Speaking of nostalgia, how many of the fond memories are actually from Pizza Inn? I thought that was the chain with the red and white table covering.

David_Puddy said:

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I haven't been to Lake Charles in awhile but after a long night of gambling, our go to stop on the way back to Houston was that Lake Charles Mr. Gattis buffet. It was pretty decent, especially for being hungover.

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Mr. Gattis buffet from about 1984-1990 was about as good as it gets.

Pizza Hut made to order late 70s to mid 80s was also excellent. It was pizza worth waiting for.

Overall, ingredients just aren't the quality they used to be. I think some of it is that most places do get most ingredients from the same suppliers. Less is as fresh or made in-house as it used to be. I think food costs have made it nearly impossible to have a good pizza buffet.

Pizza Ranch in the Midwest is pretty decent. I hate seeing all the former PH buildings up there. Every town over a couple thousand people used to have one since they originated in Kansas.

samurai_science said:

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Teslag said:

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aggie93 said:

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Saw how they are going retro in some locations but the problem is they changed the food. Pizza Hut used to have a unique deep dish pizza with real flavor and fresh ingredients and it's been cardboard slop or gimmick pizza for a long time. I haven't voluntarily spent money with them in at least 20 years, if I want cardboard pizza I just get Dominos. I'd love to have them as a "real" pizza option though again but not holding my breath.

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They still have the deep dish pan and it's as good as ever. Their app has much better deals than just ordering by phone.

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They changed the recipes years ago and it's cheap garbage. Bottom of the list in taste tests

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I worked there in high school 30 years ago and more Pizza Hut than you could imagine. It doesn't taste any different today.

torrid said:

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Recently I saw a story about some franchisees going 80s retro. Bringing back the old logo, red checkered tablecloths, and red plastic drink tumblers. Trying to re-establish a Gen-X customer base with nostalgia.

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so what was the scam here? Market the nostalgia to make it a more attractive asset to sell? Seems that way.

Buford T. Justice said:

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It seems as though PE always fails.

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Pizza Eating?

So on the final day of Pizza Hut closing, will they make the employees make their own pizzas for the pizza party.

Buford T. Justice said:

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Speaking of nostalgia, how many of the fond memories are actually from Pizza Inn? I thought that was the chain with the red and white table covering.

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Pizza Inn. Shakey's.

Both good competitors to Pizza Hut back in the day.

Mega Lops said:

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torrid said:

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Recently I saw a story about some franchisees going 80s retro. Bringing back the old logo, red checkered tablecloths, and red plastic drink tumblers. Trying to re-establish a Gen-X customer base with nostalgia.

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so what was the scam here? Market the nostalgia to make it a more attractive asset to sell? Seems that way.

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Only doing it at select locations. I think test marketing a way to boost the brand that didn't finish before the sale.

I might go once or twice - for the nostalgia, not the pizza. Virtually every town has a mom-and-pop pizza place that is way better.

Mama's Pizza in Plano.

No love for CiCi's?!?!

Lots of misunderstanding going on. Pizza Hut isn't owned by China like someone said (it is owned by Yum, a US publicly traded company. They are like most pizza and other restaurant chains - they have company owned and franchise locations, but the vast majority are franchisees. The $1.7B won't include all the locations, just corporate owned restaurants and the franchisor intangibles. Those are also mostly leased locations, so not really much real estate.

They may do what CiCi's did a few decades ago and fix the pizza by fixing the ingredients. They focused on the restaurant distribution company and made it so franchisees could get higher quality ingredients at the same or better prices, and that their company was the absolute best option for restaurant supplies and food ingredients. That would be a good thing for all you Pizza Hut fans.

Yep. You're replying to a thread there the OP hates PEFs because he likely lost his kush job due to the change years ago and now acts like a conservative and capitalist but obsesses against big business. The subject matter (Pizza Hut) brought in all the small and mid town nostalgia folks who want to talk about how good it used to be even though the brand has been a black eye for 20+ years.

But they're all business experts too. So they want deep dish buffets even though America doesn't.

I'm not guaranteeing success by this new acquisition but I'm very happy an iconic American brand may get a framework to survive. Will be interesting to revisit this in 5 or 10 years.

Cici's might be the worst pizza ever. But it was cheap for the kids growing up.

IMHO, one of the best movies of all time. Bad News Bears 1976...

Buford T. Justice said:

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Speaking of nostalgia, how many of the fond memories are actually from Pizza Inn? I thought that was the chain with the red and white table covering.

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I always thought Pizza Inn was clearly inferior to Pizza Hut. However, they had a cheap buffet and I would go there with my broke high school friends and happily gorge on C- pizza.

As for Pizza Hut, there was a sit down Pizza Hut about a block from my childhood home and I loved going there as a kid. Never had the self discipline to let the pizza cool down so I always ended up burning the crap out of my mouth with that first lava-hot bite.

When I graduated boot camp, my parents flew out to San Diego and I had them take me straight to Pizza Hut for dinner. I had been Jonesing for pizza for weeks by then.

Exactly.

Yum Brands wasn't exactly setting the menu bar very high either Pizza Hut, KFC, or Taco Bell.

This is a strange post to start.

We have multiple better options for Pizza near me, but sometimes I just want my childhood favorite from Pizza Hut straight out of the oven.

BTW, there's a Pizza Hut in Tomball where you can sit down but its really delivery focused and doesn't even have fountain drinks (just bottled drinks). Theres another one near Willowbrook but it does not exactly have a crack management team.

Bunk Moreland said:

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Yep. You're replying to a thread there the OP hates PEFs because he likely lost his kush job due to the change years ago and now acts like a conservative and capitalist but obsesses against big business.

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I don't usually respond to childish ad hominem attacks as it is against board rules.

I reject labels like capitalist or conservative because everyone who uses those terms are mega-frauds. All they want to do is make money and indulge in grift while hiding behind these words. Much like the super-religious people who talk about how much they pray and that everyone else is a devil worshipper.

I don't necessarily hate or like PEFs, I just hate cheats, scoundrels, liars and fraudsters. And since most corporations display these behaviors, I now think it is okay to pay it back in the same way. I never boot-lick anyone, I do good honest work, I get paid what I deserve - simple as that.

I have my own views on topics that I share here and sometimes those views change with time and with additional information.

I see pros and cons with every kind of system, be it capitalism, or socialism or anything else. No way is perfect, so we have to pick the best mixture that works for us.

As for a job, I am in a "cush job" right now, in the tech industry, working in cutting edge stuff. So there is no need to worry about me. I am lucky that I just work for fun nowadays, not to put food on the table or to pay off debt (I paid off all debt in 2018). I am an investor and I make several times (in the double digits) my corporate salary through capital gains. So why do I work a corp job? I work because it keeps me busy, I get to work from home, and I like my boss, my coworkers and I am on some hot projects that matter to our customers.

OK, enough diversion, and back to the topic.

agAngeldad said:

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Cici's might be the worst pizza ever. But it was cheap for the kids growing up.

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In the 90s, there was a Pizza place near Aggieland Credit Union - does anyone remember? Was it Caesar's Pizza or Cici's Pizza? We also had Gatti's Pizza close by.

I just found out some interesting information.

You know the Aggieland Credit Union on University Drive? In the early 80s, it used to be a Pizza Hut! Does anyone remember this and has anyone eaten there?

501 University Drive

I didn't realize Dominos was considered the best chain pizza now.

infinity ag said:

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Pizza Hut on University Drive. College Station (now closed). Back then it had a different look. Used to love going there.

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I went to that location as a kid. Between there and Mazzio's it didn't get much better in the late 80s and early 90s.

aggiehawg said:

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nortex97 said:

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Not a fan of private equity in many respects either but something needed to be done I guess, and this is a move from Chinese ownership to something else at least. I don't know anything about this PE outfit but for what they paid for it they must think they can make it into something closer to what it was.

Pizza Hut around 15+ years ago had a move to 'better ingredients' I think that worked well for a bit but then they just treaded water the past 10 years in my mind. Caveat; I'm too old/fat to eat pizza more than a handful of times a year so my take is probably wrong.

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I get your point. But the reason so many chain restaurants have deteriorated food wise is the reliance on Sysco for ingredients. Sysco is crap as a wholesaler. I was in the grocery business with my first husband for a time. Only as good as your supplier. We switched wholesaler affiliations for just that reason. Better produce, better meat equals better profits on better volume.

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Were you buying Reliance, Classic, Imperial, or Supreme line?

I did 25 years in the business. I saw places buy the top line, and then turn it into slop going to the front. Likewise, I saw places buy the cheapest thing they could get, and turn out some amazing food.
Where was your restaurant? What was the name?

The Ex Officio Director said:

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Oh no a crappy pizza chain is dying. What ever shall we do.

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Found the "foodie" snob...

mm98 said:

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Exactly.

Yum Brands wasn't exactly setting the menu bar very high either Pizza Hut, KFC, or Taco Bell.

This is a strange post to start.

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Consistently think Yum Brands does one of the worst jobs in all of the chain space. At least in the US. I flat out refuse their stuff at this point.

TxLawDawg said:

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I have very fond memories of Pizza Hut as a kid, but their food is absolutely terrible now. I wish they'd resurrect the old style sit down restaurants with salad bars and lunch buffets, but maybe that's just wishful nostalgia. I don't know if that would work any more since it doesn't seem like many other restaurants do it. But I will say one of the most popular restaurants near me still has a great salad bar and there's almost always a wait for tables. Either way, Pizza Hut needs to start from scratch with their pizza like Domino's did several years ago, because their current pizza is trash.

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This was what made Pizza Hut different from the delivery chains when I was a kid. They had Ms Pac-Man arcade tables, that was a highlight. It was really good pizza back then. Since the restaurants started closing, it became delivery focused, and the quality failed to keep up with competitors, it became the trash pizza in my mind, and I think most people started to feel the same way. I don't know how much of that was me getting older vs the quality going down, but that's my impression.

infinity ag said:

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I just found out some interesting information.

You know the Aggieland Credit Union on University Drive? In the early 80s, it used to be a Pizza Hut! Does anyone remember this and has anyone eaten there?

501 University Drive

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What was there in the late 80s/early 90s? I don't seem to recall. I know the building to the right of it was a bicycle shop, then FedEx/Kinko's to the right of that. Maybe it was already the credit union and I just don't remember.

Ag_of_08 said:

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Right? I've never actually seen PE do anything but destroy a business and industry..

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A lot of times that is the intention. Fire everyone and sell the assets for more than the going concern is worth.

However, sometimes they see a dying business, formally a successful one, but hitting rock bottom. They buy it and turn it around. Examples of this are:

Dollar General KKR bought it and cleared cluttered inventory, revamped the storefront layouts, implemented rigid pricing discipline, and executed a highly successful 2009 IPO.

Hilton Hotels Blackstone restructured billions in debt, shifted to a low-overhead franchising model, and built the competitive Hilton Honors digital check-in platform

Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins In 2006, Dunkin' Brands was heavily struggling against Starbucks' premium coffee dominance. The company suffered from severely outdated storefronts, highly inefficient operations, and deep friction with its franchise owners. The private equity (PE) consortium bought it, initiated an operational overhaul that saved the brand.

I ate there in '91. I remember seeing a poster for a Toad the Wet Sprocket show in there.

sincereag said:

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I liked Pizza Inn better than Pizza Hut.

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I did too once upon a time. Went there last year in Wylie visiting my sister. Holy crap was it turrible. But I think everything in Wylie is terrible except for Taco Joint

HarveyUpdyke_Ag said:

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Two Pesos and Taco Bueno are better than Taco smell.

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There aren't many of them in central Texas, but Taco Casa is great for what it is.

ChoppinDs40 said:

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Mama's Pizza in Plano.

No love for CiCi's?!?!

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Worked at Mama's Pizza on Parker in 1984. Still my favorite pizza.
Luckily my 90 yr old dad still lives down the street, so I still go there occassionally. Damn good zza.

I love Pizza Hut pizza and they make my favorite wings.

Pizza hut hasn't been good since the 90's

There's a sketchy old original on the north side of Coleman. Never been in, but it's never changed over the decades of being there. I still see cars there when I fill up at Allsups next door.


Some jokes write themselves

AND....the yelp reviews are gold.....litterally.....

Quote:

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waited in my food for over 40 minutes after they said it was supposed to be ready then they said they were going to bring it out of course they didn't and by the time I got my food it was almost cold and forgot my wings completely careless employee absolute garbage and a joke don't come here. Not only do they have terrible service I found a rock literally Baked into my pizza this place is a literal biohazard DO NOT COME HERE

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back to back posts...

Quote:

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I love Pizza Hut pizza and they make my favorite wings

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Quote:

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Pizza hut hasn't been good since the 90's

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LOL