Pat's Family Restaurant (Rem.)
Phoenix, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Check out the giant coffee cup pouring into the arrow outside Pat’s Family Restaurant on Grand Avenue. That steaming cup looks mighty inviting after a long day on the road, although the restaurant seemed to be closed during more than one pass through Phoenix.
The diner opened in 1963 as Lester’s Diner and later became Glenn’s Diner and Chris’s Cafe. During the 1970s, television producers spotted the unusual sign and renamed the restaurant Mel’s Diner for exterior shots on the CBS sitcom Alice.
Most of the series was filmed on a Hollywood soundstage, but the Phoenix building and pouring-coffee sign became the real-world face of Mel’s. After the show ended, the restaurant became Pat’s Family Restaurant in 1992.
UPDATE: The coffee cup sign for Pat's Restaurant is the old sign for Mel's Diner on the TV show Alice. Many thanks to Brad Burdick for update. 10-06
UPDATE : The location is now home to Mel's Diner. 06-23
UPDATE: Following another brief run as John’s Diner, the restaurant returned to its famous Mel’s Diner name. It remains open, and the giant coffee cup still points the way from Grand Avenue. 08-26
Butterfield Stage Co.
Holbrook, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Here’s the Western roadside sign outside Butterfield
Stage Co. Steakhouse along Holbrook’s Route 66 loop. By dinnertime, the parking lot usually seems to be filling up with locals and hungry highway travelers ready for a steak.
The building was home to the Motaurant Coffee Shop by 1947, although some records trace part of the structure back to 1927. Motaurant was a clever combination of “motor” and “restaurant,” which fit a coffee shop catering to motorists along the highway.
The place became Butterfield Stage Co. during the 1970s and picked up its Old West saloon atmosphere. The restaurant was named for the Butterfield Overland Mail, which carried passengers and mail across the country from 1858 to 1861. For years, a full-sized red stagecoach prop even sat on the roof.
Butterfield Stage Co.
Holbrook, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Across the road is a wall left from the old Chief Motel, featuring the giant painted “World’s Longest Map of Route 66.” Between the steakhouse sign, the former rooftop coach, and that enormous map, there is plenty to check out around this Holbrook corner.
The old billboard looking sign advertising the Butterfield Stage Co. Steakhouse
UPDATE: Butterfield Stage Co. remains open for dinner, and the Western roadside sign still stands along Hopi Drive. The red stagecoach was removed from the roof around 2024, and its present whereabouts are unknown. 08-26
Marquee Restaurant (Demolished)
Mesa, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Next time someone mentions a marquee, picture a giant neon chicken. The big bird perched high above The Marquee in Mesa, keeping an eye on Main Street and making this drive-in nearly impossible to miss. Not sure what the chicken was advertising, but it certainly got the job done.
The Marquee opened in 1947 after Pennsylvania grocer C.C. Sandy financed the business for his son, Leo Toney. During the late 1940s and 1950s, it became a popular Mesa hangout where teenagers cruised in, parked around the building, and had food delivered to their cars by carhops.
Business became busy enough that an additional covered parking structure was added behind the restaurant. The giant nesting chicken remained the star of the place, although surviving records do not make it clear whether the menu specialized in fried chicken or simply offered the usual drive-in mix of burgers, fries, and shakes.
The building later housed other restaurants, including Bob’s Smoking Diner, before eventually disappearing from Main Street.
UPDATE: The original Marquee building was demolished, and its towering neon chicken sign was removed. In 2015, artist Jesse Perry brought the bird back as part of a colorful downtown Mesa mural inspired by the old drive-in’s neon signs. The real chicken is gone, but at least this unusual roadside mascot has not been completely forgotten. 08-26
Bill Johnson's Big Apple (Demolished)
Phoenix, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
There was no missing the enormous sign outside Bill
Johnson's Big Apple on Van Buren Street. A longhorn steer, giant arrow, and flashing “LET’S EAT” lettering did everything possible to pull hungry travelers off the road. This was roadside advertising from the days when a sign had to work for a living.
Bill Johnson opened the restaurant with his wife Gene in 1956, back when this stretch of Van Buren sat near the edge of Phoenix. Bill promoted the location as the place “where the pavement ends and the West begins.” He knew something about the West too. Johnson had worked as a cowboy, actor, stuntman, pilot, and radio personality before getting into the restaurant business.
A working radio studio was built right into the dining room, complete with a mock jail cell surrounding the broadcast booth. Johnson hosted his country music program from inside while customers ate nearby. Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Wayne Newton were among the performers and celebrities reportedly interviewed from the restaurant. Dinner and a live radio show came together under the same roof.
Bill Johnson's Big Apple marquee Phoenix, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The rest of the Big Apple was just as unusual. Sawdust covered the floors, the waitresses wore Western outfits with six-shooters in their holsters, and artificial cows watched from the roof. The menu included steaks, mesquite-smoked ribs, deep-dish apple pies, and “Burgers in a Box” for travelers who needed to get back on the road.
Restaurant lore even included a chimpanzee named Bongo, who was dressed in beatnik clothing and trained to play the bongo drums. A radio booth inside a jail cell, pistol-packing waitresses, cows on the roof, and a bongo-playing chimp. Bill Johnson’s was certainly not trying to look like every other family restaurant in town.
The Big Apple eventually grew into a seven-location Valley chain, but the Van Buren restaurant remained the 1956 original. Its oversized sign and “LET’S EAT” message became familiar Phoenix landmarks for nearly 60 years.
UPDATE: Here's another photo of the Johnson's Big Apple sign. Unfortunately, the chain experienced hard times and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015. All three of its locations are now closed. 09-17
UPDATE: Bill Johnson’s original Big Apple closed on May 24, 2015. The restaurant was demolished, and Gateway Community College paved the site for a parking lot. The huge Van Buren sign was removed. A smaller matching sign from the former Mesa location was saved, restored, and now glows at the Neon Garden at The Post in downtown Mesa. 08-26
Cobbs Restaurant (Demolished)
Apache Junction, AZ Photo courtesy Elgin MacMillan
Here's a sign that brings back memories from Apache Junction Arizona. The
Cobbs Restaurant has been in business for at least 40
years now. The canopy area you see in the overall shot used to be parking
lot. You can also see the famous Superstition Mountain in the back ground.
Apache Junction used to be like the town Mayberry from the Andy Griffith
Show, complete with only two cops and a gymkhana right off the main
drag (Apache Trail). Many thanks to Elgin MacMillanfor info.
Cobbs served the community for more than 40 years, offering breakfast, sandwiches, and traditional American meals. It became a familiar gathering place for local families and hosted school booster dinners, teacher appreciation events, and other community get-togethers.
Cobbs Restaurant
Apache Junction, AZ Photo courtesy Elgin MacMillan
During its final years, new owner Duane Carble added smoking equipment and renamed the place Cobb’s Smokehouse and Spirits. There were even plans to open Apache Junction’s first craft distillery inside the lounge, producing house vodka and moonshine. The city approved the idea in 2017, but the ambitious plan never lasted long enough to save the restaurant.
UPDATE: Cobbs closed around late 2018 or early 2019. Before the building came down, the Superstition Fire and Medical District used it for rescue and training exercises in July 2019. The restaurant and roadside sign were then demolished, and a Dutch Bros Coffee drive-thru now occupies the site. 08-26
Pat's Family Restaurant (Rem.)
Here’s the Western roadside sign outside 
Marquee Restaurant (Demolished)
Cobbs Restaurant (Demolished)
Cobbs Restaurant
