Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut is an international chain of quick-service pizza restaurants, founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1958. Significant in food history, Pizza Hut was primarily responsible for popularizing pizza, bringing a food item previously available only from pizzerias in urban Italian neighborhoods into American standard cuisine. Through extensive franchising, Pizza Hut successfully introduced pizza to consumers in small towns across the United States, and eventually throughout the world.

The success of Pizza Hut has more to do with the late-1950s revolution in fast-food franchising than with any tradition of Italian immigrant cuisine. With no experience in pizza-making, but looking for income to pay their college tuition, brothers Dan and Frank Carney borrowed six hundred dollars from their mother to open their first pizza restaurant in a rented brick building. The brothers needed a name for their restaurant. On a tight budget, they decided that they could afford only to modify the existing sign on their roof; it had room for eight letters, with the first five already spelling “Pizza” left over by the previous tenant. One of their relatives said that their small building resembled a hut and suggested that the word “Hut” be added to the sign. It fit, and the Carneys had their company name. Pizza Hut’s success was immediate. With their new restaurant generating sizable profits, the Carneys abandoned their education, instead expanding their operation and selling franchises. Midwestern consumers loved their pizza, and franchises sold quickly. As their chain grew to eighty-five restaurants by 1965, the brothers established a uniform architecture featuring a sweeping red roof, common marketing strategies, and company-wide standards for customer service. At the peak of their expansion the Carneys were opening a new restaurant every day.