The oldest family-owned restaurants in metro Phoenix beat the odds — 1 for nearly 80 years
Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this article included incorrect information about when Serrano's Mexican Restaurants opened its Tempe location and about the co-founder's name. The article also gave incorrect information about who is now running the restaurants.
Metro Phoenix is home to family-owned restaurants that have stood the test of time, weathering economic challenges, a pandemic and countless other changes. The first-generation owners took a chance with their favorite recipes and set the stage for their children and grandchildren to carry the torch. As a result, generations of restaurant owners have seen and served generations of customers, many of whom keep coming back for a nostalgic taste of those original recipes.
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, only 30% of family businesses survive the transition from first to second generation ownership, only 12% survive the transition from second to third generation and only 13% remain in the family for over 60 years. That puts many of the restaurants on this list in rarified air, with one open and run by the same family for nearly 80 years.
Serving Sonoran cuisine to soul food, here's a look at the history of 10 of metro Phoenix's oldest family-owned restaurants.
Elmer's Tacos
Year opened: 1974
The original owner of Elmer's Tacos, Claudio Elmer Cuen, was born in Sonora and raised in LA. After years of working for others, he decided to open his own restaurant. He gathered his mother's recipes and moved his family to Arizona in 1972. He started a food stand with little success, but just as he was about to call it quits, he found the perfect place. He opened a brick-and-mortar at 399 N. Arizona Ave., across from Chandler High School, then moved twice more before landing at the current location, but throughout the years, his restaurant served three generations of Chandler Wolves.
Elmer died in 2015 and his daughter Lisa Cuen-Rodriguez and son Tyler Cuen took over the restaurant. “My 6-year-old comes into the shop and acts like a mini boss,” Lisa told Daily Independent in 2022. “Customers know him. If he wants to be involved, I’m going to make it clear to him that he always has the opportunity.”
Details: 355 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler. 480-963-6763, elmerstacos.com.
La Fonda Mexican Restaurant
Year opened: 1967
La Fonda started with Eloise Franklin who opened a 12-seat Sonoran restaurant in Tempe with her mother's encouragement. Her mom even found her the location on Curry and Scottsdale roads. The family-owned restaurant is now on its third generation of owners.
In 1985 the restaurant doubled its size when Franklin purchased the space next door. When she died 10 years later, her daughter and son-in-law Janet and Ray Pedraza took charge. They had to move the restaurant from its original location to Baseline Road and McClintock Drive in Tempe when the shopping center was demolished in 2012. When the second location was also sold in 2020, Janet and Ray's daughters Angela Cota and Christie Cox decided to keep the restaurant and move it to its current location in Chandler. With the help of their husbands, they fixed up the space and opened their doors in March 2022.
A photo of their grandmother, the founder of La Fonda, is displayed prominently inside the restaurant. They plan to involve their children in the business.
Details: 2051 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler. 480-966-8001, lafonda1967.com.
La Pinata
Year opened: 1969
Pete and Hope Bugarin and their son Peter originally opened La Pinata at the corner of 19th Avenue and Osborn Road where they sold tamales for 50 cents. Pete and Hope Bugarin claimed to be the first to smother chimichangas in sour cream, cheese, tomatoes, guacamole and onions and calling it a "Mexican version of the banana split."
The name, Peter told CBS5 came from the family being in a rush to choose a name for the restaurant. He noticed a piñata hanging at a store and thought it would make a great name.
"What put us on the map, really," Peter said to 12News, "was Jerry Colangelo's fabulous Phoenix Suns. He started them at the Phoenix Coliseum and we were on the pathway."
In 2015, after 46 years, the owner sold the building and Peter moved the business to Mary Coyle's old spot on Seventh and Missouri avenues. Today, Peter Bugarin and his sister Roseanne Schulz run the restaurant.
Details: 5521 N. Seventh Ave., Phoenix. 602-279-1763, lapinatarestaurantaz.com.
Los Olivos Mexican Patio
Year opened: 1946
The Corrals moved to the U.S. in 1919 from Mexico, because the matriarch of the family didn't want her sons to work in the mines. In the ‘30s, Tomas Corral built a building that housed a chapel, bakery, pool hall and bar before finally turning it into a Mexican restaurant where they offered homestyle Sonoran dishes. The second generation of Corrals expanded the eatery to its current size. During the Scottsdale "barrio" redevelopment in the 1970s, Senator Goldwater managed to save the restaurant — the only business in the area to remain unscathed. Now, the third generation of Corrals is running the restaurant and behind the bar, serving drinks to old and new customers.
Details: 7328 E. Second St., Scottsdale. 480-946-2256, losolivosrestaurants.com.
Miracle Mile Deli
Year opened: 1949
Third-generation operator of Miracle Mile Deli, Josh Garcia, remembers serving coffee while standing on a milk crate when he was 11. Miracle Mile Deli was first opened in 1949 by his grandfather, New York transplant Jack Grodzinsky.
Now, Grodzinsky's daughter Jill and son-in-law George Garcia own and operate the deli with their son Josh, who is the vice president. As the third-generation operator and the only child of the Garcias, Josh also manages the day-to-day operations and has since 2005.
The restaurant, which once mostly operated out of shopping centers, opened its first stand-alone location in 2015 on 16th Street. In 2016, the City of Phoenix proclaimed May 10 as Miracle Mile Deli Day in honor of the deli's long-standing success — at the time 67 years. Now in its 75th year, the deli still offers classics, including a hot pastrami and the straw, which is made with hot pastrami, melted Swiss cheese and sauerkraut served on guests' choice of bread.
Details: 4433 N. 16th St., Phoenix, 602-776-0992, miraclemiledeli.com.
Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Cafe
Year opened: 1964
Texas-born Elizabeth White opened Mrs. White’s Golden Rule Cafe in 1964 to support her four children as a single mother. She first started cooking out of her brother's restaurant Church Cafe. When he closed it to move to Mexico, she took over and renamed it with "Golden rule" as a reference to a quote from the Bible: "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." When she first opened her restaurant, parts of the city were still segregated.
After she retired in the '80s, her son Larry took over the restaurant. Over the years, people like Jesse Jackson, Devin Booker, James Brown and John McCain became regulars.
White received a commendation from Gov. Hobbs on Tuesday, Feb. 21, shortly after celebrating her 100th birthday. The Governor's letter recognized "Elizabeth J. White for her achievements to the State of Arizona and the United States of America. Arizona is fortunate to have you as a resident of the great state."
Details: 808 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. 602-262-9256. facebook.com/mrswhites.goldenrulecafe.
Pete's Fish and Chips
Year opened: 1947
The story of how a fish and chips shop ended up in Arizona starts with an Indianapolis native, one Peter McLane Grant Jr., who was medically discharged in World War II with malaria, dysentery and rheumatic fever. Doctors told him in order to get better, he needed to move to a hot, dry climate. So, on Christmas day, 1946, with $900 to their names, he and his then-pregnant wife packed their belongings and drove to Arizona where he had lined up a job as a history teacher. He never showed up to work.
Instead, Grant decided to follow his longtime dream of opening a fish and chips restaurant and bringing a taste of Europe to the States. He built a 6-foot by 8-foot shack near 31st and Van Buren streets and opened with no running water on March 23, 1947. He sold fish and chips for 35 cents.
Over the years, he expanded to eight shops (with running water) throughout the Valley and worked until he was shot at age 72. Two of his four daughters, Kathy Adams and Pat Foster, carry on his legacy, even keeping the eight locations cash-only. Pete's welcomed a third generation with one of Grant's grandchildren now working for the restaurant.
Details: Eight locations at petesfishandchips.com.
Rosita’s Place
Year opened: 1964
Though Rosita's Place has been in the Medina family since 1964, it opened even before that. A map of Phoenix from 1947 hanging in the restaurant shows the original Rosita's Place. The current owner, MaryLou Medina, told The Republic that her mother, Mickey, moved to Phoenix from Mexico and started working at the restaurant. She met her husband there and the two took over in 1964. Over the years, Rosita's has served at least three generations of customers and amassed quite a fan base. Celebrities, like Paul Rodriguez and Rob Lowe, have dined there along with politicians like former governor Doug Ducey, Janet Napolitano and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Today, MarLou's three children and eight grandchildren help run the restaurant.
Details: 2310 E. McDowell Road, Phoenix. 602-244-9779, rositasplace.com.
Serrano’s Mexican Restaurants
Year opened: 1979
The Serrano family opened their first business, a clothing store, in 1919, and their first restaurant in 1979, making it the oldest family-owned business in Chandler.
Eva and Ernie Serrano started the restaurant as La Casa Serrano with the same logo as their clothing store. The name and logo's familiarity played an important role in the restaurant's success.
It took three years for the family to open its Tempe location, now called Pronto. Between 1992 and 2004, they opened two other locations in Mesa and one in Queen Creek.
Their son Ric and four of his siblings are the second generation to run the restaurant and Ric's daughter and nephew make up the third generation.
In March 2024, the family announced their decision to close the Chandler location. Pronto and the three other locations remain open.
Details: serranosaz.com.
Sugar Bowl
Year opened: 1958
Now on its third generation of owners, this ice cream parlor has stayed true to its beginnings from the Barbie Dream House pink exterior and booths to the original soda fountain. Run by Ben Huntress, he took it over from his father, Carroll, who in turn purchased it from his uncle Jack.
Sugar Bowl appeared on Bill Keane's Family Circus and Bill Thompson of Wallace and Ladmo used to frequent Sugar Bowl.
The sweet and savory menu features double decker sandwiches along with malts, banana splits and sundaes.
Details: 4005 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale. 480-946-0051, sugarbowlscottsdale.com.
Remembering '80s restaurants: People took to Reddit to reminisce about 1980s Phoenix restaurants
What's your favorite historic mom-and-pop restaurant in Arizona? Tell us about it! Reach the reporter at BAnooshahr@azcentral.com. Follow @banooshahr on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 10 historic family-owned metro Phoenix restaurants that beat the odds
