Pizza Hut (Portage)
2042 W. Centre AvenueAnother great week of overtime!
I had two overtime shifts last week. Again, Thursday night and Friday night.
My Thursday night shift was in Portage. I didn’t have a lot of time between my regular shift and my overtime shift so I decided to keep it simple and just order a pizza.
I was heading down towards Westnedge and Centre Street and I was trying to think of a pizza place I hadn’t been to yet. I knew there were no local ones so I widened my search to chains.
I eventually came to the Pizza Hut on Centre Avenue and Oakland Drive. This is the Pizza Hut that was rebuilt after the tornados ripped the building apart in May of 2024. The entire plaza had to be rebuilt so this store was clsoed for almost two years. They reopened earlier this year not too long before the two year anniversary of the tornado. The store moved from the east end of the building to the west end so it is more visible at the Oakland and Centre intersection.
I didn’t want to spend a lot of money and I needed something quick. I headed to Pizza Hut’s website and just click on the $7 deals. I ordered a medium pepperoni pan pizza and a double order of breadsticks. Each of them was $7. I added on a bottle of Pepsi which brought my total to about $18.
By the time I made the drive down Oakland from downtown, my food was ready.
This Pizza Hut location is carry-out only. It’s a pretty small storefront with just enough room for a counter and a bench to sit on if you have to wait on your pizza. The ready pizzas are kept in a Cambro right behind the counter. An employee turned around and grabbed the two boxes out of the warmer and handed them to me. I grabbed a 20 oz. bottle of Pepsi from the cooler next to the cash register on my way out.
I opened the box for the breadsticks as soon as I got in the car. I’ve mentioned this anytime in the past that I’ve blogged about Pizza Hut but these are my favorite breadsticks. It’s probably a nostalgia thing more than anything. I loved these breadsticks when I was a kid and we’d got to Pizza Hut for Book It rewards. I’d always get my free personal pan pizza then beg my parents, who would rather be eating at Monical’s Pizza than Pizza Hut, to also get an order of breadsticks. The breadsticks themselves come to the store frozen. You can clearly tell they’re not handmade like most pizzeria breadsticks are. The thing that makes them so good is the garlic butter, Parmesan and herbs they put on top. There’s some garlic powder in there and some onion powder. But it’s the saltiness of the Parmesan that really makes these jump out to me. I had a whole pizza in the box right under this one and I ate half of the breadsticks before I even got to my job site.
I always go back and forth on which style crust I really like from Pizza Hut. The thin crust is really good and I did really like the Tavern Style but, just like with the breadsticks, nostalgia plays a part when I’m ordering for myself. I got a medium pepperoni pan pizza.
The Original Pan Pizza was introduced in the 1980’s and was kind of the iconic Pizza Hut style for a couple of decades. It’s cooked in an oiled metal pan which gives the crust a little chewiness. The crust is a little bit thicker than a hand tossed which isn’t something I usually go for but I really am a sucker for these pizzas. I had already tore through half the breadsticks so I wasn’t super hungry. I still ate about half the pizza before closing up both boxes and heading to my shift.
I will pretty much always go for Pizza Hut when I’m making a decision on which chain carry-out pizza to order from. It’s been a favorite of mine since childhood. We’d get in so many arguments about pizza places as a family because I wanted Pizza Hut but I was always the only one. My family now is kind of the same way so when I get a chance to grab a pizza on my own, and there’s nothing local I really want, Pizza Hut is my go-to.
SW Michigan Dining 