Happy 30th, Broadway!

We opened our Broadway Pizzeria on Capitol Hill 30 years ago. To celebrate, on Saturday we are rolling back prices to what they were in 1983.

If you were around, 1983 was a pretty memorable year. Even for those too young to remember, it was one of those years that has just remained in the cultural zeitgeist. The Star Wars trilogy came to a close with the release of The Return of the Jedi, Jennifer Beals popularized off-the-shoulder sweatshirts in Flashdance and a computer named Joshua peskily kept asking a young Matthew Broderick if he wanted to play a game in Wargames. Tom Cruise rocketed to fame dancing in his underwear in Risky Business and Al Pacino introduced us to his little friend in Scarface.

I vividly remember watching Michael Jackson perform the moonwalk for the first time during the TV special, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. We watched it over, and over, and over on my uncle’s Betamax. NBC brought us The A-Team, M*A*S*H aired its last episode and Richard Chamberlin played Father Ralph de Bricassart in The Thorn Birds. And I would be remiss not to mention Plinko was added to The Price Is Right.

The Police hit it big with Synchronicity, but Michael Jackson’s Thriller ruled the airwaves, taking the Billboard #1 spot 4 different times and spending 22 weeks at the top of the charts that year. The Cult, The Flaming Lips, NOFX and the Red Hot Chili Peppers all formed in ‘83. And, solving a mystery that had begun in the clubs of New York City a decade earlier, KISS officially unmasked on MTV.

It was the year that saw Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. Vanessa Williams became the first African American to be crowned Miss America. Chrysler introduced the Minivan to the world, spawning a new species known as the Soccer Mom. They soon started showing up in McDonald’s Drive-Thrus to order the new Chicken McNugget.

And at 426 Broadway Avenue East on January 5th, the second Pagliacci Pizzeria opened. It was actually two restaurants in one. During the day it was a pizzeria and at night it turned into a pizzeria in the front and a trattoria in the back (insert mullet joke here). Slices of Cheese were $0.90, Double Pepperoni was $0.95, a slice of Combo was $1.20 and a Primo was just $1.35.

A lot of restaurants and businesses have come and gone on the Hill over the past 30 years, and we’re honored (and more than a little humbled) that our customers continue coming back. Thank you. We really couldn’t have been here this long without you. We look forward to seeing you Saturday for our 30th Anniversary Celebration. We’ll have music from the 80’s (not just Michael Jackson, promise), prizes and slices for a price worth celebrating!