As the fast-casual Illegal Pete’s chain prepares for its first opening in Tucson, Ariz., next month, students are circulating a petition arguing that the name is racist and asking the restaurant concept to change it.
It’s not the first time the Denver-based brand has faced criticism for its name, which protesters say is a demeaning reference to Mexicans. Students staged a similar protest last year when the concept opened in Fort Collins, Colo., near Colorado State University.
The protests are similar to those occurring on college campuses across the country, as student groups air racial grievances and flex their political muscle.
Pete Turner, founder of the seven-unit concept, said he understands the protesters’ concerns. But he said the chain’s critics are taking the name out of context and seem unwilling to have a conversation about it.
“The concern they have is that it’s offensive to refer to a group as ‘illegal.’ Certainly in the last 10 years, the political climate has changed,” Turner said. “Calling people ‘illegal’ is, they say, dehumanizing, and I agree.”
But Illegal Pete’s is not a reference to Mexicans, said Turner, who is not Hispanic. It was the name of a bar in a novel Turner read in college and it was meant to give homage to his father, also named Pete, who later died of cancer.
“I’ve been running this business since I was 23,” Turner said. “To me, the name was interesting and exciting, counter-cultural and subversive.”
The concept serves burritos and tacos in the style of San Francisco’s Mission District — the same inspiration for Chipotle Mexican Grill. Illegal Pete’s, however, has a full bar and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with a busy late night as well, including live music and an in-house record label.
About 20 percent of sales comes from the bar, which is high for a fast-casual brand. St. Patrick’s Day is one of the biggest day of the year for Illegal Pete’s, Turner said.
The new restaurant scheduled to open in Tucson on Dec. 10 is the chain’s first outside Colorado, where Illegal Pete’s has a 20-year history. And the brand is about to enter a new phase of growth, with the goal of reaching 25 openings within the next five years, Turner said.
That growth, however, depends on the brand’s ability to move into new markets.
At the University of Arizona in Tucson, a student group known as MeCha, or the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan, is circulating the petition on Change.org calling for Turner to change the name of his concept or to shut it down before the December opening.
The group has called for boycotts of the restaurant. More than 2,000 people have signed the online petition.
In a letter to Turner, MeCha argued that Tucson is demographically different than other communities where Illegal Pete’s operates. The city has a high percentage of Latino residents, and tensions already run high, given laws in Arizona that have, the letter said, “legalized racial profiling and the criminalization of brown persons.”
“Intentionally or not, you, by refusing to change the name, are perpetuating the use of ‘illegal’ in connection with the Mexican culture,” the letter said. “Moreover, the strategic location you have chosen (walking distance from the University of Arizona) and the inclusion of a bar in your racist-named restaurant, will unquestionably prolong our community’s problem with racially charged, alcohol induced ‘celebrations’ of appropriated Mexican culture (i.e. Cinco de Mayo).”
Turner, meanwhile, has tried to make himself available to the student group, hoping to have more of a conversation about the issue to clear up what he feels is a misunderstanding, he said.
“I don’t know how much of a conversation they’re willing to have,” he said of his critics.
Turner feels strongly that Illegal Pete’s has built a lot of good will with the name over the years.
The restaurant in Tucson will provide more than 50 jobs with higher-than-minimum wage pay, he said. The company bought and invested more than $2 million to refurbish the building that will house the restaurant. “I want to get in and really build community,” Turner said.
Saying he is “a man of his word,” Turner said he has not ruled out a name change.
But first, he said, he would like to have a conversation about it.
“I would like to invite people to come out and see what we are,” he said.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout
