email: roadarch@outlook.com

Arizona Eateries

(hit "refresh" to get the most recent version of this page; click on photos for larger images)

Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-in
Seligman, AZ
Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-in opened in 1953. It is a very popular Route 66 destination. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map]

Cafe
Miami, AZ		 George's Gyros
Mesa, AZ
This Cafe facade is composed of porcelain enamel panels. There is no building behind it. My guess is that there never was a cafe here and that this is just a display piece. [map]

The building which houses George's Gyros may have been built in 1957 for a Matthews Paint store. George's has been here since 2004. Does anyone know what was here originally? [map]

Bill Johnson's Big Apple Restaurant [gone]
Phoenix, AZ

Bill Johnson's Big Apple Restaurant [gone]
Mesa, AZ

2012:
2018:
Bill Johnson's Big Apple Restaurant was established in 1956 at the Phoenix location. The 45-foot-tall sign was built then. The location closed in 2015. The contents of the restaurant and the sign were sold at auction. By 2016, the property was a vacant lot. For more, see this website.

The Mesa location probably opened shortly after the one in Phoenix. The photos above are from 2012. There were three other locations in the Phoenix area but these were the only two left. The Mesa restaurant closed in 2014. By 2016, the bull sign on the building was gone. In 2018, the pole sign was removed and saved by the Mesa Preservation Foundation. It will eventually be displayed at a sign park in town. In 2019, the MPF got the neon lariat with the brands. The building remains vacant. For more, see this website.

Lucky Wishbone
Tucson, AZ

2008:
2012:
The Lucky Wishbone restaurant chain was founded in 1953. There are seven locations in Tucson now. This location opened around 1957. The building was redesigned in 1969. In 2010, a new building was constructed near the old one. It was built in a similar style. The old building was still vacant when these photos were taken in 2012. The city prohibited the sign being moved. It was left in place and is still lit at night. This is the chain's original starburst sign. It originally had colored neon but it is now only white. The starbust is lit sequentially and the light at the center flashes. There may have been other signs like it but I believe this is the only one left. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map]

Lucky Wishbone
Tucson, AZ
This Lucky Wishbone is the only other location with a vintage building and sign that I know of. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

former Lucky Wishbone #4
Tucson, AZ
This Lucky Wishbone #4 was built by 1964. The building housed a series of restaurants after that. It housed Holy Smokin' Butts BBQ for a few years. The building now houses the Chef Chic Cafe. [map]

Copper Miner's Kitchen
Yuma, AZ		 former Afton House Restaurant
Flagstaff, AZ
The annex of the Copper Miner's Kitchen is a former Union Pacific railroad passenger car. The place was previously known as the Mad Chef Restaurant. [map]

The Afton House Restaurant was built in 1965, next door to the Pony Soldier Motel (now the Best Western Pony Soldier Inn). The Afton House was an American and Chinese restaurant. It closed in 1996. The building housed a couple of Mexican restaurants after that. I believe it has been vacant since at least 2007. For more, see this website. [map]

Pat's Drive-in
Tucson, AZ
Pat's Drive-in had two other locations in Tucson in the 1950s. This location opened in 1962. For more, see this website. [map]

More Arizona:
Big Tex Bar-B-Que (Willcox)

Eateries Main Page