Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/02/01/book-documents-repurposed-pizz.html
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99% Invisible did a great piece on UTBAPHs (Use To Be A Pizza Hut). http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/u-t-b-a-p-h/
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http://notfoolinganybody.com/ has been doing this for years, with sections for many iconic building designs. they even have a section just for pizza hut: http://notfoolinganybody.com/category/pizza-hut/
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While this sounds interesting, I was having a hard time parsing “Book documents” correctly as Noun-Verb as opposed to Noun-Noun or pseudoAdjective-Noun
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There was one in Jonesboro, AR that was turned into a (very, very sad) frat house.
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Pizza Hut: Pizza in name only.
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For a while both IHOP and Howard Johnson’s had very recognizable standard architecture, I’ve seen plenty of those repurposed as well.
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You can take the pizza off the hut but you can’t take the hut off the pizza.
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I totally agree. HoJo had that mid century vibe. I miss seeing them around. IHOP, HoJo and Pizza Hut had very recognizable architecture indeed. Buildings as extensions of their logos. In a time where interstate highways where carrying cars by faster and faster it was a great solution for instant recognition.
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Yes, you could do a similar book on the super-high-roof’d International House of Pancakes restaurants. I’ve seen them repurposed as a pasta restaurant and a Chinese restaurant. Undoubtedly many more.
The case of HoJo is especially poignant, because of how much of an institution the chain was. I remember they had their own candy bars and ice cream for sale in the restaurants. Last time I remember for sure going to a HoJos was on a Thanksgiving when the family car had a fender-bender on the Cross Bronx Expressway while braving hideous traffic on the way to a get-together in New Jersey. My mother, fed up, insisted we turn around. The turkey dinner at HoJos was pretty mediocre, as I recall, but the place was quite full.
But not quite all gone. There is, apparently, one actual remaining Howard Johnson’s restaurant / hotel. (The second to last closed last year.) No idea if the remaining establishment still has the orange-and-blue theme.
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I run across old Taco Bells all the time. The strangest conversion was a law firm.
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Oooh, I missed that one!
There are no good excuses not to listen to 99% Invisible.
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When these huge franchises move into another country, they’re usually here to stay. Here in Austria, Pizza Hut was the only one I know that moved out again (KFC, Starbucks and Subway seem to be struggling, but they exist). Probably because the pizza market was saturated already, american-style pizza is not really a thing and we’re next to Italy.
Aww man, that bloke’s Kiwi-Vietnamese-'Strayan hybrid accent is just adorable.
A town near me has had a Pizza Hut location since the early days. Its original “hut” location is now a Mexican restaurant. The cupola is gone, but the trapezoidal windows are still there. The second location (a larger, brick “hut”) is now empty with a “for sale” sign, as they vacated it in favor of a small strip mall location. I’m guessing the owner wants too high a price, since new businesses in the area don’t seem interested (much like the ex-Applebee’s in my town that has stood empty for years while new construction is booming a half mile north). Something’s seriously askew when it’s cheaper to build new than buy an existing building in the same area.
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Thanks for the link! Didn’t find any of our local recycled PH’s, but found our local repurposed Long John Silvers:
Among the best Thai on offer in Washtenaw County.
Oooh, and the former Taco Bell just down the road!
The old Pizza Hut building in Athens, GA has been many things, but it’s currently a Middle Eastern restaurant called The Sultan:
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Yeah, if you grew up with Hojos and IHOP the architecture is probably saved in your subconscious, so when you see one that is now an insurance office or sporting goods store, you’ll get something akin to deja vu.
