Residents ask Illegal Pete's to change name

Three weeks shy of opening his newest Illegal Pete's in Old Town Fort Collins, restaurant owner Pete Turner came to Fort Collins on Wednesday to listen to a crowd of concerned residents who asked that he change his business' name.

The Boulder-based restaurant with six locations in Boulder and Denver is modeled after Mexican food from San Francisco's Mission District, specifically over-sized burritos. The name Illegal Pete's, Turner said, is a literary reference to a bar in a novel he read as an English major in Boulder. "Pete" also refers to his own name and his father's. When he started the restaurant in 1995, Turner hoped the name would be ambiguous enough to spark people's interest, perhaps referring to counterculture activity.

But on Wednesday, 30 or so community members explained the negative context of the word illegal, or the "I-word," as some referred to it, and its importance, down to its use as the name of a restaurant.

"Since I know the context, and I have been labeled with (the word illegal), it makes a huge difference to me," said Lucy Gonzalez, 25.

As part of a wider effort to "drop the I-word," Gonzalez and others believe that any use of the word "illegal" connected to people should be stopped.

"Social context is hugely important," Fort Collins immigration attorney and meeting moderator Kim Medina said. "We'll never get to big issues, such as immigration reform, until we can solve these smaller issues of language."

Starting and ending with Medina's urge to Turner to drop "illegal" from Illegal Pete's, the audience discussion ranged from emotional past experiences with racial slurs to accusatory remarks toward Turner: "In a room full of people of color, this is probably a little uncomfortable for you," one woman said.

Others likened the name to a racial slur directed at African-Americans, hanging a Confederate flag in the restaurant's window or calling a restaurant "Smoking Lynching BBQ."

Colorado State University assistant English professor Antero Garcia wrote a letter to Turner that prompted him to drive from Denver for Wednesday's meeting.

Garcia wrote: "The restaurant will be located in the same area that current Fort Collins residents remember often seeing signs saying 'No dogs or Mexicans.' It is under this legacy of American racist practices that the name Illegal Pete's becomes unacceptable."

At the meeting he added: "This is a place that's going to instill violence in our community."

Turner, who spoke at the beginning and end of the hour-long conversation, explained that the name only referred to himself and reiterated his commitment to owning an "inclusive" business. At the beginning of the meeting, his team of Illegal Pete's representatives passed around an information sheet with the company's charitable contributions and fundraisers.

"This is all very near and dear to me," Turner said, adding, "I've helped pay for citizenship for some of my employees."

Milton Guevara, who is general manager of Illegal Pete's at The Hill in Boulder, said he never considered the name a problem. Guevara was born in El Salvador but moved to California with his family at a young age. Twenty years ago he was undocumented.

"I'm Hispanic, and I'm very proud to be," Guevara said. "People come to us because they love our food ... The name doesn't mean anything."

After listening to various anecdotes, Medina called the meeting to an end, asking Turner: "Can we open Pete's Mexican Restaurant Nov. 13?" Turner said he had a lot to consider in changing the name of the restaurant.

In the meantime, Medina said, "we can be mobilizing ourselves either to celebrate or to protest."