There is something innately American about a hometown pizza place.

Across the country, these community pillars have been weathering the shifting cultural and economic tides for generations. Pasquale’s Pizza in Cullman is no different. A time lapse from when the eatery was first established in 1968 shows the weathering of the exterior bricks as neighboring businesses expanded, closed or became different businesses all together. Throughout the years, countless customers gathered to enjoy a meal, celebrate a big win, a birthday, a successful dance recital or console a stinging loss. Teenagers grew up to become parents, then grandparents.

For the bulk of Pasquale’s history, Phillip and Donna Nunnelley have been the ones with a front row seat to all of it. But, after 40 years of ownership, the Nunnelley’s have stepped away from the restaurant and are beginning the next chapter of their lives. When the pair locked up the restaurant on Dec. 23, it was the last time they would do so.

Walking into an empty dining room on an overcast Monday, Dec. 12, the aroma shifts upon opening the door. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in a pizza kitchen would be familiar with the scent — the rich, warm smell of dough mixed with the sharp notes of freshly made tomato sauce. It’s a combo Donna said she has worn home for the past 40 years.

Sun-faded photographs of past sports teams and pennants from Cullman County high schools line the walls of the dining room. In the background, the idle sounds of arcade games such as Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga mix with the crashing of ice as it fills the ice machine. Donna is surrounded by memories of the last four decades. It is difficult for her to know where to start.

“I guess I’ll just start at the beginning,” she said.

From the way Donna said that she understands the story, Lowell Nunnelley helped Gloria and Ronnie Donaldson open Pasquale’s in Cullman in 1968 — the first pizza parlor to open within the county. The Cullman native, who had moved to Birmingham and operated as many as 29 of the franchises, had only one request of the Donaldsons — if the time ever came to sell the business, give his son, Phillip, the first opportunity to purchase it.

Phillip had that opportunity that in 1982. Shortly after, Donna’s job search landed her in the restaurant.

“The rest is history,” Donna said.

“We sat in this very booth (tucked away in the back of Pasquale’s dining room) and we just talked and drank Mountain Dew for hours and hours,” Donna said of their first date. When asked how many couples she thought shared a similar first date experience at the restaurant, Donna isn’t able to land on a number — she does know that several have returned to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversaries.

Two years later, Phillip and Donna would be married and 10 years after that their son, Tyler, would be born. For the Nunnelleys, Pasquale’s had become much more than just their business; in many ways it had become more like their living room. The people coming into the restaurant had become more than customers — they had become friends. Regulars, such as Karen Speegle, can remember being greeted with a smile from Donna with Tyler in his playpen beside the register.

“It was almost like Cheers,” Speegle said.

Speegle said that she has been a regular customer since the early 1990s when she would work the closing shift at Belk in Cullman Shopping Center. Pasquale’s would stay open until 10 p.m. in those days, and Speegle said there was nowhere else in town to get a decent hoagie — her favorite sandwich.

“It just became my go-to place. Donna was always there and greeted customers by name and usually already knew what the order was going to be. They just would always make me feel welcome,” Speegle said.

In the same way that Speegle witnessed Tyler leave his playpen behind as he grew up, she said the Nunnelleys watched her children do the same. Her daughter would eventually become an employee of Pasquale’s — which Donna admits was not always an easy task.

“We didn’t coddle our employees. It’s a difficult job,” she said. But Donna remembers them each fondly, saying that when they would later come into the restaurant, she took pride in the role she played in their lives.

“The ones that hung in there with us, we see them in life now. They’ve turned out great, and that makes us feel good. Some of them come back and tell us where they are working and they’ll tell us, ‘Y’all taught us this, you taught us how to work,’ and that makes us feel good,” Donna said.

Pasquale’s would end up becoming the cornerstone around which the Nunnelleys built their entire life. Donna admitted that it was not always easy — she mentioned never having the opportunity to take a vacation as a family and needing to take turns attending Tyler’s ballgames — and depending on the evening customers might be given a front row seat to several of the Nunnelley’s disagreements.

“I mean we had our times of course. People would come in and they’d get dinner and a show sometimes where we would fuss at each other. But I mean, when we’d fuss at each other, we would always get over it quickly,” Donna said.

For many, Pasquale’s was the place to celebrate life’s achievements and mourn its losses.

For longtime Cullman High School Football Coach Mark Britton, Pasquale’s became “a place to come together to bring an end to a long and stressful week.” When Britton first took over as coach, he began a tradition — that he would continue throughout his tenure — to bring the team and cheerleaders together for a meal at Pasquale’s the night before each of Cullman’s football games.

“What I will always remember is how welcoming and hospitable they were,” Britton said. “Having wall-to-wall teenagers in your business can be pretty stressful, but Phillip and Donna were always great, even when we would have to come in on a different night because of a Thursday night game.”

A lot of history has been witnessed from inside of Pasquale’s. Customers have gathered together there to discuss everything from the moon landing to the birth of the internet. In more recent years, the restaurant has been a key player in the behind-the-scenes workings of each election cycle.

“For the most part, Pasquale’s has been our go-to on election night — also known as ‘pizza night’ if you work in a newsroom — for years,” said The Cullman Times News Editor Amanda Shavers. “The last time I made the call, I found out they were no longer open on Tuesdays. It’s funny that something like not getting your traditional ‘pizza night’ pizza would feel so sad. But, it wasn’t really because of the pizza. There are a lot of spots to get a great pizza from in Cullman. It was Donna and Phillip. They were no longer going to be a part of our tradition.”

The Nunnelleys may be stepping away, but Pasquale’s will continue to be a place for the families of Cullman to come together to make new memories and to remember old ones.

Steve and Mike Morgan — Pasquale’s new owner’s — have their own fond childhood memories of their local Pasquale’s.

“We grew up eating that pizza in our hometown of Tarrant,” Steve said. “We just thought it would be nice to open up a Pasquale’s or buy one and sort of restore the old school recipe. We want to keep everything original but give the restaurant a facelift.”

Steve said that plans include installing additional seating and parking, but that the original logo and character will remain unchanged. Donna is also planning to train the new owners and put them through “pizza boot camp” to ensure that the recipes her customers have enjoyed the past several decades will still be available.

“Obviously, what Phillip and Donna have done is fantastic. You don’t do anything for 40 years unless you’ve done it really well,” Steve said. “We want to be able to keep what Donna and Phillip have started going for another 40 years. They’ve been going 40, I want to go 40,” Steve said.

Although the Nunnelleys may be retiring from the restaurant industry, Donna plans to keep busy with her real estate business. As for Phillip, Donna said, “He said he’s going fishing.”