The saying is “You can’t go home again,” but it’s not always true. The recent announcement of Pizza Hut’s financial struggles occasioned a considerable amount of conversation online about what went wrong, with many saying that the chain’s move away from dine-in locations and lunch buffets hurt it. Of course, a few rural locations still allow dine-in and have lunch buffets, including Pizza Huts in Forrest City, Arkansas, and Ripley and Trenton, Tennessee.
Its main competitor back in the halcyon days of my youth was Pizza Inn, which in some ways I liked even better, since its buffet was all day long, and it had locations all over Memphis. One by one, year after year, I watched them close until there was only one left in West Memphis, Arkansas. And even then, I drove across the bridge for it constantly until it closed and turned into a Larry’s Pizza. Eventually that closed as well.
But Pizza Inn still exists somewhat nearby, in Grenada, Mississippi, two locations in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and one in Blytheville, Arkansas, as well as locations in other states. After the Mardi Gras Parade in Memphis, I drove out to Jonesboro to see if Pizza Hut’s buffet was still as good as I recalled from my youth.
When I arrived, the place was full of young basketball players enjoying a meal after a Saturday game. The atmosphere was like stepping back in time, and the buffet was full of pizzas, breadsticks and dessert pizzas. The pizzas have not changed a bit since 1986, with not only the usual standards, but the special unique ones like the cheddar and Canadian bacon pizza, and of course the buttery chocolate chip dessert pizza. Of course, the prices have not stayed the same, and a buffet now costs $15. But for a taste of childhood memories, it’s well worth the drive and cost.