Thursday, September 23, 2021

The Great Pizza Adventure #12 - Pizza Hut

People in Fort Wayne say there's something special about our Pizza Hut pizza, that it sparkles in your mouth, and that Pizza Hut pizza from, say, Battle Creek, Michigan just isn't as good.  At least they used to before Dick Freeland died and all the Pizza Huts went downhill.  Or at least that's what they say.  

Who's Dick Freeland?  Only the local Pizza Hut magnate who built a THIRTY MILLION DOLLAR HOUSE before he died.

Until this recent Great Pizza Adventure, and before covid, the majority of Pizza Hut pizzas that went into my belly did so via their glorious buffet.  Now those are gone, never to return.  And my life is definitely more empty because of it, and so is my belly.  Was Pizza Hut the best pizza in town?  No, but it was pretty stinkin' good.  Definitely top tier quality.  And to be able to shovel as much into your pie hole as you were physically able to for seven or eight bucks was an amazing deal!

But again, all that is over.  "No Pizza Hut buffet" is the new normal.  And I blame Fauci.

Anyway, so this was my first pizza from the Hut in about two years and I was hoping it would be good.  After the semi-disappointing Papa John pizza and the Ziffles and and and I was really needing a pick-me-up.  Normally I would go to the original-in-Fort-Wayne place about two miles away but since I'm trying to keep these reviews from places in and around the 46815 area code, I chose to go to the one on Stellhorn.  And here, for you dear reader, I took a major risk.  About five years ago I knew a guy who installed Comcast cable in all the Pizza Huts and he said he would never eat at the Stellhorn location from the things he saw in the kitchen, and he lived right by the place.  But for you I'll risk a night on the throne.


I went to their web site and found a special... $9.99 for a large three topping.  Yumbly!  With tax it came to $10.80,  or 1080p.  Ordering was easy and it was truly ready in 15-20 minutes, like they said.  Here's the online picture of what my pizza would look like.  Let's see... 32 pepperonis* and, er, I'm not going to count all the sausages.  Or the tiny bacons.






Here's what I got.  It kinda looks like the same pizza, but one that got hit by an ugly stick.  And only 26 pepperonis, although lots more sausage** and certainly no lack of toppings.  We'll call it even.  The bacon amount was negligible, just barely enough to know it's there.

At 35.8 ounces it's about in the middle of the pack.  Way to go average, Pizza Hut.  




13.5 inches... not quite the 14 inches as promised.  I bet Dick Freeland wouldn't have let this kind of shoddy quality control go unpunished.

The sauce had a good flavor and was plentiful, just the way I like it!  The crust had a solid crunch where it's supposed to crunch, chew where it's supposed to chew, not soggy, decent flavor.  No complaints about the amount, flavor or quality of the cheese and the savory meats.  Kudos!  You made a solid pie!  I have no idea why people are saying you've gone down in quality in the past few years.  

And the best thing is... no food poisoning!

Weight: 35.8 oz
Diameter: 13.5" 
Cost: $10.80

Service: 8
Crust: 8
Sauce: 8
Toppings: 8 (quantity) + 8 (flavor) / 2 = 8
Value: 8 (30.17 cents per ounce) / 7.5 cents per square inch

                  Overall Score: 8

                  Flavor Score: 8.0   (I'm seeing a trend here)

Well I did NOT see that coming.  Maybe it was lowered expectations or coming after two mis-fires but surprisingly Pizza Hut is currently on the top of the heap!


* It's a good thing there weren't 33 pepperonis or I'd suspect Masonic involvement.

** Okay, I did count them.  52, give or take.