Pizza Hut launches “concept restaurant” with ultra-fast drive-thru

Pizza Hut began as a table-service restaurant decorated with Tiffany lamps and checkered tablecloths. Currently, it is primarily a delivery business, bringing your products to your home (or allowing you to pick them up). As for its future, it’s thinking about a quick drive-thru service.

The chain debuted the first of its locations with what it’s calling a “next generation” restaurant design, which includes a drive-thru that will allow people to pick up pizzas without ordering ahead. The objective, according to the company, is to serve customers in less than three minutes.

Hungry customers will be able to choose a “ready-to-go” item from a new menu that includes popular foods like individual cheese and pepperoni pizzas and boneless wings. The first US store is now open in Plano, Texas.

While the concept is new to Pizza Hut’s U.S. locations, the company already operates similar restaurants in 80 markets around the world — and says the design has increased the number of transactions and traffic inside restaurants in those locations.

Don’t want a pre-made item? You can also pick up a digital order in stores, which will be waiting in a heated cabinet. Or you can order at the restaurant via a self-service kiosk and watch your food being prepared.

The ability for customers to spontaneously pick up a pizza is new for Pizza Hut, but not for the pizza industry. Little Caesars has a similar drive-thru concept where people can stop by without ordering ahead and pick up a pre-made pizza.

Pizza Hut has been implementing more and more new ideas this year to increase awareness of its brand. In September, the brand offered to print people’s CVs on pizza boxes and deliver them to potential employers. In February, he launched a campaign called “Goodbye Pies” (“Goodbye Pizza”, in free translation), which allowed people to send a pizza to the address of an ex (or future ex).

And just last month, the company unveiled Tomato Wine by Pizza Hut, a limited-edition wine that the company claims “captures the essence of Pizza Hut’s signature flavors in every sip.”