Sneaky Pete's is a Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

-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 Vestavia Hills, Alabama

Vestavia Hills, Alabama

Vestavia Hills is a city in Jefferson and Shelby Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a suburb of the city of Birmingham.-History:Vestavia Hills is named for the estate of former Birmingham mayor George B. Ward. It was situated on the crest of Shades Mountain in what is now the northern...

. As part of its franchise plan, many Sneaky Pete's stores are located inside gas station convenience stores under the nameplate Sneaky Pete's Express. The company has also experimented with a more upscale sit-down style 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 resraurant's signature hot dog sauce. Other options include chili, cheese sauce, beef sauce, and bacon. The restaurants also serve hamburger

Hamburger

A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of a cooked patty of ground meat usually placed inside a sliced bread roll...

s, french fries

French fries

French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...

, onion rings

Onion rings

Onion rings are a form of fast food commonly found in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and some parts of Asia. They generally consist of a cross-sectional "ring" of onion dipped in batter or breading and then deep fried; a variant is made with onion paste...

, nachos

Nachos

Nachos are a popular food based on nixtamalized corn, of Mexican origin associated with Tex-Mex cuisine that can be either made quickly to serve as a snack or prepared with more ingredients to make a full meal. In their simplest form, nachos are tortilla chips or totopos covered in melted cheese...

, and a full breakfast

Breakfast

Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night's sleep, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work...

 menu. Sneaky Pete's Hot Dog Sauce is bottled for retail sale and is 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

Homewood, Alabama

Homewood is a city in southeastern Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is a suburb of Birmingham, located on the other side of Red Mountain due south of the city center. It has one of the highest population densities in Alabama. As of 2009 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the...

, 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.

Sam and Jimmy let the company in the mid-1970s, but held on to their locations. Sam renamed his Sam's Super Samwiches in 1978 and Jimmy renamed his 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

Mountain Brook, Alabama

Mountain Brook is a city in southeastern Jefferson County, Alabama, and a suburb of Birmingham. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,821. Mountain Brook is a particularly affluent city within the Birmingham metropolitan area and has appeared in several lists...

 eateries which have since closed, and went into real estate full time.

In 2000 the Sneaky Pete's name was licensed to former Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...

 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

Marietta, Georgia

Marietta is a city located in central Cobb County, Georgia, United States, and is its county seat.As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 56,579, making it one of metro Atlanta's largest suburbs...

 showed early success, but eventually closed.

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

Locations

Many locations are in the Greater Birmingham area, and other stores are located throughout Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

.