8 things you’ll definitely remember if you ever went to Queanbeyan Pizza Hut
Situated on Atkinson street where Dominoes and Zambreros now reside, was once a magnificent hut of pizza. A high pitched roof and large windows that were covered in thick red curtains made the restaurant feel like a dark cavern. A place where all sense of time was easily lost.
It was a family friendly restaurant experience that wasn’t available anywhere else at the time and was revered for only the most important celebrations- in my working class family anyway. We’ve compiled the best pictures and memories from Pizza Hut restaurants of the past, that will take you, and your tastebuds, back in time.
1. The decor
It was an experience of its own. Large red leather booths that made you feel like you were at your own private party. Green carpet, stained glass light fixtures and red and white checkered tablecloths à la Italiana. Rich timber furnishings combined with the smell of the pizza dough cooking was a cosmopolitan experience for a child like me who had travelled no further than Yass.
2. Those red cups
Soft drinks just hit different from these cups. You’d pour your sweet bubbly Pepsi from a matching jug, and as a child who only had Cottee’s cordial at home, it was a rush let me tell ya.
3. Dougie the Pizza Hut delivery guy
Diarmid Heidenreich (not Dieter Brummer like I first thought) was a beach blonde teen idol. He won over Australian hearts as the awkward yet lovable, ‘Dougie the Pizza Hut delivery guy’ in a series of ads that ran from 1993 to 1996. Who wouldn’t want a piping hot pizza from that adorable face?
Watch one of the classic ads here
4. Thick Pan pizza
The pizza that had the crust to end all crusts. Cooked- and more importantly served- in a skillet for the wow factor, they were pure pizza indulgence.
5. ‘Book it’
The promotion where you earned free personal pan pizzas for just for reading Paul Jennings or Babysitters Club books. The best part, you got a sweet shiny badge to show off to your friends. It was my first learning experience in extrinsic rewards, and boy was it worth it. Now when I read books, all I get is a headache.
6. ‘The Works’
AKA an all you can eat pizza bar. Well apparently there was a salad bar too, but all I remember as a kid was the dessert bar. That fluffy chocolate mousse and the unlimited soft serve ice cream gave me a high I’ve been searching for my whole adult life.
7. The Land Before Time puppets
The iconic movie had just landed in 1988 and with it an iconic Pizza Hut promotion was born. Buy one of the cute characters from the film as a flimsy plastic puppet for just 99 cents with any pizza (apparently they go for over $100 on eBay now!). Everyone had them in their bath or backyards and somehow they became the perfect fit as a tow ball cover. I still get emotional when I see a little Ducky or Sarah on the back of a car.
8. Bigfoot Pizza
Pizza Hut was known for pushing the envelope in pizza engineering and the ‘Bigfoot’ pizza did just that in 1993 when they introduced a rectangular pizza that offered a whopping 6 different toppings. Another notable pizza was the stuffed crust pizza that was actually invented by Pizza Hut in 1995. What even was life before stuffed crust pizza?!
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About the Author: Holly Winchester
Part Jennifer Coolidge, part Jennifer Garner (gaudy and geeky), Holly idolises Dolly Parton and Princess Di and loves NRL. When she's not creating killer content, you’ll find Holly at the Maccas drive thru getting her chai latte fix or buying 1990s memorabilia for the walls of her Googong home. Specialist subject: the Woolies carpark.
