Over the years, Pizza Hut’s fountain sodas have been eliminated as hundreds of their restaurants closed, and the remaining stores shifted to delivery and take-out only. (Find out more about that change here.)
Despite the lack of dine-in options (and fountain drinks!) in the US, they’re still considered to be the largest pizza chain in the world, with more than 18,000 Pizza Hut restaurants in over 100 countries, based on company data viewed in 2022.
The American-born pizza chain was founded in Kansas back in 1955, and was owned by PepsiCo from 1977 to 1997. In the 90s, the restaurants were spun off into a new company — Yum! Brands — along with KFC and Taco Bell.
If you want to find out more about the history of the pizza chain, and see more pictures of the olden days, when checkered tablecloths and red plastic cups mixed it up with pan pizzas and salad bars, you might like to take this little walk down memory lane: Vintage Pizza Hut restaurants & food from the 70s.
