Drop everything: Pizza Hut all-you-can-eat may be returning
WORD on the street is Pizza Hut is considering bringing back the buffet to more restaurants in Australia. And you know what that means: bacon bits and tiny marshmallows.
A STORY broke in our newsroom yesterday that almost caused a bigger reaction than Donald Trump winning the US election.
Pizza Hut is considering bringing back ‘The Works’ all-you-can-eat experience.
My god, look at these retro prices:
Now we know that Pizza Hut dine-in still exists, but let’s face it, they’re becoming as rare as unicorns. There are about 15 dine-in restaurants remaining around the country out of 300+ stores.
One that still exists is the eat-in restaurant in Gympie, Queensland. There was a controversial plan to dump it earlier this year, but it was retained after a public outcry.
Onya, Gympie. You fight the good fight.
There’s a Facebook group titled Bring Back Pizza Hut All you can Eat that has 89 members ... which isn’t exactly a vocal pack, but it’s nice that they have somewhere to share their feelings.
The news unleashed a flood of nostalgia in our newsroom that prompted us to reminisce about the finer points of Pizza Hut’s (undeniably limited) all-you-can-eat experience.
The hygiene screen over the food that you always banged your head on
It makes sense that it was there — you don’t want anyone sneezing on your food. But they were see-through and you were enthusiastic about reaching for that bit of Supreme up the back ... and bang: you’re seeing stars.
The mini marshmallow and blue jelly cubes
The tiny marshmallows were appealing because you could eat a mountain of them. And some of the jelly cubes were blue and what flavour even is that. You usually piled them all on top of ice cream and slathered it with chocolate sauce. Let’s call it the Diabetics’ Delight (TM).
Hell, wash it down with all you can drink Pepsi while you’re at it. Who needs teeth anyway.
Self serve soft serve and chocolate mousse
Two of the most unchallenging desserts under the sun — perfect for those with limited motor skills and no teeth (ie children and the elderly). Good thinking, Pizza Hut.
The pasta where there were only two options of sauce
Look, don’t get too demanding. You’re only getting two options when it comes to pasta sauce. What more can you want for that bargain basement price. There was a creamy sauce and a tomato sauce, but if you knew what was good for you, you mixed them both together to make something that resembled vomit. And then you piled it high with that powdered parmesan that probably doesn’t actually contain any actual cheese.
The fact that you got a voucher for The Works when you completed the MS Readathon as a kid
Thinking about it now, this is odd. Fundraising for a health issue rewarded with all-you-can-eat pizza. The ‘80s and ‘90s were great. Remember when obesity wasn’t really considered an issue?
The pizza
No one had time for thin crust, it was all about that oily deep pan goodness. And when Hawaiian came out 900 children descended on it like an ant on a crumb at a picnic.
The salad bar
Ha ha ha. Why would you use up any stomach space on salad. The only thing that got you to the salad bar was the bacon bits. Many people had a love/hate relationship with bacon bits — they resembled dry dog food, but they also tasted like straight salt, so you can’t really stay angry with them.
The challenge of how much you could fit on your plate so you didn’t have to get up and walk all the way back to the buffet
The art of ‘salad stacking’ really took off in China, where they made it into something of an art form.
The lady at the top is showing how it’s done when you’re a professional. You layer a bowl with carrot sticks to create a firm base. You then build ‘walls’ with cucumber slices (or garlic bread, because really, who has time for cucumber slices).
Then you fill the tower with your food of choice and walk back to your table with your stunning creation, presumably to cheers from fellow diners.
