Pizza Hut is heading back to the good old days. Tim Sparks, president of a Kansas-based company that operates nearly 100 Pizza Hut locations across the country, is replacing the modern-style restaurant designs and bringing them back to the look they had decades ago. Now, customers are thrilled.
While technology continues to take over more of our daily lives, some things seem to be moving in the opposite direction. Vintage flip phones are making a comeback, fashion trends from decades ago are once again popular, and vinyl records are becoming trendy all over again.
Fast-food restaurants, however, have generally moved the other way. McDonald’s and Pizza Hut are just two of many chains that have shifted toward a more modern and “serious” design.
Think back to the days when McDonald’s restaurants had colorful chairs and playful interiors — those really were the days. (And wasn’t the burger bigger too?)
While many brands continue moving toward a more modern style, one person wants to bring back the past — and customers are loving it.
Tim Sparks, president of Daland Corporation, a Kansas-based company operating nearly 100 Pizza Hut locations nationwide, is leading an effort to preserve the brand’s classic image by renovating more than 80 of its modern-looking restaurants and restoring them to the chain’s original retro-inspired style.
Pizza Hut brings back its classic restaurant features
According to CBS, several locations in Pennsylvania, for example, will once again feature Pizza Hut’s iconic red roof design, complete with vinyl booths, Pac-Man arcade machines, Tiffany-style lamps, and even the classic Pizza Hut salad bar.
In an interview with the outlet, Sparks said customers have even commented on the return of the restaurant’s red plastic cups. He also mentioned that the retro lamps are “almost impossible to find,” but they have become an important part of 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 interact with each other,” he said about the restored locations.
On social media, customers have been praising Tim Sparks for embracing the retro-style restaurant design.
“I am so excited, and when they’re restored I’ll be eating there as a new Friday tradition,” one user wrote on X.
Another asked for the restaurant to bring back its original pizza recipe as well, saying, “Go back to the old crust, and I’m in!”
Praised by customers
“The one thing Pizza Hut and every other chain mentioned in this story won’t bring back is the original recipes, ingredients, and cooking methods that made the food taste the way it did decades ago. I don’t care as much about how the place looks — make it taste the way it used to,” a third person wrote.
On Facebook, another user commented: “This used to be our Thursday night dinner before kids. Salad bar and Pac-Man. The waitress even knew our order. It would be nice to return to that atmosphere in retirement, where you can actually have a conversation in a restaurant.”
What do you think about this? Please share your opinion in the comments!
