One of the challenges of building websites in the early days of the World Wide Web was finding people who knew how to create them. There were no established web-design programs, no widely recognized career path for web developers, and very few people who could claim formal training in Internet technology.
Bill had learned web development himself, but he wasn't a graphic artist. He needed people who understood design.
His solution was surprisingly simple.
Bill began calling Al Collins Graphic Design School to ask whether the school maintained a job or project bid board. When the school asked what type of work he had available, Bill explained that he needed part-time, piecework help developing websites.
The response was that the students weren't trained in web design.
Bill's answer was essentially: That's okay. I don't need a web designer. I need a graphic artist. I'll handle the web development.
That became the beginning of a relationship that would eventually provide AZeats with a growing pool of talented designers.
Learning While Getting Paid
The arrangement worked particularly well for the students.
They were studying graphic design at Al Collins, but they could also earn a decent income doing actual work in their field. At the same time, they were building something that would be extremely valuable when they graduated: a professional portfolio and real-world experience.
For AZeats, the arrangement provided talented graphic artists who could work on individual restaurant projects.
For the students, it provided an opportunity to work on real commercial projects rather than classroom assignments.
And for AZeats' restaurant clients, it meant professionally designed websites.
It was another example of the Win-Win-Win philosophy that became characteristic of AZeats.
The Students Began Learning the Web.
Something unexpected happened as the months passed.
There was no established educational path for what they were becoming. They were learning a new profession while the profession itself was still being created.
The Boys - Jason and Tony
Two of those students were Jason and Tony.
Their experience with AZeats eventually led them to establish their own business, Details All Media Design, in Gilbert, Arizona.
The surviving company material describes Details All Media Design as having been formed to help small and medium-sized businesses use the World Wide Web to market their products and services. The company specialized in custom graphics for both Web and print and emphasized that its programming was done by hand, with no editors or templates.
Jason and Tony didn't simply move on from AZeats.
They continued working with AZeats on project after project.
Their work included restaurant websites as well as print materials such as postcard mailers and business cards. The surviving Details All Media Design material identifies a long list of AZeats restaurant projects, including 5 & Diner, Atlas Bistro, Bamboo Grill, Blue Adobe Grill, Carlsbad Tavern, Cartwright's, Cocomo Joe's, Eleve, Jilly's, Jolta Java, Los Olivos, Maloney's, Mosaic, Rancho Pinot, Sakana Sushi, The Vine Tavern, Tonto Bar and Grill, and Un-Bacio.
That list provides an important piece of evidence about the scale of their contribution to AZeats.
As of August 2026, the Details All Media Design website is still online.
http://www.detailsamd.com/
From Students to Professionals
There is something particularly satisfying about this part of the AZeats story.
Bill originally approached a graphic-design school because he needed help with the visual side of websites.
The students needed something too.
And they were entering a profession that did not yet have a well-established educational path.
AZeats gave them real projects.
The students gave AZeats their talent.
Some of them learned enough about the emerging technology to eventually become full web designers and developers themselves.
Jason and Tony took that experience another step further by creating their own company—and then continued working with AZeats as professional partners.
Robert's testimonial on the Details All Media Design website provides another firsthand indication of the relationship. He described using Details for more than three years and noted that their work ranged from designing letterhead to building extensive database websites.
More Than Employees
Looking back, it would be easy to describe these students simply as people who did graphic design work for AZeats.
That would miss the larger story.
They were part of the generation that was learning how to build the commercial Web while the commercial Web was being invented.
The AZeats Legacy
The story of AZeats is often told through its technology: websites, shopping carts, Dine-mail, virtual tours, coupons, gift certificates, and other innovations.
But behind every one of those technologies were people.
And some, like Jason and Tony, developed their skills through their work with AZeats and eventually built businesses of their own.
That is an important part of the legacy.
AZeats wasn't only building websites.
It was helping build the people who would build the Web.
The images at the top of this page are some of the post cards designed and printed by The Boys at Details All Media Design for AZeats.com.
