Maryland’s lone ‘retro’ Pizza Hut only sort of exists in Oxon Hill

Remember Pizza Hut’s sneeze-guarded salad bar? Or the arcade cabinets? What about the booths with red-checkered tablecloths filled with glistening, buttery pan pizzas?

Many thought it was lost decades ago. Well, the popular pizza chain says it’s still alive in Oxon Hill.

But after a visit around lunchtime Tuesday, I regret to report that the message of a retro revival has not reached Maryland. Customers can still order pizzas for carryout and delivery, but you can’t sit down to eat and grab a red plastic cup of soda to go with it.

Pizza Hut’s parent company, Yum! Brands, announced last week that 155 locations across the United States are still in operation as a sit-down restaurant. Oxon Hill was Maryland’s only location on the list.

As recently as March, the corporation didn’t have any public documentation of how many classic locations were still in business, according to The New York Times.

The surge of interest comes amid social media videos in which fans recall vivid nights spent inside their local Pizza Hut — and even those who may have been born after their nearest Pizza Hut closed down — who have made pilgrimages to find these elusive outposts.

I have a fondness for Pizza Hut’s sit-down spots from my childhood, eating there and playing “The Simpsons” arcade game with my brother. My mother’s preferred pie remains the chain’s signature pan pizza from those nights spent around the low-lit tables. So, I was eager to point toward Oxon Hill to see what it all looked like decades later.

The restaurant gave off a decent first impression with its namesake hut structure still intact, even if the roof was a dark, wooden brown rather than a glowing red. That continued for a few, brief seconds when I was greeted inside with the delightful and familiar tablecloths and Tiffany-style lamps.

But that wore off when I saw it was all cordoned off, with chairs pushed along the sides of the wall and upturned on each other. One table sat in the middle of the dining room with chairs pulled away from it. It was as though I had entered a museum’s exhibit of a Pizza Hut: I could look but not touch.

One worker, who declined to provide his name, said he had heard there were still ongoing conversations about transitioning to full service but had no clear timetable for when that would happen. He pointed out that one sticking point would be reinstalling a soda fountain that was removed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Representatives for Yum! Brands did not immediately reply to requests for comment about the status of this and other locations.

Still, a handful of customers and food delivery workers streamed in and left with boxes for lunch just after noon. If and when Oxon Hill lights up their decorative lamps again, I’ll be back and ready for a slice.

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