Pizza Hut, 1929 Broad River Road: January 2008 19 comments
The Pizza Hut on Broad River Road found itself in a less than ideal location after the implosion of Service Merchandise and the downscaling of Dutch Square. Still they hung on until they had a chance to move to the new Wal-Mart location on Bush River Road, which they have now done.
I can only remember eating there a few times over the years. It's interesting to me how during the time I've been buying my own meals, Pizza Hut has gone from being a "nice" place to eat to a sub-par fast-food experience. They have always had a problem over the years with the customer being able to figure out whether to pay the server or pay at the register, but they used to have a fairly good food and reasonable service.
It seemed to me that the food started going down-hill in the 90s, and the service, including the kitchen staff followed quickly. For me the final straw was when a lot of locations started serving "fountain" ice tea instead of fresh brewed. I recall being at a location in Lauringburg NC, and sending my tea back as I could taste that there was "something wrong with it". The waiter commented "yeah, a lot of people say that since we switched." I was kind of flabbergasted that the store had an obvious problem which people were giving them feedback on, but about which they apparently did not care. The most recent time I stopped at a Pizza Hut was in Walterboro when I could find nothing else reasonable looking off of I-95 that was still open. The tables hadn't been wiped, I sat for 20 minutes without a drink or my order being taken, the ice tea was fountain, and the cook hadn't been taught how to cook the garlic bread orders (apparently there is an opening half-way through the oven where you are supposed to insert a garlic bread tray, but he ran it all the way through).
So, that's a bit of venting about Pizza Hut in general. It's not fair to put it on the Broad River one, but I don't think I'll be visiting the new location.
UPDATE 23 May 2011 -- Here's a picture of this Pizza Hut's new location in the Wal-Mart plaza on Bush River Road:
UPDATE 15 September 2012 -- The old Broad River Road building is now a title loan operation:
UPDATE 26 June 2023: Updating tags and adding map icon.
19 Responses to 'Pizza Hut, 1929 Broad River Road: January 2008'
Subscribe to comments with RSS or TrackBack to 'Pizza Hut, 1929 Broad River Road: January 2008'.
-
Brian
8 Feb 08 at 9:03 pm
-
I worked at that Pizza Hut in 1991 - before there was ...blech... fountain tea.
Susan
21 Mar 08 at 12:42 pm
-
I've just spent 3 weeks in the DC area -- it's amazing how many places think it is acceptable to serve fountain tea up here!
ted
21 Mar 08 at 11:10 pm
-
I ate *many* a pizza at the Hut on Broad River Rd. I was also a big frequenter of the Taco Cid and Chappy's (later Cedric's) Fish & Chips -- all three were right in a row there. I remember in high school in the late 80's we would go to the Cid after football games and (courtesy of a friend who worked there, and in spite of the changing laws) drink BEER! w00t. I was always about 6 months out when they were changing the drinking age from 18 to 21, so thems was good times. :-D
-=B
Brian (no relation)
7 Apr 08 at 2:36 pm
-
I never ate at that Taco Cid, but it was kind of a ritual for me to eat luch at the one on Decker (now a vet's office) for some reason if I was going to drive to Charlotte.
I think there were Chappy's & Cedric's around at the same time, but they were related somehow. (One was at Beltline & Two Notch). Their commercials use to say something like "Be sure to visit my friend Cedric too" or "Be sure to visit my friend Chappy too".
ted
7 Apr 08 at 2:51 pm
-
Wow, I forgot about Chappy's! Was that where The Shrimper was eventually located, or did they co-exist? One story about drinking beer at Taco Cid I like to share. I actually got a beer to go in the drive-thru one time! They asked me if I wanted anything to drink and I said "Yea, a beer to go." Lo and behold, it was there waiting on me when I picked my food up. Good times. I know Taco Uno was similar to Taco Cid, but I have no beer stories related to them. I still enjoy Taco Cid on Charleston Hwy.
Jonathan
22 May 08 at 11:32 am
-
The chappys on Charleston highway is now a title loan place. It's next to arby's.
MR Bill
12 Sep 08 at 9:51 am
-
Our high school Pizza Hut - now completely gone - was on Two Notch across from Pulliam Ford. We'd go there after football games and drink pitchers of draft beer til they threw us out for being loud.
Nearly next door was the McDonalds we hit for lunch in high school.
Across the street from McDonald's was columbia's first Burger King.
That corner has had many things come and go. I can remember a Chappy's with a double decker bus parked outside (it began as Arthur Treacher's Fish n Chps), and A&W Root Beer, and Western Sizzlin'. Across the street diagonally was a Maurice's Piggy Park which didn't last long at all.
Somewhere in that area was a place called World Burger, with giant burgers that were advertised as too big to eat. If you ate one, you got another free. Weird.
And who else remembers El Menchaca? GREAT food. And a great hangout to drink beer while cutting class. Maybe I've said too much.
Dennis
12 Sep 08 at 10:21 am
-
The Chappy's on Two Notch had an old double decker bus. My dad used to take me there just so I could play on the bus. I never ate anything there.
ChiefDanGeorge
15 Sep 08 at 8:35 am
-
Hello..this is photo at Columbia south carolina? i looking for friend my father.. he have hourse nearly broad river.. if you know he. pls help connect to me..him name is Mr. William Addy (Bill) about 63 year old...long time ago never know news information about he.. if you know he. Pls connect to me.. reeza.na@hotmail.com
REEZA
29 Oct 08 at 6:10 am
-
They moved around the corner to Bush River Road in the shopping center where the new Walmart is. They still have some of the same staff from Broad River Road.
Pat D.
26 Apr 10 at 5:51 pm
-
folks, this site had some people from an air conditioning company...so I think something is up (not sure what but stay tuned)
Andrew
7 Mar 12 at 8:22 pm
-
I saw a construction dumpster here so I'd wager that something new is about to open up here (no word on what just yet)
Andrew
18 Mar 12 at 11:27 pm
-
Carolina Title Loans is now open at this location.
Pizza Hut recently made Jay Leno headlines when, during a restaurant inspection, they were cited for "toilet in kitchen needs to be cleaned"
Andrew
21 Jun 12 at 5:20 pm
-
Next door to this, there appears to be a Sammi's that has closed and is now slated to become a Nick's Gyros & Subs it appears.
Andrew
4 Sep 12 at 12:13 am
-
I have a question? What is it about closed fast food restaurants that seem to be magnets for title loan offices? Do you just walk up to counter and get a loan with a side of fries and a coke??....:^)
Homer
16 Sep 12 at 10:08 pm
-
Well, normally just before a restaurant closes, you'll go in there and find yourself alone. From there it's just a short step to go in and find yourself a loan.
ted
16 Sep 12 at 10:40 pm
-
@Ted
GROAN and a rim shot....lol
But seriously - do they remove all of the kitchen equipment before these vultures swoop in and attempt to convert the building or do they leave everything in place like the hair style place that took over the Fox theater (just wall it off and hope for the best)???
Homer
17 Sep 12 at 1:35 am
-
It is great to see Pizza Hut relocating and still keeping their primary dine-in format.
Pizza Hut's dine-in locations in Greenville have been replaced by carryout/delivery only stores, a format that has gone bust. People still prefer dining in at Pizza Hut, but have gone to competitors to enjoy the pizzeria surroundings. After receiving criticism for not enough new dine-in locations, Pizza Hut is rolling back dine-in in many locations.
Bo
7 Oct 12 at 8:17 am
I agree. I used to frequent the one on Saint Andrews Rd. when I was in high school, but I've got no plans to revisit the Hut any time soon. It's gross to me.