A longtime local favorite is making its return.
According to at least one tuned in social media user, starting Wednesday, October 22, the Bradford Pizza Hut will officially reintroduce its salad bar and buffet — a nostalgic nod to the days when Pizza Hut’s dine-in experience was a community staple.
The salad bar is expected to be available all day, every day, while the lunch buffet will run Wednesdays through Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
An evening buffet will also be offered on Wednesdays from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
For many in the Twin Tiers, the news brings back fond memories of Pizza Hut’s golden era in the 1980s, ’90s, and early 2000’s — including the popular dine-in locations that once stood in Olean, where the Wednesday buffet was a lunchtime staple and the red plastic cups were part of the experience.
Buffets Making a Quiet Comeback
According to Yahoo Life, Pizza Hut’s corporate team reintroduced the “dining room model” in 2024, encouraging franchises to bring back that classic communal experience that made the brand famous.
Buffets, once the centerpiece of the Pizza Hut experience, began to fade in the 2000s as delivery and online ordering grew.
They halted altogether with the COVID pandemic.
Yet, a quiet revival has been spreading across the country.
Fans on Reddit have confirmed buffet locations in states including Georgia, Indiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, the Carolinas, Montana, Ohio, Mississippi, Wyoming, Texas, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and even as far as Hawaii and California.
Not every restaurant will feature a buffet, but for communities like Bradford, this return feels like more than a business move. It’s a big hit for our taste buds.
Nostalgia Served Fresh
The revival of Pizza Hut’s buffets and “classic” dine-in restaurants taps into a deep well of cultural nostalgia.
Reddit threads are filled with stories of diners discovering locations that look frozen in time, complete with jukeboxes, checkered tablecloths, and the warm, unmistakable smell of baking dough.
One fan described a North Carolina location as “untouched by time: red cups for beverages, light fixtures, jukebox, table cloths, and even the salad bar.”
Others chimed in with memories of childhood excitement at family dinners or sports team parties, a ritual that many say modern fast food has lost.
“It wasn’t fancy dining, but it was always a treat to go there,” one commenter wrote. “The pizza just tasted better back then. Those red glasses, the smell of pizza in the air, the faint arcade sounds from the corner — heaven.”
The Bradford Connection
For Bradford’s Pizza Hut, the buffet’s return is another notable dining option for locals.
Now, with the salad bar open daily and buffets returning multiple times a week, residents and those passing through can once again grab a plate, build a salad, and pile on their favorite slices.
It’s an experience that bridges generations — from parents who grew up in the heyday of dine-in Pizza Huts to kids discovering it for the first time.
In a time when dining often means eating on the go, Bradford’s Pizza Hut is bringing back the simple joy of sitting down together and consuming one slice at a time.
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