After nearly 50 years of serving pizzas in McKinney, Jim Connolly still dons his apron in the mornings to open his restaurant, Jim’s Pizza.

What started as an idea for Connolly while he was manager at a pizza restaurant in Richardson has now become a family-run business, Connolly said.

“It has been a family affair, and we have different things on the menu named after the members of the family,” he said.

Some of those dishes include Tina’s Combination, named after Connolly’s wife, and Sherry’s Sandwich, named after his daughter.

Jim’s Pizza, which opened in 1969, was originally located on Tennessee Street. Connolly said he moved to his current location on University Drive 24 years ago, where he currently offers dine-in seating for buffet options as well as pickup and delivery services.

Ahead of the business’s 50th anniversary, which will be in September 2019, Connolly said he plans to offer pizzas at the same prices as he did in 1969.

“What we normally do is roll the prices back to when we opened or something similar to thereof, and we will probably do it for a two-day period,” Connolly said.

A photo of a younger Connolly posted in the entryway of the restaurant shows some of those prices, including a large pepperoni pizza for $2.45, tea for $0.15 and a large Dr Pepper for $0.25.

With his grandchildren starting to help around the restaurant, Connolly said he is preparing to have his son, Scott, take over the business. And just as multiple generations of Connolly’s family have worked at Jim’s Pizza, multiple generations of McKinney residents have enjoyed its fare.

“Sometimes we have four generations of people that we’ve had for customers, and it’s been quite a journey ...” Connolly said. “I just think McKinney is, like they say, unique by nature, and it is a wonderful place to have a business.”