Sneaky Pete's

Sneaky Pete's Hot Dogs is a Birmingham-based chain of hot-dog restaurants founded by Pete Graphos in 1966 and sold to the present-owner, Bernard D'Amico in 1986. Sneaky Pete's corporate offices are located in the Chambers Building at 100 Centerview Drive in Vestavia Hills. As part of its franchise plan, many new Sneaky Pete's stores are located inside gas station convenience stores under the Sneaky Pete's Express nameplate. The company has also experimented with a more upscale full-service restaurant with a larger menu, dubbed Sneaky Pete's Cafe.

Sneaky Pete's hot dogs are a beef-pork blend with a very thin casing. The signature hot dog has mustard, onions, kraut and the chain's signature hot dog sauce, a ketchup-based, spiced sauce modeled typical to Birmingham's Greek-owned hot dogs stands. Other options include chili, cheese sauce, beef sauce, and bacon. The restaurant's also serve hamburgers, nachos, onion rings, and a full breakfast menu. Sneaky Pete's Hot Dog Sauce is bottled for retail sale and available at several local grocery stores.

History

Graphos' first location, called Sneaky Pete's Hot Dogs & Things, was on the 2000 block of 8th Avenue South. He took the name from a nickname given him by one of his friends. The second location, in downtown Homewood, opened when Sammy Graphos joined his brother in 1970. Another brother, Jimmy came on board in 1973, the same year that the partners licensed their first franchise location. The Graphos brothers are descendants of immigrants who came from Greece to Birmingham in the early 20th century to primarily work in the food business, whether produce dealers, grocers, or restaurateurs.

Sam and Jimmy left the company in the mid-1970s, but held onto their locations. Sam renamed his Homewood eatery Sam's Super Samwiches in 1978 and Jimmy changed the name of his to Jimmy's Hot Dogs and Burgers in 1990. In 1986 Pete sold the chain, then numbering 24 locations, to D'Amico. Graphos went on to open two Mountain Brook eateries which have since closed; he later went into real estate full time.

In 2000 the Sneaky Pete's name was licensed to former Coca-Cola executives Ben Katay and Greg Petro. In addition to expanding the chain in the Atlanta area, the two planned to pair it with their own "Crazy Crepes" concept for franchising in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan. A concept store in Marietta, Georgia showed early success, but eventually closed.

Sneaky Pete's has had several slogans, the most memorable being "the way hot dogs should be".

Locations

Metro Birmingham

• 1101 4th Avenue North (inside a Texaco station)
• 3507 6th Avenue South
• Baptist Princeton Medical Center (Professional Building Food Court)
• 524 19th Street North, Bessemer
• 2260 Pelham Parkway, Pelham (inside a BP station)
• 3168 Cahaba Heights Village Road
• 7070 Aaron Aronov Drive, Fairfield
• 1570 Forestdale Boulevard, Forestdale (double drive-through)
• 439 Fieldstown Road, Gardendale
• 70 Green Springs Highway
• 2125 Highland Avenue (inside the Highland BP station)
• 240 Oxmoor Circle, Oxmoor Commons, West Homewood (John Ragusa 1990–2020; Jill Griffin 2021–)
• 1550 Montgomery Highway, Hoover
• 3030 Allison Bonnett Memorial Drive, Hueytown (inside a Chevron station)
• 3401 South Shades Crest Road, Hoover
• 5725 U.S. Highway 280
• 3550 U.S. Highway 31, Keystone Plaza, Pelham
• 535 21st Street South
• 3071 U.S. Highway 31, Pelham (inside a Shell station)
• Alabama Highway 35 and Alabama Highway 52, Pelham (inside a Shell station)
• 1500 31st Street Southwest, Powderly
• 2100 Riverchase Center
• 3100 Jefferson Avenue Southwest (inside a Shell station)
• 7200 Gadsden Highway, Trussville

Alabama

• 813 Horton Road, Albertville (inside a Shell station)
• 8188 U.S. Highway 280, Alexander City (inside a Chevron station)
• 1521 Greenbriar Road, Anniston
• 11845 Alabama Highway 25, Calera (inside a Shell station)
• 16851 U.S. Highway 280, Chelsea (inside a Shell station)
• 21533 Alabama Highway 25, Columbiana (inside PITA Mediterranean Street Food)
• 875 Coldwater Pump Road, Oxford
• 850 Boll Weeviil, Enterprise
• 7645 Alabama Highway 119, Alabaster
• Jasper Mall Food Court
• U.S. Highway 280, Kellyton (inside a Citgo station)
• 4640 Alabama Highway 25, Montevallo
• 299 North Memorial Drive, Prattville
• 1042 U.S. Highway 31, Saginaw (inside an Exxon station)
• 1801 Culver Road, Tuscaloosa (inside a Shell station)
• 313 Caine Creek Road, Warrior (inside a Fuelz station)

former locations

• 2000 block 8th Avenue South (across from Town House 1966-)
• 744 29th Street South, Lakeview (Sneaky Pete's Cafe -2006)
• 18th Street South, Homewood (now Sam's Super Samwiches 1970-1978)
• 6th Avenue South and 35th Street South (now Jimmy's Hot Dogs and Burgers 1973-1990)
• 1905 Park Place at Linn Park
• 3221 Old Columbiana Road, Hoover (now Alabama Dance Academy)
• 2221 Bessemer Road
• Crestwood Boulevard (by K-Mart)
• Powers Ferry and Hill Streets, Marietta, Georgia (now Green Papaya Vietnamese Bistro)
• 445 Main Street, Suite 121, Trussville
• 5911 Chalkville Mountain Road, Grayson Valley (inside an Exxon gas station)
• 1919 Kentucky Avenue, Vestavia Hills City Center (Sneaky Pete's Cafe)
• 1804 Crestwood Boulevard (inside a Chevron station -2008)
• Aaron Aronov Drive,in Fairfield across from former Food World in Bellview Shopping Center
• 2716 Culver Road, Mountain Brook Village (John Ragusa, closed December 2020)

References

• Mello, Marina (December 1, 2000) "Coke castoffs aim for fast-food success." Atlanta Business Chronicle.
• Stewart, Virginia (August 31, 2001) "Graphos brothers put hot dogs on local map." Birmingham Business Journal.
• Perlik, Alsion (August 2004) "Cutting the Mustard: Operators put their buns on the line to sell America’s favorite sausage." Restaurants & Institutions.
• Herndon, Meg (October 28, 2021) "Sneaky Pete’s opens new location in Columbiana." Shelby County Reporter

External links

• Sneaky Pete's Hot Dogs website
• "Hot-Dogopolis" short documentary film by the Southern Foodways Alliance