan for another restaurant.
Freshly tanned and relaxed from a week spent in Kona, Hawaii, for a friend’s wedding, Bill and Teresa were inspired by the island vibe and decided to take over the three-year vacant location previously occupied by P.F. Chang’s in Del Monte Center to create the Asian-Hawaiian fusion of Kona.
The menu features many steak and seafood dishes as well as introducing a shaved ice shack to ramp up the island vibe.
“We always feel that [the island vibe] is a nice environment for people to be in, like they’re on vacation,” Lee says.
Not only does Lee have an impact on the restaurant industry, but also within the Monterey community through catering for pharmaceutical groups around the Ryan Ranch complex when he was promoting The Grill. After finishing their rounds, they would bring a Jeep full of luncheon items to York School to sell for under $10. Lee enjoyed meeting the students, learning their names and sharing stories. Now, many of the same students come to Kona as adults to exchange pleasantries and share where they have gone since graduating from York.
“One of the most gratifying things is when I’ll get somebody coming into the restaurant here 20 years later saying, ‘Oh, you probably don’t remember me,’” Lee recalls. “And they’re a doctor now or a rocket scientist. It’s fun to see all of those individual people coming in over the years.”
After six decades of experience in the restaurant industry, Billy Quon Lee knows the struggles of owning and running a restaurant, but that hasn’t stopped him from serving great food and an even greater time, all while staying present and connected with each person that enters his restaurant and every restaurant since 1982.
“Every business has its upsides and downsides, and the restaurant business is a very rewarding one,” Lee concludes. “Personally, we love it and know nothing else and enjoy being in it. We’ll probably be in it for the rest of our lives.”
