Fri 18th Oct 2013 - Inside Pizza Hut’s new generation restaurant Inside Pizza Hut’s first new generation restaurant: Pizza Hut is looking to update its UK offer for the 21st Century with a customised approach to pizza and limitless self-serve ice cream (£2.95 per person), sharing platters, waffles made-to-order and an enhanced range of sides – the first new generation restaurant opens at Crawley Leisure Park today. Customers can choose to “invent their own pizza” with a three step process. They choose one of four pizza bases (stuffed crust, cheesy bites, pan crust or thin crust) before adding their own topping (there’s a choice of 15 on offer) and then, in step three, choosing one of six extra toppings priced at £1.50 each. Side dishes are: garlic mushroom with garlic mayo (£4.10), a sharing bucket of chips (£2.95), BBQ big beans (£1.95) and a bucket of crispy onion rings (£2.45). Pizza Hut is offering four choices of waffle freshly made to order: berries and cream waffle (£4.75), plain waffle (£2.95), death by chocolate waffle (£4.95) and banana and maple syrup waffle (£4.45). The dessert menu also offers four choices of hot cookie dough puddings for £4.25 with a sharing dish for £8.25 and four sundaes and splits on offer. The new menu has four choices of freshly baked pasta: lasagne (£9.75), salmon and spinach pasta bake (£9.25), roasted vegetable pasta (£8.95) and chicken herby pasta bake (£9.45). Starters, which now include Kentucky style BBQ ribs (£4.95) and chicken wings (£4.45) are served with a choice of seven dipping sauces. The Crawley opening today is the start of a £60m plan to refurbish 80 restaurants by the end of 2014. The new Pizza Hut prototype includes extensive use of neon, a degree of retro-styling and stand-alone salad station, “ice cream factory” station (“unlimited fun sprinkles and sweet sauces”) and a waffle machine. The refurbishments are being funded by private equity firm Rutland Partners, who agreed the restructuring programme in late 2012. Pizza Hut Restaurants managing director Jens Hofma said: “The re-opening of our Crawley restaurant marks the start of the largest investment programme we have ever undertaken in the UK, and is reflective of our ambition to strengthen our leading position in the casual dining marketplace. Pizza Hut Restaurants is a durable concept that has stood the test of time and this investment programme is demonstrative of our underlying values: delicious and innovative food at affordable prices, warm and genuine service, and an informal environment where everyone feels welcome – whether it’s a family dinner or a quick working lunch. We are not just in the business of selling pizzas, but rather putting the guest experience at the heart of everything we do, which is why we are re-engineering the business with a renewed focus, improving staff training and overhauling the look and feel of our estate with these new concepts.” Pizza Hut currently has 330 dine-in restaurants in England, Wales and Scotland.