Pizza Hut facts for kids
 
Pizza Hut classic logo revived in the United States since 2019, alongside different logo used for the international markets since 2014
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The distinctive roof shape and lettering style shown here on this Pizza Hut in Athens, Ohio, were typical of U.S. Pizza Huts.
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | |
| Genre | Casual dining take-out |
| Founded | May 31, 1958 Wichita, Kansas, U.S. |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | 7100 Corporate Dr., Plano, Texas |
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Number of locations
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18,703 restaurants worldwide (2020) |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Aaron Powell (President Pizza Hut International) |
| Products | Pizza Fries Italian taco Pan pizza Pasta Chicken wings Breadsticks |
| Services | Franchising |
| Revenue |  US$1.091 billion (2016) |
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Number of employees
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About 350,000 |
| Parent | Yum! Brands |
Pizza Hut, LLC is a huge American pizza restaurant chain. It was started in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by two brothers, Dan and Frank Carney. Today, its main office is in Plano, Texas. In 2023, Pizza Hut had almost 20,000 restaurants all over the world!
The Carney brothers opened their first pizza place while they were still in college. It grew very fast, with six locations opening in just one year. By 1959, other people could open their own Pizza Hut restaurants using the company's name and ideas. This is called franchising. The famous red roof building style was designed in 1963.
Over the years, Pizza Hut kept growing and changing. It was bought by PepsiCo in 1977, and later became part of a company called Yum! Brands in 2002, which still owns it today. Pizza Hut was one of the first companies to let people order pizza online back in 1994. They also created popular new pizzas, like the stuffed crust pizza in 1995. Pizza Hut has different types of restaurants, including places where you can sit down and eat, places just for pick-up, and places that do both. Even with some challenges, Pizza Hut is still a very important part of the global fast food world.
Contents
The Story of Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut began on May 31, 1958. It was started by two brothers, Dan and Frank Carney, who were students at Wichita State University. Their first restaurant was in Wichita, Kansas. They quickly opened a second place, and within a year, they had six restaurants.
The brothers started letting other people open Pizza Hut restaurants as franchises in 1959. The well-known Pizza Hut building style, with its distinctive red roof, was created in 1963 by architect George Lindstrom. This design became common by 1969.
In November 1977, a big company called PepsiCo bought Pizza Hut. Later, in 1997, PepsiCo created a new company called Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., which included Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. This new company changed its name to Yum! Brands in 2002.
The first Pizza Hut restaurant east of the Mississippi River opened in Athens, Ohio, in 1966.
In 1994, Pizza Hut tried something new called PizzaNet. This was a test program in California that let people use their computers to order pizza online. It was one of the first ways to order food over the internet!
In 2014, Pizza Hut changed its look and menu to attract more customers. They added new crust flavors and 11 new specialty pizzas. They also updated their employee uniforms. In 2019, Pizza Hut brought back its classic logo and red roof design that was popular from 1976 to 1999.
In recent years, Pizza Hut has closed some of its dine-in restaurants in the U.S. to focus more on delivery and carry-out.
How Pizza Hut Works
Pizza Hut has different kinds of restaurants. Some are traditional places where families can sit down and eat. Others are just for picking up orders or getting delivery. Some locations offer both. Many of the larger Pizza Hut restaurants have a lunch buffet where you can eat as much pizza, salad, and breadsticks as you want.
Pizza Hut also has "Pizza Hut Express" locations. These are fast-food restaurants that offer a smaller menu. You often find these in places like college campuses, food courts, theme parks, or inside stores like Target. Sometimes, they are even combined with other restaurants like KFC or Taco Bell.
The famous red roof buildings, designed by architect Richard D. Burke, can still be found in many places around the world. These buildings were very common in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many of these older locations used to serve beer and had jukeboxes or arcade games. Over time, Pizza Hut started focusing more on delivery and carry-out options.
- Pizza Hut concepts
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Pizza Hut Bistro in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
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Pizza Hut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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Pizza Hut in Cebu City, Philippines
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Pizza Hut in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
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Pizza Hut in North York, Ontario, Canada
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Pizza Hut in Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom
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Pizza Hut Products
In North America, Pizza Hut is known for several types of pizza:
- Pan pizza: Baked in a pan, it has a crispy edge.
- Stuffed crust pizza: The outside edge is filled with mozzarella cheese. This was introduced in 1995 and quickly became very popular.
- Hand-tossed: This crust is more like traditional pizzeria crusts.
- Thin 'N Crispy: This was Pizza Hut's original style, a thin and crisp dough.
- Dippin' Strips pizza: A pizza cut into small strips that you can dip into different sauces.
- The P'Zone: A calzone (a folded pizza) with marinara dipping sauce.
- The Bigfoot pizza: Their largest pizza product.
Pizza Hut also changes its menu to fit local tastes in different countries. For example, in Southeast Asia, they have a baked rice dish called Curry Zazzle.
In 2001, Pizza Hut even made a special pizza to be delivered to the International Space Station! It was vacuum-sealed and small enough to fit in the station's oven.
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In 2019, Pizza Hut brought back the P'Zone after it had been off the menu for several years. In 2020, Pizza Hut in Hong Kong worked with IKEA to create a special side table that looked like a pizza saver. The building instructions for the table even suggested ordering a Swedish meatball pizza from Pizza Hut!
WingStreet
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WingStreet is the name for Pizza Hut's chicken wing menu.
WingStreet started in 2003, often found inside existing Pizza Hut restaurants. They sell both breaded and traditional buffalo wings for take-out and delivery. They offer many sauces like original Buffalo (mild, medium, hot), sweet chili, spicy garlic, honey barbecue, and garlic Parmesan. They also have dry rubs like cajun and lemon pepper.
Pizza Hut Around the World
Pizza Hut has restaurants in many countries across North America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Some of these include Canada, Mexico, Japan, India, China, the United Kingdom, and Egypt.
China
In China, Pizza Hut has a slightly different style. It offers a more upscale dining experience with knives and forks, and its menu includes dishes that appeal to Chinese tastes. By 2015, Pizza Hut had over 1,900 restaurants in China. Many middle-class Chinese people see Pizza Hut as a fancy place to eat.
Australia
Pizza Hut came to Australia in 1970. As of 2023, there are about 260 Pizza Hut stores in Australia.
Pakistan
Pizza Hut Pakistan opened its first restaurant in Karachi in 1993. Today, Pizza Hut is in 23 major cities across Pakistan.
Mongolia
Pizza Hut officially opened in Mongolia on July 14, 2014. They have restaurants, delivery services, and express locations in 13 areas.
Ethiopia
Pizza Hut officially opened in Ethiopia in 2018.
United Kingdom
Pizza Hut first opened in the UK in 1973. In 2023, UK Pizza Hut restaurants added plant-based pepperoni to their menus.
South Korea
Pizza Hut has been in South Korea since 1985 and has over 300 restaurants there.
Former Markets
- Russia: Pizza Hut started in Russia in 1991. However, they stopped operations there in 2022.
- Panama: Pizza Hut also stopped its operations in Panama in 2022.
Advertising and Fun Facts
United States Advertising
Pizza Hut's first TV commercial was in 1965. It was a fast-motion ad called "Putt-Putt to the Pizza Hut." It showed a man rushing to get his pizza, only for his family to eat it all before he could get a slice! This ad helped Pizza Hut sales grow a lot.
Pizza Hut has used many slogans over the years, like "Gather 'round the good stuff" and "Now You're Eating!" Their current slogan is "No one outpizzas the hut."
For a while, Pizza Hut had a cartoon character called "Pizza Head" in their commercials. He was a slice of pizza with a face made of toppings. In the 1970s, they also had a jolly man named "Pizza Hut Pete" on their bags and cups.
Pizza Hut has appeared in movies and video games. They sponsored the movie Back to the Future Part II (1989) and even gave away futuristic sunglasses. In the 1990 NES game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game, there were Pizza Hut ads in the background, and eating pizza in the game would give your character more health!
Famous people like Donald Trump, Ivana Trump, and Ringo Starr have appeared in Pizza Hut commercials.
United Kingdom Advertising
In the UK, famous people like Formula One driver Damon Hill and football players Gareth Southgate, Stuart Pearce, and Chris Waddle have been in Pizza Hut ads.
Russia Advertising
In 1997, even former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev appeared in a Pizza Hut commercial! It was filmed in Moscow's Red Square and showed Pizza Hut as a global brand.
In 2000, Pizza Hut paid to have its logo put on a Russian rocket that launched a module to the International Space Station.
Pasta Hut
On April Fools' Day in 2008, Pizza Hut in America sent emails saying they had changed their name to "Pasta Hut" to promote their new pasta dishes. This was a fun prank, and their main office even changed its sign! Pizza Hut in the UK did a similar stunt later that year.
Sponsorships
Pizza Hut has sponsored many sports teams and events.
- In the early 1990s, Pizza Hut helped sponsor a news show called The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
- From 2005 to 2012, Pizza Hut had the naming rights to a soccer stadium in Texas, which was called Pizza Hut Park.
- In 2018, Pizza Hut became the official pizza sponsor for the National Football League (NFL).
Book It! Program
Since 1985, Pizza Hut has sponsored the "Book It!" reading program. This program encourages students to read. If students read a certain number of books, their teacher gives them a certificate for a free Personal Pan Pizza from Pizza Hut. Classrooms that read the most books can even win a pizza party! This program was created to help kids read more.
Important Information
Pizza Hut has made efforts to reduce the amount of salt in its meals to meet health guidelines.
