Authentic Italian Food Awaits You at Pete’s Place in Krebs, OK

According to the history of Pete’s Place on their website the restaurant started when Pietro Piegari, later changed to Pete Prichard, was injured in a mine accident and was unable to return to work. He took odd jobs and then began making and selling Choc beer from his home. The miners began gathering in Pete’s home to buy and drink Choc so in 1925 he officially open a restaurant. More information about Pete’s Place can be found in the history section of their website.

We arrived about 17 minutes after 12:00 (I remember because I was reminded we had left the house 17 minutes late earlier in the morning). We were escorted into a small room and served spaghetti, meatballs and ravioli home-style. David had a Miners Golden Choc beer and I had the Choctoberfest. Of course we needed to find out what “Choc” beer was so we had to research that as well.

According to the Oklahoma Historical Society’s Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture, Choc Beer is an abbreviated term for Choctaw or Choctaw Indian beer, not chocolate-flavored beer. This should not imply that all Choctaws made and drank beer, or that all choc beer was made by Choctaw Indians. Choc beer, whether it was legal or illegal, was a favorite among many southeastern Oklahomans for decades, especially the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth-century immigrant coal miners. The concoction could be brewed in a basement, a garage, a barn, or a kitchen.

We left Krebs and began our drive down the Talimena Scenic Byway