Pizza Hut is heading back to the good old days. Tim Sparks, the president of a Kansas-based company that operates almost 100 Pizza Hut locations across the country, is throwing out the modern-looking restaurants – and making them like they were decades ago. Now, customers are thrilled.
While technology is taking over more and more of our daily lives, some things seem to be turning back in time. Vintage flip phones are making a comeback, fashion from decades ago is once again “the thing” to wear, and vinyl records are super trendy.
Still, fast food restaurants have shown a tendency to go in the opposite direction. McDonald’s and Pizza Hut are only two of many restaurant chains that have adopted a more “serious” and modern look.
Just think back on the McDonald’s restaurants that used colorful chairs and other playful interiors: Those were the days! (And wasn’t the burger bigger, too?)
While many go towards an even more modern direction, there is one person who wants to head back in time – and customers are praising him for it.
Tim Sparks, president of Daland Corporation, a Kansas-based company that operates nearly 100 Pizza Hut locations nationwide, is leading an effort to preserve the brand’s classic image by renovating more than 80 of its stark, modern-looking restaurants and restoring them to the chain’s original retro-style design.
Pizza Hut brings back its old-school restaurant features
CBS reports that several locations in Pennsylvania, for example, will feature Pizza Hut’s classic logo-shaped red roofs, with the restaurant to be complete with vinyl booths, Pac-Man games, Tiffany-style lamps, and even the retro Pizza Hut salad bar.
In an interview with the news outlet, Sparks said customers have commented on the restaurant’s red plastic cups. Still, the retro lamps are “almost impossible to get.” However, it has added to the experience.
“People come from two and three hours away, and I’m not making that up,” Tim Sparks told CBS. “If we can get them in here as a family, they do tend to put their phones down and actually have conversations and speak with each other,” Sparks told CBS of the classic locations.
On social media, customers are now praising Tim Sparks for going towards a more retro-style restaurant.
“I am so excited and when they are restored I will be eating there as a new tradition every Friday,” one wrote on X.
Another pleaded for the restaurant to bring back their old pizza recipe, saying, “Go back to the old crust, and I’m in!”
Praised by customers
“The one thing Pizza Hut & every other chain mentioned in this story won’t be bringing back is the actual original food recipes, ingredients, and cooking methods so it tastes like it did decades ago. I could care less how original the place looks. Make it TASTE the way it use to,” a third wrote.
On Facebook, another commented, “This was our Thursday night meal out before kids. Salad bar and pac-man. Waitress knew our order too. It would be nice to return to that atmosphere in our retirement too where you can have an audible conversation while in a restaurant.”
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