Pizza Hut in Covent Garden doesn’t scream about its presence as it’s actually underground. Located just off the piazza on Henrietta Street, this is a particularly popular restaurant among the tourists.

The Venue
It’s hard to believe when you’re out in Covent Garden that somewhere not too far under the ground is a room heaving with people stuffing their faces with pizza. When you first walk down the stairs and into the main area the queue can be off-putting but the staff are very efficient and, as long as the queue may be, it actually moves very swiftly indeed.

The floor space is divided into two rooms. One has the buffet cart which is located at the bottom of the stairs by the entrance. On the buffet cart are three pizzas and a large dish of garlic bread surrounded by swarms of hungry customers. Next to this is the salad cart for the slightly more health conscious among us. As with any buffet cart it is imperative that you approach your chosen pizza with an air of patience because there will almost always be someone in front of you fumbling about not knowing what they’re doing; very frustrating indeed. The rest of the space is filled with chairs and tables crammed as tightly together as possible to ensure as many people can get through the front doors as possible. There are one or two fairly secluded tables but unless you’re in a large group you’ll be lucky to be offered one of these.

The second space is another dining area where you’ll find more seating. Again, most tables are packed quite tightly so you’ll often find yourself sitting next to a couple of strangers. This isn’t too big a problem, however, as usually everyone is either engrossed in their pizza or the stimulating conversation.

The Atmosphere
Pizza Hut staff are generally very friendly across the board and those representing the Covent Garden branch are of no exception. You can be sure that you’ll be greeted with a Colgate smile and when you take your seat you’ll be told who will be serving you. The service is very efficient and, as stressed as they may be with the high turn around of customers, they do extremely well to maintain a sense of humour.

The Food
It’s mostly in the title of the restaurant. In case you haven’t been before, you’ll find a variety of pizzas that can be ordered with a thin base, thick base (which they call deep pan), signature pan (where garlic and herbs are baked into the crust) or stuffed crust (where you’ll be treated with melted cheese when you chew into the crust of your pizza). Pizza Hut doesn’t serve authentic pizza in the traditional sense, it must be said, but it does the job in a similar way that McDonalds serves burgers. It’s cheap, it’s quick, it tastes good and it fills you up. The buffet has a selection of three different pizzas at any one time, one of which is vegetarian. For some reason this tends to be the only thin crust on the cart and tends to be fairly dried up as most of the vegetarians can usually be found piling the salad onto their plate. The deep pan pepperoni and margherita are the firm favourites and get snapped up rather quickly.

It’s not all about the pizza, however. On the menu you’ll also find a selection of salads and pasta dishes. Your starters and sides comprise of the usual bitesize finger foods including garlic breads, potato wedges, chicken wings and chicken strips. There are often special deals that should be taken advantage of – a particularly popular one is the buffet which occurs on weekdays from noon till 4pm, an ideal opportunity for those on their lunch break to fill their stomachs for £5.99.

The Drink
Soft drinks tend to be the beverage of choice at Pizza Hut, particularly popular for the unlimited refills. They also offer bottled lagers in the way of Carlsberg, Stella, Budweiser, Coroner and Magners.

The Last Word
Pizza Hut is great for a quick lunch that’s guaranteed to take away your hunger pains so long as you don’t mind queuing for 5-10 minutes. Being in the centre of Covent Garden, this particular branch is never empty.

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