The phenomeonon of most Pizza Hut locations switching from dine-in to carryout only was viewed by many as a sign of terminal societal decline.
But now, in a surprise move all the more unforeseen in the wake of Corona-chan, Gen Y’s favorite pizza chain is bringing its legendary lunch buffet back.
Pizza Hut is stirring up nostalgia by bringing back its iconic lunch buffet, but it’s a selective comeback.
The beloved pizza chain is discreetly reintroducing the all-you-can-eat option, which was largely phased out by 2014, Mashed reported.
Related: Gen Y’s Real Café 80s
Buffets took a hit during the pandemic, with concerns over hygiene prompting many restaurants to scrap the self-serve model.
Yet, it seems Pizza Hut is bucking the trend and reviving its buffets at certain locations.
FoodBeast has highlighted viral social media videos showcasing the return of Pizza Hut buffets in places like Hawaii, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Toronto.
An Instagram video from ESPN anchor Gary Striewski features a sign at a Pizza Hut in Tilton, New Hampshire, proclaiming: “Buffet is Back! “
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I can only speak from my personal experience, but back in the day, Pizza Hut really was the best of the major pizza chains.
Domino’s was for when Mom burned dinner and needed a quick, last-minute substitute.
Little Caesar’s was a mediocre but cost-effective way to cater birthday parties and big sleepovers.
The only place that rivaled Pizza Hut was Godfathers, but their image and marketing were more older teen-to-adult-oriented.
Related: Take the Small Town Pill?
During recent travels out of state, I got to eat at a Godfathers which, by all accounts, was frozen in 1997.
We also found a Pizza Hut that still had the classic layout, but its dining room was empty and blocked off with a table between the wall and the host station.
It’s a shame, because Pizza Hut did a good job of making every dining experience feel like an event.
When you walked into a Pizza Hut in the 80s and 90s, you felt like you were in a respected local Italian place’s dining room. The brick walls, the checkered tablecloths; even the red soda glasses helped make it happen. The decor punched well above its weight.
And Pizza Hut put some thought and effort into their culinary technique. Watching this 1988 training video helped me up my own pizza-making game.
Watch and learn!
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This is awesome. The Pizza Buffet is trademark Pizza Hut. Also, good on them for bringing back the classic red roof look.
I used to work there from 2015 to late 2016. It was when they did their whole rebranding to appeal to Millennials. Somethings were a fluke, but one of the things our region did right was bring back the buffet (albeit small) to a couple of locations, including my training store.
Having a buffet was unheard of because the business model at the time was still reflected the corporate attitude – just carryout or dine in. Problem was, despite the two locations we had with a buffet, which were smashing successes, corporate didn’t have the building design to accommodate buffets at more locations. Can’t tell you how happy I am with Pizza Hut that they are getting back to their roots. It’ll pay dividends.
Man, PH corporate went from being absolute geniuses in the 80s and 90s to puck-chasing dullards by the 2010s. The competency crisis is real.
Re: Pizza Hut rebranding to pander to Millennials, I read an article a while back that quoted the company as admitting it was a huge disaster. They started quitely restoring the classic menu, dine-in, and lunch buffets shortly thereafter.
Pizza Hut was THE Gen Y restaurant, it’s not even close. You went to McDonalds sometimes after school or on the weekends (or Burger King if you HAD to), and all the other places were a nice treat every now and then, but Pizza Hut was the one that felt not only closest to local places but also had a superior atmosphere and service no other place had.
I still remember their ’90s commercials (probably the last wave of true Gen Y commercials) advertising the zany and wackiness. Not to mention they had things like the reading program, the free movies (anyone still have their Bogus Journey disc?), the arcade games, and the TMNT tapes, on top of everything else. If there is a Gen Y restaurant, it’s Pizza Hut. To be that guy, I don’t think any other generation can understand its appeal because most of it went out the window when they started appealing to Millennials in the ’00s and slowly lost the above for being another generic pizza chain. Losing the buffet was the last straw for them. My local place left to become part of mini-mall and now is order out only. It’s not the same.
It might seem a little silly to be happy about a pizza chain reclaiming part of its identity again, but really, it’s just nice to see things become as they should be instead of fade away to irrelevancy without even a struggle.
It’s a perfect microcosm of the phenomeonon revealed by that AdAge piece. Pizza Hut found its niche by going all in on Gen Y pre-Ground Zero. When Ys aged out, they tried a pivot to Millennials, but “Do poeple even eat brown cookies anymore?” syndrome killed the golden goose.
But like you said, at least Pizza Hut seems to be learning from their mistakes. Meanwhile, Domino’s is still stuck in 2004 doing to their crust what cheap, tacky house flippers do to their landscaping.
I think it’s meet to point out that, outside the Anglosphere, Pizza Hut still IS a walk-in, sit-down type restaurant. Check out some images of Pizza Hut China if you’re curious as to where all the stuff you remember from your childhood is still alive (not counting the obvious differences per local taste).
Indeed. I came across many such pictures while researching this post. And at lest 1 Twitter mutual there on the ground confirmed that Chinese Pizza Huts have always been awesome.
It calls to mind another of my personal favorite pizza joints from childhood. Shakey’s pizza wasn’t anywhere near as good as Pizza Hut’s, but they had a superior buffet with far more variety open for lunch and dinner. After Ground Zero, the chain dwindled to a few dine-in only locations on the West Coast. Except in places like Japan and the Philippines, where the old buffets survive with a few local touches.
I can’t tell you about the excitement when a Pizza Hut finally came to my small state. There were lines out the door when it opened.
I did BookIt and got my free personal pan pizzas. We never did lunch buffet because we lived too far away.
It’s weird to see Pizza Hut’s strange post 2000 life. But oh those days when it was great pizza and a great place to be.
“It’s weird to see Pizza Hut’s strange post 2000 life.”
In hindsight it’s baffling, but if you consider the situation at the time, their decisions make a bit more sense. By the year 2000 the Gen Y gravy train was running out. But Ys are a relatively small cohort, and there was no reason to doubt that the far more numerous Millennials wouldn’t be even bigger cash cows. So corporate went into full pandering mode.