LAYTON — It may sell malts, Pace bars, freezes, floats and tons of ice cream, but customers have never given Pace's the cold shoulder.
Pace's Drive-In at 344 N. Main has roots that trace back 50 years to Pace's Dairy Ann in Bountiful. It's family-run, family-owned and frequented by a bunch of customers that seem like family.
"A lot of people have grown up with Pace's," said Chad Pace, who owns the Layton restaurant. "We have three and four generations of customers."
In fact, the popularity has led Chad Pace to add a nearly identical drive-in in Clearfield. Located at 1090 W. 300 North, it will open June 27. Cutting the ribbon that day will be Gordon Pace, Chad's grandfather, who opened the Bountiful shop five decades ago under the Pace's Dairy Ann name (Ann was his wife's middle name).
And all the Pace shops have identical or nearly identical menus: burgers, ice cream, malts, freezes, floats and soft drinks with flaked ice. The Rainbow Float features flavored slush with ice cream. And a group of about 30 Coke-aholics swing by daily to get what Chad Pace calls "very strong Coke" with a high syrup ratio.
"There's no cutting corners with our food," he said. "I buy the most expensive ingredients I can. The meat is delivered fresh. We make onion rings from scratch every day. The food is made when it's ordered, which sets us apart.
"I wouldn't be intimidated to open next door to a Burger King or a Wendy's. People who come to Pace's are different from the people who go to McDonald's. The food is made when it's ordered, from scratch. It does take a little longer, but people must like it. We've been around for 50 years."
Chad Pace's father, Ralph, ran the Bountiful store for many years, and now his brother, also named Ralph, owns it. The younger Ralph's Popsicle-like Pace Bars are big sellers at the restaurants and in grocery stores.
Chad Pace got the Pace's restaurant bug early on. Like many of his siblings, he worked for years at the Bountiful shop. Five years ago, he ditched a life that featured training to be a doctor so he could open the Layton shop.
"I really wanted to own my own business. Not a lot of people can say they love what they do, but I'm one of the fortunate ones who can. I love flipping hamburgers. I love just being a burger man," he said. "I've always done it. It's been a really good fit for me. I say I've got fry sauce in my blood."
He's not the only one. Four of Gordon Pace's seven grandchildren work at the Layton drive-in, and four generations of the family are represented there, too.
"It's really a family affair," Chad Pace said. "Sometimes, it's just the family members who are working."
Between the Layton and Clearfield shops, there will be Chad, a brother-in-law, three sisters, a nephew and a niece staying busy. And that family atmosphere, along with the food, is what sets Pace's apart, he said.
"It's family and great employees," he said. "We've been very fortunate. We have the same employees we had three years ago, which you won't find in a fast-food place.
"And people like to come in to the restaurant and see the same people. We've gotten to know a lot of people over the years, and people like to see a familiar face and get good food. The pride in my job is that people come in. I get satisfaction that people come in and purchase food from our establishment. We know the items need to be high-quality and not just something you just slop out."
And Chad Pace sees no reason that the Pace's name couldn't continue to expand to other cities. It's something that Gordon, now 97, would be proud of.
"He really started a great thing for us," Chad Pace said. "He started a great heritage for us. Pace Bars is an off-shoot of that as well. It's all really branched out into quite a thing.
"He told me about what it was like 50 years ago, when sometimes he would have only $25 to $30 a day in sales. But he took a risk, and it's worked out well for all of us."
E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com