7 Miami Buildings That Obviously Used to Be a Pizza Hut

Miami has always had a love affair with pizza, but when Pizza Hut arrived, it brought something more than just pies and breadsticks — it brought architecture with personality. Those iconic red roofs and trapezoidal windows were once as much a part of the city's strip-mall landscape as neon lights on Ocean Drive. Even if you never stepped inside, you knew a Pizza Hut when you saw one. Fast-forward a few decades, and while the chain currently runs most businesses with more sleek-looking designs, its ghost remains in plain sight: buildings that were clearly, unmistakably, and hilariously once Pizza Huts. There's even an entire Reddit group dedicated to documenting buildings that were formerly a Pizza Hut.

The irony, of course, is that the red roof wasn't even part of the original design. According to the brand, when two brothers opened the first Pizza Hut in Wichita, Kansas, in 1958 with $600 borrowed from their mother, the restaurant was just a humble brick box. It wasn't until 1969 that the now-famous hut-shaped roof debuted, courtesy of their college buddy turned architect Richard D. Burke, who sketched out a design that was cheap, practical, and instantly recognizable. By the early 1970s, Pizza Hut had become the world's top pizza chain, and the patented roof had become both logo and landmark, a sort of architectural shorthand for family dinners, post-game pizza parties, and late-night breadstick binges.

But by 2016, the Pizza Hut landscape was looking pretty bleak, and only about 3,000 of those classic red-roof huts were still standing. And in Florida, only four old-school Pizza Huts that have a buffet remain. That’s when the chain officially called it quits on the retro architecture and traded in its quirky, unmistakable silhouette for a slick, delivery-first design. Translation: the dine-in era of pan pizzas under a trapezoid roof was fading fast, and the future belonged to pizza boxes showing up at your front door.

But here's where Miami makes things fun: once Pizza Hut pulled out, those huts didn't just disappear. Nope, they got recycled. Today, you can find former Pizza Hut shells reimagined as everything from bagel shops to fast-casual chains, steakhouses to even a church. Some repaint the roof, others plaster over the windows, but the silhouette never lies. Drive by at night, and your brain will whisper, "That was obviously a Pizza Hut," no matter how hard the new tenant tries to convince you otherwise. In Miami, the red roof may no longer mean pan pizza, but its architectural afterlife is alive and well, and frankly, it's hilarious.

1. The Former Bagel Way Pizza Way in North Miami Beach

According to public records, the property at 1600 NE 163rd St. in North Miami Beach was built in 1989 and is a retail space within a neighborhood shopping center. But to those who've ever seen a classic Pizza Hut resaurant, this was clearly a Hut. The shopping center, known as 163rd Street Plaza, has a total area of approximately 40,790 square feet and even features ample parking, which is the blueprint of a great former Pizza Hut. Your trapezoidal windows may be gone, but they'll never be forgotten.

2. Diced by FIU

The building at 10600 SW Eighth St., which is now home to the fast casual Miami chain Diced with a lime green painted roof, was home to a Pizza Hut up until late 2018, according to reviews on Yelp. Its unique shape and placement of the windows, and of course, the roof, are what normally indicate it was a Pizza Hut. And it sure was. The roof may now be painted lime green, but Yelp sleuths confirm pepperoni used to be served here.

3. Los Gauchitos Restaurant

The Los Gauchitos Restaurant, located at 200 NW Le Jeune Rd., near the airport, was a Pizza Hut up until 2020. You can clearly tell by its unique trapezoidal windows, peculiar triangular roof, and the fact that at one point this building was surely beige and covered in brick on one side. Now, it's a Spanish spot with over 1,800 4.5-star reviews on Google, so we may just have to check it out.

4. The Church Of God Prince Of Peace Religious Organization

This church, run by pastor Dr. Bishop Hilaire Louis Jean, at 210 NE 119th St., Miami, was once a Pizza Hut thanks to its signature shape, brick exterior that only covers half of the establishment, trapezoidal windows on either side (they can be seen in the photo above), and classic A-frame triangular roof. Whatever cheesy sins occurred here when it was a Pizza Hut (like running out of olives) have surely been absolved.

5. La Granja in Hialeah

The La Granja in Hialeah, at 4975 W. 12th Ave., Hialeah, was once a Pizza Hut thanks to its signature hut-shaped roof, classic trapezoidal windows, and even part-brick exterior. La Granja may have replaced its sign, but it'll never replace the nostalgia this building evokes to folks raised in Hialeah and who grew up eating at this Pizza Hut.

6. You Can Move Your Business Into This Former Pizza Hut in Miami Gardens!

The former Pizza Hut at 4837 NW 183rd St. in Miami Gardens is for sale right now. Wow. You can be a part of trapezoidal-window history. 

7. This Pizza Hut is For Sale for $4 Million

In Virginia Gardens, the former Pizza Hut at 5731 NW 36th St. has been closed for some time. However, it's on the market for a cheesy $4,495,000. Who would've thought an original piece of trapezoidal-windowed and hut-shaped history could be worth so much?