Remember the red cups, the buffet, the classic lighting above the booths? Meet the man trying to revive the old-school Pizza Hut vibe from our childhoods. It’s a slice of nostalgia many crave, with customers excited to show their kids what these establishments used to look like and how they operated. It’s also an attempt to save the franchise, which has been floundering.
At least 250 underperforming locations were ordered to close, so what does Tim Sparks, whose company operates 100 locations, have to lose? At least 80 of his locations have been retrofitted, literally (via NY Post):
We're so back.
— Matt Braynard (@MattBraynard) May 16, 2026
An entrepreneur is restoring Pizza Huts to their former glory. pic.twitter.com/viJcpwtEVt
Tim Sparks, president of Daland Corporation, a Kansas-based company that operates almost 100 Pizza Hut locations across the country, is helping keep Pizza Hut alive by rewinding the clock and redecorating over 80 annoyingly modern, stark-looking locations to make them look like they did decades ago.
Red roof? Check
Red-checkered tablecloths, vinyl booths and Tiffany-style lamps? Check, check and check.
The beloved salad bar and red plastic cups will be back.
Even the old-school Pac-Man machines will return.
Unsurprisingly, customers are losing their minds over this massive change.
“I am so excited and when they are restored I will be eating there as a new tradition every Friday,” one wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“This was our Thursday night meal out before kids. Salad bar and pac-man. Waitress knew our order too. It would be nice to return to that atmosphere in our retirement too where you can have an audible conversation while in a restaurant,” another wrote in a Facebook comment.
Others pleaded for Pizza Hut to bring back its OG pizza recipe.
Win or lose, I love the move.
