Pizza Hut menu from the ’70s reveals how cheap eating out used to be

A woman has found one of the very first Pizza Hut menus from back in the day, and you won’t believe the prices!

The chain store, once famous for its distinctive red roofs and dine-in restaurants, sold a variety of pizza favourites in the 1970s such as mozzarella cheese, supreme and pepperoni.

And while that side of things hasn’t changed much, the prices sure have. Chris Ho posted the nostalgic menu to Facebook group Old Shops Australia on behalf of the woman.

“The earliest piece of Pizza Hut ephemera we’ve come across and a true artefact from Australia’s popular culinary history,” he wrote.

Depending on the flavour you choose, a capsicum pizza was just $1.35, a prawn variety $1.45, a large onion pizza $1.95 and anchovy just $2.20.

Compare that to 2018 where a Ham Lovers pizza is $9.95 or a BBQ Cheeseburger pizza will set you back $13.95.

@oldshopsoz's equivalent of The Dead Sea Scrolls, an original Pizza Hut Australia menu/placemat from the early 1970s.
The earliest piece of @PizzaHutAU ephemera we've come across and a true artifact from Australian popular dining history.

Pic credit Jodie Walters pic.twitter.com/XRqm3xIuoR

— Old Shops Australia – now at Bluesky (@oldshopsoz) December 3, 2018

But it was the cost of alcohol that really caught the attention of many, with a draught beer costing just 25 cents and a bottle of red wine $2. A bottle of white was 10 cents cheaper, at $1.90.

Pizza Hut dine-in restaurants were all the rage in the ’70s, but over the past couple of decades, they’ve mostly been replaced by takeaway stores.

Facebook users were quick to comment on the nostalgic post, sharing memories of the popular chain back in the day.

“My mum and dad would take us to Pizza Hut on George Street [in] Sydney back in the early 80’s when it was a restaurant. It smelt so good walking in and the pizzas were delicious,” one commentator wrote.

Another added: “We would get a family thin and crispy half “ham and pineapple” half ground beef. I can still taste it (different to the pizzas now) and smell the restaurant. Ah take me back.”

And one of the most memorable items on the menu was the Pizza Pete gingerbread man, with one user writing: “This is how I remember it back in the day. And I loved those gingerbread men!”

Pizza Hut dine-in locations that still exist around Australia today include Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton in Victoria, Browns Plains, Gympie, Kirra, Toowoomba, Townsville in Queensland, Lake Haven, St Andrews, Orange, Parkes, Windsor in New South Wales, New Town in Tasmania and Marion in South Australia.

Do you remember what Pizza Hut was like back in the day?