What Happened To Pizza Hut

A look back on what Pizza Hut used to be like

When I was a kid one of my favorite restaurants was Pizza Hut. I actually preferred it over places like Chuck E. Cheese, Pistol Pete's & Peter Piper Pizza (Arizona franchise) even though those places had huge arcades & were a bit more kid friendly.

I remember Pizza Hut being a sit down restaurant with a big red roof on the outside. They were different than most restaurants at the time. You KNEW it was a Pizza Hut just by the roof alone, you could spot it a mile away.

What I liked about Pizza Hut was the not so much the pizza but the atmosphere. When you went in it looked like an actual restaurant with plush seating & booths with a red brick interior.

Or some of them would had a bistro type setting inside, both types would have a salad bar as well.

Though they didn't have an arcade, they usually had a table top video game. Most of them were Pac-Man & Donkey Kong but I do remember Tecmo Bowl was at one of the ones I went to.

My favorite time was go was for dinner since it was always a little dark inside & the lighting was dim. I also remember there being a candle at your table. When you went inside there was someone that would seat you and they would give you a menu and a real server would take your order. They'd bring you a pitcher of soda, I'm pretty sure I remember my dad ordering beer as well. They'd give you those big red see through plastic cups to drink out of, with the crushed ice and for some reason I think Coke tasted better in them.

I used to love the promotions they did for movies too. The two I remember the most were the Land Before Time & Casper puppets. When the Land Before Time was in theaters my nana used take me to see it at the dollar movies all the time, afterwards she'd take me to Pizza Hut and order a pizza & buy me one the Land Before Time puppets. We went there so much, I ended up getting all of them. I was kinda spoiled but at the time I was her only grandchild & I only visited her when I saw my dad (parents divorced when I was 4, I lived in Phoenix, AZ they lived in Tucson, AZ about 2 hours apart)

I was little older when the Casper puppets came out, I was about 12 but it was my favorite movie at the time I had a HUGE crush on Christina Ricci and I would pretty much collect anything Casper related. I even collected the Casper trading cards. My little brother had Stretch, that I ended up taking (stealing) it with me back to Phoenix lol, which completed my collection. I don't even think my little brother noticed.

They even has a streetball basket ball for like $5. I think it was to promote the NCAA Final Four at the time. It was in 94 I believe (before the Casper promotion) because I had the ball & I took it to school almost every day in 4th grade and played with my friends (even though I sucked because I was the shortest person).

The last promo for kids I remember Pizza Hut doing was the Pizza Head commercials. They were very similar to Mr. Bill. They a pizza slicer named Steve who was sort of the â€œbad guyâ€, which usually ended up causing Pizza Head some sort of pain. Pretty sure he came about in the mid to late 90's.

A few years ago I started reflecting back on all the fun memories I had eating at Pizza Hut, whether it was celebrating after a little league game or just a family outing, I always had a good time. I wanted to capture that feeling again. So I called my cousin & asked him if he wanted to eat at Pizza Hut, and we ended up meeting at the location I had gone to when I was younger. It no longer had that famous red roof but I didn't think anything of it. I went in and was completely shocked. It had that cheap plastic seating, there was nobody there to seat you at a table and you ordered your pizza from a giant menu on the wall like McDonald's. I was crushed, it just didn't feel right. I'm pretty sure the quality of the pizza went down too. Sadly all the fond memories were gone & Pizza Hut is no longer a restaurantâ€¦. it's a fast food joint.

Comments

Great article! so right in so many ways. I believe that the problem is the cheese, and tomato sauce (paste) that they use now days. Back in DA' days it was 100% mozzarella cheese, you could taste it, savor it, etc. to save on cost, who knows what the hell they use now. Mom and Pop pizza places are making a come back, that's actually a good thing. It was sad to see those places go out of business when Dominoes, Pizza Hut, Numero uno, became big in the late 1980's. It's pay back time, lol...

I live in SC, and we still have 2 Pizza Huts that have the old style. Red rooftop, plushy restaurant seats, pitcher of soda brought to your table, menus, etc. The only thing different from the 90s at those is the food and toys. I feel kind of lucky because that last picture looks horrid. I don't want a pizza hut like that.

I used to like Pizza Hut however over time their pizza got more greasy and nasty and I can't eat anything there anymore other then their Bread sticks. Sad to see what I used to enjoy as a kid go downhill so fast.

Great article. It's a business that fell off the right track.

The Pizza Hut by me still has the same look inside and out. I hadn't been there for years, but I recently took my daughter for lunch. The quality of the food isn't quite as good, but it's edible.

Growing up, my brother, mom and myself ate there a lot and I have vivid memories of it. My brother and I always got personal pan pizzas. I always liked to sprinkle mine with parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper that were in those little jars on the table.

My mom would always get Cavatini, which was a pasta dish, and a side salad with creamy italian dressing. Her salad always came first, so she would give me her dressing and I would dip crackers from the table in it, so I wouldn't starve before my food arrived

Sometimes we would order the garlic bread slices with mozzerella cheese on them. Mmmm....I forgot about those and now I want some!

I just stumbled across this site and have been having fun going down memory lane with all the articles for 2 hours

I was just thinking about the Pizza Hut of my childhood the other day. When I was a kid I loved going to to Pizza Hut. We didn't have a Showbiz Pizza in my town of Athens, OH. We would have to drive an hour to Parkersburg, WV so we only went on special occasions. Pizza Hut was the place my family would go to most often for Pizza. It seemed fancier back then. I loved the jukebox and the Pac-Man table top game. I forgot about the pitchers of soda and beer. Do they still have them? I also agree with you that night time was the best time to go for the atmosphere.
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Really? i've only ever been to one pizza hut like the fast food style one, while all the rest have been like they were back in the day.

There was one in Cerritos California but it's now a Teacher's Supply store. and one in Cypress/Buena Park area which 86'ed the Dine In area and is now a take out only place. Gawd how they bring back happy memories!

We had 2 Pizza Huts here on Long Island in Nassau County. One was right near me and it was closed and knocked down to build a bank. I always liked Pizza Hut.... STUFFED CRUST PIZZA!

One of the things I always liked about it was the architecture never changed over the years. It's a shame that there is only one around in a crappy neighborhood now, with HORRIBLE service. No one speaks English in it, it is a pathetic excuse for a Pizza Hut.

So sad to see traditional places go away

True Pizza Hut has changed a bit over the years but I still love going there,their pizza is Great!

I'm British because the first Pizza Hut opened up in London from around 1973.

Pizza Hut was at once point in the 90's so popular that you could have a birthday party there. In 3rd grade I had my birthday there. They even had a girl working there as my special birthday server. She would talk to us, bring out the food, keep the soda filled. She let me show her my X-Men trading cards. My table was next to the arcade machines in back. it was fantastic.

Great article, definately brings back nostalgia of when Pizza Hut was great. I miss them.

My place is still sort of like a bistro, although they stopped selling Coke products. When did this happen?

The day Pizza Hut ditched the Priazzo was the last time I ever set foot in one. And if you never had one, I pity you.

Priazzo Roma was my world, in the mid-80's.

I haven't been to my local Pizza Hut in the past few years, but the last time I was there, it was pretty much the same as it was in the 90s except that they didn't have the arcade machines anymore (too bad, I have great memories of trying to get my mom and dad to give me some quarters to play those) I haven't actually seen one of these new fast food style Pizza Huts before (besides for the little mini ones in Target) The best thing that they had at Pizza Hut in the late 90s was the all you can eat lunch buffet. They would put the pizzas in the salad bar area and they would usually have cheese, pepperoni, and a special pizza (meat lovers, hawaiian, etc) and then they would also have one of those delicious apple desert pizzas.

Does anyone else remember the Triple Decker Pizza at Pizza Hut? That was my favorite for the short time that they sold them.

Nice work! I like this article because it is something we can all relate to. We all went to and loved Pizza Hut. And the commercials were great. You're right, it just isnt the same. Most of them by me have closed the restaurants and are take out only. Tragic.

You were able to buy beer their!

I love this article, I have all those same memories of Pizza Hut

.

You know what's even worse than cheap plastic seat Pizza Huts? The fact that nearly all (or maybe literally all, I am having a hard time thinking of any) of the Pizza Huts in this area are simply take out or delivery places! You can't even eat in them at all anymore. Bleh, it's sad.

We are in a rural area and have 5 Pizza Huts within a 30 mile radius and they are all the old sit down restaurants. The one we have closest just got a facelift but it's not to bad. The thing I miss is the taste! Where as the New Pizza Hut has less toppings and just tastes frozen food to me. Lucky for us we have another great pizza place that has been here for years and still makes pizza the same way it did 30 years ago.

Totally random, but I'm from Tucson, AZ. Kinda fun to see a reference to Peter Piper Pizza. Yay!

Just ate in one about 3 months ago with my daughter. Hasn't changed one bit. Still seat you etc.... Now McDonalds there is a tragedy! Apple
slices? WTF?

The pizza hut by me is still a sit-down place and really hasn't changed much since the 90s.

Good article. Although some minor errors.

Love this article!! What about "Book It!"?? We had the buttons with star stickers that got us free Personal Pan Pizzas. We also had that exact salad bar in southern Michigan!!!

I still have 2 of the old promotional basketballs from Pizza Hut

Wow, that sucks.
I recently liked the old logo too.

And i didn't even know that it was a restaurant back then on Pizza Hut.
Man, that sucks.

I wish it had the Famous red roof.

Thankfully the Pizza Huts in this area are all still the same as the old ones. Although sadly the local one recently lost their Street fighter 2 tournament edition game. I gotta say though I'm surprised you never mentioned the Book It Program.

Great article!!! I remember those days, hell I even used to work there, when they were STILL sit down places. And like someone else said now they're all closed around my area...Memories!!!

^What is the highest rated article on here BTW?

Wow, I have never seen such high ratings on ANY write ups on here. Well done.

This does bring back memories for me. i remember the old Pizza Hut too. Its just not the same anymore.

Well Played sir!

My Pizza Hut was next door to a Blockbuster Video, so that's double the great memories of weekends with friends. The place I used to go to as a kid is still in the same location, but it looks NOTHING like when I was a kid. I had all four Casper puppets and the Flipper and Hammerhead squirt puppets.

I feel your sadness. I remember that Pizza hutâ„¢ as well, it's long gone though, as well as customer service. +1 from me for a good jog down memory lane.

I think the key thing everyone has hit on here is that Pizza Hut used to cater to kids in their promotions. My favorites were the TMNT: Coming Out of Their Shells cassette (which inspired the first article I ever wrote for Retrojunk), the X-Men VHS tapes and The Rocketeer cup in the shape of his helmet. As far as the environment goes, my town never had a red roof location, but Pizza Hut was the first place I ever laid eyes on Street Fighter 2 when it first came out, 'nuff said.

Dang, I forgot the old Pizza Hut. Thanks for the reminder.

I have an un-opened copy of the Xmen Creator's choice VHS w/it's comic book, as well as the opened versions of vol. 1 & 2. PLUS I would prefer ORGANIC food stores over MSG/GMO Pizza Hut anyway. Just my thoughts, Real Talk.

Shotz90s: Wow, that sounds pretty good, thanks for sharing it with me. I'm old enough to have had one, but I guess my parents just weren't interested. Sigh.

Chokeslam: I don't know about the first, but this article hits all the right notes, just the same. Be cool if Marcometer did some more like this on other favored establishments which changed over the years.

This is the first REALLY good article we've had on this site in a really long time. Please keep writing!

I remember when I was a kid and Pizza Hut sold Care Bear glasses, red pizza hut duffle bag, and they would bring you a pitch or soda. What the heck happen.

I remember when the first Flintstones movie came out in 93' or 94'. My mom took me and my friend to see the movie then to pizza hut for lunch. It's a shame that you can't really find a GOOD pizza hut any more. I also remember the Ferngully promotions. Man, those were the days. The pizza doesn't taste as good today.

To LBD_Nytetrayn:
The Priazzo was a multi layered pizza of crust, sauce, cheese and wonderful toppings and more crust w/ cheese and sauce on top. For some reason it always tasted much better than there other pizzas which I also liked at that time. They had 4 different ones I think. It haunts me to this day that I cannot have another original Pizza Hut Priazzo pizza. For those of you too young or that don't remember, I envy you. If anyone from Pizza Hut Corp. office ever reads this. For Gods sake, please bring it back so I can have another.

I was born in 1975, so I was able to participate in the sit down experience at least until the mid 90's. It used to be very fancy, no buffet. No pasta either, just pizza, sandwiches and salad. No free refills, buy a pitcher. And the video games that were most prevalent at our pizza hut were pac man/ms pac man, galaga, or JOURNEY! I think the quality was much better during this age. I just picked up pizza hut this Friday after selling my Facebook soul for a free p'zone. The stuffed crust pizza was decent, but the pzone and breadsticks were so rubbery they tasted micowaved. It's obvious that they are using frozen stuff and cheap ingredients...the only thing left worth ordering is the good old thin crust.
(Just an aside: We had Peter Piper's in South Texas too, still do.)

There's only one Pizza Hut left near me and, while it is a sit-down restaurant, its more concerned with getting out deliveries and take-outs in as little time as possible. The other two places closed up; one's now a title pawn and the other is abandoned. Awfully sad. Great article though. *thumbs up*

I went to a pizza hut a couple of weeks ago. it was a classic red roof sit down resturant it had a salad bar and it was nice to see a old style sit down brought back memoys of pizza hut as a kid.

Pizza Hut used to have good pizza but in the last few years, it has gone downhill, now it makes my stomach churn and gives me gas. B-( IT sure ain't the Pizza Hut of the 1980's, or 1990's. BTW, I remember those "Pizza Head" Commercials too and I love Coke/Pepsi with crushed ice, it does taste better.

After reading your article i stopped in at my local Pizza hut and while it still looks basically the same it seemed like something was missing.

We still have sit down Pizzahuts back home, but also have the express ones that will be inside of a foodcourt. While it's conveniant to have ready made little personal pan pizzas at the express ones, you have to think back to how great it was to have a piping hot one delivered to your table as you waited patiently.

I think I still have my Doug glow in the dark plastic cup somewhere I got from Pizza Hut when it was a new show along with Ren & Stimpy.

Our Pizza Hut started to get really awful (Slow service, bad menu selection, dirty tables) and was closed down last year and replaced by a Greek restaurant. Most of the Pizza Huts I've seen around here have mostly been sit down ones, with Pizza Hut Express in some shopping centres.

A family member of mine has had a Pizza Hut franchise since the early 80s. I remember how much I loved going in there as a kid. I was in my home town a year or so ago and stopped by, and the place was falling apart. The trademark red roof looked like it had seen better days, and the red seat cushions were all torn and discolored. Sad :/

One thing that I think is a common characteristic of every Pizza Hut I've ever visited is that the flatware and dishes are always dirty! I remember my mom (who is sensitive to such things) always sending back at least one plate or one fork because it had the remnants of someone else's meal still stuck to it!

Its the same here in Australia. I only know of one Pizza Hut restaurant that is how they used to be, with the red roof and the original interior. Here in Australia Pizza Hut has always sold Pepsi, never Coke.

Chokeslam, I will admit YOU can do a proper list article, but 99% of other users cant. Most people just type up a random number of assorted entries along with a couple of quick blurbs about them and call it an article. With a little time and effort anyone can make a good article. This is a perfect example of how easy it can be to make something worth reading.

Timothy1964 is right. Pizza Hut has been owned by PepsiCo (a company formed by a merger between Pepsi and Frito-Lay) since 1978. They also own Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silver's and A&W. They rolled them into an offshoot company called "Yum! Brands," but it's still all owned by PepsiCo, so I guarantee you they haven't served Coca-Cola in at least 33 years, if they ever did.

Also, Pizza Hut is terrible now. I remember going to Pizza Hut and getting great pizza in the 80s. These days, they are the bottom ranked pizza chain for a reason...they have forgotten everything that made them great and they deserve to be at the bottom.

Chokeslam...as far as I know, Pizza Hut is owned and operated by the same company that owns and operates Taco Bell and KFC, which of coarse all serve Pepsi products. Also, that is why we are seeing more of the combined Taco Bell/Pizza Hut, Taco Bell/KFC, etc., rather than the stand-alone Taco Bells, Pizza Huts and KFC's.

I know that within the last 10 years of so Pizza Hut has served Pepsi products, thought I do remember the red glasses. I suppose its possible that Pizza Hut made the switch from Coke to Pepsi at some point, or perhaps Pepsi makes red glasses too.

C'mon Jerky, you have to admit that when I write a list article it is not soulless. I know how to put the soul in a list article!!!!!

This article is great, but why? Its not very long, its not particularly eloquent and the pictures are all mixed sizes and quality. But it doesnt matter because its a unique subject (not a soulless list article or movie review) and it comes from this person's actual memories (not just bland information you can find anywhere). Individuality and personal touch go a long way and this score reflects that. If you're tired of scoring at or below 10 and you want to make a memorable article, take a lesson from this person.

hmm, must be certain areas. The pizza hutts here in northwestern ky are the same they were in the 80's.

shemps1: Ah, gotcha, thanks. Heh, maybe someone should do an article on those...

I, like second exodus, live in a small town where we still have one of the old style Pizza Huts that went through that renovation a few years ago. Ours does still have the mini-arcade up front in the walk-in area (with about four games I think and some of those old quarter vending machines). Unfortunately the people that own it here are well-known in town for being bad owners, and the place kind of skates that line of just doing enough, but never really living up fully to what it could be.

There was one in Littleton (suburb of Denver) when I was younger that was just as it was described in article. Now that one I do recall really fitting the bill for what a Pizza Hut should be, and absolutely it was far more kid-friendly than the newer ones for sure.

see as a kid i didn't get to go very often, hell we didn't eat out much. But i remember getting the land before time figures and watching it at a friends house. They took a long time to remodel ours but now it is sadly a "wing street/pizza hut and they moved across the road. I do miss the arcade games, wish i could remember more, but it was sadly a rare occasion that i got to go

Pizza Hut, like most things now days, is just changing the way that they were originally based on. While they still have the traditional restaurant style where you can just sit and eat, but it has indeed become a fast food restaurant. I mean, buffolo wings, and breadsticks are one thing, Pasta and numerous sides dishes is just going to far.

Sadly it looks like most of them around here are closing. It sucks because Pizza Hut's always been one of my favorite places to eat. I remember this one we often went to me and my bro would play Gauntlet. Wizard needs food badly. I also remember one time we went on a tour of one and made our own pan pizzas as some function my dad's bowling league did.

Huh, I still go to the sit down ones and they are like they used to be. In my childhood town it hasn't changed for 20 years, same building and the inside looks the same. They did a remodel and the arcade machines don't fit in the front any more though

I think it depends on the owner, they are a franchise aren't they? Anyway, I'm in Rock Springs Wyoming right now(the middle of no where) working on a school and the one here is new, still sit down and order. I eat there once a week, not much here to eat at, still good food and good atmosphere. I wish they would do toys like they did those puppets from Land Before Time still, I guess they have trouble getting exclusive rights for movies now.

the couple close to where I live still do the buffet and the whole atmosphere thing but the promotions and kid friendlyness are gone.

What happend? Pizza Hut use too be a great place one of my favroites I never see a commerchail by them anymore too.

LBD Nytetrayn: It was a pie type thing that Pizza Hut used to offer in the 80's.

I had that basketball! Oh man, completely forgot about that, thanks for the memories, thumbs up!

shotz90s: What's a "priazzo?"

You brought back great memories for me. Thanx!!!

Suddenly I'm nine years old again. My parents and I went to Pizza Hut every Tuesday night growing up, hell yes it was family feast night!

I remember getting Land Before Time puppets and Back To The Future solar shades, and playing classic Pac Man on their table top arcade. Nickelodeon magazines, and weekly pizza, salad and breadsticks. Oh man, I gotta go to Pizza Hut now.

Being from a family of frugal spenders, I didn't get to go to Pizza Hut very much when I was a kid. But, it was always special when I did. There's a few of the dine-in Pizza Hut's with the famous type roof where I live now.

The pizza hut in my home town was right in front the theatre. It was perfect. You could eat your pizza and stroll across the parking lot to see a movie. However, like I said, I didn't get to do that very much. But when I did, it was special.

Great article. It used to be the place to go in our town in the 80's. They had this great item called the priazzo. It haunts me to this day that I cannot have one. Damn you priazzo. The one in our town has had fires 2 or 3 times in the last couple of years. Wonder if they ever think of cleaning the vents or if they leave it alone for flavoring.

Pizza Hut is thriving in Akron. We have some carry out locations, but there are eat-in locations also. Gone are the days of the toy promotions, I guess (I had the Spike puppet), but I'm pretty sure a South Akron location still has the arcade games. They still do Book-It! promotions too.

Well, actually, Marco and Billy, that makes three of us...

I recall- and still do- when my nearest Pizza Hut was a restaurant, located at the corner of E. North Broadway and N. High St. When I was in 1st to 2nd grade, my dad and I went there for lunch on various occasions; usually when leaving school early. (I know, I was a special kid- I often wanted needing a break from the hectic pace of day-to-day academia).

Among the memories there I recall, include: there always being an arcade game or two in the foyer near the dining area (e.g. Super Sprint, C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa, The Simpsons, After Burner II); the buffet table being used as a centerpiece for coloring books and toys to keep the kids entertained until the pizza came; a big clock on the corner, which read "IT'S ALWAYS TIME FOR PIZZA" (and as a kid, I couldn't agree more!); and, of course, the one and only Pizza Head commercials (that announcer was such a douchebag, what with him and Steve getting him in constant danger).

Today, it moved further north down the street to the corner of High and Dunedin, which used to be a fireplace/chimneysweep business. One problem, though- now it's all fast-food (in connection with Wing Street) Its old location is now divided into a Starbucks, and one of those "Cash 4 Gold" type places (which was formerly housed by SkyBank).

No wonder all this talk about nostalgia is making me hungry...

They still have one actual Pizza Hut sit down restaurant in Salem, Oregon and it's in South Salem. Sadly a lot of them now are restaurants where you just pick up your pizza.

All of the Pizza Huts in my area are closed now. Poor management and poor staff (i.e., didn't want to be there, and showed it) caused them to eventually close. I remember the Land Before Time puppets as well. Haha!

Excellent article and so true!! You know what...it's not just Pizza Hut. It's all of the "grandfather" places like Pizza Hut (restaurants, arcades, movie theaters, department stores, etc.) that used to focus on the customer and provide, not only great service, but a fun atmosphere. That's pretty much non-existent nowadays.

A lot of Pizza Huts like this around my state have already dissappeared. Luckily, there is still a dine-in type at Marion outside the shopping centre. One of them I occasionally go past on North East Road became an Italian Restaraunt in the late 1990s, then a charcoal grill restaraunt in 2002 and now, it's replaced with a tavern called the Nor' East.

Perhaps we disappeared from Pizza-Hut before it disappeared from us. We grew out of sitting down and eating as a family. We were seduced by drive through food like McGreasers and Buritto-bell. Ahh if we only knew what we had. Nah, lets just find another restaurant.

Its true, all around my home they've disappeared.

And I know exactly what you mean about the red plastic cups. I would always get Sprite and it tasted soooo good.

i feel your pain something like that happened to me to.

What a sad article.

My family used to go to Pizza Hut all the time when we went to a city for shopping or whatever. Good memories.

I haven't ate at a Pizza Hut since I think like fall 2003 or something and it was still a sit down restaurant then but I guess a lot has changed.

I remember our pizza hut...it's a Friendly's now, but I can still remember it like it was yesterday. I still remember the many free meals we got thanks to the "readers are leaders" program, the many nights I spent trying to get the high score on the Simpson's and X-men arcade machines with my friends and not to mention all the cool toys we collected over the years as well as the eerie atmosphere it'd produce on a Saturday night when they turned the lights down low and the sun hit it just right.

It may be a Friendly's now, but sometimes on those warm Summer nights, I can still smell those pizza's cooking and can taste those salty bread sticks. Perhaps a case of nostalgia? A memory long past? Or perhaps the spirit of Mr. Pizzahead reaching out to me from the realm of obscurity?

Ether way awesome articles, brought back a lot of good memories for me ^^

Many Pizza Huts have disappeared in my area and have been replaced by the smaller Pizza Huts where you just come in, make your order, and leave.

There was a Pizza Hut on Rocky River Drive in Cleveland that has now been demolished and before I really got into pepperoni pizzas, I had the pepper pizzas there and I would go there with a Multi-Handicapped Class at Douglas MacArthur once in awhile.

There's still a Pizza Hut on 117th Street that has the same red hut, but it seems that they're disappearing for the consolidated Pizza Huts.

the pizza head commercials are awesome I totally forgot about them. You know everything is changing. I heard McDonalds was doing away with Ronald soon to focus more on a health perspective for kids. What a load of crap!! No one wants to cater to the kids anymore its all about being politically correct and health concious!! When I was a kid there was kid's meal and happy meal toys for anything and everything and there still is but the are doing away with recognizable children's figures might as well do away with the kids meals too cuz that sales just as much if not more than the idea of Ronald McDonald always being your friend in big red shoes. Anyway great article I remember pizza hut being big with kids and it has been a long time since I have seen a traditional red roofed pizza hut man those were the days

OMG PIZZA HEAD!!!!

Awesome article. You hit the nail on the head. I definitely agree about the Book-It program. I think I may still have my button somewhere too. I loved those red glasses. I was lucky enough to pick some up at a thrift store not too long ago.

My Pizza Hut hasn't been updated yet, so it still looks like that. It still has a host that seats you and brings a menu. I loved it as a kid. When the family went there, it was very rare so it was a special treat. I try to go about once a month. I do agree that their pizzas are not as good as they used to be.

CruJonesIsTheMan: Oh yeah, I remember the Back to the Future part II sunglasses! I still have my one and only pair, somewhere...

I remember eating at my first Pizza Hut with my parents way back when I was in 8th grade in 1978! We went there for dinner after "Back-To-School Night" at my junior high school in October that year. I think it was the first Pizza Hut in our area and it had just opened.

You're so right, I too remember the "old" Pizza Hut. It was much better back then. We had a jukebox in ours and it was all about picking songs to play. I remember getting a personal pan pizza there whenever I'd get a good report card. The red glasses, yes! Loved those! And yes, the pizza was better back then. Pizza Hut has sadly lost its soul, it is but a shell of what it used to be.

I loved this article. I remember the Land Before Time puppets. I had the stegosaurus one (don't remember the character name.) I also remember the TMNT tape promotion. I don't know what happened to the tape, but I still have the tape of the concert as well as the tape of the making of the concert. Pizza Hut also had the Back To The Future 2 promotion where you could get some of the futuristic sunglasses like they had in the movie. And I sort of cheated on the Book It thing. I would just write down names of books to finish the list to get the pizza.

Nice, but how can you do a Pizza Hut article without mentioning Book-It? One of the best ways to get kids reading and I still have my medals.

Ah, an article after my own heart. I often like to go out to eat at Pizza Hut, just for the experience, but yeah, it's changed quite a bit, I'm sad to say. Seems a lot of places are doing that...

Did they really serve Coke, though? I thought they always had Pepsi... as far back as those refillable pitchers, in any case.

Fortunately, I think back in my hometown in NC, there are a couple of the old-style Pizza Huts. At least, one of them doesn't look it on the outside, but the inside reflects it. The other had the old exterior, but I've not been in during any recent visits.

In addition to arcade machines, usually one or two at best, they'd usually have some sticker vending machines, and maybe a jukebox.

Promotions I remember include X-Men, Nickelodeon magazine, Nictoons color-changing cups, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles band (I still have my cassette), Garfield, and Darkwing Duck. Sadly, getting my parents to go in for any promotion which was more than a "one-and-done" deal didn't tend to pan out (no pun intended). This was much to my dismay, particularly with Garfield and Darkwing.

I still love that old atmosphere, though, with the low lights and everything you described. As far as the food, I have not really noticed a significant change in quality, though here in Toronto, they don't have the sandwiches which my parents and I frequently ordered as I got older. Much sadness for that; with a little Italian dressing from the salad bar, they were amazing.

Thanks for writing this, I knew I had to click and read it as soon as I saw the headline. I still like Pizza Hut, but I can definitely think back to a time when I liked it more.

There are still some classic red roofed, restaurant style Pizza Huts left but it is sad that many of them are becoming fast food type joints. This as mostly occured because they had decided to combine many of them with a Taco Bell or KFC.

i work there...

Awesome article!! I had a couple of the Land Before Time figures and the Fatso figure! I didn't have the Streetball, but had a friend who did and definitely envied him! Its weird, I loved the toys and promotion of Pizza Hut but I hated their pizza back in the day. I love it now, but I used to think it was just really greasy.

You're not the only one interested in retro Pizza Hut. Back in the '90s, my town had a Pizza Hut on every corner. There were two I went to the most, one near Carolina Circle Mall and one on the north end of town. The one near Carolina Circle closed in 2006 and is still abandoned, just as the other old school Pizza Huts. The other one I mentioned on the north end of town is still in business and actually still has that retro flare (though business has been slow in recent years). Thanks for this article. The pictures were phenominal!

Roadgeek, I can't believe you remember Carolina Circle Mall! I grew up in Burlington and have pretty much the same memories as you and the authour of this article- the red check table cloths, the see through red glasses w/ crushed ice (Coke did taste better), the dim lighting (I loved that- in fact I still prefer restaurants with dim lighting),the tabletop video games- I remember our had Super Mario Brothers at one point. As of about two years ago there was still an old Pizza Hut in Burlington, but it wasn't doing much business. I went in there to one day when I was feeling nostalgic, trying to relive my childhood a little bit. The plush booths were a little torn, there weren't any people there like when I was a kid and we had to wait in line, and the pizza didn't seem quite as good, but if I sat back and relaxed my mind I could just see a tabletop video game with me, my brother and my best friend standing over it, arguing and trying to dump red pepper flakes in each others drinks.