Where Was Fry Sauce Invented?
Fry sauce, once called “pink sauce,” began in a small burger place in Provo during the 1950s. Two friends, Max Peay and Ron S. Taylor, who worked at an Arctic Circle franchise, mixed ketchup and mayo for fun. People loved it so much that it replaced regular ketchup.
The sauce got really famous, and someone from Arctic Circle noticed it and took it to their main office. Even though Arctic Circle said it was theirs, everyone knew it began in that tiny Provo restaurant.
Ron’s family later changed their place into Stan’s Drive-in, and the sauce continued to be super popular. Other burger spots in Utah, like Iceberg Drive Inn and Crown Burgers, started using it, too!
The whole Arctic Circle story began in 1941 when Don Carlos Edwards opened his first restaurant in Salt Lake City. He had a special mayo-based white sauce that people loved on the Arctic Circle Ranch Burger.
In 1955, a Provo Arctic Circle opened, where Ron Taylor and Max Peay mixed mayo and ketchup to create the famous fry sauce.
Even though Don Edwards liked the sauce, he still wanted his special white sauce on the burgers.
But other franchise owners, like Archie Groft in Las Vegas, mixed ketchup with Edwards’ white sauce to simplify it. Edwards got mad at first but later realized people loved it, so he let all the restaurants use it.
Although not many people noticed, Ron Taylor’s late-night experiments were crucial in creating fry sauce.
Now, decades later, Rick Edwards, who knows the original recipe, sometimes makes the sauce for friends. Fry sauce is not just in Utah anymore–it’s found in many Western eateries and is a must-have with french fries and sandwiches.
