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IMAGE CREDIT: GCSU Office of Communications
The future happens fast sometimes.
Take, for example, the original Milledgeville Pizza Hut, which had a jukebox and giant clunky cash register. Compare that to the new Milledgeville Pizza Hut, just opened last week, which has delivery robots and no cash register whatsoever.
It's all part of the pizza chain's new location at Georgia College & State University's West Campus, located off of the bypass. The restaurant held its grand opening last Thursday, and WMAZ/Channel 13 was there to check it out...
For local Pizza Hut loyalists, the new restaurant indeed is open to the general public and not just reserved for university students and employees. There's no signage, currently, and there's no dedicated parking for the new Pizza Hut. In terms of getting there, get off the bypass, drive for a little while and make the first available right, which will take you to a commons area and bus ramp. The Pizza Hut is located on the backside of the building that's situated to the left of the dorms...
Delivery is only available to students living in the West Campus dorms, courtesy of the aforementioned pizza delivery robots, and the inside of the restaurant essentially is a "grab-and-go." The menu currently consists of "6-piece mild wings; 9-inch hand tossed cheese and pepperoni and meat lover’s pizza; and 8-piece cheese, pepperoni bread and cinnamon poppers."
There's no calling in for carryout. However, if a certain menu item isn't available on the hot racks, customers can place an in-store order and wait for however long it takes.
The hours of operation are Sunday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to midnight.
Pizza Hut was the original pizza chain restaurant in Milledgeville and first opened its doors in 1973, a full 50 years ago believe it or not. It was a really big deal at the time, but then again anything that was new in Milledgeville back then was a really big deal at the time. The new West Campus location is actually the fourth incarnate of a Milledgeville Pizza Hut. The original Milledgeville Pizza Hut was located across the street from the Piggly Wiggly on South Wayne Street and featured ample indoor seating. That structure had the classic Pizza Hut look, the look that inspired an entire comedic blog – Used To Be A Pizza Hut – which is still pretty hilarious after all these years...
The original Milledgeville Pizza Hut then caught fire in 2005 and was replaced by a smaller and sleeker Pizza Hut. Fast forward several years, and the new franchisees decided to abandon the southside and move to a location on North Columbia Street, across from Arby's. That didn't last long, though, leaving Milledgeville Pizza Hut-less until last week.
