Iconic Abbey Road restaurant toasts to 40 years of long and winding history in Virginia Beach

It’s been a long and winding road for the Abbey Road Pub and Restaurant at the Oceanfront.

The Beatles-themed watering hole was founded in 1982 on a whim by a trio of 20-somethings dismayed by a beer shortage at that year’s Neptune Festival.

The owners want people to come together this weekend to celebrate the pub’s 40th Anniversary.

Patrons don’t have to be Beatles fans to enjoy, but it might help.

Even before people walk into the joint, they can see the faces of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr staring from a mural on one side of the building. Next to the mural is another, of the Fab Four’s famous “Abbey Road” album cover, which shows them crossing Abbey Road in London to what became known as Abbey Road Studios — where the rock group recorded much of its music.

The interior is coated in Beatles memorabilia. George’s face grimaces in one captioned “A Hard Day’s Night.” Hanging above a booth, all four bandmates pose in suits in a poster for a show at the Palladium in London in 1963. Newspaper clippings about the boys from Liverpool are framed and hanging throughout the place. Old albums and liner notes sit behind glass frames and hang over the bar and, above the front door, there’s a framed collection of albums that were released only in Australia. Even Yoko makes a couple of appearances.

But Abbey Road was never intended to be a themed restaurant. It was never even intended to be a restaurant.

Bill Dillon and two buddies were at the Neptune Festival that storied night in 1982 and the vendors had run out of beer by 11:30. The guys hit other bars but they were dry, too. Finally, they went to the Brickroom, just off Pacific Avenue at 203 22nd St.

“We were sitting in here,” Dillon remembered, pointing to what is now Abbey Road’s bar area, “and, my friend goes, ‘Could you see us owning a place like this one day?’

“And I said, ‘Yeah, I could.”

During the next few days, they learned the spot was for sale. Dillon and his friends, who were working busing tables at other restaurants, were soon making a deal with the owner. Dillon and his partners offered $100,000 for Brickyard’s equipment and lease its space; even Dillon’s grandparents co-signed a loan to help the guys get the business going.

The day before Dec. 17 — opening day — there was $540 in their bank account. Then Dillon withdrew $500 in small bills for the first day of business.

“That’s why I can honestly say we had $40 in the bank,” Dillon said. “We were young and naïve. I didn’t know what I was getting into. But I’m glad I didn’t know what I was getting into. Otherwise, I would never have done it.”

Later, he was sitting in his car a block from the restaurant thinking about what to name it. He pulled out his collection of cassette tapes.

“I’ve got Billy Joel and Jimmy Buffett and Earth, Wind & Fire and the eighth one down — I’m a big Beatles fan — it was ‘Abbey Road.’ ... I’m like, that’s it.”

It was customers who started donating the Beatles gear that now covers the walls.

Music always played at Abbey Road, and Lisa Hughes, the now-restaurant manager who has worked there for 27 years, remembers when Dillon allowed only the Beatles.

People loved it, she said, but there was only so much the staff members could take. Now, other oldies and classic rock are in the mix.

Abbey Road was not much of a moneymaker in its first year. The three owners got creative and started an event company, The Walrus, and held a concert to raise some much-needed dough.

The show, called the “Festival of Lights,” was advertised as “The Biggest Cultural Event Of The Decade!” and brought in star power including Taj Mahal, Leon Russell and Richie Havens, who’d been the opening act at the famous Woodstock music festival in 1969.

They lost money, and soon after, Dillon’s partners left the business.

Dillon shifted the business to focus more on food than nightlife, and 19 years later, he was able to pay off the starter loans. After an additional 21 years, he’s more than ready and looking forward to celebrating Abbey Road’s 40th.

“I tease my friends that if you’re on a deserted island, you want me there because I won’t give up,” Dillon said. “I’m gonna find the water, find the food, build the shelter. That’s just me. I’m just one of those.”

Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8139, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com