Capital Bites: Pizza Hut Topples Salad Towers

Tom O’Malley | Nov 27, 2009 2:00 pm | 5 comments | 104492 reads

Pizza Hut is to remove all self-service salad carts from its 440 restaurants in China. Up to now, customers were permitted just one trip to the salad cart, but these restrictions have led to ingenious Scooby snack-style stacking of CCTV Tower proportions. The chain, the first to introduce pizza to China in 1990 and pizza delivery in 2001, claims that the move is part of a general menu expansion, but it's surely down to salad cart abuse.

Salad stacking has become somewhat of an art form, with ingenious engineers exchanging tips online, such as having a base of carrots for a stable foundation. I think the smart move for Pizza Hut would have been to reduce the size of the salad plate to roughly the diameter of tomato slice. Then only the most talented stackers could take any more than their fair share.

Over in Sanlitun, Purple Haze Bistro is upping sticks due to disputes with the neighbors at China View. The Thai restaurant you voted Beijing's best in our 2009 Restaurant Awards is making a surprise move to Dongsi Liutiao, a traditional hutong close to Dongdan subway station, also home to popular Xinjiang restaurant Crescent Moon.

Finally, Joy Luck, a buffet-style restaurant-cum-food court has opened on the 5th floor of 3.3. Mall in Sanlitun. All food is half price until 1st December, so if you're shopping in the area this weekend, pop-in for bargain sushi, pizza, grilled meat and dim sum.

Comments

New comments are displayed first.

Comments

Nidaye's picture Nidaye Submitted by Guest on Mon, 11/30/2009 - 10:15

Haha... like we couldn't see this coming.

Leave it up to the consumers to try to abuse the system. And also leave it up to the local-run business to cheap-out, rather than being smart and cashing in. Really, how much do cucumbers cost here?

If they were smart, they'd learn from the buffet restaurants and impose a penalty for not finishing the salad (based on weight of leftovers). I would love to see these guys get sick from eating their 3 jing horde of cucumber slices and salad dressing.

admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Sat, 11/28/2009 - 05:01

oh god

the only remaining reason I'd ever go to Pizza Hut -- and that would be to ogle the consumers who build such towers -- is now to be removed.

Also, it seems to me the genius of the el cheapo salad bar -- aka fooling consumers into coming in to pay inflated prices for mediocre fast food, but leave them thinking they got a great deal because they managed to hoarde a bunch of cucumber slices from the fetid salad bar -- is one of the key appeals of Pizza Hut for many.

what a strategic blunder

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

Validate your mobile phone number to post comments.