Pizza Hut in £60m cocktail bar revamp

Cocktail bars will be installed at a number of Pizza Hut restaurants in its bid to shed a reputation for children’s birthday parties and tap into the young adult market.

The chain’s flagship restaurant in The Strand is the first to benefit from a £60m plan to refresh the high street chain’s image, reopening this week with American-style diner interiors, oak flooring, red leather seats and a cocktail bar.

Refurbishments at restaurants in Marble Arch, Piccadilly and Queensway will follow later this year.

A marked effort to take the chain upmarket, the bar will also offer a selection of wines, ciders and beers while bartenders will be on hand to show diners the history and “theatre of cocktail making” and advise diners on cocktails and food pairings.

Long-established fans of the chain will be happy to know that its popular all-you-can-eat salad bars and ice-cream factory will remain, but will be given a “fresh new look”.

Mike Spencer, operations director at Pizza Hut Restaurants UK, said: “The brand hopes that the changes will make it more relevant to young adults. With our new restaurants we want to create a vibrant contemporary place to eat which will transform how people view us. The new bar gives as a fantastic evening experience which we’ve never had before, and the whole new concept will excite all our loyal customers, but also appeal to those people who either haven’t eaten with us before or for a number of years.”

Cocktails set to grace Pizza Hut’s new menu include:-

• Hollywood: A mix of sweet raspberry, tart and tangy blueberry, exotic acai berry and Southern Comfort.
• Long Island Ice Tea: Pizza Hut blend of vodka, gin and rum topped with Pepsi
• Southern Punch: A mix of limes, orange and Grenadine with vodka, Disaronno and Southern Comfort
• Berry Stag: A citrus blend of tangy limes & a dash of orange with JD, Disaronno and raspberry framboise
• Mojito: A blend of mint, limes and sugar and rum