This week we had to make a late pivot on our topic for the Journal-Tribune Podcast and landed on a topic about old school chain restaurants.
The idea came after we learned reporter Michael Williamson and his family occasionally frequent the lone remaining York Steakhouse, on West Broad Street in Columbus.
The podcast discussion meandered around the charm of York and Ponderosa steakhouses mostly, but also made its way to an existing restaurant that has undergone changes to its vibe.
The ample windowed Pizza Hut currently standing on West Fifth Street in Marysville is a far cry from its dimly lit original form.
Pizza Hut in the 80s had an atmosphere that almost seemed like it was angling for a mafia movie tone. The tables had sticky, plastic red and white checked tablecloths. The table lights were covered in an almost Tiffany-style, stained glass. Those lights provided the only glow in the restaurant, except for the sit-down, dual player Ms. Pac-man game that provided a blue glow to the southeast corner near the restrooms.
The Hut made a special connection with the elementary students back then, as the “Book It” program rewarded students with personal pan pizzas as reading rewards. That connection to PH carried over into middle school. Pizza Crossing was where local high school students hung out, so middle schoolers would walk to the Hut after dances or movies up town. On certain weekend nights it wouldn’t be unusual for more than half of the tables to be occupied by mildly rowdy preteens from the Marysville School District.
Time changes all things, even the Hut. I found that the imprint of PH on the American landscape extends far beyond ovens and red plastic cups.
In doing research for the podcast, I came upon a website simply titled Used to Be a Pizza Hut.
The opening paragraph spells its mission: “These beautiful structures, most likely now devoid of the table-top Pac-Man machines, dot the American landscape. Some provide ethnic food, some, used cars, and a rare few are now municipal buildings. Whatever their current purpose, we can always be reminded of the mediocre pizza that was once served in these establishments. That, and those red plastic cups.”
Although the site isn’t completely active anymore, it does contain an interactive map showing the locations of hundreds of former pizza hut buildings around the world. Clicking on the dots will reveal the new occupants of the building and often a picture of the new signage.
I mention this because the types of businesses located in former Pizza Hut buildings know no bounds. Listing a few might give you the flavor.
•A gourmet butcher shop in Kansas. Seems like a step down.
•A pharmacy in Alberta. Ironic that Pepsid is now being dispensed at a former Hut.
•A Liquor Hut in New Jersey. I appreciated that they maintained some of the branding.
•A Gospel Church in Georgia. In fact, a few have become churches – God, not chicken.
•A funeral home in Texas. I guess the casket can be placed atop the former salad bar.
•An Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Kentucky. I would maintain you were only renting the pizza as well.
•A child care facility in Australia. Seems like a McDonald’s with a play area would have been a better option.
•A radio station in Ontario. Q104 plays top 40 hits, but it feels like a missed opportunity to not call it Pizza Watts.
•A Pizza Planet restaurant in South Dakota. Dozens of former Huts have become other restaurants, but I mention this one because of its thrifty ownership. They kept the “Pizza” signage on the building (same font and everything), but removed the “Hut” and replaced it with a picture of a planet.
•A Maytag Laundry in Wisconsin. This location is unique because a new-style Pizza Hut was built in the adjacent parking lot.
•A dentist office in Oklahoma. Nobody out-molars the Hut.
•The Yakima County Morgue in Washington. I guess you’ve already got the ovens?
–Chad Williamson is the managing editor at the Journal-Tribune.