Daily Shots: Today, 3/31, We Celebrate Pete Sr.

Today, 3/31, is an important day for Illegal Pete's.

Today we celebrate Pete Sr.'s birthday, the father of our Founder and President, who's name is also Pete. Pete and his father are pictured here, Pete sitting to the right of his father (from our view) and holding his niece who was born just five days before Illegal Pete's was, in August of 1995.

You may not know it, but the spirit—and even the name—of Illegal Pete's is very much a tribute to Pete Sr. Before Illegal Pete's was even a restaurant, Pete looked to his father for guidance and support to open it, and they spoke every day. Even as Pete Sr. faced terminal cancer in the days leading up to Pete's Boulder-Hill opening in 1995, he was a pillar of strength that carried Pete through the uncertain, early days of the company.

Pete Sr. lived to see the second anniversary of the restaurant, but sadly passed just nine days after that milestone on August 24, 1997. The following year, Pete found enough success to open his second location, on Pearl St. in Boulder. In that restaurant, he was moved to honor his father and memorialize him in the new location. It was then that the Loteria Card series was born.

Featured here is the first Loteria Card series, which Pete had commissioned and mounted in the Pearl St. location. The images each represent an important part of the human experience—"La Mente" (The Mind), "El Cuerpo" (The Body), and "El Alma" (The Soul)—and was made personal with the images that, to Pete, represented qualities and memories of his father.

The green easy chair makes reference to the peace that Pete Sr. found in his later years (and was his favorite color). The boxer is an homage to both Pete Sr.'s fight for survival in the midst of an eight-year battle with cancer and also an allusion to a important memory Pete has of going to his first concert, Simon & Garfunkel, with his father, at Folsom Field. And the radio represents music, dancing, and good times, which indeed was the soul of who Pete Sr. was. The cards, in order, feature the numbers 3, 31, and 40, to represent his birthday, March, 31, 1940.

Over the years the Loteria Card system has become a staple in each restaurant, with each card representing either something from Pete's history or, later, something resonant of the neighborhood in which the restaurant operates. The commitment to this tribute in and of itself also holds weight, as Pete Sr.'s family, from Cedar Rapids, IA, had always revered art—to the extent that they had even housed Grant Wood, his mother, and sister in their carriage house while he painted American Gothic.

Pete's family's appreciation for the arts and their commitment to supporting artists is in Pete's blood. It has informed many of his choices including starting the record label, Greater Than Collective, donating to arts grants, and commissioning these unique paintings for each of his restaurants. And it has informed the projects we have on the horizon, ones that we are excited to share with you and that we have been working on for a long time now. But for today, March 31, we'll stop there and focus on celebrating Pete Sr. To his life, legacy, and the values he inspired.

For questions and interviews, please email

marketing@illegalpetes.com