*Happy is said to be the family which can eat onions together. They are, for the time being, separate, from the world, and have a harmony of aspiration. - Charles Dudley Warner
Our lives are not in the lap of the gods, but in the lap of our cooks. -Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living*
===========================================================
INTRODUCTION
I have been to PH many times. Be it an eat-in or take-out or delivered at home. PH is one of the leaders in the restaurant business, specializing only on Pizzas. It offers many varieties of pizzas to suit various customer needs. I am not a very cheesy person. Yet, I like to have the taste of cheesy feeling in my tongue in the form of pizzas. I also go to PH with my colleagues whenever we want to have a group lunch. Pizza Hut comes in handy, especially when you have a group of friends meet at a place to watch a sports event or a nice movie. Pizza is the choice of many for it is a ?hip? thing to have pizzas amongst youngsters. My Association with Pizzas started a while ago in Chennai in the early 90s when I visited ?Hot Breads? in Cathedral Road. To be frank, when I had the pizza for the first time (Tomato), I thought it was nothing but an Uthappam(Pan Cake) with garnished vegetable. :- ). I have come a long way from that.
Many times I had the pan pizza (vegetarian) for my lunch during my stay in US and I liked it. It was quite a deviation from the routine torture of eating my own cooking. The liking for good pizza developed in me and I tried many famous brands such as Papa John?s, Dominos, Papa Murphy?s, Black Jacks, Sbarro. I have eaten traditional pizzas in a few Italian Restaurants such as Macaroni?s Grill, Olive Garden et al. To me, Pizza Hut is quite a choice, ignoring its short comings. Let me delve into my review
Pizza Hut ? History
Two brothers and a mom started PH with about 600 USD in 1958, at Wichita, Kansas. After a steady growth, mergers and acquisitions, Pepsico briefly owned it before letting it go, along with taco bell and KFC. Pizza Hut is the largest chain restaurant focusing on Pizza derivatives in the world. It is the leader in the $25 billion pizza industry.
PH ? An Analysis
Continuing where I left off in introduction, I have tried PH pizzas in various combinations and tastes. I always go for various vegetarian pizzas. I have tried Pan Pizza, Hand Tossed, Thin Crust and Thick Crust pizzas. I once ordered thin crust Spinach Pizza for my team when we had a successful release and the pizza was gone in few minutes. It was so delicious. My personal liking is towards the thick crust and Pan pizza. Hand tossed gives pizza a personal touch but it is not as crispy as Pan pizza. In my opinion, the thick crust is far better than the thin crust. As the quality of pizza depends upon the pizza maker and right timing for cooking and packaging, one may find the quality of the pizzas to be varying from time to time. Not many restaurants give exact same taste and crispiness to one?s liking. I found this over the years. If you know that you get the pizza of a particular liking on a day, stick to it, unless you find it differing. You also tend to get low quality pizzas on a day of high demands, such as when there is a huge sports event going on.
While I would rate PH lower than traditional restaurants and some mom-and-pop restaurants (family owned) where I had fabulous pizzas in the past, it ranks at the top of my fast food pizzas, along with Papa John?s. Dominos, Blackjack rank far lower than Pizza hut. On the contrary, I found a Dominos Pizza in Coimbatore?s Nehru Stadium offering me a great pizza, when I was in my hometown a while back. It left me wondering why I didn?t like the ones in US, compared to PH. It was a day of reckoning and I felt that PH is far better indeed. The reason I may have liked the dominos one could be due to the fact it was very spicy, in Indian way to satisfy my thirsty taste-buds.
Some great combinations one can try at PH are the following.
Thin crust Spinach pizza
Thick crust, Pan, Pizza with Pineapple, Onions, Green pepper, Tomatoes
Thick crust hand tossed pizza with Pineapple and Jalapeno peppers
Thick Crust, Pan, Spinach, Pineapple, Onions (sweet and sour)
Thick Crust, Pan pizza ? Vegetarian regular
For other menus, go to https://pizzahut.com/menu/
While pizza is yummy for your tummy, it is always wiser to check on the amount of calories you devour whilst eating them. For the very reason, PH offers a wide range of salads as well. PH also offers buffet style food, if you go to one of their restaurants. The buffet is sumptuous and filling. The breadsticks that PH offers is nice too. You may find different quality ones from different franchises though.
Most of the items offered by PH are fat rich and highly calorific.
I happened to live in a place that was surrounded by 8 PH within a 3 mile radius. I stayed in this place in US for about 4 years. I happened to see 3 of them close. You may wonder why they get closed when they are hugely popular. The reason is simple. Pizza is a costly affair and you have to wait for about 15-45 minutes unless you go for readily available ones. Pizzas are not liked very much by people of all ages. The reason why older generation stays away from the pizzas is due to the very same reason. Another reason is that they focus only on pizza derivatives and do not have multiple options. They are trying to get moving from this thing, I guess.
On the same note, you must be careful not to teach your toddlers with the taste of pizzas as one of my friends is facing a problem with his kid. This kid (2 years) likes the taste of cheese and does not want to eat anything other than the pizza. PH?s taste is very unique in a way and it can make you addictive. If you want to gain wait and become a competitor to Subway?s Jared by gaining 340 pounds in a year, eat 4 pizzas a day for a year, with breadsticks on the sides.
CONCLUSION
Jokes apart, when I weigh in my options, PH offers me a lot. Be it momentarily thrilling my taste buds, or quenching my hunger or giving a bulging tummy. The very nature of cheese makes pizza a great option. I don?t intend to eat pizzas on a daily basis but once in a while it is a great option. Pizzas can make your day. But not every day!.
PH is a great restaurant offering variety of pizzas and it gives a run for every other competitor?s money.
PH is a nice restaurant with a lot to offer in the form of menu. Go for it!
I hope you liked my review. Do comment, as time permits
KALIL
=========================================================
Their [the waiters'] eyes sparkled and their pencils flew as she proceeded to eviscerate my wallet - pâté, Whitstable oysters, a sole, filet mignon, and a favorite salad of the Nizam of Hyderabad made of shredded five-pound notes. -S. J. Perelman, The Rising Gorge
Public and private food in America has become eatable, here and there extremely good. Only the fried potatoes go unchanged, as deadly as before. -Luigi Barzini
