Fresh home from the war, newly married and needing to better recover from malaria and rheumatic fever he caught from a mosquito bite on a PT boat in the south Pacific, Peter Grant packed his car and trailer and left his home city of Indianapolis for the desert town of Phoenix.
He simply set out to follow his dream, a dream that included starting a fast-food business his name remains synonymous with: Pete’s Fish and Chips.
Today, Grant’s family is keeping the dream alive, for Pete’s sake, and marking the 65th anniversary of the roadside dining restaurant started March 23, 1947 in a small wooden shack with no running water in east Phoenix — a company that continues today with eight Valley locations and its Mesa business hub.
From that first Phoenix location at 3060 E. Van Buren Street, Grant sold fish and chips for 35 cents and a bottle of soda for a nickel. Leasing the property from a friend who owned a driving range — and whose garden hose he borrowed for water — Grant believed he “was on to something” when he made $12 profit the day he opened.
He called his first location Sports Fair Fish and Chips and later that year, he opened two more small stands and called them The Chip House. By the time he opened his fourth location in Tolleson, he began calling it Pete’s Fish and Chips. Grant later came to boast his business venture as “The Biltmore for the common man,” and expanded on the philosophy of “It’s better to make a quick nickel than it is a slow dime.”
Pete’s, with its cracker meal batter-breading on Pollack fish and shrimp, Monsterburgers and special sauce, has two East Valley locations, in addition to the downtown Mesa company headquarters. Pete opened one at 820 Mill Ave. in Tempe in 1950 and another at 145 E. Main St. in Mesa in 1951. The Tempe location now is at 1017 E. Apache Blvd., and the Mesa store — now in its third home — is currently at 22 S. Mesa Drive, at East Main Street.
Although Pete Grant died in 1987, not much else of the business has changed. In an era where many family-owned restaurants are shuttering their doors, Pete’s is in its fourth generation of family members active in the business, mirroring at least four generations of customers. Some say they keep returning for the sauce. Others says its for the freshness of the food and quick service.
“We are what we are,” said Kathy Adams of Mesa, one of four of Grant’s daughters who co-owns the restaurants with sisters Pat Foster, Babs Sanders and Ginnie Grant. They all began working for their dad when they were old enough to hold a potato in their hand, peeling piles of them and later worked their way up through the ranks. Adams’ daughter Casey Ruiz and sons Cody and Kyle Adams also work in the family business, as does her granddaughter, Hannah Adams, a 16-year-old junior at Mesa’s Mountain View High School.
“We’re fast food, but with reasonable prices, quality and good service,” Kathy Adams said. “That’s what we do, and we’re not going to change a thing. Our customers have been loyal to us, and we love them.”
“He loved being in downtowns,” Pat Foster said.
Pete’s Fish and Chips iconic neon sign portraying a large fish was first manufactured by Mesa’s own Paul Millett. It beckons like a beacon for regular customers who come to eat the daily lunch specials ranging from $1.60 for a hot dog and French fries to $8.50 for a 15-piece shrimp and chips dinner.
The crowds of people who dine at the picnic tables outside or cars that steadily pass through the drive-thru window are proof that Pete’s is popular place.
At age 84, Jesse Carpenter of Mesa is a regular who has been coming to the Mesa location since it opened, a few years after moving from Oklahoma in the wake of the Great Depression.
“I guess I like it here,” Carpenter said as he cracked a couple of jokes with longtime customers Dennis and Patty Wilson of Gilbert. “I love the fish and chips and that’s what I always get to eat. I think it’s really good.”
In fact, just last week, Pete’s downtown location made KPHO’s (CBS-5) Dean’s List for cleanliness and service — not an easy designation.
But Grant’s family knows all too well — it has overcome more difficult challenges.
In the late 1970s, when Pete’s experienced numerous robberies at his Phoenix locations, he declared war on all “hoodlums” by arming all of his managers with a handgun after training them how to shoot, according to past newspaper articles hanging on Pete’s office wall.
Sadly, on Dec. 14, 1987, Pete Grant was shot to death inside his apartment by a man going for a his coin collection, valued at $30,000, and bags full of special 1-ounce silver coins Grant had been handing out for the 40th anniversary of his business. But the tragedy did not end his family’s entrepreneurial spirit of keeping Pete’s going.
While serving in the European campaign during World War II, Grant acquired a love for eating fish. An avid golfer who played as an amateur in the British Pro-Am for 25 years, Grant also saw how big the fast-food fish industry was in England, further bolstering his decision to expand his business.
“Dad always said build a better mousetrap and they’ll beat a path to your door,” Ginnie Grant said.
The Wilsons said they’ve been to all of the Pete’s Fish and Chips locations, and love the sauce, but are most comfortable in Mesa where Pete’s is near a small park.
“It’s a nice setting here,” Patty Wilson said. “We always get the fish. We have a daughter who lives in Utah, and whenever she comes down here, she has to eat at Pete’s.”
On Friday, all of the Pete’s Fish and Chips locations throughout the Valley, will sell any size soda for 65 cents.
Pete’s other locations include a newly-renovated Ruth Walden Super Pete’s at 9309 W. Van Buren in Tolleson, named after the longtime manager who worked there for 57 years, one in Glendale, and four in Phoenix.
“We love to hear the stories about the business through the years from the customers, especially the college stories,” Babs Sanders said. “We’re a springboard for many high school students who get their first job here. Many people tell us if they wouldn’t have eaten here, they couldn’t have afforded to stay in college.”
“Pete’s Fish and Chips is one of God’s gifts to the earth,” said Jarred Hurt, 31, who moved to San Tan Valley from Oklahoma about two weeks ago and was eating at Pete’s for his second time. His brother, Tony Cutler, sister-in-law, Nina, and niece, Aamani, who is 5, like to eat here, “and now I do.”
Cutler added: “I’ve eaten her since I was a kid. There’s not many places around that have a wide variety of food that you can get quick and the sauce is awesome. And, it’s always fresh.”
What’s next for Pete’s?
“Nothing new,” Foster said. “We’ll stick with what we know and just focus on improving the locations we have.”
“What would dad say?,” Adams said. “I think he would be proud.”
Contact writer: (480) 898-6533 or msakal@evtrib.com
firefly1818 posted at 9:00 am on Fri, Mar 23, 2012.
What cracks me up is this is one of the most popular places to eat on this side of town and when I ate there last time (and I mean for the last time too)...the grease they used was RANCID! Maybe old time people from Mesa like the taste of rancid grease..I don't! Won't be eating there again..BARF!
ram1009 posted at 9:08 am on Fri, Mar 23, 2012.
I have mixed emotions about Pete's. Their food has always been OK but their pricing has gone crazy in recent years. Also, they treat their patrons shabbily with rules like "cash only". I once asked for a burger to be cut in half because I had a temp tooth and it would be easier to eat that way. They refused. I cancelled the order. Also, receipts & napkins are never provided unless requested.
gonetothedogs posted at 9:25 am on Fri, Mar 23, 2012.
Firefly and Ram, I couldn't agree with you more. First off, I don't like paying to be treated rude, and you can have a heaping helping of that side dish at the Mesa location. The food is mediocre at best, it's greasy and over-battered to make up for the lack of "real fish" inside. The french fries are under-cooked, prices have gone through the roof, quite honestly, I cannot find a single complimentary thing to report. Pirates on Lindsay and University isn't much better. Does anyone know of a good fish house?
SethCold posted at 9:54 am on Fri, Mar 23, 2012.
I usually don't eat fish, this is the only place I do. Love Pete's!
downtownresident posted at 10:23 am on Fri, Mar 23, 2012.
Say what you want, the place is always packed for lunch.
They must be doing something right.
FoodGeek posted at 10:53 am on Fri, Mar 23, 2012.
The fact that this place has been open for 65 years is testament to the fact that most people in the Valley are addicted to disgusting, greasy and tasteless fast food. The "fish" in the fish and chips has less actual meat that the the most chopped, formed and pressed fish stick. It is beyond me how people RAVE about the disgusting ranch dressing mixed with ketchup and hot sauce, however it is obvious this concoction is provided in large enough quantities in order to cover the taste of the greasy, frozen "fish" patties. Having worked in restaurants all over the Valley though it is not surprising having witnessed many customers throw a fit when denied the opportunity to slather any and everything that could be eaten with that soybean oil and garlic powder mess. If people took more care about what goes in their bodies perhaps they could appreciate good food. Until then fast food junk will remain popular.
DavidNichols posted at 11:14 am on Fri, Mar 23, 2012.
I Love Pete's, however the once at the one in Mesa, I ssaw a sign they had posted saying: "Please don't feed the Homeless."
I have not been back since.
I hope they have removed it.
vrsicks posted at 11:20 am on Fri, Mar 23, 2012.
It's a miracle this place has been open for 65 years.
No credit or debit? You must be out of your mind. Who carries cash anymore these days? And I'd be willing to bet that most people will pass on Pete's instead of hunt for an ATM during their lunch hour.
But most importantly, this place is called "Pete's Fish and Chips." While the fish is decent, the chips are disgusting. Absolutely horrendous. I find myself drowning them in sauce (which is an extra $$$$ charge, I might add) in order for me to gag them down my gullet.
Lastly, I've never experienced good (or even decent) customer service at these places. Pete's appears to be running on an out-dated business model that can't even harness the quality customer service from their roots.
abner kravitz posted at 5:32 pm on Fri, Mar 23, 2012.
Cutler added: “I’ve eaten her since I was a kid. There’s not many places around that have a wide variety of food that you can get quick and the sauce is awesome. And, it’s always fresh.”
Really? Who was she?
manny99 posted at 7:39 pm on Wed, Apr 18, 2012.
that place isent any good, the fish still taste like supermarket fish...frozen.
that was the only time i ate thier.
i am originaly from massachusetts and used to go deep sea fishing all the time on my uncles boats and the fish we caught tasted better than that. because they were fresh and not frozen.