Ryan Van Velzer

The Republic | azcentral.com

How old is 25 in restaurant years?

Consider this: As many as 90 percent of independent restaurants close during their first year, according to a Restaurant Broker's study. Those that remain have an average lifespan of five years.

Check out these Valley restaurants that have stood the test of time.

Mrs. White's Golden Rule Café

Owner Elizabeth White is now 90 years old, but she still checks in on the restaurant she started back in 1964.

For more than 50 years, Mrs. White's Golden Rule Café has been a staple of downtown Phoenix cooking food for the soul including her famous fried chicken, pork chops and cat fish served with collard greens and a dollop of mashed potatoes.

Details: 808 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. 602-262-9256.

Durant's

Back in 1953, A T-bone steak at Durant's cost $1.75. How's that for some nostalgia.

Clearly, the Valley's changed (and so have the prices), but Durant's steakhouse has managed to withstand the test of time. The booths are still red vinyl, the servers still wear tuxedoes (minus the jackets) and the customers are still ushered in through the back kitchen like something out of a scene from "Good Fellas."

Details: 2611 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. 602-264-5967, durantsaz.com.

Pullano's Pizza & Wings

For more than 30 years, Pullano's has quenched the desires of Arizona residents looking for a giant slice of pizza— 10 inches wide to be exact—with wings.

But it takes more than a giant slice of pie to keep a restaurant open that long and Pullano's has a menu to match. Serving up Buffalo wings alongside Italian favorites including lasagna and submarine sandwiches, Pullano's family-owned restaurant is piece of West Valley history.

Details: 13848 N. 51st Ave., Glendale. 602-978-1234, pullanos.com

Pete's Fish and Chips

It's hard to believe that any seafood restaurant could thrive so far from the coast, but Pete's has done all that and more since it first opened in 1947.

Among its eight locations in the Valley, Pete's serves home-made onion rings, burgers, shrimp, oysters, and of course golden-fried fish, served with a helping of French fries.

Details: 5516 Glendale Ave., Glendale. 602-937-6001.

La Perla

When Eva Pompa founded La Perla more than 65 years ago, she never used recipes. It wasn't until her son, Joe "Butch," Pompa slipped a pan underneath his mother's fingers to measure the ingredients that they were actually able to write down the secrets to her Chihuahua-style Mexican food.

Today, La Perla still serves the same favorites including beef and green Chile tamales, carne picada, shrimp rancheros, carnitas and chimichangas.

Details: 5912 W. Glendale Ave., Glendale. Laperlacafe.net, 623-939-7561.

Landmark Restaurant

What began as a Mormon church founded in 1908, has become the historical Landmark restaurant.

Founded on January 1, 1981, the Landmark restaurant still serves up a taste of old-fashioned cooking with its chicken fried steak, stuffed meatloaf and pork chops, and the "Old Fashioned Pot Roast."

Details: 809 W. Main St., Mesa. 480-962-4652, landmarkrestaurant.com.

House of Tricks

Rumors of how this Tempe fine-dining establishment earned its name abound, but the truth is the restaurant is named for its owners: Robert and Robin Trick.

Founded in 1987, House of Tricks was one of the first fine-dining restaurants in Tempe. Located just off Mill Avenue, in a remodeled 1920's cottage and 1903 brick house, House of Tricks is known for its lush, serene atmosphere and contemporary American cuisine including dishes such as the burgundy braised short ribs on roasted potato rounds with red wine verjus.

Details: 114 E. 7th St., Tempe. 480 968-1114, houseoftricks.com.

Carolina's

Manuel and Carolina Valenzuela started in the 1950s with a dream and some of the best homemade tortillas, burritos and tamales in Arizona—which they sold out of their family car at wrestling matches.

Using the family's entire savings (about $400), the family opened their first restaurant in 1968. Today they have two different Valley locations in Phoenix and Peoria where they continue to win awards for serve some of the Valley's best Mexican food.

Details: 2126 E. Cactus Road, Phoenix. 602-275-8231, carolinasmexicanfood.com

Rustler's Rooste

Legend has it the restaurant was built atop a South Mountain butte known as a hideout for cattle rustlers.

Founded in 1971, Rustler's Rooste digs deep into its cowboy tradition grilling rib-eye, T-bone and Porterhouse steaks alongside baked beans, fresh biscuits and corn on the cob.

Details : 8383 South 48th St., Phoenix. 602-431-6474, rustlersrooste.com

Valle Luna

You can thank "Tia Rita," the name for the family matriarch, for this Sonoran-style Mexican restaurant, which has dished out Mexican pizzas, nachos, vallitos and lunitas since opening in 1983.

Though Rita passed in 2008, her memory lives on in her time-honored recipes such as the "Sonora Todo," a sampler of red and green chili burros, beef flautas, tacos, chimichangas and bean tostadas served with guacamole and sour cream.

Details: 3336 W. Bell Road, Phoenix. 602-993-3108, valleluna.com.

Keegan's Grill

Don Weissmueller and Paul Burdick founded Keegan's Grill in 1989 on a simple idea: A home away from home. It's the kind of place whose vitality thrives on its regulars, whose sleek and simple atmosphere creates an ambience of inclusiveness, Burdick said.

The menu takes its cues from this laid-back attitude: American comfort foods such as griddled Reubens, panko fish and chips and half a dozen burger options.

Details: 3114 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix. 602-955-6616, keegansgrill.com.

Macayo's Mexican Kitchen

Founded in 1946, Macayo's has expanded to include 14 Arizona restaurants and another three locations in Las Vegas.

But restaurant patrons can still enjoy the "Original Combo," which includes a cheese enchilada, beef taco, rice and beans, at the original spot on Central Avenue where founders Woody and Victoria Johnson honed their menu.

Details: 4001 N. Central Ave., Phoenix. 602-264-6141, Macayo.com.