In a resort town where restaurants come and go with the tides, Abbey Road Pub & Restaurant has managed something rare: more than four decades of staying power, identity, and unmistakable charm. It all began in 1982, when a young Bill Dillon—three years into his career in food service—decided it was time to build something of his own in Virginia Beach. And like many great ideas from that era, it started with a Beatles record.
Bill grew up with two older sisters who kept Beatles albums spinning constantly. Those songs became the soundtrack to his childhood, and when he pictured his future restaurant, there was really only one name that fit. Abbey Road—after the last album the Beatles recorded together—felt like a tribute, a wink, and a compass for the kind of place he wanted to build. “Although Let It Be was the last released, Abbey Road was the last recorded,” he notes, adding with a grin, “thanks, Yoko.”
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