Pizza Pirate celebrates its 45th anniversary this month. On Tuesdays, patrons can buy a 12-inch pizza for $4.79. (Photo by Nick Sestanovich)

When most people approach 45, the reaction is usually a stern “Argh!” For the crew of Pizza Pirate, it’s an “Argh!” of celebration. Also, it fits with the pirate theme.

Pizza Pirate has plenty to celebrate. This month marks 45 years of the pizzeria with a seafaring motif. That’s 45 years of kids celebrating their Little League victories by sharing pies with the entire team, 45 years of being a hangout for students of all ages, 45 years of trying everything in the salad bar…the list goes on. Pizza Pirate is a Benicia institution and has been for a long time.

But it wasn’t always that way. A Herald article from 2012— written to commemorate Pizza Pirate’s 40th anniversary— indicated that the restaurant opened in 1972 as Bella Roma Pizza, and it struggled for its first year. It was then bought out, renamed Pizza Pirate and given a buccaneer theme. For the next few decades, Pizza Pirate became a Benicia mainstay, serving up pizzas of varying sizes— usually with freebooter-inspired names like Long John Silver, Peg Leg’s Pleasure, Crows Nest and Walk the Plank— as well as calzones, soups, salads, sandwiches and sundaes. It also has a game room and a room to host parties.

Current owner Pat Abshire bought the restaurant with his wife Carol in 1995 and has operated it ever since.

“When I took over in 1995, I basically remodeled it and updated the computer systems and more efficient ovens to make it run a little smoother,” Pat said.

Abshire estimates having managed more than 1,000 employees during his time at Pizza Pirate. Many of them have been high schoolers working their first jobs, and Abshire believes that it has been a good experience for them, especially due to the job’s flexibility.

“In the 22 years that I’ve had this place, we’ve never turned down a day off request,” he said. “They might have a senior ball or some senior activity they’d like to go to, but as long as they put their requests in the book, we figure it out. To me, that counts for a lot, working around their school and their activities.”

Abshire says the crew has been very loyal, and many of them have had other siblings join the crew.

“I had one family that had all three daughters work for me,” he said. “The really crazy things is that I’ve had nine sets of twins work for me, and I’m a twin as well— and my twin worked for me too at one point.”

Despite having a throwback feel, Pizza Pirate has managed to keep with the times. In recent years, the restaurant has added a 10-inch gluten free crust to accommodate those with food allergies and implemented a downloadable application that allows people to order pizza for pickup or delivery from their phones.

To celebrate 45 years, Pizza Pirate will be rolling back the price of its 12-inch cheese and pepperoni pizzas to $4.79 on every Tuesday in February. In other words, patrons can pay the same amount for pizzas as they would have in 1972.

Abshire expects to see an influx in customers on days the reduced price pizzas are available.

“We expect it to be extremely busy every Tuesday in February,” he said. “Last time we did it, we did around 1,550 pizzas in one day. On a normal busy night, it’s about 200 pizzas.”

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