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| - I am about to risk losing all of my Yelp credibility (assuming I have any) by giving this Pizza Hut four stars.
Let's begin with a useful quote: "It is what it is."
It's Pizza Hut. But! It's not every Pizza Hut. It's just this one Pizza Hut... and the Pizza Huts of 30+ years ago. (Back when "Pizza Hut vs. Pizza Inn" was as likely a topic of contention among friends as "Coke vs. Pepsi.") The rushed concoctions bulk-built in those Wingstreet regret factories made for carryout and delivery only? Or worse, the little cafes inside Target stores? Not the same thing.
We visited this Pizza Hut for the first time last month specifically to try the buffet, something neither of us had tasted in decades but we both had fond memories of. This is the only Pizza Hut left in town that still offers buffet. The next one's in Boulder City. The buffet runs from 10-3 every day and recently was added to Tuesday evenings.
My expectations were as follows: freshly made food, more than one vegetarian option, not too greasy, decent ingredients, courteous service, and a non-skeezy dining atmosphere.
I have no idea why I'm not giving this Pizza Hut a five, honestly. They hit if not surpassed all of the above. Pure snobbery on my part, I think. It's hard to give five stars to a chain with a ripped sofa-bench by the cash register and a grim (but adequately safe and spacious) parking lot, but I'm hard pressed to find anything else to criticize. I guess I can't give it a 5 because it's not my favourite pizza in the valley, but it's in the top five.
The hostess/waitress was genuinely personable and was interested in describing to us how the pizzas were made so they wouldn't be like delivery-style Pizza Hut. The pizzas on the buffet (so many types that they ran out of room to place them) were piping hot and replaced as soon as the tray was empty. Refills on soda came before they were needed. The salad bar was neat, fresh, and beat most Strip buffets in terms of the build-your-own ingredients.
The pizzas themselves were good. I had both cheese pizza and a veggie works. There were five different meat options with varying crusts plus a dessert pizza. On the side was baked pasta,breadsticks, and marinara sauce. Nothing was soggy or greasy about the pizzas, unlike what I order online from my local PH in dark moments of being too tired to leave the sofa. I still prefer Northside Nathan's and Grimaldi's, but this held its own.
Where else are you going to drop in for a relaxing, casual pizza buffet that lives up to wholesome childhood memories?
(Do *not* say Cici's. Cici's is a playdate flash mob that happens to serve food. At Pizza Hut you can sit, enjoy the meal, and not dodge grotty toddlers under the fluorescent lights.)
Consider this a 4.5 star review that will get evened out when my husband writes his review and gives it a 5. I know, I know: PIZZA HUT.
Look, we're not comparing it to some eatery at the Cosmopolitan or a micropub with handwritten menus or a big chain with scripted service. It is what it is is. And, if you judge it strictly in the "affordable, family-friendly (including families without kids) salad/pizza stop in a homey and hospitable environment, with food that, while not amazing, is solid in flavour and reflects preparation and pride in care" category, what it is is a winner.
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