Pizza Hut is attempting to "stay relevant," as the Washington Post's Tim Carman archly puts it, with a pop-up restaurant for one.
Yet here she was, at the corner of 50th Avenue and Center Boulevard, patiently hoping for the opportunity not only to sample a slice from Pizza Hut but also to do so in a scaled-down version of the chain's signature red-roofed restaurant, specifically designed for an occupancy of one. Maria H. — she provided the "H" only after prodding — was attracted to this stretch of sidewalk for the same reason we all were: to experience what life was like inside this Lilliputian-size Pizza Hut. Was it lonelier than a dog in space? Or was it an urban oasis where we could have 15 minutes of solitude from the noise, clatter, crises, memes and banalities of the modern world?
He remarks on the continued promise of the personal pan pizza, and how a restaurant for a single diner fulfills it.
This microscopic restaurant, I'd argue, finally fulfills the promise made in 1983, when the personal pan pizza first came to America's attention. Back then, the puffy six-inch pie was a pitch to busy workers who had no time to wait around for a full-size pizza to bake. "Ready in five minutes or you get one free next time you come in for lunch," intones the narrator of an early-1980s commercial. The pizza was designed for one, but it wasn't necessarily meant to be eaten alone. Friends could feast on their own mini-pies, too.
After giving it up to the "restaurants that look like modernist banks" trend of the 2010s, Pizza Hut began reintroducing its red roof motif—including on restaurants themselves—in 2019.
Previously:
• How did Pizza Hut lose its proverbial sauce?
• Watch this fantastic 1994 Pizza Hut TV commercial that's entirely in Klingon
• Book documents repurposed Pizza Huts worldwide
• Here's a comprehensive list of 'Pizza Hut Classic' restaurants for all of your nostalgic dining needs
• Watch the very first Pizza Hut commercial from 1965