When people think of Pizza Hut in 2020 they are probably thinking about delivery. Go online, choose your pie and other treats — like maybe a delicious P’Zone — and just wait for the delivery person to show up with your hot cheesy goodness and hope that they’re liberal with the cheese and pepper packets. But it didn’t used to be that way. Back in the day — and by “the day” we mean the 1980s and 1990s — Pizza Hut was an actual dine-in experience, complete with tablecloths, fancy lights, music, and pizza served up hot right to your table. The Pizza Hut experience was one that left quite an impression and now, people are getting nostalgic about it on social media.
Remember when Pizza Hut pan pizzas were basically a goddamn culinary delicacy? They’d bring them out in a real fucking skillet that was piping at about 700 degrees Fahrenheit right as your third song kicked in on the jukebox after you’d played a game of Galaga. We were kings. pic.twitter.com/G7dQBRd3qQ
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) June 20, 2020
On Twitter, @Super70sSports posted a “remember when?” post on Saturday reflecting on the Pizza Hut experience of the past, when they were served extremely hot in little skillets with music and video games enhancing the whole dining experience. The post declared that “we were kings” back in those days and fans on social media quickly chimed in to agree. Pizza fans soon chimed in en masse to share their memories of those vintage Pizza Hut moments. As it turns out, there are quite a few iconic things most people recall fondly from the dine-in Pizza Hut experience. Book-It was a popular mention, as was the “pebbled” red drink cups, and everyone it seemed remembered the insane temperature the pizzas were served at — or at least remembered the way they burned the mouth.
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There’s no shortage of fond memories of the dine-in Pizza Hut experience, but it’s one that is sadly just not a factor in childhood today. In 2019 Pizza Hut announced plans to shutter 500 of the older dine-in locations as the company shifted towards carryout and delivery-oriented storefronts. It’s a move that saw some locations transitioned to the new model but saw others completely closed. Even for those dine-in locations that continue to exist, people’s nostalgic reflections revealed that the experience didn’t quite hold up to memory.
But those memories? Well, let’s just say dine-in Pizza Hut back in the day was magical. Read on to see for yourself.
Did you get to enjoy the dine-in Pizza Hut experience in the 1980s and 1990s? Let us know in the comments below.
Photo by Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Personal Pan Pizzas
OMG! nostalgia. I read so many books just to get those personal pan pizzas. My mother would just get pizza for dinner on Friday’s when i got them so i would save my pizza to eat while watching Saturday morning cartoons.😭
— Dr. Orlando Barker (@DrObarker) June 21, 2020
The decor
Sitting under these lights with your hot pizza and the cold sodas in those red cups…good times pic.twitter.com/UHYiP6RL0G
— JennyNewton321 (@MJNewton321) June 21, 2020
Burning the roof of your mouth
Took like an hour to get your pizza, & it was so hot it took another hour to cool enough to safely eat it. But you were so hungry, after 15 secs of cooling you said “fuck it” & scalded the shit outta the roof of your mouth. The pizza you took to school the next day was like gold!
— Philo Beddeaux (@Philo_Beddeaux) June 20, 2020
The BEST kids meal toys
One if the greatest kids meal toys ever created. pic.twitter.com/aNtqCsSiYU
— 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙒𝙚𝙨 (@ProducerWes) June 20, 2020
These iconic cups
And your parents let you drink gallon of Pepsi out of one of these bad boys.
— BIG FAT VOODOO DADDY (@BoneJarvis) June 20, 2020
Good times, good times… pic.twitter.com/LTPhzVdXWV
Blisters
I can feel the blister forming on the roof of my mouth now
— Dave Polly (@XXLdwarf) June 20, 2020
Jukebox, Galaga, and those cups
J. Geils “Centerfold” blaring on the jukebox, Galaga high score, Pepsi in a maroon plastic cup, and 4 quarters of caloric overload. It was heaven.
— Arnold Slick (@KevinHussey4) June 20, 2020
Literally a pitcher of Pepsi
Half-day school treats. My dad would take us. I can still smell what it smells like to walk into a Pizza Hut.
— Kerry Moloney (@klamolo) June 20, 2020
Also, Pepsi hits better out of a pitcher.
Book-It
These pizzas are the only reason why I know how to read. pic.twitter.com/KAZ23Sthy2
— David Campbell (@CampbellSports) June 20, 2020
The tablecloth
And you better have a checkerboard tablecloth pic.twitter.com/OR6fiDQLX3
— Jack Hall (@jackhall696) June 20, 2020
