History Of Pizza Hut
The international franchise and restaurant chain, Pizza Hut, offers different types of pizza, pasta, and side dishes including breadsticks, garlic bread, and Buffalo wings. Pizza Hut is the biggest pizza restaurant chain in the world and it is hard to imagine that it started off as a tiny restaurant in Wichita.
The history of Pizza Hut started in 1958 when two brothers, Dan and Frank Carney, borrowed $600 from their mother to open a business in Wichita, Kansas. They found a small, twenty five-seat restaurant and there was only enough space for nine letters on their sign. The building resembled a hut so they called it Pizza Hut, since they wanted the word pizza to appear in the name also.
The first Pizza Hut franchise opened in Topeka, Kansas in 1959. Pizza Hut was developing a stronghold in Kansas while Shakey’s Pizza was developing a stronghold along the west coast. Dan and Frank Carney realized that Shakey’s Pizza was going to expand into Kansas so they improved Pizza Hut and its image to give Shakey’s Pizza some stiff competition. The standard Pizza Hut layout was developed in 1964 creating the Pizza Hut look that customers would recognize.
Another important factor in the history of Pizza Hut is that it went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1970. Pizza Hut was bought by PepsiCo in 1977 and this company also purchased Taco Bell and KFC. In 2002, A&W Restaurants and Long John Silver’s were added to the list and became YUM! Brands.
Types of Pizza Hut Restaurants
There are several different restaurant concepts under the Pizza Hut umbrella, including the family style red roof dine-in locations, which do not deliver. Restaurant-based delivery locations offer dine-in, carry out and delivery choices and most new Pizza Hut stores offer carry out and delivery only.
Pizza Hut Express, which specializes in nine-inch pizzas, is licensed by Pizza Hut but these restaurants are operated independently. The have a different menu and you can find Pizza Hut Express stores at sport stadiums, in larger stores like Target and within college campuses.
The oldest Pizza Hut which has been in continuous operation is found in a tavern and shopping district called Aggieville, which is in Manhattan, Kansas. Pizza was considered a peasant’s meal for hundreds of years but now pizza is one of the most popular fast food options available and the sheer volume of pizzerias and fast food outlets around the world proves this fact.
Pizza Hut Menu
Pizza Hut is perhaps so popular because it offers many different types of pizza. For the crust, you can choose from thin and crispy, stuffed crust, hand tossed pizza or pan pizza. There are also many toppings to choose from and Pizza Hut side orders include Buffalo wings, cheese sticks, potato bites, and breadsticks. Pizza Hut also offers various types of pasta dishes.
If that is not enough to fill you up, you can get dessert from Pizza Hut, such as cinnamon sticks or chocolate dunkers. Drinks include water, Pepsi, root beer, and mountain dew.
With this large and tasty menu, it is no wonder that Pizza Huts continues to go from strength to strength and will surely continue their success in the future.