Lisa Lee and Nick Wong are owners of Agnes and Sherman, located in the Heights. The modern Asian-American diner is known for its unique food combinations such as cheeseburger fried rice and wok-fried macaroni. (Ariel Worthy/Community Impact)
Growing up, Nick Wong had the best of both worlds when it came to food.
His mother was born and raised in Hong Kong and moved to the United States for college. His dad was born and raised in San Francisco and was “very Americanized.”
“My mom was very much like, ‘Let's go get some Cantonese food, let's go get dim sum; let’s go get Chinese food,’” Wong said. “And then my dad is always like, ‘Let's go get some fried chicken, let's go to Sizzler, let's go get an omelet, hash browns.’ So it's two very different things but existing in the same household.”
Meet the owners
Wong took that inspiration and, with co-owner Lisa Lee, opened Agnes and Sherman in April 2025, named after his parents.
Agnes and Sherman is a modern Asian-American diner located in the Heights. It creatively blends Asian and American food to create unique dishes such as wok-fried macaroni and cheeseburger fried rice.
Wong—who has been in the restaurant industry for over 20 years as a chef at restaurants in New York, San Francisco and even Copenhagen—said opening Agnes and Sherman has been his life’s work. Lee, whose background spans corporate leadership and community advocacy, grew up in Taiwan and moved to South Africa and eventually Los Angeles. She and Wong met at the University of California, Berkeley.
“To now be able to do things on my own terms and have the vision and execute them without anybody saying, 'You can't do this’ or 'we're not able to,’” Wong said. “And now it's just like, I get to be the one that decides whether or not I should or should not.”
Courtesy Agnes and Sherman
What’s special about it?
Although Wong grew up experiencing a blend of Asian and American food cultures, he said his parents rarely cooked. Instead, ideas for many of the restaurant’s menu items emerged organically.
“What some folks call fusion food that we do here is really an organic idea of what if we played with this dish and just tweak one ingredient or one technique, and then all of a sudden you start to look at it in a different light,” he said.
One of those dishes is the scallion waffle, which is Wong’s favorite menu item. It’s a play on a scallion pancake, but more Americanized, he said.
“I was thinking, could we do some of the scallion pancakes? Sure, but I've never seen the scallion waffle before, and the waffle is very Americana,” he said. “There are ways you could play with that and kind of tweak it so that visually it looks very familiar, but tasting it tastes very familiar in a different sense.”
The Savory Scallion Waffle, a signature dish at Agnes and Sherman, is a take on scallion pancakes, co-owner and chef Nick Wong said. Courtesy Agnes and Sherman
Looking ahead
Agnes and Sherman have been recognized in the Michelin Guide and named a James Beard Award finalist. Lisa Lee said it’s great to be recognized, especially when it is for work that they are proud of.
“It's always nice to be like, 'oh, wow, like somebody all the way from over there feels like we're doing something unique and special, and that's always nice,” she said. “And it's a great nod to our team who works so hard to build this place alongside us. It's really good for them to also feel like all of the work that they put in is now seen.”
Lee said the restaurant prioritizes employee well-being in an industry known for burning out workers. At Agnes and Sherman, employees start at $7.25 an hour, rather than the $2.13 hourly minimum that tipped workers can receive under the federal tip credit.
“Sustainability is really a big value of ours, and we don't mean just sustainability simply in the sense of food waste and hunger, but sustainability when it comes to people,” Lee said.
