Caruso's Pizza Pie
Tucson, AZ Photo courtesy Gorb70
Check out the neon chef outside Caruso’s on Tucson’s Fourth Avenue. The smiling fellow appears to be pulling long strands of glowing spaghetti from a plate, making this one of those roadside signs that explains the menu before anyone reaches the door. 03-07
Italian immigrant Nicasio Zagona opened Caruso’s in 1938, although some histories give the date as 1939. The first restaurant stood about a block away, but a powerful monsoon reportedly washed the building away shortly after it opened. Zagona wisely moved the business to higher ground at its present location.
Caruso’s has remained in the Zagona family for four generations. Salvatore Zagona Sr. took over during the early 1950s and ran the restaurant until the late 1990s. He lived to be 100, which may say something about a steady diet of pasta and pizza.
Inside, the restaurant continues using old copper pots and open-flame cooking for lasagna, ravioli, pizza, and other Italian dishes. A large patio hides behind the building with checkered tablecloths and hanging star lanterns. Out front, the animated neon chef has kept pulling that spaghetti year after year.
UPDATE: Wind gusts topping 50 mph snapped the sign’s 75-year-old support pole on February 22, 2023. The neon chef was taken down, repaired, repainted, and given a stronger support structure. The restored sign returned to Fourth Avenue in 2024 and once again lights up outside the still-open restaurant. 08-26
La Pilita Patio
Tucson, AZ Photo courtesy Gorb70
Here’s the little adobe building that once housed La Pilita Patio in Tucson’s Barrio Viejo. The hand-painted name above the entrance and walled patio give this former neighborhood cafe some simple old Tucson character. 03-07
Built around 1945, the building has served as a home, Mexican restaurant, youth center, and museum. La Pilita means “the little fountain” or “the little well,” recalling the natural springs once used by neighborhood residents.
UPDATE: The La Pilita Museum, which preserved stories of Tucson’s lost barrios, closed in 2015. The building survives as a protected landmark and community space, along with Martín Moreno’s colorful mural depicting the neighborhood’s Mexican, Aztec, and Chicano heritage. 08-26
Ted's Bull Pen Restaurant (Demolished)
Ash Fork, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Heading east out of the old railroad town of Ash Fork, the towering sign outside Ted’s Bull Pen was hard to miss. A giant bull stood above the restaurant name, while another panel thanked “you’all” for stopping. The spelling may have been a little unusual, but the message was friendly enough. 03-19
Ted’s Bull Pen opened in 1973 as a full-service truck stop and restaurant near the new Interstate 40 corridor. It arrived as Route 66 traffic was shifting toward the interstate, putting the complex in a good position to serve both long-haul truckers and highway travelers crossing northern Arizona.
Ted's Bull Pen Restaurant (Demolished)
Ash Fork, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The truck stop operated under the motto that truckers would be served “first, last and always.” Drivers had their own seating areas, private telephone banks, upgraded shower facilities, and discounted meals. After a long stretch behind the wheel, this was the place to fuel the truck, clean up, make a phone call home, and sit down for something to eat.
Ted’s was owned by Bill Headstream, who operated a small network of Southwestern truck stops. In addition to Ash Fork, the company had locations in Quartzsite, Arizona, and Moriarty, New Mexico. The identity of the “Ted” behind the name remains something of a mystery, since Headstream was the owner.
Here's the restaurant for Ted's Bull Pen now a Dollar General
Ash Fork, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
For about 25 years, the Bull Pen served travelers on the eastern edge of Ash Fork. Its huge parking areas, restaurant, service facilities, and oversized bull sign made it more than the average roadside gas stop. Plenty of truck traffic passed through, and the big fellow on the sign kept watch over the interstate exit.
Trouble began at the company’s Quartzsite property, where leaking underground fuel tanks contaminated the local groundwater. The environmental cleanup, legal problems, and financial strain helped bring down the small truck-stop chain. The Ash Fork location closed around 1998, and Headstream died in 2001 at only 58.
Here's the restaurant for Ted's Bull Pen now a Dollar General
Ash Fork, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The Bull Pen then sat abandoned for years. Empty dining rooms, broken windows, old trucker facilities, and the remains of the service areas slowly deteriorated beside Interstate 40. The huge complex became a popular stop for photographers, urban explorers, and curious Route 66 travelers. Even Adam the Woo wandered through the ruins for a video in 2014.
The abandoned truck stop was sometimes mistakenly said to have been destroyed in one of Ash Fork’s major fires. Those fires damaged the downtown area in 1977 and 1987, but Ted’s sat safely outside town and survived both. Its final disappearance came much later and was far less dramatic. The empty buildings were simply bulldozed.
UPDATE: The entire Ted’s Bull Pen complex was demolished, and its giant bull sign was removed. The property has since been redeveloped as a modern One9 Fuel Stop operated within the Pilot Flying J network. Trucks still pull off Interstate 40 here, but the bull, restaurant, and old “first, last and always” truck-stop character are gone. 08-26
The Alternative Fine Food (Gone)
Kingman, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Here’s a look at the long-gone The Alternative Fine Food along Route 66 in Kingman. Its name was a little unusual, but the colorful neon sign certainly made this old roadside restaurant easy to spot. These views were taken more than two decades ago. 09-21
The restaurant stood at 715 East Andy Devine Avenue, right along Kingman’s main Route 66 strip. The glowing letters and tall roadside sign were designed to catch travelers coming through town, back when a good piece of neon could convince someone to pull over for dinner.
Not much information about the restaurant itself seems to have survived. Its opening date, menu, owners, and closing year remain a mystery. Even the name raises a few questions. Alternative to what? Whatever the answer may have been, the sign looked good glowing beside the old highway.
The Alternative Fine Food (Gone)
Kingman, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The restaurant was located near several other familiar Kingman businesses, motels, and roadside signs. It was one more splash of neon along Andy Devine Avenue before much of the old commercial strip began to change.
UPDATE: The Alternative Fine Food closed, and both the restaurant building and neon sign were removed. The property was redeveloped and is now occupied by a drive-thru business called The Best Ass Coffee. That may be an even more unusual roadside name, but the old neon is gone. 08-26
Caruso's Pizza Pie
La Pilita Patio
Ted's Bull Pen Restaurant (Demolished)
Heading east out of the old railroad town of Ash Fork, the towering sign outside Ted’s Bull Pen was hard to miss. A giant bull stood above the restaurant name, while another panel thanked “you’all” for stopping. The spelling may have been a little unusual, but the message was friendly enough. 03-19
Ted's Bull Pen Restaurant (Demolished)
Here's the restaurant for Ted's Bull Pen now a Dollar General
Here's the restaurant for Ted's Bull Pen now a Dollar General
The Alternative Fine Food (Gone)
