Eegee’s Trademarks

Eegee’s is a chain of 25 restaurants located in and around Tucson, Arizona. The company also has another location in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Eegee’s specializes in submarine sandwiches. However, the company is most known for its frozen fruit drink, famously known as the “eegee.” Eegee’s is also famously known for its signature ranch dressing that it offers in various flavors.

The company’s unique name was sourced from its founders, Edmund Irving and Robert Greenberg. The two combined the first initials of their names, “E” from Edmund and “G” from Greenberg, to create “Eegee’s.”

Eegee’s popularity is not just in the restaurant business. The company is also known for its social and environmental contributions, plus financial support to various initiatives. Eegee’s collects donations for local charitable organizations and has instituted programs such as the community recycling program “Green for Green!”

Eegee’s also has another program for training and employing the mentally disabled.

Let’s take a deeper look into this company’s history, operations, and trademarks.

Eegee’s Company History

Edmund Irving and Robert Greenberg, who knew each other since kindergarten founded Eegee’s in 1971. The duo came up with Eegee’s after returning to Tucson and dreaming about changing the local food landscape.

The first item on Eegee’s menu was an icy frozen lemonade, known as an eegee which they sold from the back of their truck.

Many ask what exactly is an eegee. An eegee drink is made similar to ice cream, albeit with no fat. Typically, it consists of sugar, water, and natural fruit juices.

The final recipe came out of a botched attempt to make Italian ice. Irving and Greenberg loved the final product and decided to sell it as their core product.

The pair’s biggest clients were construction workers, who loved the slushy drink, but always wanted something to eat as well. This feedback drove Irving and Greenberg to convert their business into a restaurant that served both food and beverages.

Their first restaurant was a small shop located on the corner of Speedway Boulevard and Craycroft Road. Initially, they produced sandwiches to go along with their icy frozen lemonade. After prepping the sandwiches and lemonade, they would sell them on their truck across different parts of town.

The business was doing well, operating on a daily schedule. The more they sold to new customers, the more feedback they received that added to their development of Eegee’s concept.

Local children started asking for other slushy flavors besides lemonade. Soon, the duo introduced orange, then strawberry, the latter growing to be one of the most popular Eegee’s flavors. By 2005, their first flavor, lemon, had become one of the slowest sellers on the menu.

Eegee’s soon introduced pina colada, featuring it as the first “flavor of the month.” Pina colada later replaced orange in the regular drinks lineup.

Despite the initial great summer sales, Eegee’s faced a rude awakening to the brutal restaurant market as soon as winter set in. Sales slumped, and the business suffered a huge loss. However, the duo learned from their mistakes and found ways to diversify their menu to remain profitable off-season.

In the Spring of 1972, the first Eegee’s restaurant opened. By 1974, there were four running.

In 1975, Eegee’s officially closed its truck operations, selling all its food exclusively through the restaurants.

In 1989, Eegee’s started baking and delivering bread to its restaurants. Any leftover bread is donated daily to the Casa Maria Soup Kitchen.

Eegee’s Drink Flavors and Orders

Almost every Eegee’s flavor includes juice, more often than not, orange juice. For instance, the black raspberry, featured as the “flavor of the month” for August, is orange juice-based.

Customers order about 2,500 gallons of eegee’s annually.

The company fortifies its frozen fruit drinks with vitamins. This decision was made in 2001, and Irving invited his doctor to help formulate them into the flavors. Some of the vitamin supplements added include thiamin or Vitamin B1.

Based on this added nutritional value, it’s estimated that taking twelve ounces of eegee’s can contribute about 15% of the daily nutritional values you get from riboflavin, niacin, and other subsets of vitamin B.

The addition of electrolytes has also transformed the market’s perception of eegee’s from just a frozen fruit juice into a frozen sports drink.

Eegee’s Trademarks

Eegee’s has sought or obtained federal trademark registration for almost ten trademarks. Some of the most notable ones include “EEGEE’S,” “EG’S,” and “TAKE IT EASY HAVE AN EEGEE.”

In March 1988, Eegee’s obtained federal trademark registration for “EEGEE’S” and uses the trademark for its slush-type soft drinks consumed on and off the premises.

Eegee’s also obtained federal trademark registration for “EG’S” on November 21, 2017. The company uses the trademark for its frozen fruit beverages and restaurant and catering services.

The company also sought federal trademark registration for “TAKE IT EASY HAVE AN EEGEE” on February 17, 2021, and it intends to use the trademark for its sandwiches consisting of main course pasta salads and a side order of cookies.