Scott Pontikes and his brother, Chris, own all seven Scotty P’s Hamburgers locations in Collin County. Aside from selling burgers, the restaurant also serves other traditional American cuisine including chicken tenders, chili and sandwiches.

In each location, the walls are lined with large, historic black and white photographs that are a nod to the history of that city and the Pontikes family. Scott opened the first Scotty P’s Hamburgers in Frisco in 1999, and by doing so, he fulfilled a lifelong dream of owning his own restaurant.

He opened his third location in Plano in early 2004.

“I’ve been working in restaurants since I was 14 years old, and when I was in middle school, I told my dad that I wanted to own a restaurant someday,” Scott said.

Working in the restaurant business is a family tradition. Scott and Chris’s father, Michael Pontikes, worked in taverns and bakeries from a young age in a small suburb of Chicago during the Great Depression. Michael died in 2010; he spent close to 64 years of his life in the restaurant business, including time spent helping his sons build their own restaurant.

“It’s been a family affair since the start,” Chris said. “And what [Dad] instilled in us was hard work and an old-school style that has made our business successful.”

Scott and Chris said one of those old-school methods is that everything has to be made fresh and made from scratch.

“With the influx of new people coming into the marketplace, that’s their big selling point: that everything is fresh; but that’s the way it’s always been for us,” Scott said. “The quality of the product has to be far beyond just being a cool place to go eat.”

Chris said another lesson their father taught them was providing old-school service, which means knowing and engaging your customers.

The brothers also said knowing the community is important. Scott praised his Plano customers for their loyalty through the years.

“The progression [to these towns] made sense for us,” he said. “All these towns were built on the backs of the people who lived in those communities. And we knew the communities were similar to one another, so the concept works in each one because it’s family-oriented.”

The brothers have a commissary kitchen—a test site—attached to their Plano location in which they try out new recipes or adjust original recipes.

Scott said a customer favorite menu item is the Hatch green burger, which consists of fire-roasted Hatch green chiles, a broiled burger patty, jalapeno pepper jack cheese and crispy onion strings on a brioche bun.

Another customer favorite is the Chris P. chicken tenders that are handbreaded chicken tenders served with sweet potato fries. The restaurant also offers healthy options, such as veggie burgers and salads.

“It was a good idea to start [in Frisco]—that was a very grass roots place and we grew as the community grew,” Scott said. “We evolved to be efficient and still serve quality food. It was a great way to introduce us to the community, engrain ourselves and learn how to do the job the right way.”

2929 Custer Road, Plano
972-398-9595
www.scottyps.com
Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-7 p.m.