Turner seeks old, historic buildings to transform into his locations and has done so with places like Mama's Cafe, and the vintage shop at Main Gate.

The restaurant has become popular with hipsters,[3] college students, athletes, and musicians nationwide: in fact, international pop songwriter Jack Johnson first received the call saying Universal Records wanted to sign him while he was eating a burrito at Illegal Pete's.

Two small groups of Latino activists demanded that the word "illegal" be dropped from the name of the restaurant, first in Fort Collins and again upon the opening of the Tucson location.

[7] Illegal Pete's is involved in several facets of community involvement, including charity fund raisers like the "Smother Autism" campaign in April 2012,[8] which raised money for The Joshua School, "a Colorado-based, non-profit educational therapeutic day treatment center for children with an autism spectrum disorder and related developmental disabilities," or the award-winning Pete's Pints campaigns,[9] which raise money for local bands.

In July 2011, Illegal Pete's launched "Greater Than" artist collective,[14] a non-traditional record label that works with Colorado bands.