About Pizza Hut In 1958, Frank and Dan Carney had an idea for a great local pizza restaurant in Wichita Kansas. When a friend suggested opening a pizza parlor--then a rarity--they agreed that the idea could prove successful, and they borrowed $600 from their mother to start a business with partner John Bender.
Renting a small building at 503 South Bluff in downtown Wichita and purchasing secondhand equipment to make pizzas, the Carneys and Bender opened the first Pizza Hut restaurant; on opening night, they gave pizza away to encourage community interest. The small 25 seat restaurant only had room for 9 letters on the sign… the building looked like a hut… so 'Pizza Hut' was born!
A year later, in 1959, Pizza Hut was incorporated in Kansas, and Dick Hassur opened the first franchise unit in Topeka, Kansas. Fifteen years later, we opened the first UK restaurant and since then we've become the biggest Pizza Company on the planet!
A subsidiary of PepsiCo, Inc., the company oversees more than 11,000 pizza restaurants and delivery outlets in 90 countries worldwide.
