Last week, I was having a conversation with my youngest son, who just graduated from college and was minted without a mint in the bank yet.
While he was actively searching for his first cybersecurity job, I gently explained to him that he might need to get a regular job. Preferably a summer job. job job. The type that actually pays you while getting your dream job.
laura lee jones
I remember being him. I remember wanting to get a big journalism job right out of college. I wanted a job with a byline, a desk, and an important title if possible. But the truth is, my first job after college was at Pizza Hut.
I earned a big, expensive degree, a red embroidered button-up blouse, and a Pizza Hut visor that still smelled like bread pizza grease.
to be honest? We have a long relationship with Pizza Hut.
I remember a brick building with a red roof and a homely interior. I’m almost positive that the house in my hometown had a wood-burning fireplace in the center of the dining room. Because in the 1980s they had to serve pan pizza, which was a fire hazard.
In high school, I worked at a Chinese restaurant next door to a local shack. Pizza Hut was open an hour later than work hours, so I would often walk in after work, chat with friends who worked there, and drink Coke with a straw from one of the big red plastic cups. Those cups didn’t break.
The small college town where I spent the next four years had arguably the best Pizza Hut ever. There were very few restaurants in Canton, Missouri, so Pizza Hut was a popular weekly spot. A group of college students gathered there, eating all at once a bread stick, a pitcher of beer, and a personal pan pizza that somehow had soft, crispy, buttery, and life-sustaining edges.
That scorching little black pot might burn our fingerprints, but we accepted the risk. It was part of the ceremony.
Then came my first job after graduation. I was a salad bar girl at a Pizza Hut in suburban St. Louis. It wasn’t glamorous, but it helped me buy groceries and pay rent while I looked for my first reporting job. I restocked the lettuce, wiped my sneeze guard, and waited for real life to start, not realizing that real life had already begun with my red visor on.
As the years passed, my excitement for visiting Pizza Hut faded. For a while I took my kids to family meals under the hut, but then something happened.
The place started to feel generic.
The brick interior has disappeared. Red vinyl booths have been replaced with nondescript gray chairs. Stained glass Tiffany-style lamps have been replaced with modern pendant lighting. No more salad bar. No more having to do the occasional pizza buffet. No more checkered tablecloths. No more red plastic cups!
It’s been more than a decade since I saw families huddled under the soft light of Pizza Hut lamps, waiting for servers to bring out their bubbling pan pizzas while everyone tried not to jump in and burn their fingers.
But guess what?
Traditional huts are back.
Some franchises are reviving traditional Pizza Hut dining rooms across the country. red booth. arcade game. stained glass lamp. Salad bar. The Gen X pizza mothership is blinking back.
And yes, I know it’s probably marketing. We know that nostalgia is big business. But I don’t care. Some things should be revived.
Pizza Hut was more than just pizza, so we were able to enjoy a post-game dinner and Book It! certificate. It was the thrill of birthday parties, first jobs, first paychecks, college nights, family meals, and just before you touched the pot, you were told, “Don’t touch it, it’s hot.”
It was the color. It was the flavor. It was a destination.
I hope this is a trend. I wish more places would remember that not everything has to be sophisticated, gray and forgettable. Sometimes you just want red cups, warm booths, glowing lamps, and garlicky breadsticks dipped in delicious marinara.
If you grew up in the 70s or 80s, you probably have a story about hats. I would love to hear from you. Maybe it’s your first date, your first job, or your weekly family dinner. Back then, Pizza Hut was great!
I can smell that pan pizza now.
Laura Lee Jones is a storyteller, author, and former radio girl from the Shenandoah Valley who writes about middle age, nostalgia, and the strange reality that Gen Xers are now adults. For more information about Substack, visit lauraleejones.substack.com. Please contact laura.jones062869@gmail.com.
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