Illegal Pete's ~ regional chain : Colorado Springs, Colorado

Latest visit: Apr 2024 (downtown)

First visit: Aug 2022 (Greenwood Village)

HQ: Denver (founded: 1995)

Locations: 14 total with 12 in Colorado (+2). Mostly Denver/Boulder with one in Fort Collins and the one here. There are 2 in Arizona (Tucson / Tempe). There's another one coming to Boulder.

I've been waiting for our local Colorado Springs branch location to open, and that finally happened recently after over a year of delays. Sunday late morning is the perfect time to try, as we have free parking then. The renovated building is a very nice - and quite large - space. Walk in and take something of a hike to the primary ordering area. I'll state here that the help staff was very friendly. Seeing more and more of this which tells me that jobs are becoming scarcer and the better employees are snapping them up before they're all gone. We saw this from 2008 to 2012, and then things began to deteriorate, reaching its bottom in 2022 when they couldn't even find employees. Now if only the prices would start to become competitive. They will, or few will stay in business.

As for the food, well I wasn't much more impressed than below sadly. The "Chipotle with a full bar" reference has not changed. The flour tortilla is doughy and chewy. The eggs were a bit undercooked. The bacon and potato were fine, but it's kind of hard to screw those up. The green chile didn't penetrate my flavor zone at all. The only plus was the extra hot salsa they put on the side for me. Now that was good! I showed up just as they were dumping trays of beef and chicken (which looked great) - apparently not available on Sunday until 10:30 and that's when I arrived. Next time - if there will be a next time - I'll go for a burrito bowl. I'm not averse to coming here, but it won't be an RJG Rotation place either.

As for the bar, I did take a look at the taps. If you've never been to Colorado Springs, then there would be a couple of decent ones to try out, but otherwise it's fairly perfunctory. Given their location, Illegal Pete's would make a great place to load up on carbs and a few drinks for a night of partying. Or even late night eats. For me, they aren't exceptional to the bigger chains like Qdoba and Chipotle, so what's really the point of going here? You'll pay more. And, yes, they continue to ask for the unearned tip (save it for the bartender if going that route).  

---original 8/28/22 review

It was time for the Denver record show, and as is now my habit, I like to load up big on the carbs for a full day of crate digging. I was looking for a place with a good rep for a smothered breakfast burrito (really? You RJG?) and up popped Illegal Pete's. They have a location in the Tech Center not far off of I-25, so a good place to hop off the highway - and back on - since I was headed to downtown. Illegal Pete's has a familiar look. A large open space with one area to assemble the burritos and another full bar section. Pretty much like Torchy's. Imagine a Chipotle with a full bar. I was there for breakfast, so can't comment on the bar of course. I ordered what I came for. And the verdict? Not impressed. They have got to make these burritos much hotter temperature! These chains don't take pride in what they offer. Too many non invested employees. They do the needful: Fill the tortilla up with pre-cooked items - roll 'er up and serve. And they want a tip for that too! Green chile is something that must be served hot. It doesn't have to be spicy, but it most certainly cannot be lukewarm. And, as it turns out, the spice was pretty lame too. I'm making it sound like I didn't enjoy my meal. That's not true either. It was fine, and it accomplished what I came for - lots of food. And it was tasty enough. Bottom line is I don't think smothered burritos are their specialty. I suspect they offer better competition to the Qdoba type crowd. As such, I'm not writing off the chain. I will just get something else. Probably better for lunch or dinner. And we'll try their tap selection then as well. Let's hope for better results.

Oh BTW - more fun cancel culture: The name apparently unfairly targets minorities with negative stereotyping. I don't think one can find a more hipster place than Illegal Pete's. These guys are eating themselves at this point. Mrs. RJG - born and bred in Mexico (poor at that) - hasn't any clue what these stupid privileged white people are even talking about.

Currently they have 10 locations in Colorado (Denver/Boulder/Fort Collins), and 2 in Arizona (Tempe / Tucson). They were supposed to open one here in Colorado Springs (downtown) in June, but not sure what the current status is.

8/28/22 (new entry); 4/28/24