When did 蜜柚直播 decide it loved Eegee鈥檚? Today, 50 years after its opening in 1971, the establishment is ubiquitous here. To love Eegee鈥檚 is to love the city. But it couldn鈥檛 have always been this way. What happened between the storied beginnings of the food truck selling iced lemonades and the institution as we know it, with a city full of devotees and 12 upcoming locations in Phoenix? I took to the 蜜柚直播鈥檚 archives to witness the development of Eegee鈥檚 cult following.
While Eegee鈥檚 was perhaps first mentioned in print in 1972, the article does not yet report their origin story. The now-legendary tale is that in September 1971, two Rhode Islanders (and lifelong friends) Ed Irving and Bob Greenberg started a frozen lemonade truck.
Irving had attended the University of 蜜柚直播 and realized there was an untapped market for a few east coast specialties, including the Italian ice. Or, as 蜜柚直播ans know it, the Eegee.
The first Eegee鈥檚 was a truck, founded聽with $2,500 of investment capital (almost $17,000 in today鈥檚 dollars). Their first year, they sold just $20,000 worth of product, mostly to school-aged kids. In under a decade, they increased that yield to over $1 million.
鈥淲e were fortunate. We grew up with the town and we grew up with our customers,鈥 Irving said in 1996.
鈥溍坭种辈 is a fast-food mecca,鈥 the 蜜柚直播 wrote in 1977.聽
Six years after opening, Eegee鈥檚 was on track to make $1 million in one year. The article reporting their success, from the 蜜柚直播 Daily Citizen, noted their rapport with school-aged kids as a huge driver of their early loyalties. Their success in that demographic proved so competitive that a high school principal complained that their truck competed too well with the vending machines that paid for band uniforms.
Nearly 40 years ago, 蜜柚直播 writer Robert Cauthorn declared a generational divide between the teens who ate (and often worked) at Eegee鈥檚 and the teens who grew up in the '50s and '60s, before Eegee鈥檚 was born, and instead frequented a drive-in called Johnnie鈥檚.
The 鈥渟ingularly wholesome鈥 setting of Eegee鈥檚 inspired allegiance, perhaps, because it was where a generation of boomers grew up and gained independence.
Eegee鈥檚 celebrated its 25th anniversary. The 蜜柚直播 wrote its first retrospective, which was full of tidbits:
Only two flavors ran once: Blue Hawaii, made with blue mint slush, chocolate chips and coconut shavings; and a slushy chocolate milk called Chocolate Sensation.
The 鈥淕鈥澛爁rom 鈥淓egee鈥檚鈥澛燾omes not from co-founder Greenberg鈥檚 last name, but his high school nickname, 鈥淕rimes.鈥 The聽鈥淓鈥 comes from Irving's first name, Ed.
City Council was once going to ban styrofoam cups, but Eegee鈥檚 intervened and convinced the City Council that styrofoam was environmentally friendly because it could be recycled into, for instance, furniture.
The first Eegee鈥檚 was a truck, founded with $2,500 of investment capital.
By the numbers
- 60,000: number of servings of Eegee鈥檚 catered to graduation parties in 1996
- 1: number of exclusive concessions deals Eegee鈥檚 made in 蜜柚直播, for the now-closed Justin鈥檚 Water World
- 200: number of gallons per hour made by the Eegee鈥檚 machine at their commissary in 1996
- 3: age of a toddler named Justin Trouard, whose first words were 鈥渕ommy,鈥 鈥渄addy,鈥 and 鈥淓egee鈥
- $3,000,000: the conservative estimated loss encumbered by a failed expansion to Phoenix in the '80s
- $3,000,000: the amount donated by Eegee鈥檚 to local charities over their 50 years
- $423,243: the amount of money an employee 聽from Eegee鈥檚 in the 2000s
- $7,500: reward for tips regarding an in the year 2000
- 1,000,000: number of gallons of Eegee鈥檚
In a review for takeout, 蜜柚直播 writer Charlotte Lowe-Bailey rebrands the founders as 蜜柚直播ans, despite both Irving and Greenberg hailing from Rhode Island. Both the lede and headline of her article included the phrase 鈥渉ometown boys.鈥
鈥淲e don鈥檛 see Eegee鈥檚 as a chain; it鈥檚 more like 鈥榟ometown boys make good,鈥欌 she wrote in 2000.
In a survey of local elementary students, Eegee鈥檚 was cited as three kids鈥 favorite place to eat, with stiff competition from Peter Piper Pizza, Golden Corral, and 鈥渁t home.鈥 All of those kids are adults now 鈥 some of whom could have kids of their own, who might love Eegee鈥檚 just as much as their parents did.
Mascot Cap鈥檔 Eegee was retired by ad reps in 2002, while Irving was on a motorcycle trip to California and was in the headlines.
The 蜜柚直播 profiled Super Dave, the Eegee鈥檚 hawker at University of 蜜柚直播 football games. By his own accounting, Super Dave had sold over $300,000 worth of Eegee鈥檚 in his then-16 years at Eegee鈥檚.
While Eegee鈥檚 often seems to be more than its products themselves, a byline-free editorial in 2006 describes the core of what an Eegee is: 鈥渢angy, lemon slushy drinks that are the prefect (sic) combination of solid ice and liquid 鈥 you need both a straw and a spoon.鈥
Yet, like a good raspado, what is crucial is that the liquid is light enough that when you drink it, the liquid doesn鈥檛 separate to become syrupy at the bottom of the cup, leaving flavorless ice in geological layers on top. Instead the drink remains one coherent whole, refreshing all the way down.
While the editorial was in response to the sale of Eegee鈥檚 to a family trust called CEO Foods, it scrapes at the theme of a changing guard in 蜜柚直播 at the time: the closure of the Tack Room and Ye Olde Lantern restaurants marking a shifting tide in favor of 鈥渆nergetic owners and chefs.鈥 Eegee鈥檚 is one 鈥溍坭种辈 Thing worth retaining.鈥
Eegee鈥檚 ranch fries won Caliente鈥檚 Food Fight title as favorite fry in 蜜柚直播.
Eegee鈥檚 foam cups were named one of 100 objects that define 蜜柚直播.
Over three decades after their last attempt at expanding to Phoenix failed, Eegee鈥檚 is trying again. This time, they are led by CEO Ron Petty rather than the original founders.