Pizza Hut Goes Fast Food With Drive-Thru, Open Kitchen, and ‘Hut ‘N Go’ Prototype

Craving a slice or two of hot and delicious pizza? Well, those living in Plano, Texas, are about to have a refreshed option as Pizza Hut launches a prototype location featuring several new twists and amenities, according to Restaurant Business.

New Pizza Hut Location Focused on Efficiency, Sustainability, and Modernity

The prototype pizza location (at 8605 Ohio Drive) will focus on a few essential pillars, as a Dec. 3 press release pointed out, including improvements to efficiency and sustainability. A renovation of a location that had been operating in a previous format for 25 years also means a commitment to modernization, according to company representatives.

First and foremost is the introduction of a new “Hut ‘N Go” menu category. Items ordered from this menu are assumed to be “ready now” and are able to be served up to hungry customers almost immediately after purchase — echoing shades of the famous “Hot-N-Ready” products promoted by competitor Little Caesars.

As part of a continued industry-wide push toward sustainability, the Plano prototype location will also feature energy-efficient lighting, energy-efficient ovens, auto-lift fryers, and a storewide energy management system to reduce wastage. As Reader’s Digest outlined, Pizza Hut is joined by other chains such as Chipotle, McDonald’s, Domino’s, Starbucks, and others in zeroing in on sustainability goals in 2024 and beyond.

The modern redesign features sleek lines, bright overhead lighting, minimalist seating arrangements, and at least one staple of fast-casual dining in recent times — an open kitchen so that customers can see their food being made in real time.

“Featured in nearly 2,000 Pizza Huts worldwide, we’ve seen how this restaurant design brings the brand to life with a distinctive, modern exterior, an effortless blend of physical and digital touchpoints and increased human interaction around the joy of pizza. In addition, the open kitchen approach lets our guests see the magic of our team members in motion as they craft each pizza,” said Joseph Call, the company’s global chief development officer.

Redesign or Be Left Behind

As Restaurant Business underscored, the pizza business is facing increased competition on all fronts. While in-house delivery service still exists in the pizza sector, competitors such as DoorDash and Uber Eats have become wildly successful, offering home delivery of a variety of different restaurant products. Pizza Hut’s same-store sales have dipped over the past four quarters, and sales have been relatively flat (or even ticking downward) for seven of the past 11 quarters. The same relative sluggishness in the pizza business also applies to Pizza Hut’s competitors.

Pizza Hut’s inclusion of a remodeled exterior and interior, keen focus on drive-thru service and “ready now” options to signal a return to fast and convenient food, and installation of ordering kiosks to provide a customized experience to customers may signal a pivot away from a more traditional pizzeria business model. While this is the first such location in the U.S., Pizza Hut leadership suggested that this operations model had established a proven track record in more than 80 markets worldwide. The company signaled that the redesigned operations had produced data indicating increased in-restaurant traffic and transactions.

“This location goes beyond a restaurant redesign; it embodies Pizza Hut’s creativity and vision for the brand’s future,” said Kalen Thornton, global chief brand officer for Pizza Hut. “This opening showcases our ability to innovate and evolve, which has served our 65-year leadership in pizza culture.”