Pinky's Pizza Returns on Veterans Day

The slices made a big comeback Friday on the other side of downtown, and the customers returned.

About 50 people were lined up ready for an early lunch whenreopened, now at 2085 North Broadway, after an absence of more than three years.

"He likes all the meat and I like the veggie," said Lisa Baldwin of Martinez.

"Aww, I like it all," said her husband, Terry Baldwin. "I don't really have a favorite."

Once upon a time, they were Las Lomas High students, when there was no need to make arrangements after the last play of the football game. They would meet friends at the old Pinky's on South California Boulevard, which opened in 1963.

Standing alongside them in line Friday was a Walnut Creeker who goes by the moniker of "Chicken," yearning for the Fire in the Hole pizza: peppers, onions, garlic, jalapenos, sausage and cold tomatoes.

A line stretching out the door and onto the sidewalk remained during the lunch hour.

Inside, Tom Beisheim, the former owner, was in the kitchen crafting pies.
While the location may be new and parking more plentiful, the prices are the same as when the restaurant closed in 2008, according to a Pinky's news release. The restaurant has created 25 new jobs, and brought back several former cooks and employees, including restaurant manager Donna Robinson, like Beisheim famous for remembering customers' names and favorite orders.

"I went to school in Chicago, lived in New York for awhile, and I have traveled all over the world, but Pinky’s is what I always think of when I think of pizza,” said Chuck Strickler, an investor in the new company.

The news of Pinky's return caused a ripple in a Facebook group that has 1,100 followers.