Pizza Hut tests prototype store with kiosks, pickup cabinets, drive-thru menu

Pizza Hut’s Plano test store turned a familiar corner lot into a preview of how the chain may want restaurants to run next: fewer counter handoffs, more digital ordering, and a tighter workflow built around speed.

The prototype at 8605 Ohio Dr. in Plano, Texas, opened by replacing an older Pizza Hut format that had occupied the site for 25 years. Pizza Hut called it its most innovative U.S. restaurant design, and the layout makes clear why. The store includes self-service kiosks, pickup cabinets and the company’s first Hut N Go drive-thru menu in the United States.

For front-line workers, that changes the rhythm of the shift. A cashier’s role can move away from taking orders at the counter and toward helping customers navigate kiosks or fixing glitches when the screen freezes or a payment fails. Pickup cabinets can cut down on face-to-face handoffs, which means fewer seconds spent on each carryout order but more pressure on employees to stage food correctly and keep shelves organized. The Hut N Go lane, built around a limited menu of ready-now items, adds another layer: kitchen crews have to keep certain pizzas and sides moving fast enough to meet the shorter promise time.

Pizza Hut said the concept is already operating in more than 80 markets around the world, with roughly 2,000 restaurants using some version of the format. The company has said research shows the design drives more transactions and more in-restaurant traffic than earlier layouts. Aaron Powell, Pizza Hut’s chief executive, said the restaurant showcases the company’s legacy of innovation and its ability to meet changing guest needs.

The Plano prototype also includes a guest-facing pizza-making station, another signal that the company wants to balance automation with visible food prep. That matters on a busy shift, when managers are trying to juggle digital orders, delivery pickups, dine-in customers and the kind of rapid handoffs that drive throughput.

The Hut N Go drive-thru is designed for fast pickup, with initial offerings expected to include popular items such as personal pan pizzas and boneless wings. The setup suggests a future in which Pizza Hut stores look less like traditional dine-in restaurants and more like tightly managed order-processing hubs, where speed, accuracy and tech support become as important as making the pie.