This Restaurant Owner Is Bringing Back Vintage Pizza Hut Nostalgia for a Heartwarming Reason

May 16, 2026

A restaurant owner is serving up more than pizza these days. He is bringing back a slice of childhood nostalgia in hopes of helping families reconnect around the dinner table again.

Credit: CBS News / YouTube

At several remodeled Pizza Hut locations, customers are stepping into what feels like a time machine. The iconic red lamps are glowing once again, the red checkered tablecloths are back, and those oversized red plastic cups have returned to the tables.

There is even a Pac Man machine sitting in the corner.

The retro revival is the work of Tim Sparks, CEO of Daland Corporation, a restaurant management company that owns several Pizza Hut locations. Sparks decided to renovate some of his restaurants to look like the classic dine in Pizza Huts many people grew up visiting in the 1980s and 1990s.

And the response has been overwhelming.

“People come from two or three hours away and I am not making that up,” Sparks told CBS News.

Credit: CBS News / YouTube

For many customers, walking through the doors feels like reliving childhood memories. Families sit together over pizza while parents point out things their kids have never seen before, like tabletop arcade games and the famous stained glass style lamps that once defined the Pizza Hut experience.

But Sparks says this project is about much more than nostalgia.

In a world filled with screens and distractions, he hopes these restaurants can become places where families slow down and genuinely spend time together.

“If we can get them in here as a family they do tend to put their phones down and actually have conversations and speak with each other,” he said.

Tracking down the original decor has not been easy. Sparks says some of the vintage pieces, especially the classic Pizza Hut lamps, are incredibly difficult to find. Still, he plans to continue restoring more locations in the future.

For Sparks, the effort is worth it if it helps bring even a few families closer together.

“I’m not going to tell you I know how to fix the world,” he said, “but I do think that family is a good place to start.”